nativ e majesty on th e gold coast. - Forgotten Books

NATIV E MAJESTY ON THE GOLD COAST.

E G O LD C O A ST

PAST AND PRESENT

A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF

TH E CO U NTRY AND ITS PEOPLE

GEORGE MACDONALDLATE H .M . DIRECTOR OF EDU CATIO N FOR TH E G OLD C OAST COLONY AND PROTE CTORATE

IN SPECTOR OF SCH OOL S ; MEMBER O F THE BOARD OF EDU CATION ; ORGAN ISERAND MANAG ER OF THE G OV ERNME NT SCHOOL S , ETC . , ETC .

WITH ILL USTRA TIONS

L O N G M A N S, G R E E N , A N D

39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON

NEW YORK AND BOMBAY

1 898

A ll rights reserved

PRE FACE .

I N the compi lat ion ofthe h i stori cal port ion of the presen t

volume the fol lowing authorities have been consu lted

Bosman . Coast of Guinea I 703.

Snelgrave . N ew A eeoun t of Guinea 1 734.

Benezet . Some A ccoun t of Guin ea I 7 87 .

Bowdich . l V/ission to A s/ian ti 1 8 1 7 .

Cru ickshank . T/ze GoldCoast 1 853.

Burton . Wanderings in DVest Africa 1 863.

Gordon . Life on t/ze GoldCoast 1 874.

Burton and Cameron . To t/ie GoldCoast

for C old .

E l l i s . Tsai-speaking People on tlie GoldCoast 1 887 .

I am indebted to Messrs . Chatto 8: Windus and to the

proprietors ofBlack and PV/zite for descr ipt ion s of the

Lake Vi l lage in Apol lon ia,and also to Messrs . Skuse 8:

H ughes,Photographers

,of Cape Coast Castle

,for many

of the i l lustrat ions,which are from photographs taken

by those gentl emen,during my tours of service in the

Gold Coast Colony ( 1 893Should the present volume help to draw attent ion to

one of our most important West A fr ican Colon ies,its

object wi l l have been attained by

THE AUTHOR .

LONDON , j uly , 1 898 .

CONTENTS .

CHAPTER I.

The GulfofGu inea—D iv is ion s—Early Exped it ion s to the Coast—Fren ch and Portuguese C laims—Early En gl ish Trad in gCompan ies—The Go ld Coast in Bosman ’

s T ime—The Go l dCoast ofTo -day— Gen eral View ofthe Co lony

CHAPTER II.

The Early In hab itan ts of the Go l d Coast— The ir Trad it ionalOri gin The Dom inan t Powers Man ners CustomsSuperst i tion s—Occupat ion s— Rel i g ion -Manual Arts— TheAggrey Bead

CHAPTER III.

The Season s— C l imate—The Harmattan— Product ion s— V egetation An imal L ife Exports Imports Hab i tat ion sThe S lave Trade -Its R ise andFal l—The LabourQ uestion

CHAPTER IV .

Go l d in West Africa—An t iqu ity of the same— Go l d-produc in gAreas— Presen t Gol d M ines—

7How Obtain ed— Go ld Work

-Go l d We i ghts—The Future‘

OfWest Africa as a Go ldproduc in g Coun try

“CHAPTER v .

HalfAss i’n ‘ i to Axim—Apo l lon ia— The Lake Vi l lage—Axim and

its NeighbourhoodéThe An te Coun try— Cape Three Po in ts-Chama andthe Prah—The K ingdoms ofWassawgDénkira

andSefwi

PAG E S

62 -89

90 - 1 2 1

1 22 -150

CONTENTS .

CHAPTER V I.

Chama to E lm ina —Commendah,Bri t ish andDutch—Cape Coast

Castle—Land in g—The Town in General—The L i ghthouse-The Rest ing-p lace of L . E . L .

”—A Memo ir—TheRoad to Kumas i— Mouri andFort Nassau— Anamaboe and

Saltpond—The Tufel andAssin Coun tries

CHAPTER V II.

Appam—The Dev i l ’s Moun t—Win nebah— Bereku—Accra or

Akra—The Akra Peop le— Mann ers and Customs—TheAdan gme Tribe— Names—The Presen t Town— Christ ian sborg—Merid ian Rock

CHAPTER V I I I .

The Ak im andKwahu Coun tries— Begoro , Kyeb i andAbetifiTheAk im Forests— TheTsh i Peop le— Man n ers andCustoms

— The Future of Ak im—Nat ive Trad i t ion s—Akwamu or

Aquamboe

CHAPTER IX.

The Aquapim , Adan gme, Awoonah, Krobo andAkwamu Countries—The irPeop les— Pram Pram— Ada andKw itta— Krep iandPek i Coun tries— The Vo l ta R iver—An glo -Fren ch C onven tion

,1 898

CHAPTER X .

The K in gdom of Ashan t i— Its Peop le—Ori g in—H istoryDwaben—The Cap ital , Kumas i—Wars down to 1 8 1 7

—The

Town— Con st itut ion andLaws—Roads from Kumas i

CHAPTER XI.

Mon th ly Notes—Wars w ith En glan d, 1 80 7

- 1 8 1 7—M iss ion to

Ashan t i— Secon d Ashan ti War, 1 824— Th ird Ashan t i War,

1 863—Fourth Ashan t i War, 1 873—The Last Ashan t i War

~ Downfal l ofPrempeh, 1 896

PAG E S

151- 1 7 7

20 8 -234

262 -29r

CONTENTS . i x

CHAPTER XII.

PAG E SProgress of the Co lony— Educat ion—The Bas le M iss ion—TheWes leyan s —The Roman Catho l ic M i ss ion—The Schoo lsof the Co lony— The Future of the Co lony—Wan t ofRai lways andCen tral Harbour

APPEND ICES .

ASHANT I K I NG S,BATTLE S AND WA R S 339-340

D I STANCES BETWEEN COAST TOWN S , WINDWARD ANDLEEWARDFARE S FO R H AMMOC KME N , CARR IE R S AND CANOE M END I STANCE S BETWEEN INTE R IOR TOWN SGOVERNOR S ON TH E GOLD COAST

F . OUTF IT FOR TH E WE ST COA ST

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30 .

31 .

32 .

LIST OF ILLUSTRAT IONS .

NAT IV E MAJE STY ON THE GOLD COAST Fron tisjbieeePAGE

MAP OF TH E GOLD COAST OF TH E PRE SENT DAY opposite

TH E GOLD COAST OF TH E SEVENTEENTH CENT URYA FET I SH PR IE STNAT IVE POTTERY AND S I LVE RWORK OF TH E ASHANT I SNAT IVE LOOM FO R WEAV ING C LOTHGOLD COAST BEETLE S : TH E GOL IATHTYP ICAL NAT IVE H UT S opposite

A G ROU P OF LABOU RE R SASHANT I GOLD WE IGHTSASHANT I GOLD WE IGH T SFORT ST . A‘NTHONY , AX I MSQ UAR I NG MAHOGANY ON TH E BEACH , AX I MINTE R IO R O F WE SLEYAN SCHOOL

,CHAMA

A STREET SCENE I N ELM I NACAPE COAST CA STLETH E L IGHTHOU SE

,CAP E COAST

INTER IOR COU RTYARD OF CAPE COAST CASTLEVIEW OF TH E TOWN OF CAPE COASTVIEW OF TH E BEACH AT CAPE COA STCH R I ST I AN SBO RG CASTLE , ACCRATOWN TRAVELL ING I N ACCRAA G ROU P OF OFF IC IAL S AND MERCHANTSBASLE M I SS ION STAT ION

,BEGORO

BASE OF A B IG TREE,ABU R I

TH E ROAD To KUMAS I opposite

TH E TOWN OF KUMAS IROADS FROM KUMAS IG ROU P OF NAT IVE WOMEN opposite

B R IT I SH RES IDENT AT KUMA S I AND O FF I CERSA NAT IVE BEAUTYA WEDD ING G ROU P

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

2 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

al so i nd irect ly to an Engl ish coin,the gu inea

,so cal led

from the fi rst pieces being struck from the gold that

came from there.

This strip of coast was general ly sub-d ivided into four

minor terri tories,which received their des ignations from

the commerc ial commodities they then furn ished to

the European adventurers of the s ixteenth, seventeenth

and eighteenth centu ries,who r i sked thei r l ives among

the peri l s and dangers of th is part of the then almost

unknown continent,for the traffi c in grains

,ivory

,s l aves

and gold .

These four d ivis ions,extend ing eastward from the

Isles de Los,were several ly known as Tlze M alaguetta or

Grain Coast,Tne Tootn or Ivory Coast, Tne GoldCoast,

and Tne S lave Coast ; of which , at the present day, one

on ly retains and deserves the name that was bestowed

upon it by these ancient navigators,via ,

Tne Gold

Coast .

Tbe Grain orM alaguetta Coast ofthese early t imes isn ow known under the more modern t i t le of the Free S tateof Liberia

, and extends from S ierra Leone to Cape

Formosa . Why the ambiguous name of the Grain Coast

was given to th i s terri tory i t i s d iffi cul t to say, for the

grain for which thi s part ofGu inea was once famous was

a condiment and not a cereal . The late S ir R . F . Bu rton

thus describes i t in his Wandering s in West Africa“ I t i s a real cardamon

,of which many variet ies grow

along the whole length of the western coast of i nter

tropical Afr i ca . The flower i s ofgreat beau ty,the shrub

is cane- l i ke,and the fru i t

,which appears c lose to the

ground with a pyri form pod with crim son skin,enclos ing

b lack -brown seeds,i s surrounded by a j u icy placen ta . O n

THE GRA IN COAST . 3

a long and thirsty‘

march,noth ing is more pleasant than

a handfu l ofthese cardamons, the acidi ty of the pu lp con

trasting most pleasantly with the pungency of the spice .

”

By the Dutch they were cal led Guinea Grain s ; and by

the trade,Malaguetta pepper and the demand in Europe

in the s ixteenth century led to the d iscovery ofmany

ports on the coast The grains were then principal ly

used for giving the fi re and flavou r to sp iri tuou s l iquors

and i n the adul teration of beer . A t last the importa

t ion into England was forbidden ; cases of poison ing

being attributed to i t . The natives of the West Coast

sti l l use th is cardamon extens ively as a cond iment and a

med icine ; i t i s a stomachic, a carm inat ive, and also an

external i rri tant . The people of the Gold Coast,when

Suffer ing from headache,rub over the forehead a paste

made from Malaguetta pepper,and the powder is appl ied

during the hot stage of fever . I n earl iest t imes these

grains were supposed to have been derived from coch ineal,

which was then thought to be a paras it i cal plant instead

ofan insect . I n Martin ’s H istory of tae Britisn Colonies

( 1 834) we find the fol lowing explanat ion for the name

given to the Grain Coast . The species of pepper to

which it owes its name is produced from a smal l parasiti

cal plant,with beaut i fu l green leaves

,and the fru i t of

which,resembl ing a fig

,p resents

,when opened

,aromati c

grains, forming the valuable part . A t i ts fi rst in troduct ion into Europe

,where such arti c les were l i ttle known

,

it 'recei ved the flatteri ng appel l at ion of Grains ofPara

dise After the d i ffu s ion,however

,of the finer species

from I nd ia,i t fel l in to total d isrepute ; and th is coast ,

producing no other art i cl es ofexport,has been the least

frequented ofany part of Gu inea .


The fi rst of these grains is Malaguetta,otherwi se

cal led Paradise Grains,or Guinea Pepper

,a fru it which is

not general ly known . I t grows on shrubs in red shel l s or

husks , which at a d i stance afford a very p leasant prospect .Within these husks i s contained the Malaguetta

,separated

into four or five d ivis ions and covered by a whi te fi lm .

This Gu inea pepper grows also in a d i fferent manner,

not un l ike large grass reeds .

Here also grows a fru i t on shrubs,which in taste and

figure resembles cardamon,which I doubt not but i t is .

”

Tlie Ivory Coast extended from Cape Formosa east

ward to Ass in ie,but the name is now entirely a m isnomer ;

the an imals that once suppl ied Europe with tusks having

been ei ther exterminated or d r iven away by the ravages

of the hunter ; the ivory of the present day coming from

ports much farther to the south . On the Old Ivory Coast

there were but few settlements ; Fresco ,Cape Lahou,]acka-J ack

,Grand Bassam and Ass in ie were among the ch ief

,

the last two being French . The teeth obtained in olden

t imes were of good qual i ty and Often very large,some

weighing as much as z oo pounds .

This part of West Afr i ca i s now known as French

Guinea ; i t i s under the adm in istration ofSenegal,and

incl udes the coun try east and west ofCape Palmas for

some 150 miles of which the ch ief part i s at present dis

tinguished as the Kru Coast. This name is various ly

wr i tten Kru,K roo

,Croo and Krou . I t would hard ly be

fai r to leave th is part of the Gu inea Coast wi thout saying

something about the pecu l iar tribes which inhabi t the

Kru country,and the part they have played and sti l l play

in th is rapid ly civi l i s i ng part ofAfri ca .

Bishop Payne describes “ the Krus as a smal l tribe,

THE KRU PEOPLE . 5

occupying that part of the coast lying hal f-way between

Cape Mesurado and Cape Palmas,with a seaboard ex

tending some twenty or th i rty m i les,and stretching

perhaps as far into the in terior . O riginal ly they pos

sessed but five sett lements— Little Kru , Settra Kru ,Krubah

,Nanna Kru and King V Vill

’

s town . O f the

inhabitants of th is part of the coast they were the first

to l eave thei r country and go to sea ; but soon other

tribes fol lowed thei r example,unti l

,at the present day

,

some twenty or more tribes,number i ng perhaps some

sou ls,are l a rgely engaged in the various spheres

of l abou r throughout the whole of Upper and Lower

Gu inea under the common name of Kru men,but more

common ly known as Kru boys,whether thei r age be

twelve or forty . One most not iceable feature abou t

them is that they never ens lave on e another ; yet

in past days they were the l i fe and sou l of the Span ish

and Portuguese s lave traders,and might wel l have been

cons idered the greatest k idn appers on the coast . On

the decl ine of the S l ave trade they offered as seamen to

the Ships of warand merchantmen then on the coast, and

have at the p resent day pract i cal ly become the cool ies

and lascars ’

ofWest A frica .

”

The tribes now supplying the boys for this work come

from S inou,Sette K ru

,Niffu

,Grand Cess

,Caval ly and

Cape Palmas,and from the su rround ing country for

some forty mi les in land . Thei r language and physique

prove them to be cognate tribes,and from thei r inter

cou rse,general moral s and behaviour they may al l be

included under the one name of Kru boys .The features of these people are d ist inctly A frican

,

the sk in is very dark,the hai r short and k inky

,and often


cut and shaved into pecul iar pattern s,which gives the

cranium a very grotesque appearance to European eyes .

The sku l l i s often remarkably flat at the back,and

sometimes narrows much towards the crown,thus appear

ing almost pyram id ical in shape . The face i s always cut

and tattooed,the variat ion in the marks procl aim ing

the tribe from which the ind ividual comes . The teeth,

wh ich are very fine,are cut

,sharpened and sometimes

extracted . This cutt ing is most often seen in the shape

ofan inverted letter V,which is done between the m iddle

inc isors ofthe upper j aw . A l l th is d i sfigurement is done

in the roughest poss ible manner,the implemen t being

simply a kn i fe or rough piece of i ron,and the process

,

instead ofhelping to destroy the teeth,seems to act rather

as a preservative,and appears opposed to the views once

held by dentists and phys iologis ts,that destru ction ofthe

tooth enamel involved the loss ofthe tooth . A fter food,

the mouth is always rinsed and the teeth c leansed,and i t

i s rare that a day passes wi thout the whole body being

bathed, thus great ly reducing the unpleasant odour

which always ex ists . The tooth st ick,too

,i s l argely

used .

O f a l l the African tr ibes belonging to the West Coast,

the Kru boy lends h im sel f most read i ly to im itat ion of

the European . I n h i s nat ive state he i s a fi ne- look ing

savage,with the mu sc les of the shou lders

,chest and

arms fi ne ly developed,a s ingle cloth round the m idd le

being h is on ly covering,a rude chain of coloured string

oreven a strip of hai ry sk in or beads round the neck,

whi ls t ank les and wrists are variou s ly adorned with

ivory,brass or i ron rings . One of h is greatest weak

nesses i s a hat,and this covering embraces every kind

KRU BOYS 7

and colour that can be included from an o ld “ top hat

to a cotton n ightcap .

A few years away from home,however

,changes al l

th is,and when he returns again to his country

,which he

must a lways do,he i s transformed in the most grotesque

manner. H i s wages have been spent upon his outfi t,

and he returns to we country,as he cal l s i t

,i n

the most glaring colours of Manchester cotton clothes,

or i n cast-Off European garments ei ther too large or too

smal l and with personal imped imenta in the shape ofa

wooden box the S i ze ofa tool chest— in which are secreted

al l the odds and ends he has managed to appropriate

during h is term of service- two o r three kegs of gun

powder,a case or two of Hamburg gin

,brass and i ron

pans,brush

,comb and look ing-glass

,al l ofwhich are

du ly appreciated and quick ly d ivided by the members of

his expectant fami ly,who have been await ing his retu rn .

By many of the other races on the West Coast the Kru

boys are desp ised,and yet they are doing al l the rough

work along this western part ofAfrica,from Sierra Leone

to the mouth Of the N iger. They work the cargoes ofthe

vessel s plying between these points,andare to be found

in every factory down the coast,preparing the palm oil

,

the palm kernels , and the rubber for the export trade .

When trained,they make fairly good personal servants ,

but would be of l i tt le or no use as sold iers,too l arge

a proportion of coward ice being found in thei r nature .

They make excel len t canoe and surf-boat men , being

apparently neither afraid of~

the water nor of the sharks

that abound in i t .When away from thei r own coun try they adopt, or

more often are given by thei r new masters a new


name,which to Eu ropean ears sounds in

-

many cases

most lud i crous,but by which in future they are always

known . Thus in every coast town wi l l be found

Kru boys answering to such names as Seabreeze,Jack

Savage,Hal f-Dol lar

,No . 1

,Bottl e 0

’ Beer,P r ince of

Wales,Best Man

,and so on

,adlioituin .

The one object of the Kru boy in leaving home i s to

make money,in order to return again to his own country as

a “ fine gentleman For the first few years of h is vo lun

tary ex i le,he is fleecedof his earnings and belongings by

the various members ofhis fami ly and the headmen ofhi s

vi l lage,every t ime he returns to we country

,

” but after

five or six voyages he learns enough Engl ish to become

a headman,and then he is able to fleece others i n

place of being fleeced himself.

The Kru women seldom ornever leave thei r country . I

have seen but two offer themselves for serv ice on the Gold

Coast. This was to the Roman Cathol ic M iss ion at Cape

Coast Cast le ; but W i thou t the aid of the K ru boy, much

ofthe p resent trade ofWest A fr i ca would ent i rely cease .

The GoldCoast i s the thi rd divis ion of Guinea,and

,as

before stated,i s the on ly part that now retains the name

that was fi rst bestowed upon i t,as ear ly as the fourteenth

centu ry . S in ce that time it has seen many changes,

unti l at the present day it has become on e of the ch ief

centres of interest,both in the d iplomatic and the com

mercial world . The Gold Coast has wel l deserved its

name,for from the beginn i ng of the s ixteenth century

,

and on through the two succeed ing centuries,i t poured a

steady flow ofthe yel low metal i nto Europe,and attracted

to its shores the adventurers ofal l nat ions , unt i l down to

the present t ime,i t is estimated that between S ix ty and

IO THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

when on a m ission Of peace to Ben in c i ty early in

1 897 .

The two other great centres ofthe A frican s lave trade

lay in the countries immed iately surround ing the Gambia

and Senegal R ivers on the one part,and the terr i tor ies

along the whole mouth of the Congo upon the other,but

with these i t is not my intent ion to deal .

E arly Expedition s — So far as i s known, and accord ing

to thei r own wri ters,the French were the fi rst European s

to vis i t the Gul f of Gu inea . This i s stated to have been

sometime between 1364 and 1413, in the reign ofCharles

the Fi fth,when they explored as far as the present E lm ina

of the Gold Coast . This claim to be the fi rst navigators

of what was then an unknown region i s upheld by

many French writers,who state that a company of

D ieppe merchants vis i ted Gu inea and founded the trad ing

stat ions at Goree,Verde and G rand Cess . The date of th is

V i s i t i s said to have been 1364, and the exped it ion to have

cons isted of on ly two vessel s of one hundred tons each .

Some eighteen years l ater,i n 1382, a combined fleet from

Rouen and D ieppe,cons ist ing of three Ships

,again vi s i ted

the coast,one ofwhich

,the V irgin ,

is stated to have

reached Commendah and M ina,and to have obta ined large

suppl ies ofgold from these places . More than this,i t i s

al leged that the French were the bu i lders ofthe fi rst fort

at E lm ina in 1383, which was afterwards rebu i l t by the

Portuguese in 148 1 , and named St . George del M ina o r

O ra del M ina— the mouth Of the m ines . This occupation

by the Rouen and D i eppe merchants i s reported to have

been the means of importing large quanti ties ofgold,ivory

and Malaguetta pepper into France,and of establ ish ing a

flourishing trade between the two countries,which las ted

EARLY EXPED IT ION S . I I

for about hal f a century,when European continental

d i sturbances caused the French to abandon their West

Coast settlemen tsi This would be somewhere about

1413, when the attention and resources of France were

drawn away from her colon ial enterprise,and concentrated

upon her European wars,which continued to occupy her

ti l l nearly the end Of the fifteenth century

This c laim of early di scovery and the establ ishment

of trade by the French i s strongly d isputed by the

Portuguese,who cla im (and , accord ing to ear ly Engl ish

authori ties,are supported in the i r c laim ) the honou r of

being the fi rst to vis i t and to trade with this part ofthe

world .

Their claim i s based upon the fact that Pr ince Hen ry

ofPortugal,the navigator

,was the fi rst European power

that d irected attent ion to the West Coast of Afri ca,and

caused i t to be explored as far as S ierra Leone,and that

in 1442 Gon z ales Baldez a, after an absence oftwo years ,returned to Portugal

,br inging with h im ten slaves and

a large amount ofgold dust . The s laves are reported to

have been presented to Pope Mart in the Fifth,who there

upon conferred upon Portugal the sovereignty and right

over al l the l ands that might be d iscovered in th is part of

the world .

Prince Henry d ied in 1463, and up to th is date no point

of d iscovery further than S ierra Leone is c laimed in this

account by the Portuguese . In 148 1 , however, a second

exped i t ion under the patronage of King John the Second

of Portugal,i s reported to have been sent

,with a force

of some 700 men . This expedit ion reached the p resent

Gold Coast,landed at the E lm ina of our t ime

,and bui l t

the Fort of S t . George ofthat name . That the Portuguese


bui l t thi s fort there is no doubt,but because no mention

is made of the ex istence,or traces found

,of the ru in s

of the fort p revious ly al leged to have been bu i l t by the

French,i t does not fol low that the French had n ot been

there before them,as they claim to have been in I383.

Another Portuguese account says that i n 147 1

Fernas Gomez,a wel l -known Lisbon merchant , Obtained

the perm iss ion ofhi s Government to trade Upon the West

Coast for five years under the fol lowing cond it ions : an

annual payment to the Portuguese Gove rnment of£ 44and an annual voyage along the coast forno t less than 300

miles . They then claim that i n the five years some I 500

miles ofcoast were d iscovered and E lm ina establ ished .

These variou s accounts p rove the establ i shment ofthe

Portuguese at E lm ina,but the actual year seems some

what in doubt,for Bosman

,wr i t ing in 1 705, says :

“ I

cannot pretend to in form you exact ly when they (the

Portuguese) began to bu i ld the castle, but can on ly tel l

you that we took i t from them in 1 638 and i t i s indeed

j ust ly become famous,for to speak the fai r truth of i t

,

forbeauty and strength,i t hath not i ts equal upon the

whole coast ” .

I wi l l not attempt to dec ide upon the rival claims of

France and Portugal to the right of fi rst d iscovery,but

l eave the reader to form his own opin ion . However i t

may have been,nei ther one nor the other enjoyed the

sole rights thus obtained for very long,for the commence

ment of the traffi c in s laves and gold attracted other

nations to the Gu inea Coast,notably among whom were

the Dutch,the Danes and the Engl ish .

The advent of these three nations,the gold produce

,

and the exci tement of the s lave trade soon caused that

GOLD COAST OF SEV ENTEENTH CENTURY.

THE GOLD COAST OF THE SEV ENTEENTH CENTURY .

THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

part of Guinea known as the Gold Coast to be studded

with forts and factories from end to end . A glance at the

map on page 13wi l l Show a total oftwenty -five,three of

whi ch were Dan ish,two B randenburgers and seventeen

Dutch and Engl ish . There were probably more . The

Rev . Mr . Reindorf gives the tota l as th i rty-five,s ixteen

Dutch,fourteen Engl i sh

,and five Dan ish . These forts

served a three- fold purpose : defence against hosti le attack

by the nat i ves and from other European powers,as a pro

tection for the trad ing factories , and as s l ave barracoons .

We have seen that the Portuguese lost S t . George del

M ina to the Dutch in 1 638 , by whom they were final ly ex

pelledfrom the coast some fou r years later, in 1 642 . Bos

man dri ly remarks : The Portuguese served for sett ing

dogs to Spring the game,which

,as soon as they had done

,

was sei zed by others ”. The Danes in thei r tu rn ceded thei r

possess ions to the Engl ish in 1 850 ,and the Dutch in 1 868

and 1 87 2 , and many of the o ldforts are now a mass of

ru ins andtangled bush . A complete l ist ofthe forts wi l l be

found at the end of th is Chapter. The his tory ofthe Engl ish

upon the Gold Coas t forms a very interest ing study,par

ticularly when regarded with our action of the present

day concern ing thi s neglected spot of ourgreat empi re .

The fi rst Engl ish mercanti l e transact ion recorded i s that

ofCaptain Thomas Wyndham,who i n 1551 made the first

voyage to the coast and sent home a cargo of Mala

guetta pepper (Gu inea grains) and a large amount of

gold dust . I t i s however stated that the Engl i sh were ac

quain tedwith the coast as early as the reign ofEdward theFourth

,but ofth is there i s no authenti c record

,though the

date is fixed at 1556 . About the latte r end of the reign

ofEdward the S ixth,some London merchants fi tted out

ENGLISH EXPED IT ION S . 15

the fi rst Engl i sh sh ips that ever traded to Gu inea,and in

the reign of Q ueen Mary, and for the fi rst ten or twelve

years of Q ueen E l i zabeth,sundry other p r ivate ships

were fi tted out for the same parts but the Engl ish,not

having as yet any Settlements o r plantat ions in : the

West I ndies,and con sequent ly no occas ion for negroes

,

traded in such sh ips only for gold,elephants ’ teeth and

Malaguetta pepper,and al l such voyages were under

taken and performed at the haza rd of los ing the ships

and cargoes i f they fel l in to the hands of the Portuguese,

without the least ground to hope for any red ress or

sat is faction for the same . I n the th irt ieth year of the

reign of Q ueen E l i zabeth , England , being then at war

with Spain and Portugal,formed a company for the

“ better d iscovering and'

carrying on of the gum trade,

from the northernmost part of the river Senegal,and

from and with in that ri ver,al l along that coast unto the

most southern part Of the Gambia and within the same

To this company was al so granted the sole right to trade,

in,to and from the said r i vers and countries for a certain

term ofyears,with prohibi t ion to all others to trade to

the same places,on pain of forfei tu re ofships and goods ;

and these were the fi rst merchants that ever traded to

the coast of West A fri ca,by and under the author i ty and

protection of the C rown of Great B r i ta in . I n the re ign

ofjames the Fi rst andhis successor Charles,and during

the t ime of Cromwel l,other person s were encouraged by

publ ic authori ty to trade to other parts of Gu inea,and

to take such measures for the bette r carrying on and

improving the same as they should j udge most proper .

The resu l t of thi s was that one fort was bu i l t at Cor

mantine i n 1 624 on the Gold Coast,and another on the

1 6 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

river Gambia on the North Coast,and these were the

only places of consequence which the Engl ish possessed

on the West Coast at the t ime ofthe Restorat ion .

K ing Charles the Second,soon after h is restoration

,was

made acquain ted with the precarious state to which the

trade ofhis subjects in those parts had been reduced,and

having received many complaints touching the interrup

t ion to and the depredations committed upon the ships

of h is nation by the Dutch West I nd ia Company on the

coast ofA fr i ca,i t became necessary to consider not on ly

a proper method for protecting and securing the trade

for the fu ture,but l i kewise in what manner reparation

m ight be obtained for damage done . From this arose

the fi rst corporat ion for trade with West A fr ica,and

such subj ects of the k ing as were wi l l ing to engage i n

th is trade were granted such powers,privi leges and en

couragemen ts as the circum stan ces at that time requ i red .

This was done by letters patent u nder the great seal of

England,bearing the date of l oth j anuary, 1 662

,and

the body of Engl ish merchants was styled the Com

pany of Royal Adventu rers of England trad ing to

A frica ” This power was further augmented in 1 67 2 by

Charter bearing date of27 th September, granting al l the

l ands,countries

,havens

,roads

,r ivers and other places in

A frica,from the port ofSal lee in South Barbary to the

Cape of Good Hope,for the term of 1 000 years

,with the

ent i re trade and traffi c into and from the said countries

and places,with proh ibit ion to al l others of his subj ects

to vi s i t or frequent the same wi thout the l i cense of the

said Company . Subscriptions were invi ted from al l H i s

Majesty ’s subjects,but on ly a sum of was

obtained,which was l argely spent in repairing the ex ist


the t ime that Wi l l iam Bosman was the Chief factor for

the Dutch at E lm ina,and to whom we are indebted for

much of our knowledge of the coast at th is t ime . A

strange fatal i ty,however

,seemed to fol low the formation

ofthe Engl ish trad ing companies . The “ Royal A frican

Company decl ined,became bankrupt and disappeared

from the scene,and to take i ts place in 1 753the

“ A fr ican

Company ”was establ ished for free trade on the Gold

Coast to al l His Majesty ’s subj ects . This company

fol lowed in the wake of the others,and in 1 82 1 ceased

to ex ist,and al l B ri t ish possess ions on the West Coast of

A fri ca were,by the Engl i sh Pa r l iament

,made mere

dependencies of S ierra Leone . This was about the

worst th ing that cou ld have happened for the prosperi ty

and general wel fare of the colony . This was i n 1 82 1 .

Six years later saw another change . Owing to the

expen ses of S i r Charles McCarthy’

s A shan t i war,the

Government found themselves compel led to del iver the

various forts of the Gold Coast over to the merchants,on

cond it ion that Cape Coast Cast l e and james Fort,A ccra,should st i l l be admin i stered from Sierra Leone

,and that

the general affai rs Shou ld be under the control of th ree

Afri can m erchants and a paid secretary,the Home

Government con tribut ing £ 4000 per annum towards the

necessary expenses . Th i s arrangement lasted unti l 1 844,when Government again took possession of the Gold

Coast,Commander H i l l

,R .N .

,being appointed the fi rst

Governor. From this period to the presen t time the

var ious vi ciss i tudes through which the coast has passed

wi l l be fu l ly dealt with in succeed ing chapters .Accord ing to Bosman

,the Gold Coast original ly

extended for about s ixty m i les,but th is i s not at a l l

ENGLISH AND DUTCH FORTS . 19

accu rate. He says : “ The Gold Coast,being

“

a part Of

Guinea,is extended about s ixty mi les

,beginn ing with

the GoldRiver, twelve m i les above Ax im ,and end ing

with the vi l lage Pon ni,seven or eight m i les east of

Accra This i s so far incorrect,with regard to the

d istance,that one wonders by what mi leage i t cou ld

have been computed,though it i s qu i te poss ible the Dutch

mi le of9000 yards was the med ium ofmeasurement.

From my own actual travel l ing on the coast,I make

the d istance from Accra to Cape Coast about eighty-one

mi les,and from Cape Coast to Ax im much the same ;

add to this the twelve m i les between Axim and the Gold

R iver and the seven or eight m i les between Accra and

the Ponn i Vi l lage,and we have a d istance of about 1 80

miles Engl ish for the extent of the Gold Coast,early in

the eighteenth century,between its western and eastern

l im its as laid down by this o ldDutch author .

A glance at the map on page 13 wi l l show to the

reader the extent of the coast,with the numerous forts

and factories studding the whole coast l ine,one to every

eight or nine m i les . Twenty- five are mentioned in his

map,ofwhich three were Dan ish

,two belonged to the

Brandenburgers,and the remain ing twenty to the Dutch

and the Engl i sh .

A t Accra the Engl ish had but j ames Fort,whi le to the

west ofAccra,or to the windward as i t is termed

,they

held Winnebah,Mumford

,Gomoah,Tantum

,Corman tine,

Anamaboe,Cape Coast Cast le

, Commendah,Sekondi

,

D ixcove and Beyin . I n tersect ing these were the Dutch

establ ishments of Barracoe,Appam

,Cormantine

,

Mouri, Chama, Commendah,Takorad i

,Boutri

,Acoda

,

Hol land ia . Brandenburg and Axim ,whi le to the east they


he ld Dutch Accra,Labaddi

,Pona

,Temma and P ram

P ram .

I n add it ion to these there were five held by the Danes,

via,Christ iansborg

,Fredericksborg,

Augustenborg,Kon

gen stein an d Prinden stein , al l s i tuated between Accra

and the Volta R iver.

The countries incl uded in the Gold Coast numbered

eleven,and extended from the A n cobra R iver to the Ponn i

Vi l lage,each contain ing two or three towns or vi l l ages

,

S i tuated upon the sea - shore,either under or between the

forts ofthe Europeans but the largest and most popu lous

towns were found farther in land . These d istr i cts were

then known by the fol lowing names Axim,Ante

,

Adorn,Jab i

,Kommany,

Fetu,Saboe

,Fan tyn ,

Acron,

Agona and Aquambu.

A t the present day the Gold Coast consi sts ofa much

larger terri tory than that just described,the coast l ine

having been considerably increased by the add it ion of

the Apol lon ia country to the west,and the Adangme

and Awoonah countries to the east . These last men

tionedterri tories were added to the P rotectorate in 1 850 ,

when the K i ng Of Denmark sold h is forts on the Gold

Coast to the B ri t ish Government for

Some seventeen years later,i n 1 867 , the Governments

of Great B ritain and Hol land by mutual agreement rearranged their possessions upon the Gold Coast . England

transferred all her forts,rights and privi leges west of the

Sweet Water R iver as far as Newtown,i ts western l im it

,

to Hol land , and in return the Dutch Government gave

over to the Engl ish al l the forts,rights and privi leges pre

viously held by them to the eastward ofthe same river.A t th is period nei ther Dutch nor Engl i sh c laimed

TRAN SFER OF TERR ITORY .

any land outs ide thei r forts,though the former held ,

near Axim,a very considerab l e tract ofcountry, watered

by the A ncobra, and bounded by the k ingdoms of Apol

lonia,Denkira and Wassaw . A further transfer of terri

tory was made in 1 872 , when the Dutch Government

handed over to the Brit ish a l l i ts remain ing forts and

territories held by them at that t ime, in cluding those

that had been previous ly transferred to them by the

Engl i sh in 1 867 . Thus, from 1 87 2, the whole coast has

been in B r i t ish hands,with the French for neighbours on

the west,and the Germans on the east . The French at

thi s t ime took but l i ttle interest in thei r possess ions to

the west,having stations on ly at Grand Bassam

,A ss i n i

and Li ttle Bassam,so much so that they let their pos

sessions to Messrs . Swan zy 81 Co .,who opened up a great

trade upon the Ass in i and Tando R ivers,and the lagoons

connected with them . A l though the French had practi

cal ly withd rawn,no formal declaration ofsuch was made

,

and they con tented themselves by mainta in ing a naval

connection on ly with this part of the coast,to be again

developed in later years by actual occupation and mercan tile activi ty . Thus ended the rights ofthe Portuguese

,

Dutch and Danes upon the Gold Coast of A fri ca,so that

instead of the strip of s ix ty mi les mentioned by Bosman,

there is now a seaboard of some 360 miles extend ing

from Newtown,i ts extreme western l im it

,to Danoe in

the east,bordering upon French Gu inea and Togoland

respect ively . This seaboard is now divided and recognisedas cons isting ofsome eight d ist inct native pol i t ical

d ivis ions , in place of the eleven known in the early

part of the eighteenth century, and mentioned byBosman .

22 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT

These countries occur in the fo l lowing order from the

west

1 . Apol lon i a from Newtown to Ax im .

Ahanta from Ax im to Sekondi .

Chama from Sekondi to Chama .

E lm ina from Chama to Cape Coast .

Fanti from Cape Coast to Bereku .

Ga orAccra from Bereku to P ram P ram .

Adangme from P ram P ram to Ada ; and

A. woonah from Ada to Danoe .

Besides th i s large increase of seaboard,the interior

territor i es have been extended in a most i rregular

manner,unt i l the whole of the countries from the coast

,

up to and incl uding the eleventh paral lel ofN . lat i tude,

are n ow under B r i t i sh protection , under the comprehens ive t i t le of the Gold Coast Colony and P rotectorate .

Geographical ly the coast extends from 3°2'

W . longi

tude to 1°

3'

E . longitude , a d istance of some 360 miles

from point to point .

The interior territories now i nc lude some very im

portant states,the chief of which a re

1 . Aowin and Sefwi .

Wassaw .

Denkira. i n the west .Tufel .

A ssin .

Akim .

Aquapim .

K robo .

In the east .

90

V

Q

w-p

wtx)

po

wpx

sn

-w

9. Krepi .

While st i l l farther i n land to the north are the importan tcountries ofAshanti

,Kwahu

,Nkoranza and Dagwumba.

V IEW OF THE COAST . 23

Viewed from the deck of a pass ing steamer,th is

coast presen ts to the eye an almost unbroken l ine

of low,flat

,sandy beach

,ris ing at intervals into

bold,rocky headlands

,proj ect ing in some cases far

ou t to sea. A long th is l ow- lying shore,the great

A t lanti c rol lers break wi th unceas ing violence, caus ingthe beach to be continual ly fringed wi th boi l ing surf

,

thus mak ing the land ing on the coast anything but

pleasan t,should duty take you there . Upon the Apol

lon i an, Adangme and Awoonah Shores , this surf i s the

most dangerous,and it is only at such places as Axim

,

Takorad i,D i xcove and E lm ina

,that land ing in an ord inary

ship ’s boat i s at al l poss ible,and then Often on ly in ex

ceptionally quiet weather . N avigation a long the Go ld

Coast,and in whole ;coast of the Gu l f of

Guinea,requires. ,much ,

-c,aut ion

,as the ishore 48 flat and

comparat ively dest i tute of any c on spicuous l andmarks,whi le the heavy surf

,borne i n from the wholeb readthrof

the vast At lanti c,breaks continual ly against the Shore.

Landing from a steamer i s accompl ished by'a surf-boat.No compan ion ladder can be used on account ofthe swel l .Men clamber over the s ide of the ship by a rope ladder

of the roughest descript ion into the surf-boat wait ing to

receive them,whi le lady passengers are swung between

sky and sea in a tub or basket kept for the purpose.O nce in the surf-boat one feel s comparat ively safe

,

though to my mind there i s more danger attend ing thi s

l ast m i le and a hal f of the j ou rney than in the whole

4000 miles’ run from Liverpool . Except at the places I

have ment ioned,great care has to be exercised in

‘

the

selection ofa s i tuation for the an chorage ofa sh ip ofany

si ze. A s a ru le,steamers anchor from one to two mi les


from the shore in about s ix to ten fathoms of water.

Smal ler trad ing vessels may approach nearer,but as a very

heavy swel l almost continual ly sets in,i t i s necessary not

to be too near the breakers . The strength ofthe cu rrent

var ies along the whole coast,but its average rate may be

taken as from one to two mi les to the eastward per hou r .

The surf i s supposed to be at i ts worst at the new and

the ful l moon . The sea-breez e is very regu lar along the

coast and comes up from the south -west . On this account

the coast has been d ivided into windward and leeward

distri cts,the former extend ing from Cape Apol lon ia

,

2°

35’

west longitude,to the Secoom R iver

,some ten m i les

west of Accra,and the l atter from the same rive r to the

town of Danoe upon the eastern boundary Ofthe colony .

An ord inary surf-boat is manned by a crew of eleven

men,ten to paddle and one to steer . Good time is kept

in paddl ing,and the work is somewhat var ied by the

monotonous dron ing of a chant in the vernacular,of

which the chorus is general ly in nat ive Engl i sh,and

runs as fol lows

Good o ldmassa come from home,

Leave h im fader,leave h im moder,

Dashee me on e hun der pon n s,Good oldmassa come from home

When near the shore a wave is selected a l l row for dear

l i fe,and

,r id ing in on the crest ofthe sea

,the boat is run

upon the sand befo re the next breaker i s able to over

take it . The great danger l ies in the boat gett ing

broads ide on and turn ing turtle.

Vegetation in the colony flourishes in many places

down to the water ’s edge,thus caus ing the spectator

,

who Views this part of the globe for the fi rst t ime,to


east for a d istance of about three mi les,there being ,

however,a considerable stretch of open country between

Usshe r Town and Chri st iansborg . james Town and

Ussher Town are most i rregu lar ly con structed,and

contain but few decent streets ; narrow al leys and tor

tuons turn ings serving as passages from on e part of the

town to another . Fortunately,a large port ion of thi s

crowded and i l l - bu i l t section of these town s was com

pletely dest royed by fi re in 1 894. The area,once thu s

occupied,i s now being cleared ; and I bel ieve in the

place ofthe former m iscel laneous co l lection ofmud huts

and hovel s of al l shapes and s izes,that Accra wi l l soon be

able to boast ofa large po rtion ofits area having been laid

out in wel l -planned and symmetrical ly-arranged streets .Cape Coast Cast le

,also on the coast

,and about eighty

m iles to the west of Accra,i s the next impo rtant town

,

and was the seat of the Government of the colony unti l

i t was removed to the present capi tal i n 1 874. Caoo

Corso was its or igi nal name . I t is s i tuated on hi l ly

ground,and is

,l i ke Accra

,most i rregu lar ly bu i l t

,smel l s

horribly and is very hot— native huts and European

quarters j ostl ing s ide by S ide in al l parts of the town .

From the sea i t looks very picturesque . O ther towns

of importance on the coast are E lm ina and Axim to

the wes t of Cape Coast,Sal tpond to the east

,and Ada

and Kwi tta on the eastern shores of the colony.

I n the inter ior are many wel l - s i tuated towns,at mos t

ofwhich, especial ly in the eastern part of the colony, are

to be found members of the “ Basle M ission Society,

”

with their wives and fami l ies . Thei r most impo rtan t

centres are Aouriand A kropong i n the Aquapim country,KiooiorKyebiand Begoro in the Ak im country,

A oetifi in

INTER IOR TOWN S . 27

the Kwahu country , Odufnase in the K robo country, and

A nuiu i n the Krepi coun t ry. Ada,at the mouth of the

Vol ta,is al so an important “ Bas le M iss ion ” stat ion .

Thi s miss ion,ofwhich a further account wi l l be given in

the later pages ofth is work,has a two- fold purpose

,viz .

,

that of trade al l ied to civi l i sat ion and Chri st ian ity . The

Wesleyan M iss ion has also a stat ion at Aouri in Aqua

pim,though the headquarters of th is body are at Cape

Coast, from whence thei r branch stat ions extend east

and west for the whole extent of the coast,with a few

minor interior centres . On the coast,too

,are found the

stations of the Roman Catho l ic M i ss ion of St . Franci s

de Sales from Lyons,their most important centres

being E lmina,Cape Coast, Saltpond, A ccra and Kwitta .

The populat ion of the Gold Coast Colony is rough ly

estimated at 1 -5mil l ions, mostly the descendants of the

negro fami ly,possess ing

,in the majori ty of cases

,the

marked racial physical characteristics of that people,

though the close observer might detect s l ight d i fferences

ofbui ld and facial express ion among the var ious peoples

of the d i fferent coun tries compris ing the colony . The

wander ing A rab of the desert i s to be found in every

town,and i s a stately and wel l -ordered member of the

West Afri can popu lation,though perhaps not qu ite so

clean and sweet-smel l ing as he m ight be . The men

general ly give one the impress ion of being phys ical ly

very strong and capable ofgreat enduran ce ; the women

are for the most part tal l and wel l -proport ioned,and easy

in thei r movements . Matu r i ty in both sexes arrives early,prime of l i fe is of short durat ion

,and sen i l i ty fol lows

qu ick ly in i ts wake . The Child ren are active, l i thesome

l i tt le mortals, and , when young, are very precocious and


apt to learn . NO one,however

,in th is part ofthe world

seems to work for work ’s sake . So long as the immed iate

wants of the presen t can be sat isfied,no one cares to

remember the past,or has any ambition for the future .

M an works to sat is fy h is most press ing needs, and woman

works for,and to sat isfy

,the wants ofman .

The whole coast from end to end is dotted with in

numerable fish ing vi l lages,and the male population in

these spend thei r t ime in catch ing enormous quanti t ies

of al l k inds of fi sh w i th which the tropica l waters ofthe

Gul f of Gu inea abound . The fish i s then d r i ed and

cu red in a pecul iar native fashion,which to the European

nose i s most Offens ive,packed in loads

,and carried by

the women and ch i ldren to the interior towns,to be ex

changed for other food products not obtainable near the

coast,or to be sold for cash .

Fishing on the Gold Coast was and is sti l l esteemed

next to trad ing,and those who fol low i t are more

numerous than those engaged in other employments .I t i s now general ly fol lowed along the whole coast

,and

every morn ing (Tuesday excepted , which is Fetish day

or Sunday) hundreds of canoes pu t out to sea and

return abou t noon with a plent ifu l harvest,which i s

d r i ed and sold to the in land inhabi tants,who have come

down to buy and sel l again at the inter ior towns .

COM PLETE L I ST OF FORT S ON THE GOLD COA ST .

(A . ) DUTC H .

S ituation . Name .

Axim St. An thony

Fredericksborg D i sused .

Barten stein

When built . Presen t.

Portuguese Stil l used .

(captured by theDutch in 1 642 )1 725.

U

S ituation .

Takorad iSekon d iC hamaCommendah

E lm inaE lm inahioree

Corman t i n eAppamSeniah

Cape CoastDutch Accra

Takrama

Acoda orAcquidah

FORTS ON THE GOLD COAST . 29

Name. WhenW i l sen 1 725

Orange 1 680

St. Sebast ian 1 690

V reden burg 1 688

St. Jago 1 640

St. George 148 1

Nassau 1 637

Am sterdam 1 665

Pat ien ce 1 697 St i l l used .

Bereku 1 667

Cabo Corso 1 624 .

Crevecoeur (U ssher 1 650

Fort).

(B. ) DAN ISH .

Ch r i st ian sborgAugusten borgFreden sborgKongen stein Still used.

Prinden stein

(c . ) B RAND E NBU RG .

Takrama 1 674 D i sused .

Doroth ea 1 682

(D . ) ENGL ISHApo l lon iaD ixcoveSekon d iCommendah

V ictor iaW i l l iam

Macarthy

Corman t in eTan tamquerryMumfordW in n ebah

James FortV ern on

CHAPTER I I .

The Early In hab itan ts Ofthe Go l d Coast— The i r Trad it ion al Or ig in— The Dom inan t Powers— Man n erS— Custom s— Superst i t ion s— Occupat ion s— Rel ig ion— Manual Arts— The Aggrey Bead .

AFR ICA is supposed to have derived its name from the

Pun ic word s ign ifying “ Ears of Corn,

” and to the

ancients was one of the three great d iv i s ions of l and,

ofwhich the world was then supposed to consist . I ts

western part,covering the whole Gu l f ofGuinea

,and ex

tending southward to the mouth ofthe N iger,i s the home

of that portion of mankind known as the Ham it i c

fami ly,which must have pushed i ts way westward from

the main bran ch unti l s topped by the At lant i c Ocean .

To trace the origin of the early inhabitants of the Gold

Coast i s a most d ifficu l t task,i nasmuch as there remain

ne ither d irect trad it ions n orauthenticated accounts,ei ther

among the people themselves or from thei r supposed

V i s i tors before the Chris tian era,or from those who

vis i ted i t for some centu ries after that epoch . By early

wri ters i t was supposed that there once ex isted in th i s

part of the world a most powerfu l k ingdom,whose ru ler

,

by his numerous victories over weaker tribes,subdued

the whole of the su rround ing country,and formed the

so - cal led mighty k ingdom of Gu inea,bestowing this name

upon the whole coast from Cape Mesurado to B iafra .

O ther authori t ies refute th is,notab le among whom is

THE KINGDOM OF GU INEA . 3I

Bosman,who says : How great th i s m istake i s

,I hope

to evince to you,s ince the very name ofGu inea is not

so much as known to the natives here,nor the imaginary

Gu inea Monarchy yet to be found in the wor ld The

supporters ofthose who bel ieve in the supposed k ingdom

ofGu inea,attr ibute to the Phoen ic ians the fi rst vis i tat ion

offore ign powers to the west coast ofA fr i ca,su rmis ing

that Pharaoh Necho,Kin g of Egypt

,employed Phoeni

cian mariners to vis i t the coas t some 600 years B.C . After

them came the Carthagin ians,who are supposed to have

explored the greater part of these western shores and evento have settled there .

The Rev . Carl Reindorf in his recen tly publ ished book ,1 895, says Hanno the Carthagin ian sa i led wi th s ixty

ships offi fty oars each,some men and women and

stores and provis ions to establ ish permanent sett lemen ts

upon theWest Coast ofA fr i ca, and seems to have reached

that particu lar part n ow known as the Gold Coast ” . Com

ing down,however

,to much later t imes

,M r . F . Romer

,the

Dan ish merchant who res ided at the p resen t Christ ians

borg,at the ext reme eastern l im it of Accra ( 1 735 con

fi rms the statements wi th regard to the ear ly ex istence of

a m ighty k ingdom . He says The Gold Coast was a

part of the western d ivis ion of the empi re ruled by the

Emperor of Ben in,whose terri tor i es extended along the

coast from Ben in to the Gambia,and whose k ings were

appoint ed by that emperor ”. He also quotes the find ing

ofthe mosaic oraggrey bead on the Gold Coast and the

S lave Coast , as evidences ofa trade that must have then

ex isted between West A fr i ca and Egypt,and also men

tion s that the ins ign ia of the royal ty ofAccra were the

same as those in use in the Ben in country,and that many


ofthe rel igiou s ceremonies were identi cal i n both countries .O ther writers assert that the whole ofthe tr ibes now inhabi ting the Gold Coast

,some n in eteen in number

,came

original ly from the interior,being gradual ly pushed

towards the coast by more powerfu l Arab tr i bes,who

i nvaded their terri tories in order to enro l them beneath

the banner ofthe Moslem faith . Foremost among these

tribes were the Ashant is and the Fan t i s,at this per iod

branches of the same fam i ly,who are reported to have

settled i n the countries round the Kong Mountains,a

d ist ri c t then known to the Arab traders as Wangara .

This m igration towards the sea of the p resent people in

habit ing the western part of the Gold Coast from the far

interior,appears l i kely to be perfectly t rue

,but of the

tr ibes to be found in the eastern part of the colony the

supposi t ion cannot hold,for according to present local

trad i tion in th is part of the country,i t i s asserted

,that

the Kings of Lagos came from Ben in,and such people

as the Akras and the Lates arr i ved on the coast at d i f

feren t i ntervals from the East . That the King of Ben in

once held sway over th is eastern part ofthe Gold Coast,

is strengthened by a statement made by the previous ly

ment ioned M r . Romer, viz . ,that a ruler for the Ak im

country came with the Ak ras from the sea.

Another trad it ion asserts that the Akras and severa l

of the other tr ibes now inhabi t ing the eastern portion of

the colony came from a country farther east,s i tuated

between two large rivers,and cross ing the Vol ta R iver

,

d istributed themselves over the country,the Akras

sett l ing on the sea- Shore . There seem s no doubt that

abou t the same period that the Ashant is and the Fantis

were moving from the inter ior southward towards the sea,


Denkiras,Wassaws

,and other peoples of the interior

,

thus mark ing the common origin of these va ri ous fami l ies .

Of thi s mother language,the Fanti Of the p resen t day i s

the most important d ial ect,a tongue that wi l l carry you

throughout a large port ion ofthe colony,but which is more

particu larly spoken by the Fantis,E lm inas and Chamas .

This settlement by the Fantis along the shore had the

effect of d ivid ing the original inhabitan ts of the coast

in to two parts,the newly formed Fanti k ingdom being

the divid ing state. This wou ld account for the relation

ship sti l l c la imed by the Apollonian s, Sefwis, A owins and

Ahan tas i n the west to the Ak ra and Adangme - speak ing

people in the east,who sti l l c laim to be brothers .

About the same per iod that saw the removal of the

Fanti tribe from their Old headquarters,in the in te

rior,towards the coast

,witnessed also the fi rst growing

power ofthe Ashant is,and the settlemen t of such powe r

fu l tribes as the Sefwis, Denkiras,Wassaws and Ak ims

to the north ofthe sea- coast fami l ies ; unti l at the end of

the seventeenth centu ry,we find

,accord ing to Bosman

,

some eleven d i fferent states along the shore in add i t ion

to those al ready ex ist ing in the interior .

A fu l l l ist ofthese states has al ready been given in the

previous chapter,so no further mention need be made of

them here,except to state that the migrating tribes from

the interior became from this t ime,i.e. ,the seven teenth

cen tury,the dominant races upon the West Coast ofA fri ca .

Among the races thus mentioned was a common

trad ition,that the whole Of these people were orig inal ly

incl uded in twelve tribes or fami l ies,accord ing to Bow

d ich whi le the Rev . J . B . Anaman ofCape Coast

Castle denies th is,and C l a ims only seven great d ivis ions

,

ANCIENT FAM ILIES . 35

though the latter authority includes as sub -d ivis ions,

several ofthose mentioned by Bowdich as d ist inct fami l ies .Each ofthese fam i l ies contained d i fferent branches

,which

were known by d i fferent names in the d istricts to which

they belonged . The fam i l ies men t ioned by Bowdich

are : Aquonn a,Abrootoo

,Abbradi

,E ssonna

,Annona

,

Yoko,In tchwa

,Abadie

,Appiadie, Agoona, Tchweedam

and Doomina,al l of which are given in the Rev. Mr.

A naman’

s l i st of seven fami l ies and thei r sub-d ivi s ion s,

though somewhat varied i n the orthography .

I t wou ld appear that each fami ly name had a dist in ct

s ign ificance : thus Aquon nameant buffalo,which was a for

bidden an imal to that fami ly A brootoo was a corn stal k

or carof co rn A bbradi,a plantain E sson na

,a bush-cat

Annona,a parrot ; Yoko ,

’

red earth : In tchwa,a dog ;

Appiadie, a servant ; Tchweedam ,a panther ; Agoona,

palm oi l,or a place where palm oil was col lected .

That certain fami l ies exi st down to the present day isquite true

, for I have, i n my travels, verified the ex istence

ofmany ofthem,i n which the nat ives st i l l C lass themselves

without regard to thei r national d ist inct ion s,and have seen

people of qu ite d i fferent tribes at the p resent day salute as

brothers,when each has mentioned the stock fami ly to

which he belongs .O f the famil ies mentioned

,perhaps the bu ffalo

,bush

cat,panther and dog

,are the oldest

,mark ing the people

who l ived by hun t ing whi le the corn stalk and the

plantain represen t the beginn ing of agr icu l ture ; the red

earth fami ly showing atten t ion to bu i ld ings and dwel l ings ;and the palm -oil fam i ly denoting the introduction of com

merce, in which the nat ives include the Portuguese, who

were among the earl iest traders to the coast .


This latter can hard ly be poss ible,for palm oi l was

not kn own as an export in the early days,though perhaps

the fami ly was named from this commodity being used

as food by the natives .

There are,however

,natives to be found on the Gold

Coast,who assert that the Ashant is were once a water

s ide people,from which place they migrated to thei r

present in land terri tory,conquering on thei r way a very

powerfu l people cal led the [n tas,and many smal l tribes

,

final ly establ ishing themselves and bui ld ing Kumas i

about the beginn ing of the e ighteenth century .

This conquered n at ion,the I ntas

,was supposed to have

been r i ch in barbaric arts,many ofwhich were adopted by

the i r conquerors,i n addit ion to a great portion of thei r

l anguage and thei r complete sys tem of weights . The

headquarters ofth i s ancien t Ashant i k ingdom were doubt

fu l ly placed in the count ry,behind the present W innebah

,

along the bank s of the river Ain su,but the whole theory

i s n ot a l ikely sol ut ion of the o r igin ofsuch a powerfu l

race as the people i n question . The ancient history of

the kingdom of Ashanti i s most uncertain,as i t i s bound

to be,from a people possess ing no written language

o r recogn ised trad i t ional records ; and to make i t more

d iffi cul t,en forc ing laws to make it a capital pun ishment

to even ment ion the particu lars about the death ofon e

k ing or the l i fe of another. This supposed migrat ion

of the Ashan t i s from the coast is assumed to have been

conducted by a great leader cal led Osai Tootoo,who

,

en cou raged by supersti t ious omen s,founded Kumas i

,

was made king and received the “ stoo l ” ornative throne

from hi s fol lowers . To conci l iate the other chiefs who

accompanied and ass isted h im in the foundation of th is

FOUNDATION OF ASHANTI . 37

barbar i c monarchy,he created the ari stocracy

,and

passed a law mak ing the royal fam i ly and i ts descendan ts

exempt from capita l pun ishment .The foundation of the Ashan t i k ingdom with Ku

masi as i ts headquarters abou t th is t ime may be re

garded as an absolute fact,but as to whence they came

,

mu st st i l l remain an open question . I n the Ashant i

h i story,dating from 1 700 ,

i t wi l l be found that a s i s ter

nation,known as the Dwaben s

,has always pl ayed a

very importan t part,and it is general ly admitted that

the Dwaben s became a d ist inct branch of the Ashantis,

under the leadership of a chief Boitin ne,a s i ster ’ s son

andcous in to Osa i Tootoo,at the same time that the

Ashant is were bu i ld ing Kumas i . The town of Dwaben

is stated to have al ready existed,some e ight m i les east

of the s i te selected for the capital of A shant i,and i t is

supposed when the suggested exodus from the coast

took place,that the st ronger party under Boitin n e

attacked and captured Dwaben,leaving O sai Tootoo

,

his weaker companion,to found Kumasi . A l though the

two parties thus became separate,they st i l l remain ed

the firmest of al l i es in war,shar ing equal ly in al l Spoi l

and conquest . This common i n terest remained intact

for over a centu ry,al l other interests becoming sub

ordinate to the on e great pol icy of aggress ive increase

ofterri tory and acquis i t ion ofbarbar i c power. No ear l ier

authent ic records ofthe Ashant is have been foun d , ei ther

at Cape Coast Castl e or Accra,than 1 7 80 . The Moors

state that the Ashant i k ingdom was foun ded in 1 700 ,

and upon th is foundation i t rests,there be ing no chrono

logica l reco rds in ex istence to substan t iate the statement .

Osai Tootoo appears to have concentrated hi s energies


upon the consol idation ofhis newly establ i shed k ingdom ,

mak ing Kumas i the headquarters of his m i l i tary power,

and requ iring h i s subord inate chiefs to res ide in the

various town s that sprang up in the immediate n eigh

bourhood of the capital,bestowing d ignity upon them

by means of t i t l es . He conc i l iated his conquered tribes

by making them t r ibutary powers,and checked thei r

poss ible desertion by requ i ring thei r constant presence

at al l pol i t i ca l fest ivi ties . H e held absolute sway over

al l,whi le h is ch iefs and his created aristocracy held al l

j ud icial and legis lat ive power,and looked after the

common bus iness of the state .

Osai Tootoo was ki l l ed by the A to'

as i n I 7 20 ,on a

Saturday,some t ime before the completion of the bui ld

ing of hi s capital . The story goes that he declared war

against the people of Atoa,inhabiting the d istrict

between the Ak im and A ssin countr ies . These people,unable to face such an invader in the Open field

,dis

tributed thei r smal l force through the bush,and passing

the main body ofOsai Too too ’

s army,surprised the king

and his rearguard of some 200 or 300 fol lowers , k i l l ing

them al l,and shooting Osai Tootoo as he lay in hi s

hammock . This is said to have happened at a place

cal led Corman tee,and on a Satu rday

,and was the

origin of the most so lemn oath of the Ashantis for the

future,via ,

“ Miminda Corman tee,

”i.e. ,by “ Saturday and

Corman tee,from wh ich date and c ircumstance Saturday

has always been looked upon as a fatal day by the

A shant is, and upon which n o enterpri se or important

undertak ing has s ince been attempted . So from the

beginn ing of the eighteenth centu ry and on for more

than one hundred years we Shal l find the A shant i power

MANNERS AND CU STOMS .

spread ing over the whole of the Gold Coast,11

the whole country from the A n cobra to the V 0

pletely under thei r sway . As a later cha

with the growth and decay of the Ashant i power,

subject may be dismissed from the present pages .

A t the t ime of which I am writ ing,the negro tribes

inhabit ing the Gold Coast were very much al ike in the i r

manners,customs

,supersti tions

,rel igion and occupations .

Their d isposi t ion was natural ly crafty and cruel,seldom

to be trusted,and they lost no opportun i ty of ei ther

cheat ing the European or one another . I n add it ion they

were natural ly id le and careless,and possessed none ofthe

finer qual i t ies of mankind that are to be found in other

races . Fortune ormisfortune con cerned them but l i tt le,al l

occas ions,whether ofgrief

,pain

,joy

,or even death

,being

se i zed‘ upon as opportun i t ies for feasting

,s inging and

dancing . They l ived i n the present,speed i ly forgot the

past,and cared not for the future. O f personal adorn

ment they were very fond,whi le a s ingle cloth worn round

the m iddle was their on ly clothing,thus leaving the upper

port ion -Of the body and the a rms and legs qu ite bare .

Thi s c loth was of cotton,s i l k orvelvet

,accord ing to the

stat ion of the wearer,whil st arms and neck were various ly

adorned with chains and rings of S i lver,gold or ivory .

A parti cu lar van i ty of the women was the manipulat ion

oftheir hair in al l manner of grotesque shapes and pat

terns,which they interspersed with ornaments of gold

,

coral or the aggrey bead to the value ofmany pounds

sterl ing.

The bearing and the rearing of chi ldren caused but l i tt le

trouble in a negro household . The women apparently care

l i ttle about thei r offspring,the men care less . I n some


parts of the country the chi ld ren are named after the

day upon which they are born,and in others from the

order in which they are born . Thus we get what in

Engl ish wou ld be Monday boy and Monday gi r l,and

First boy,Second boy

,Fi rst gi rl

,Second g i rl

,and so on .

For the fi rst two orth ree years the ch i ld ren are nu rsed by

the mothe r,and then

,when able to run

,the chi ld goes

where i t pleases,to the market for food

,to the water to

swim,with no on e to let orhin der .

Male chi ld ren,as a ru le

,fol low the occupation of thei r

father,and are brought up when very young to his cal l ing,

wh i le the female chi ld ren become the domestic s laves of

the hou se,t i l l ready for sale as a wife to a ne ighbou r .

The ord inary d iet of the bu l k of the popu lat ion was,

and i s at the presen t t ime,ofa very S imple nature . Bos

man says that twopen ce per day was sufficien t to d iet

on e of them,and at the presen t day but threepence i s

al lowed fordai ly subs i stence . Thei r food cons i sts chiefly

ofpounded corn,yarn or plan tain mashed together after

bo i l ing,to the con s i stency of an Engl i sh dumpl ing

,over

which is pou red a l i tt le palm oil,or a fewboi l ed herbs

andpeppers,to wh i ch they add a l i ttl e fi sh . This latter

i s most offen s ive to Eu ropean n ostri l s,and i s deserved ly

termed st ink - fi sh I n the i n ter ior fi sh can not always

be obtained,but its place i s often suppl ied with a piece

of d r ied meat ofsome an imal caught in the chase . O f

thei r own nat ive d r in k,palm win e

,they are inord inately

fond,and they have al so acqu i red a st rong des i re for al l

l iquors of an in tox icating n ature,but more particular ly

rum . The old Dutch factor of Axim must have had

many opportun i t ies of n otic ing thei r pred i lections in

th i s respect,for he says Let the wo r ld go how it wi l l ,


either been sold by thei r relat ions,captured in war

,or

brought to such a stage by poverty,i f such a state exi sted .

O f t ime and its d ivis ions they had n o idea except

what had been learned from the Eu ropeans . The moon

to them was thei r c lock,and by i t they cal cu lated thei r

t imes for sowing and reaping . A name for each day of

the week is however found in thei r language,pointing to

the fact that the d ivis ions of the week must have been

long known to them. The general Sunday on the coast

fal l s on ou r Tuesday,and that of the Mohammedans on

our Friday,though i t d i ffers from no other day in the

week to them except that n o person may fish,al l other

k inds ofwork are perfectly al lowable . Many of the in

terior tribes d ivide thei r t ime into lucky and u n l ucky

periods,with a set t ime d ivid ing the two . This d ivid ing

t ime between the two fortunate periods lasts seven days ,which are observed as a time of id leness

,or vacat ion ,

and during which they ne i ther t ravel nor work . The

great l ucky time l asts n ineteen days,then fol low

the seven days of un lucky time,again fol lowed by the

lesser lucky t ime of seven days . Though thi s idea i s

general ly prevalent in the interior,the “ good and evi l ”

days vary in d i fferent d i stricts . Why thi s d i st inction

has been made i t is d i ffi cu l t to determ ine ; poss ibly the

resu l t of some importan t event fi rst settled i t,from which

i t passed into custom,to u l timately become a law .

Marriage among the negroes is eas i ly arranged,and the

knot once t ied,i t can be as eas i ly unt ied should the occa

s ion arise . Among the lower orders the bride brings n o

fortune,and the bridegroom need have but very l itt le to

recommend him . Custom shows that when a young man

des ires a young gir l for his w i fe,nothing is much more

MARR IAGE CU STOMS . 43

requ is i te than forhim to apply to her father,ormother

,or

her nearest relations to give her to h im . The request i s

seldom den ied,and no feel ings ofthe daughte r are al lowed

to bar the way . The consent ofthe parents or relations

once gained,the wedd ing is fixed

,and al l the bridegroom

needs is sufficient to pay the expenses of his wedding

day,which cons ist of some fancy clothes fo r his bride

and presents to her fami ly and relat ions . These presents

often cons is t of sheep or goats,rum and other drinks

,

together wi th a l i tt le gold dust or a sum ofmoney . The

richer the bridegroom,the more expens ive his wedding

day ; but, as a ru le, a strict accoun t is kept of everyth ing

that i s presented to the br i de orher relat ions,i n order that

he may recover their value again shou ld his wi fe feel inclined to leave him . Shou ld the husband wish to leave

the wife,he is free to do so

,and the account is then con

sideredclosed . For some days before the wedd ing the

br ide is d ressed in her best,her hair done in the most

app roved fashion,and if her fam i ly be a rich on e

,she i s

wel l bedecked with gold ornamen ts for the hai r,the neck

and the arms . These are borrowed fo r the occas ion and

returned soon after the marriage . Po lygamy is the ru le,

and a man may keep as many wives as he cares for,who

often do al l the work and thus keep the husband in

id leness . Often in the r icher fami l ies,on e or two of the

wives are exempt from the manual labours of the others,

thei r work being solely to manage what household there

i s , and to keep the rest in order . Bosman declares that

as many as twenty wives were sometimes kept,but the

common number is from three to ten .

The goods of married people belong separately to

each, and the mother j ust as Often sustains the chi ldren


as the father,upon whom fal l s the expense of cloth ing

for al l -ih many cases not a very great one " I n the

eighteenth centu ry i t was the custom,when a man or

his wi fe d ied,for the relat ion s to come and take away

everything that was l eft he l p ing in thei r tu rn to defray

the fun eral expen ses ofthe departed .

Should a man have a ch i ld by one of hi s s l aves,the

chi ld i s looked upon as a s l ave al so,un less set free before

the death of i ts father,in acco rdance with the usual ri tes

and custom s necessary to be perfo rmed upon such an

occas ion . I f th is be proper ly carried out before the

father d ies,the ch i ld is then treated in every part i cu lar as

a free person,but sho uld i t be neglected

,the relat ions

treat the offsp r ing as a me re chattel to be d isposed ofas

they wi l l . The nat ive l aw of inher i tan ce upon the Gold

Coast appea rs to Eu ropean ideas a very strange one the

ch i ld ren seldom inher i t ing p roperty left by thei r parents .

The on ly except ion i s,I bel i eve

,among the Akras . The

eldest son,suppos ing the father to have been a k ing

,or

ch ief,or captain

,succeeds to the tit l e on ly

,together wi th

the arms born e by h i s deceased parent . Shou ld the

father wish to endow his eldest son with wor ld ly goods

he must do i t du r ing h i s l i fetime,and then i t mu st be

done in a very carefu l man n er,forshou ld i t be d i scovered

,

the relat ions can deman d restorat ion from the son after

h is father ’s death . I n stead ofthe chi l d ren inher i t ing the

property,when there i s any

,i t descend s to the chi ld ren of

the brothers ands isters of the parents . The eldest son

i s hei r to the mother ’s brother or his son s,andthe eldest

daughter i s hei ress to her mother ’ s s i ster orher daughters .Thu s we fi ndmany instances of the n ative kings and

ch iefs educating thei r s i ster ’s son as thei r own,and ap

SUPERSTITIONS . 45

point ing him as nex t successor to the throne. Thisextraord inary rule of success ion

,excl uding al l ch i ld ren

but those of a s i ster,i s explained in the fol lowing mann er .

The natives say they are more sure that the son of thei r

s ister i s of the ir own blood than they are of the i r own ;andthat i f the wi ves of the son s are fai thless , the blood

of the fami ly is ent i rely lost in the offspr i ng, but i f thedaughters are fai thless to the i r hu sban ds

,the blood i s

st i l l preserved in part . Not a great tr ibute to the vi rtues

ofthe women ,certa inly

Superstit ion i s sti l l r i fe among the n at ives, particu

larly among those of the in ter ior . In Ashan t i the tra

dit ion of the or igin of the white and the black man i s

kn own to every one,though i t d i ffers somewhat from

the tradit ion current on the coast . This form s the

source of thei r re l igiou s ideas, andrun s as fol lows : I n

the beginn ing of the wor ld God created three white

men and th ree black men,wi th the same n umber of

women ; he resolved ,in order that they might n ot after

wards compla i n,to give them thei r choi ce ofgood and

evi l . A l arge box or calabash was set on the ground,

with a piece of paper,sealed up

,on one s ide of i t . God

gave the black men the fi rst choice,who took the box

,

expecting i t con tained everyth ing,but on open ing i t ,

there appeared on ly a piece ofgold,a piece of i ron and

several other metal s ofwhich they d id not know the use .

The Whi te men opening the paper , i t told them every

th ing . God left the black s i n the bush,but conducted

the whites to the water- S ide (for th is happen ed in A fr i ca) ,communicated wi th them every n ight

,and taught them

to bu i ld a smal l ship,which carr ied them to another

country,whence they returned after a lo ng per iod, with


various merchandise, to barter with the blacks, who

might have been the superior people . I n some parts of

the colony,the people bel ieve that man was created by

a great spider cal led Aman fie,whi lst among others the

opin ion is general ly Shared that Godcreated two k inds of

men,black and white

,and offered them two sorts of

gifts,via

,gold and knowledge . The blacks had the

fi rst choice,and being covetous chose the gold

,l eaving

knowledge to the white man . God gave them thei r

gi ft,but as a pun i shment he decreed that the whi tes

shou ld be for ever thei r masters,and they (the blacks)

should be obl iged to wait on them as thei r s laves .

No part of the Gold Coast is without its parti cula r

dei ty, which is known as a“ fet ish

,

” and is supposed to

i nhabit particu lar an imal s,forests

,mountains

,trees

and rivers . These feti shes are revered in proport ion

as thei r pred ict ion s (known through the fet ish p r iest and

told to the people) are real ised . The r ive r Tando was a

favouri te fet ish of the Ashantis,and al so the Prah whi l st

at Accra the bu sh -cat was revered,and at D ixcove and

other places along the coast the al l igator . This l ast i s st i l l

worsh ipped in the presen t century,and the n at ives say

there is an al l igator about twelve feet long in a fresh -water

stream n ear D ixcove,which appears at the cal l of the

fetish man,and receives i n payment a white fowl . I

was invi ted to test th is by the nat ives in 1 895.

Bosman derives Fetishe to mean fal se God,which the

nat ives cal l Bossum,

” hence the Bossum or sacred P rah

of the Ashanti s . The fear of the fet ish i s deeply im

planted ih the breast of every n egro,part icularly those

who res ide in the in ter ior of the colony . When

travel l i ng th rough the Kwahu distri ct i n 1 897 , I

WEST AFR ICAN FETISH . 47

found upon inqu i ry,that the principal fetish of the

d istri ct had previously res ided in a range of mountains

cal led A tiwa Yaw,supposed to be named after him .

He was,from al l accounts

,a very c lever fel low, for he

imposed upon the people for years, unt i l , emboldened by

his success,he threatened to clear out al l the nat ives in his

district who professed Christ ian i ty,with a breath . What

a sulphurous breath he must have had A sti r was made,a trap laid for him

,andhe was captured and deported to

Accra . When arrested , he refused to go unless accom

paniedby some Christ ian natives, to protect h im on the

way from the vio len ce of his previous dupes and votaries,who were now as greatly incen sed against h im as they had

previous ly been in fear of h im,seeing that he was shown

to be human l i ke them selves,and not a sp iri t . He

,how

ever,threatened to retu rn

,but never d id . Two false

A tiwa Yaws , however, sp rang up, both were captured

and wel l flogged by the nat ives,and many sheep were

ki l led in order to mark the event,the false “ A tiwas

”

being cal led upon to pay fo r al l the sheep ki l led .

The Krobo Mountain in the eastern part of the colony,

near the r iver Vol ta,was once a stronghold of fetishes

,

and held the whole of the surround ing country in i ts

power,un t i l destroyed by the late S i r W . Brandford

Griffi th early in 1 893.

Every fami ly has i ts own domesti c fetishes,suppl ied by

the pr iests . These cons i st of rude wooden figures ofpeople

and an imals,Of the most extraordinary Shapes and propor

t ion . They are kept in the house,and upon al l customs and

fest ival s are the recipients of good -wi l l offerings and drin k .

A string across a road,a branch laid in the path

,a

bottle hung outs ide his hut,are suffi cient to deter a native

48 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT.

from any undertak ing, so afraid are they Of “ fet ish

A FET I SH PR IE ST .

Upon every occas ion his aid is invoked ; for trade, for

SO THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

these general ly confine thei r attention to med ical cures,

and are fu rther notoriou s for thei r loose ideas ofmoral i ty .

Every appl i cat ion to the feti sh must be accompan i ed

by a gi ft-offer ing,which

,in gold -bear i ng areas

,i s gene

ral ly preferred by the dei ty (so says the priest) to be

in the Shape of a quanti ty of the prec ious metal . The

k ings of Ashant i paid as much as ten ounces of gold,

in add it ion to several s l aves,for each invocation of the

fetish pr iest whi l st the poorer inhab i tan ts cou ld invoke

his aid for a sum varying accord ing to thei r C i rcum

stances . Bowd ich says the Ashanti s had n o fixed fet i sh

day or Sun day,di fferen t fam i l ies selecting d i fferent days

of the week,upon wh ich they absta ined from work and

d r ink . The former absten tion I can qu i te understand ,but n ot the latter .

O f al l thei r customs,that of the yam is the most im

portan t . I t occu rs annual ly at the matu r i ty of that

vegetable,which

,planted in December

,is ready for

gathering in September,and fu rn ishes the opportun i ty

for the wi ldest exh ibi t ion of nati ve l i cence andpass ion .

Theft,in tr igue and assau l t are all forgi ven during the

continuance of this an nual feast .Throughout the whole length of the land

,the inhabi

tants of the coast towns obtained thei r l iving by fi shing

and the making of can oes . These latter vary much in

s i ze : the smal lest from ten to twelve feet long by two

to three feet broad,to the largest S i ze some thirty feet

long by six feet broad . I n the management of these

frai l craft they are most expert,and do not appear in

the least concerned Shou ld they caps ize and p recip itate

thei r wor ld ly belongin gs i nto the sea. The canoe i s

qu ick ly r ighted,baled out

,and again manned

,to be

OCCUPATION S . 51

again very soon the vict im of a sim i lar fate . I n add it ion

to the use of the canoe for fi shing,i t forms the means

for commun icat ion and t ransport of goods from port to

port . I n them the nat ives wi l l venture far out to sea,

qu ite out of s ight of land,using a large square sai l

,that

bel l ies out with the wind,and carr ies the boat through

the water at a rapid pace . The canoes carry, accord ing

to S i ze,from three to fi fteen men

,who Sit i n twos along

the s ides of the boat,leaving the odd man to steer from

the stern . A l l the larger boats have weather boards in

the bow,cons i sting of planks raised two feet or more

to keep out the seas . I nstead of oars,paddles are used

,

which along the Gold Coast are made with a broad

spade- l ike blade,with rather a short handle .

I n other parts of the colony plantat ion work is the

general occupat ion,and in the early days of the colony

much rice was grown,particu larly in the country round

Axim,and carried to al l parts of the coast. I n other

parts the people gave their attent ion to the cu lt ivat ion

ofcorn,yams

,potatoes

,plantain and ban anas

,and the

preparat ion of palm oil. I t wou ld be very d ifficul t to

find at the present day a potato grown in the Gold Coast

rice is now very largely imported,but much attention is

st i l l given to the cu l t ivat ion ofthe yarn,cassada and the

sweet potato . A l arge proportion of the people are,and

always have been,engaged in trade

,act ing as the midd le

men between the traders ou the coast and the people in

the far interior . People of al l tribes find employment

in this capaci ty,parti cu lar ly the A shan t i s in later years .

Head carriage forms almost the on ly means of transport

in the colony,though

,where poss ible

,canoes wi l l be found

on al l the larger water-ways and lagoons . The average


native wi l l carry a load of from forty to s ixty pounds

upon his head for some fi fteen m i les in a day ; though

for hi s own purposes he wi l l carry much more ; a pr i vate

NAT IVE POTTERY AND S I LVE RWORK OF TH E ASHANT I S .

load often weighing as much as 1 00 pounds . Everyth ing

is carried on the head,from an empty bottle to a case of

MANUAL ARTS . 53

provis ions,and i t i s very seldom that an accident occurs .

Through the swamps knee -deep in thick,black mud

,up

and down the rocky moun tain s ides,and through the

r ivers,men

,women and chi ld ren do al l the transport

work,bringing down the produce of the interior to the

coast,and retu rn ing to thei r homes laden with art icles

of European produce ofal l descriptions .

I n manual arts the colony is not ri ch,which by Bos

man i s attributed to the gen eral laz iness of the negro .

The chief arts to which they turn thei r atten t ion are the

manufacture ofwooden and earthen cups,matt ing

,brass

or copper ointment boxes,andornaments ofgold

,s i lver

and ivory . I n the manufactu re of gold and s i lver orn a

ments they are very adept,part icu lar ly when the rude

nature of the i r tools and implemen ts i s taken into con

s ideration . Specimen s of thei r work wi l l be found on

page 52 .

One of the i r ch ief hand icrafts is sm ithwork . I n past

times al l thei r own implements of war (guns excepted) and

agricu l tu ral tool s were made with the aid ofa hard Stone

for an anvi l,a pai r oftongs

,and a pai r of bel lows with

two or thfee pipes blowing in to an open fire . I have not

seen any examples of the gold and si lver hat ban ds

made for the Dutch in the t ime of Bosman,ofwhich he

says the th read and texture was so fine that he questioned

whether European artists would not be much put abou t

to imitate them .

I must not om it to give some description of the weav

ing Of native cloth ; an i l lustration of the loom used

wi l l be found on page 54.

Bowd ich says that he foun d the A shanti l oom to be

precisely upon the same principle as the Engl i sh, being


worked by strings held between the toes . The web

from th i s 10 0 111 i s never more than fou r inches broad .

They use a spindle for spinn ing,hold ing i t in one hand

,

and twisting the thread (which has a weight at one end )between the finger and thumb of the other. I n th is

pr im i tive manner they manufactu re cloths ofgreat fin e

NAT IVE LOOM FOR W'EAV I NG CLOTH .

ness , variety of pattern , and br i l l iancy of colou r,the

pattern runn ing th rough the cloth,and having the same

appearance on both S ides . This loom,of which an

i l lustrat ion is given,i s not common to the Ashant i

country . I have seen them at work in the Awoonah,

Ak im and Kwahu terri tories,though very possibly i t

NAT IVE LOOMS AND CLOTHS . 55

was introduced in to these countr ies by Ashant i work

men . The cotton from which thei r native c loth is

made i s ei ther imported Engl i sh yarn,dyed w i th

nat ive dyes,or spun from the cotton produced in the i r

own country . They p refer thei r own dyes,say ing

that European colou rs are not fast . Bowdich men t ion s

two dyes on ly used by the Ashanti s,red and yell ow

,

obtain ed from dye woods,and a thi rd

,blue

,obtained

from the leaves of a plant grow i ng about two feet h igh,

which when mixed with thei r yel low produces a very

fine green .

I have found these mysel f in the Ak im forests and inthe K robo country

,and in add i t ion

,a fou rth

,a black

dye . Th i s i s a cl imber cal led O tatsche,which

,when

pounded andboi led,gives a r ich deep - black dye. The

bark and the wood of the Odubeng give the yel low ;the leaves of the plan t Akase

,or as Bowdich says

,

A cassic, for blue, and the seed s of the frui t Tsere

,a

bush growing in K robo,which yields a red dye cal led

Tchara . Mr . R . Moh r was k ind enough to obta in speci

mens of these fo r me in 1 897 , when I was at Begoro in

that year inspecting the schools of the Basle M iss ion at

that stat ion .

On another page wi l l be found i l lustration s of the

nat ive pottery of the coast,pa rt i cu larly the pipes . The

manufacture of these is n ot confined to the Ashan t i

count ry ; most of the spec imen s I Obtained from Os ino ,in Ak im

,on ly on e com in g from A shan t i . They

are of two k i nds,black andbrown

,made of clay, both

admitting Of a high pol ish by fr ict ion , and decorated

with rude patterns,the grooves of wh i ch are fi l led in

with a wh i te chal k . A long stem,often of s i lver, is


attached to these pipes,the bowl being al lowed to

rest on the ground when smoked . Leather i s prepared

and worked in A shant i and the countries farther in land,

parti cu lar ly i n the Hausa terr i tory ; sandal s , cushions,bel ts

,pouches

,sadd les

,cases for native kn ives and

swords,and coverings for bottles being among the chief

manufactured arti c les in th is branch of industry . O f

thei r woodwork the Ashanti stool i s a fai r specimen,which

is cut from a sol id block and various ly ornamented .

Chief among the occupations ofthe people in the ear ly

history of the colony were fish ing and hunting . For

the latter,the poisoned arrow was largely used to bring

down the largest game,incl ud ing even the elephant .

A t Labad i and Ponn i,vi l lages to the east of Accra

,were

enclosures,in which was stored the ivory Obtained from

the s laughter ofthe elephants,once so numerous

,even in

the Gold Coast . To the Fant is is attr ibuted the cred i t of

being the fi rst to manufactu re nets and hooks for fishi ng

in the sea,and no great improvement in these art ic les

appears to have been made down to the p resen t day .

Next to fi shing and hunt ing,came the manufacture of

sal t and the washing forgold . The former was carried on

at al l towns along the coast,that were not engaged in trad

i ng wi th the Europeans who frequented th is part of the

wor l d,and appears to have been done in the roughest

manner . Sea-water was boi led in earthen pots,some

ten or twelve in number,arranged in two rows

,and

cemented together with clay . Under th is a fi re was

k indled and the sal t obtained by the evaporation of

the water. The Portuguese are supposed to have intro

duced the use of sal t -pits and pans,in to which the

sea and lagoon waters were al lowed to run and spread

58 TH E GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

i s exhausted and the game won . A t Akropong in the

Aquapim country, and at severa l other places , I foundthe natives gambl ing for cowries

,by sp inn ing beans upon

a mat sp read on the ground . The native name for th is

game I was unable to d i scover,but i t was wel l known

by the Engl ish name of “ marbles Any number of

players can join in the game ; s i tti ng in a ci rcl e with the

mat spread in the cent re,a stake is fixed upon

,and . the

win ner 15 the one whose bean knocks out most of the

others when al l are set spinn ing. Need less to say,noise

,

an imated d iscuss ion s and interference by the lookers -ou

form part of al l native games .

I cannot do better than close th is chapter with a de

script ion Of the Aggrey Bead ,” one of the few genu ine

an tiqu i t ies of the coast . They a re reported to be found

in the fol lowing countr i es,anda re as a ru le worth twice

thei r weight in gold : Denkira,Ak im

,Wassaw

,Ahanta

and Fanti . The nat ives say the greater number is found

in Denkira,owing to i ts extra richness in gold . They

were o r iginal ly used as ornamen ts of dress,and the riches

of an ind ividual were computed by the numbe r of these

aggrey beads wh i ch he possessed , i n add ition to hi s weal th

in gold . The Rev . Carl Reindorf says : “ The mosai c

bead s known as aggrey beads (Bosman cal l s them Conte

de Terra) found chiefly on the Gold Coast and the S lave

Coast must have been brought h ither from Egypt ”

The beads are found in the ground,and native trad i t ion

asserts,that the people are d i rected to d ig for them in

those spots where a spi ra l vapour is seen i ssu ing from the

ground,and that they are seldom found n ear the surface .

The finder of aggrey beads i s said to be assured of future

good fortune. They are of two k ind s,plain and varie

THE AGGREY BEAD . 59

gated . The former are of a blue,green

,ye l low or du l l

red,whi le the latter embrace every var iety of shade and

colour . The Fantis are said to p refer those ofthe pla inyel low co lour

,whi l st the A po llonian s prefer the yel low

and bl ue shades . Wherever they came from and what

ever thei r origin,they are of great ant iqui ty

,the art of

making them,i f i t was ever known in these parts

,being

enti rely lost,so that i t i s not improbable

,i f Egypt ever

had any communication w i th th is part ofA fr i ca,they

may have been imported from that country .

D r . Leyden says “ The aigri s is a stone of a green ish

blue colou r,supposed to be a spec ies ofjasper, smal l, per

foratedpieces of which,valued at the i r we ight in gold

,

are u sed as money ” Bowdich n eve r heard ofth i s,and I

must say I have never heard ofthem be ing u sed as money .

The late S i r R . F . Bu rton speaks of them as the Popo

Bead,

”

which the above rather describes ; though that

is sem i - transparent,something l ike carnel ian

,and said

to be found in the same mann e r as the aggrey bead .

An otherwri ter upon the subject,I ssert

,says : They

are a sort ofcoral with in l a id work ; the art ofmaking

the beads is ent ire ly lost , or never was kn own in theseparts

,thu s point ing to thei r fo reign or igin

The beads ofvar iegated st rata are so fi rmly un ited,and

so C leverly blended,that they seem super ior to manu

factu re some resemble mosaic,whi lst the su rfaces of

others are so del icately covered w i th minute flowers and

regular pattern s,the shading so softened i n to on e another

,

and into the shades ofthe body ofthe bead,that nothing

but the finest pain t ing cou ld equal them . O thers Showflowe rs and patterns deep in the body of the bead, w i th

opaque l i nes of colour runn ing from the cen tre to the


surface . lmitat ion s of the true aggrey bead have

certain ly been manu factured and imported into the

country du r i ng more recent t imes (I have in my pos

sess ion several such im i tat ion s), which the natives cal led

boi led beads,stat ing that they consis t of broken aggrey

beads,ground into powder and mixed . They are al so

heavier than the true aggrey bead . A bel ief i s common

among the people that i f aggrey beads are bu r i ed in the

ground,they not on ly grow

,but breed . This probably

arose from the practi ce of bu rying a number of these

beads with the corpse ofa deceased person,the number of

beads buried varying in proport ion to the rank of the

departed . Another use for them was to gr ind a number

to powder,and after the body of the deceased had been

wel l greased,to paint the body wi th the dust of the

aggrey beads before i ts interment .

The bu r i al ofthe dead in th is pa rt Of the wor ld i s accom

paniedwith many ri tes and ceremonies ,and much drink ing

of spi ri ts and palm wine . The lamentations are d ismal

and loud,and respect i s supposed to be paid to the de

parted by the fi r ing of muskets at in terval s throughout

the days before the funeral . In some parts Ofthe country

the corpse is i n terred under the flOorofthe dwel l ing-house,

accompan ied with many presents of gold and bead s for

the use ofthe departed . These bur i ed treasures Often form

stores ofwealth for the fami ly to use hereafter,so that a

man,when poor, may dig over his forefather

’

s grave and

obtain the weal th there hidden . I have heard a native Of

Accra state,that he has thus l ived for years upon his

ancestors " The bod ies of kings were often kept above

ground for a whole year . Pu trefaction was prevented

by plac ing the body upon a wooden bier something l i ke

THE BUR IAL OF THE DEAD . 6 1

a gr id i ron and keeping a very s low fi re burn ing under

neath,by which process the body was s lowly d ri ed .

When th is was complete,the body wou ld be richly

clothed and placed in the coffin,other rich c loths

,gold

dust and aggrey beads being also placed with the corpse

for use in i ts futu re state . The ri cher the deceased

had been,the greater the number of the artic les that

were buried wi th h im,and the greater thei r value .

The burying places for the k ings were always selected

in secluded spots,either in the mountains or away in the

depths of the bush . The actual place of interment was

carefu l ly concealed,and often the bearers who had

carried the corpse to i ts last resting place were,upon

thei r return to the town,ordered to be put to death by

the chiefs,in order to preserve the secret of the burying

place . This was a common practice in the Ak im

country .

CHAPTER I I I .

The Season s— C l imate— The Harmattan —Product i on s— V egetat ion— An imal L ife Exports —Im p orts — Hab itat i on s The

S lave Trade— Its R i se andFal l -The Labour Q uest ion .

S ITUATED north of the Equatoria l l in e between the

paral lel s of 4°

45’ and 6 °

45’

North,acco rding to the

early extent of the colony,the season s are natural ly

d ivided into the wet andthe d ry peri ods . The former com

men ces early in Ap r i l and continues un ti l l ate in August,

and the latte r l asts from th i s latter date unti l the suc

ceeding Apri l . A l though this per i od is ca l led the dry”

season,i t mu st n ot be supposed that no rai n fal l s . On

the contrary,September

,October and November are

each interrupted by what are cal led the “ smal l s or the

second rain s,but from the end of November to the fo l

lowing Apri l fai r weather prevai ls . As in other tropical

countr ies,each change of season is marked by vio lent

atmospher i c d isturbances in the Shape of thunderstorms

and tornadoes,those in troduc ing the rainy season being

by far the most violent of any that occu r on the coast .

The rains come,as a ru le

,from the east

,but Often veer

roun d to the sou th,final ly settl ing down to the south -west .

I t must n ot be imagined that rai n fal l s un interrupted ly

du r ing the rainy season . A fter the fi rst bu rst,br ight

days ofsun sh ine intervene from time to t ime,but

,owing

to the extreme amount of moisture to be found every

THE SEASON S . 63

where,clouds of vapou r rise from the wet earth

,and

hang about l ike a white fog . The wind is uncertain ,

everything is damp,and malaria accumulates from the

great pools ofwater and the rapid ly decaying vegetat ion

which everywhere abound . The rains,though severe at

al l parts of the coast,are more so at and in the n e igh

bourhoodof Cape Coast,heavy thunderstorms

,con t inu

ous downpours,and violent tornadoes

,fo l lowing in

success ion,with but short spel l s ofsunsh ine interven ing

rivers become torrents,low- lying lands are inundated

,and

the coast lagoons burst through thei r banks into the sea .

Towards the end of the rainy season the Showers become

l ighter and less frequent ;dense masses ofvapour gather at

n ight,and are not di spel led ti l l the sun i s wel l up n ext

day the weather i s much colder,part icu larly the n ights

,

and the period is general ly cons idered to be the most

unheal thy time for Europeans on the coast . The fogs

that prevai l at thi s t ime are known as the “ smokes ”

October,November and December particu larly are con

sideredto be the hottest months i n th is part of the world,

as September is general ly the coldest .The dry season fai rly sets in by October

,and with the

exception of the smal l s ” or l esser rains in November,fai r weather remains

,with bri l l iant sunshine

,unti l the

following Ap r i l,when nature again proceeds to usher in

the rainy season . I n the interior,owing no doubt to the

dense vegetation and the elevation ofthe land,the ra in s

begin earl ier i n the season,and are more sudden and

frequent in their appearance than on the coast l ine . The

land and sea-breezes al ternate very regu lar ly throughout

the wet and the dry seasons . The former comes up about

sunset from the north -west and the latter from the south


west Soon after sunrise every morn ing. Upon the moun

tains in the i nterior i t i s l ater,occurring with great

regularity about 1 0 A .M .

,from sunri se to that time being

often a period of st ifl i ng heat . So far as I have been

able to ascertain,the Fantis are the on ly people along

the coast who d ivide the year in to d ivis ions,accord ing

to its c l imatic cond it ions,bestowing upon each a d ist inct

and part icu lar name . These d ivis ions are n ine in num

ber,commencing with the Harmattan i n J anuary

,and

fin ishing wi th the small tornadoes in December .The Harmattan is a per iod ica l wind which blows at

the beginn ing of the year,varying in i ts commencement

from the midd le of J an uary to the midd le of February,

and which is general ly ushered in by a viol en t tornado .

Mr . Zimmerman , an o ld res ident on the coast,descr i bes .

i t as blowing from January to March or Ap r i l . Thi s

wind blows with a pecu liar effect,drying and parch ing

the skin and drying up the vegetat ion . A fine dust

comes with i t,and during i ts cont inuance i ts progress

i s marked by the creak ing of Madei ra chai rs and sofas,

the crack ing of veneered art ic les,and the curl ing up of

papers and the covers of books . During my last tour

( 1 896- 1 897 ) i ts influence was fel t at Aburi , some twenty

seven mi les north of Accra,as early as Christmas Day

,

1 896, and continued throughout J anuary and part of

February . The air becomes hot and dry,with very

cool mornings and even ings,which to the European are

very benefic ial,though not so to the natives . Sensible

perspirat ion is sens ibly d im inished,the act ion of the

k idneys is far more active than at other times,and a

sense of d ryness i s experienced in the nostr i l s and about

the l ips . Table sal t,which at al l ord inary times is in a


and cockroach being qu ickly attacked by mi ldew and

rust .Much d i fference of opin ion ex ists with regard to the

general unheal th iness of th is part of the world . S ierra

Leone was of old known as the White Man ’s Grave,

”

and in course of t ime the same appel lat ion was bestowed

upon the Gold Coast and Lagos . That the country has

been unheal thy for the con t inued res idence of European s

admits of no question,and that i t wi l l remai n for ever

so,more or l ess

,Whi le on ly a narrow strip of low- lying

malar iou s coas t l ine forms the country selected for the

habitations of the white traders and offic ial s compel led

to res ide there,admi ts Of l i tt le doubt . I n the past

,

white men were qua rtered amidst surround ings that were

total ly unfi t for habi tat ion,and in whi ch

,i n E ngland

,

people would have hes itated to have located an an imal .European quarters were ren ted s ide by side w i th the

huts of the natives,roun d which the accumu lated fi l th

of fami l ies was al lowed to rapid ly decompose,and to

poison the surround ing a i r . Littl e or no system of

drainage existed,and con sequently every channel and

gutter in the street became a sort of open d rain when

the rain s set in,and began to d isturb andcarry away the

stored up d irt of the d ry season,spreading d isease and

S i ckness among the White populat ion . This s ickness

gradual ly d i sappeared as the rains decreased,and wi th

the ad vent of the d ry season,a more general feel ing of

safety for the next few months brought rel ief to the re

main ing white popu lat ion of the towns along the coast .

This was of an nual occu rrence for a long pe riod, particu

larly when Cape Coast Castle was the headquarters of

the seat of the Government . A fter 1 874,when a more

CLIMATE OF THE COAST . 67

heal thy s i te was looked for,i t was decided to transfe r

the capital to some other spot . Accra was fixed upon,

why I have never been able to d iscover . I t possesses

no more natu ral advantages for commerce than Cape

Coast offered,and i s s i tuated upon a low - ly ing tract of

sandy soi l,bounded both eas t and west by lagoons .

No attempt seems to have been made to secure an

elevated spot a short d istance from the coas t as the

seat ofGovernment,and fo r the res idence of European s .

Many such spots ex ist,but there was

,and is st i l l

,no

transport to these h igher grounds,except upon the heads

ofthe natives by means ofa hammock . The hi l l region

ofAquapim l ies with in twenty m i les north by west ofAccra ;Abu r i i s but twen ty- seven mi les from the coast and

stan ds 1400 feet above the sea,where Eu ropean s now go

to recuperate after a dose of malar i a l feve r . Why not

have faced the difficu l ty of transport and con s tructed a

rai lway from the coast to th is e l evated i n land d istr ict ? But

no,Accra was selected

,and from A ccra no rai lway coul d

be laid because no rai lway machinery andplant could be

safely l anded without fi rst const ructing a harbou r and

th i s meant an almost un l im ited outlay ofmoney .

So the Gold Coast has gone on from year to year

with its death - rate much about the same . Con stant change

of Officers,want of contin u i ty of service and

'

work in

the same department,l im ited occupations

,scanty amuse

men ts,poor quarters

,have al l contr ibuted to keep up the

bad name of the colony,and to embarrass commercial

progress in on e ofthe r ichest of our t ropical possess ions .

Within the last few years many improvemen ts both

i n quarters and san itation have been effected, but there

sti l l exi st in many places along the coast habitation s


that are not fi t for the conti nued res idence ofEuropeans .Unt i l the higher s i tuat ions are selected

,away from the

native quarters of the towns,so l ong wi l l the death- rate

cont inue to be high and violent epidem ics occu r .On account of the prevalence of the sea-breeze

from the sou th -west, the western port ion of the Gold

Coast i s called the Windward D i s tri ct . This extends

from Hal f Ass in i to the mouth of the Secoom R iver,

some twel ve m i les west of Accra . From th is poin t

begin s the Leeward D i str i ct,which extends eastward to

the Volta R i ver . Thus,on the coast windward means

west,and leeward

,east, s im i l ar to the West I nd ia de

scription,but in East A fr i ca the Oppos i te is the case

,for

there windward means east.

Bosman found the hottest months to be from October

to March,and the coldest to be September

,when he says

,

We could wel l endu re a fire as in Europe He al so

ascribes the unheal thiness of the place to two reasons

Fi rst,the extreme heat of the day fol lowed by the cool

ness of the n ight , and second , the th ick damp or mist

that i s con stantly ris ing from the lowly ing marshy

grounds . This latter i s made more noxious,he says

,

by the negroes ’ pern iciou s cu stom of laying thei r fishfor five or six days to putrefy before they eat i t

,and to

their eas ing thei r bod ies round thei r houses and al l over

thei r towns There is no doubt that the great di fference

between the ai r in Eu rope and West A fri ca has the effect

of lowering the consti tut ion,caus ing one to be the more

suscept ible to malar i al i n fluences,and that, after an attack

of fever,the great d rawback i s the poor qual i ty Of the

food obtainable . There is l i tt l e or noth ing in the wayoffood , to be tempting to a weakened d igestion . The

PRODUCTION S OF THE COUNTRY . 69

oxen,sheep and fowl s are al l l ean

,dry and tough,

requ i r ing an amount of‘

energy,appeti te and determ ina

tion to eat them that a sound man seldom possesses ,much less so a man who has j ust recovered from an

attack ofmalarial fever . Early wri ters describe the good

weather as beginn ing in September and con tinu ing for

the five succeeding months ; the bad weather or wet

season tak ing up the rema in ing S i x months of the year .

The latte r season,the rainy one

,was further described as

contain ing two rainy,two misty

,and two windy months .

But then,as now

,the seasons al tered from year to year,

the dry season com ing one year earl ier than another ;the same ofwhich may be said of the winds and the rain .

The product ions ofthe country are largely agricu l tural ,supplying the nat ives wi th such a contin uous success ion

of crops,that fam ine and want of food are absolu tely

unknown . The whole soi l of the country i s extreme ly

ferti le,provid ing an abundan ce offood plants , frui ts and

usefu l trees . These may be d ivided into two classes :

those indigenou s to the so i l,and those that have been

introduced into the coun try . Among those that were

cu l t ivated by the early inhabitan ts,and upon which they

l ived,were yams

,cassada

,ma ize

,r i ce and various k inds

ofbeans,whi le the arrival of Eu ropeans upon the coast

st imu lated further cu l tivation,and led to the introduction

ofmany foreign grains,plants and fruit trees the Portu

guese being credi ted with the introduct ion ofmil let, corn ,

plantain,banana

,orange and apple. There is a trad ition

in the country that the plantain and the banana belonged

to the Gold Coast,and were fi rst d iscovered in Akim ,

but it i s more than probable that the fi rst roots were

taken there from one of the ports on the coast . A fter


the Portuguese,the Dan ish traders interested themselves

in teaching the n at ives to fu rther cu l t ivate the soi l,andin

troducedcoffee and cotton plan tat ion s upon the hi l l l and s

behind Accra . S ince these early times the Bas l e M iss ion

has worked very hard to teach the nat ive to improve

the cul t ivation of h is country,both by example and

by the introduction of miss ion ary labou r from the Wes t

I nd ies . I n 1 843, some twenty - four members ofthe Mor

avian M ISSion i n Jamaica were brought to the Gold Coast

and establ ished at Akropong,a h i l l station some 1400 feet

above the level of the sea,and two days ’ journey north

by eas t of Accra . The expen se of this exper iment was

borne by the Bas le M i ss ion Society,and at the p resent

day there is one of these West I ndians st i l l l i v ing at Aburi,

the Rev. Mr . Clark . By th is exped it ion,the coco

,mango

,

mountain - pear and bread -n ut were introduced into the

coun try,and attempts were al so made to cul t ivate to

bacco . In addi tion to the fru i ts al ready men t ioned , the

paw-paw,water-melon

,l ime

,pine -apple

,sour- sop and

guava grow in d i fferent parts ofthe colony,but they lack

many of the fine qual i t ies expected in such fru its,owing

to the wan t of care upon the part of the nat ives i n thei r

cu l t ivation . R i ce is grown in Apol lon ia i n the west,and

at Q uahu i n the north, wh i le ground -nuts,bean s

,on ions

and tomatoes a re found in d i fferen t parts of the colony .

The sugar—cane flou ri shes in the wet lowland s to the

east,and coffee is n ow very exten s ively grown in al l

parts Of the colony,parti cularly by the members of the

Basle M iss ion Society,andMessrs . A . Mil ler B ros .

A great var iety of usefu l trees is found th roughoutthe land . A long the shore

,part icular ly at i ts western

and eastern l imi ts,cocoa - nut palm s grow in great

PRODUCTION S OF THE COUNTRY 7 I

abundan ce,but l i tt l e or no use i s made Of them for the

export of copra,coi r fibre and coi r yarn . In the west

,

chiefly in Wassaw and Apol lon ia,the bamboo palm

grows freely,supplying at one time a good art ic le of

export in the form of fibre,cal led piassava .

The most importan t of the palms,however

,is the oil

palm,which grows most l uxur iously and abundan tly in

many parts of the colony,furn ish ing the markets ofEurope

and America with most val uable arti c les of trade in palm

oi l and palm kernel s . Many k inds of rubber trees and

vines are to be found in the extens ive forests that stretch

across the country from the A ncobra to the Vol ta,and

a large and i ncreas ing trade i s now being done in ma

bogany and other t imbers ofan equal ly usefu l nature .

The oi l palm,before men tioned

,suppl ies the inhabi

tants wi th thei r native drink,via ,

palm wine . Bosman

says in his day there were fou r var ieties of this palm

known in the colony,and s ings high the praises of both

the oi l and the w i ne that were obtained from them .

The same writer also states that ri ce was once so plen ti

fu l ly grown,that i t was easy to load a Ship with i t

,

perfectly cleaned,at one penny or less the pound .

Vegetation in the Gold Coas t may be said to flourish

down to the water’

s edge,though near the coast l in e i t

i s of a bushy and scrubby nature . The coast plains to

the east on the right ban k of the river Volta are covered

with a th ick,coarse

,ran k grass

,growing some fou r to

s ix feet high,and in terspersed at intervals with c l umps

ofbushes and shrubs . After the low - lying coast pl ains

are passed,the country becomes elevated and mo re

wooded,the hi l l s ides are covered with t imber

,and the

bush on either s ide of the path becomes impen etrable,


owing to the dense tropi cal undergrowth that exists on

al l s ides . The forests are fu l l of valuable timber trees .The an imal l i fe of the colony has much changed during

the last two centuries,and at the present day you

may travel through the length and breadth of the land

without find ing occas ion to use your gun .

Through the thick bush nothing is seen andvery l itt le

heard ,whi le on the plains, an occas ional bu sh deer ora few

bi rds form the only sport to be met wi th . Up the rivers

you may be fortunate enough to have a pot shot at some

laz y al l igator s leeping in the sun on the muddy ban k,

but shou ld you miss h im,he soon di sappears and seeks

safety in the depths of the r iver beneath you. To—day

very few tropical an imals find shelter i n the thi ck forests,

that once formed the hiding -places of elephants,hyenas

,

leopards,panthers

,ante lopes

,buffaloes

,wi ld hogs

,por

cupines and squ i rrel s , whi l st the t rees were al ive with

gori l l as,baboons and black and many other colou red

monkeys . A t on e t ime a great trade was carried on in

monkey sk ins,but these are now much scarcer throughout

the coast,the increas ing warfare against these animal s

having pract ical ly exterminated them in the provinces

near the Shore . AS l ate as 1 894 n o fewer than

sk ins were exported of the value of whi le in

1 896 the number fel l to Add to this the numbe r

that annual ly d ies,and i t i s not fa r d istant when the pro

cess ofexterminat ion wi l l ou tstri p that ofreproduction .

To find sol i tary specimens of these an imal s youmust now travel to the remotest and least frequented

parts of the colony,and then poss i bly be rewarded on ly

by disappointment for your energy . Snakes of many

variet ies,i nclud ing python s

,horned adders

,puff adders


again recovered his s ight . Leopards were once plentifu l

in the colony,com ing down to the trad ing forts and

sei z ing and carryin g off any stray an im al to be found

with in thei r reach . Bosman cal l s them tigers,and

descr ibes how he ass i sted in ki l l i ng one about the s i ze of

a common cal f,bes ides being wel l provided with large

teeth and claws . They must have been common along

the whole coast,for he al so men t ion s that a boy from

thei r factory at Sekond i was attacked and k i l led by a

t iger . The countries Of im and Ante were ful l ofthese

animal s,and the capture of on e was the occas ion for

much d ri n k ing and enjoyment on the part of the negroes .

E lephants too we re once numerous in the Gold

Coast,but very few of these animal s have been seen

of late years . The O ld Du tch ch ron icler’s account of

an elephant shoot is very in teresting .

“

In the year

1 700 ,i n December

,at S ix in the morn ing

,an elephant

came here to E lm in a,walk ing eas i ly along the Shore

under the h i l l of St . J ago . Some natives were so bold

as to go agains t h im without anything in thei r hands,as

a sort ofwelcome to br i ng h im in'

,when one of our

Officers belonging to the h i l l and a n at ive who came

down with him,fi red on him immed iate ly

,the officer ’s

bal l h itt ing him above hi s eye . This and the fol lowin g

shots which the n at ives pou red_

on h im were so fa r from

provok ing h im,that they d id n ot move h im to mend his

pace in the least . H e went on,and last ly stepped i n to

our garden,expec t i ng perhaps c iv i l er t reatment there .

This drew the D i rector-General and myself in to the

garden,fol lowed by our people . We found h im standing

in the garden , break ing down the cocoa -nut trees , either

to d ivert h imsel f or to Show us hi s strength . Whil st he

ENCOUNTER WITH AN ELEPHANT . 75

stood here above one hund red shots were fi red at him,

which made him bleed as i f an ox had been k i l led .

Du r ing al l which he d id not st i r,except to set up his ears ,

wh ich were of a prod igious s i z e . But th is sport was

accompan ied with a tragi cal event,for a native fancying

himsel f able to deal with him,went softly behind h im

,

caught h is tai l in h is hand,intend ing to cut a piece ofi t

o ff,but the elephant , being used to wear a tai l

,would

not permit i t to be shortened in hi s l i fe time . Wherefore,

after giving the nat ive a stroke with his snou t,he drew

him to him,and trod upon him two or three t imes

,and

,

as i f that was not suffic ient,he bored in his body two

holes wi th his teeth,large enough fora man

’

s fi st to enter.Then he let h im l ie without making any further attempt

upon him,and stood st i l l a lso whi lst two natives fetched

away the dead body . A fter the elephant hadki l led the

n at ive,and had been about an hour in the garden

,he

wheeled about as i f he intended to fal l on us,so that

each endeavoured to secu re himsel f by gett ing away .

We al l flew out of the garden by the fore-door,and the

elephant took to the back door,which

,whether i n his

way,or too narrow for him to pass

,he flung

,though a

br i ck and a hal f thick,a good d istance . A fter wh ich he

forced his way through the garden hedge, going softly by

Mount St . J ago towards the river,where he bathed

,i n

o rder to wash offthe blood and to cool h imsel f. Aftera l i tt le whi le in the river

,he came out and stood under

some trees among our watertubs,which he broke in

pieces,and also a canoe which lay by them . While the

e l ephant stood here,the Shooting was renewed ti l l at

last he fel l down,and the nat ives cut Off his snou t,

which was so hard and tough that i t took thirty strokes


to separate i t,which must be very painfu l to the elephan t

s ince i t made him roar, the only noise I heard h im make .

The elephant was no sooner dead than the natives fel l

upon him in crowds,each cutt i ng off as much as he

cou ld,so that he furn ished a great many ,

black as wel l as

wh i te,with food enough for that day . He was not very

large,his teeth on ly weighing about th i rty- fou r pound s .

I nsect l i fe on the Gold Coast i s varied and prol ific,

ranging from the t iny sand fly to the largest of beetles .

Butterfl i es a re plent i fu l,part icu larly in the month s of

May and J une . They are of gaudy colour,large and

smal l,and in the interior many rare specimens are to be

found . Bi rd l i fe is wel l represen ted,and the var i ety of

aquat ic and forest bi rd s i s very great . Among these

may be mentioned kingfishers, ospreys , herons, sn ipes,cross bi l l s

,storks

,pel i can s

,cu r l ews

,wild ducks

,spu r

plovers,hawks

,crows

,vu l tures

,parrots

,n ight ingales

,

pigeons,bottle bi rd s

,doves

,wood -peckers andswal lows .

The plumage i s mos t br i l l iant,but the bi rds are for the

greater pa rt songless .

The chief domest ic an imals are the horse,cow

,ox

,

sheep,goat and pig . O f these

,horses are on ly found

in Accra,and are not nat ive . They are brought from the

far interior,or from the Canary I s lands

,and do not thr ive

anywhere on the coast, except i n the Accra coun try, o n

account,i t is said

,of the tsetse fly . The tropical waters

ofthe Gul f of Guinea abound in fi sh,and many variet ies

ofthe ed ible k ind are caught by the fi shermen along the

coast . Some ofthese are very fine,and incl ude mackerel

,

skate,bonetta

,flying-fi sh

,sole

,snapper

,barra - couta

,eel

,

mul let and herring . This last form s the staple food of

the fisher people,and when dried is carried i n enormous

GOLD COAST BEETLES . 7 7

quantit ies to the people ofthe inter ior countries, by whom

it is esteemed to be a great rel ish .

I n spite ofthe few improvements that have been made

in the colony to render i t more habi table to the Euro

pean,the export and the import trade of the country

has very cons iderab ly in creased du ring the presentcen tury

,and though the present trade i s said to be

GOLD COAST BEETLE S (on e- th ird l ife S i z e) .The Goliath . Young M ale, Full-grown Male andFemale.

dul l,no doubt owing to the recent annexat ion of the

Ashant i coun try, and the presen t troubles i n the hin ter

l and , it wi l l recove r and i ncrease so soon as the nat ive

mind sett les down and recognises the new order of th ings .

The fol lowing information may be of use to somereaders


EXPORTS . IMPORTS .Rubber . S i lk Good s .

Timber . Cotton Goods .

Ko la N uts . Woo l len Goods .

Coffee . Hardware .

Copra. Earth enware.

S k in s . G lass .

Go l d Dust . M etal Work .

Gu in ea G ra in s . Prov i s ion s .

Gum . Drugs .

Ivory. Furn i ture .

Kern el s . O i l s .

O i l . Sugar.

Q uartz . Station erv .

Ore . Book s .

Q u i l ls . Bead s .

G roun d Nuts . Perfum ery .

F ibre . Wear i ng Appare l .Cocoa. Soap .

Can d les .

W i n es .

S p i r its .

Bu i l d in g Mater ial s .

R ice .

Tobacco .

The revenue ofthe colony is obta ined chiefly from the

Import Duties and Spiri t Licenses,ofwhich the fol low

ing are the ch ief :

IM PORT DUT I E S .

On w in e, ale, porter andbeer, gal lon or partOn sp i r its andl iqueursOn man ufactured tobacco , c igars or sn uff

, per poun dor part thereof

On unmanufactured tobacco , per poun d or partOn gun powderOn leadOn fi rearm s (each )

EXPORTS AND I MPORTS . 79

s . d.

On fi l led cartr idges, per hun dred 5

On unfi l led 1 o

On percuss ion cap s 1 0

Wh i le a 1 0 per cen t. ad valorem is charged on the fo l lowin g imported art ic les

Beads .

Boats .

Can oesB rassware .

Bread .

B i scu i ts .

Bu i l d in g Mater ial s .

Cordage .

Cotton s .

Earth enware .

F lour .Furn i ture .

H ardware.

Kerosen e.

O i l s .

Spiri t l icenses are a sou rce of great income to the

Governmen t . A l i cense to sel l spi r i ts no t to be consumed

on the premises, £ 5 per an num ,

and a l icense to sel lspiri ts which may be consumed on the p remises

, £ 5per

annum . These l i censes have l ate ly been in creased in

amount .

On thei r habi tat ions I am unable to bestow much pra i se .

I t is on ly of l ate years that two - s tor ied dwel l ings have been

more common ly bu i l t by the nat ives,and then on ly by the

more opu len t l ivi ng in the towns o n the coast and in the

in ter ior at the l arge mi ss ion stat ion s . It i s very ra re to

find a two - storied dwel l ing in an i n ter ior town . The

materials from which thei r houses are bui l t depend largely

upon the natural resources ofthe ne ighbourhood .

Timber .Mach in ery (n ot m in in g n or

agr icu l tural ).Perfum ery .

Prov i s ion s .

R ice .

S i lk .

Soap .

Sugar .

Appare l .V V

oollen S .

A ndon all oth er goods n ot

en um erated and n ot

exempt.


I n the eastern and western parts of the colony,where

no swish i s to be found,the nat ive huts are enti rely of

bamboo,l aced t ightly together with the runners of trees

,

roofed over with a thatch of palm leaves . I n al l other

parts of the colony the wal ls are of swish (nat ive mud ) ,and in some isolated cases

,of nat ive stone cemented

together with swish . I n many cases the wal l s are bu i l t

after the s i ze of the hut has been laid out in the fol lowing

manner : Two rows of st icks and wattle-work are placed

at a d istance apart equal to the intended thickness of

the wal l s ofthe house . The space be tween these i s then

fi l l ed up wi th loose , gravel ly clay,mixed with water, and

the in s ide and outs ide of the framework of the wal l

smoothly plastered over with swish to give i t the appear

ance of a sol id mud wal l . The roofs are made with gable

ends,to form which

,three poles are joined

,one from the

r idge of the roof,and one from the poin t to form the

s ides to the base of the tri angle . Over al l i s spread a

framework ofbamboo,into which the thatch ofleaves i s

interlaced . This i s tied to the poles runn ing from endto

end of the gables,ando n the ins ide to the framework of

bamboo . Holes a re left i n the wal ls for windows , in to

which rude shutters are fixed at n ight . A t the presen t

day stone bu i ld ings wi th i ron roofs are fast becom ing

more numerou s i n al l the coas t towns . The flooring i s

mostly of the same n atu re as the wal l s,sometimes of

cement,seldom ofwood

,and is general ly raised from o ne

to two feet above the surface of the ground,the floor

being reached by on e or two steps of the same materia l

as the wal ls . The wal ls of the huts are often washed

over either white or red . This latter wash i s Obtai ned by

mak ing an i n fus ion of red earth found in the neighbour

NATIVE BU ILD INGS . 8 1

hood wi th water,with which the wal l s are dai ly coated

,

the former being ord inary whitewash . The doors a re

often made ofan enti re piece ofwood,with other pieces

,

cut and carved,nai led across them . The only fasten ing

is a nat ive Hausa or a common European lock,often

to be used on the inside of the door on ly . Many huts

requ ire no door,the fourth S i de of the house being

enti rely open to the winds of heaven . When thi s i s the

case,the habitat ion cons ists very often of three or four

d i stinct huts enclos ing a compound with thei r open S ides

turned towards the centre,the whole being enclosed with

a pal isade of bamboo with a door orgate at one angle .

I n the centre of th is compound the cook ing is done,

meals are taken , and sheep, goats and fowls roam in and

out at will. I n many places neither chai rs nor tables

are to be found,the floor being a subst i tute for both

,and

al so form ing the bed at n ight,with the addi t ion of a

thin bamboo mat spread at n ight,and rol led up and put

away in the morn ing .

Bosman says the natives bu i ld thei r vi l lages without

the least regard to s i tuation or to pleasantness ; having

no regard for pleasant prospects or walks,nor the

val leys and r ivers wi th which thei r country abounds .

This is very true,and they are j ust as i nd i fferent wi th

regard to the making and the keeping ofthei r roads . A

road,which need n ot be more than two mi les in length

,

i s frequently more than three on account ofi ts wind ings .

The native seldom troubles to get over an obstacle i n

h i s path,he goes round i t l ike the ant

,and . the t ime lost

i s of not the s l ightest value to h im,and i n th i s respect

he is qu i te at a loss to understand the haste of the

European . One t ime,oras we shou ld say,

“ at once,

”

i s6

82 TH E GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

to him,presently

,and soon

,i n h i s vocabu lary

,means any

t ime from one hour to a day or even more . The abund

ance of t ime and the cl imate of the country are the two

chief factors aga in st hurry in West Africa . Commercial

progress i s very s low,and the whole country su ffers too

much from the l i teral in terpretat ion ofthe native saying,

“ Softly,softly

,catch monkey ”

. This may be true of

catching monkeys,but I fai l to see its un iversal appl i ca

0 al l the improvements so necessary in West A fri ca .

ere i s l i ttl e doubt that s l avery has ex isted in A frica

from the earl iest t imes,and the test imony of the ancient

wri ters goes to prove that such ea rly nat ion s as the

Phoen i c ians,Carthag in ians

,Egyptians , Greeks, Romans

and A rabian s,al l d rew their suppl ies Of s laves from the

interior of the Dark Continen t . Among the inhabitants

of A fri ca,s lavery was always the portion of those

prisoners of war that were n ot needed for sacrifice or

human food,and so the des i re for traffic in human

bod ies was deeply rooted in the A fr i can nature,long

before the adven t of the Europeans in the fourteenth

century . Fo r centuries before th is period,the great

Mohammedan states of the northern interio r were the

centres oforganised slave-hunting exped i tions,by which

many of the p resent t r i bes inhabit ing the Gold Coast

were driven farther and farther from the interior towards

the sea. For thei r own defence and safety,fami ly joined

with fam i ly and tribe wi th t ri be,the increase ofnumbers

bringing increase of power and greater immuni ty from

capture, and. possibly lead ing to the formation and es

tablishmen t ofsuch extens ive t r i bes as the Ashant is and

Fanti s of the present day . S lavery existed in the timeofMoses, i t flouri shed in the early and midd le ages, and


tak ing the fi rst twelve prisoners,with whom he returned

to his vessel and carried them to Portugal .

The traffi c in slaves was undoubtedly inaugu rated by

the Portuguese and the Span i ards ear ly in the s i x teenth

century,foras ear ly as 1503 we hear of thei r employ

ment by these nat ion s as m iners and field workers in the

newly-acqu i red terr i tor ies in South America . Some

fi fteen years later,we find Charles the Fi fth granting

the exclu s ive p r iv i lege to a favou ri te F lemi sh courtier,

of annual ly importing a stated number of sl aves i n to

Ameri ca,which priv i lege he qu ick ly d isposes ofto some

Genoese merchants ; who from this t ime organ ise and

carry on a regula r traflic i n s l aves,the magn itude of

which was soon to be equal led and u l t imately su rpassed

by thei r rival s,the Engl ish . Thus in 1562 , in the reign

of E l i zabeth,we read of the honours bestowed upon S i r

J ohn Hawkins,who went as far as S ierra Leone and

“ got into h i s possess ion partlyby the sword and partlyby other mean s

,to the number of 300 n egroes at the

least,bes ides other me rchand ise From th is t ime the

trade grew and flou r i shed,un t i l the Engl ish

,copying

the example of the Portuguese and the Span iards,be

came the l ead ing European nat ion engaged in th is ne

farious trade . So,from the m iddle of the seventeenth to

near the end of the eighteenth centu ry,stat ist ics show

that nearly 23mil l ions ofthe negroes were deported from

thei r own country by European adven tu rers to work in

the Engl ish colon ies in the West I nd ies,the total for

given years reach ing to no less than slaves fora good year ’s work . From this t ime unt i l ear ly in the

n ineteenth centu ry the traffic in creased rather than d i

m in ished,and after al l countries except Spain and Portu

TRAFFIC IN SLAVES . 85

gal had declared such traffic to be i l legal , there is ample

eviden ce to prove that more than were sti l l being

annual ly deported from thei r homes across to Ameri ca .

Educated by European example,the nat ives th roughout

the whole coast ofGuinea became expert s l ave ra iders

themselves,in order to meet the demand of the whi te

man for s laves,and now we wonder why Wes t Afr i ca

has made so l i tt le progress in the c ivi l isat ion that has

been gradual ly spreading over the wor ld . The answer

is n ot far to seek . For cen tu r ies the tr ibes inhabit ing

the coast l ine had been the mean s of robbing the interior

countries of thei r best men and women to work in a

fore ign land ; there was no market for old men and

chi ld ren,so they cou ld be left behind and al lowed to die

in their own country,or more often were k i l led in the

ra id that took place,and the wonder i s that the previous ly

thi ck ly -popu lated countries d id n ot more rap id ly become

changed in to more th in ly- peopled terr i tories than theydid.

To encou rage and extend thi s trade,the coast from

Apol lon ia to Danoe was studded with the forts and

trading stat ions as shown in Bosman’

s map on page 13,

and how eager must have been the competi t ion,i s shown

by their great number in so smal l a strip of terr i tory,div ided as they were between the Brit ish

,Dutch

,Danish

,

French and the B randenburg Companies . To the ch iefs

and the headmen of the towns where these forts were

bu i l t, a kind of monthly rent was paid , and upon th is

S lender understand ing the tenure of the European wasacknowledged in West Africa . Little or nothing was

ever don e in these ear ly times for the improvement of

the n at ive , and the on ly object in the erection of so

many forts, seems to have been to protect the occup i ers

TH E GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

and to extend the S l ave trade . No j u r i sd iction was

claimed over the surround ing coun try,and no interference

was attempted in the affai rs of the people,except where

the squabbles of neighbouring chiefs i nterfered with the

profi ts of the var ious compan ies,by the temporary di s

organ isation of what was then a very l ucrative trade .

These squabbles or palavers ” were of very frequen t

occu rrence,often purposely i nvented by the chiefs and

headmen in order to secure an increased monthly payment

upon thei r notes,or to make an extra profi t by caus ing

temporary delay in the supply of the cargoes,that were

an x iously competed forby the var ious trading compan ies .

Thi s was the state of things that reigned for more

than two centuries . Popes had granted decrees authoris

i ng the S l ave t rade,kings and emperors had gi ven

monopol ies for pu rsu ing it ; and even Acts of Par l ia

ment had app roved of the conti nuance of i t . A l l th ings,

however,have an end

,and toward s the end of the

eighteen th centu ry Denmark was the fi rst Eu ropean

Power to forb id the traffi c in hum an flesh and blood .

The Un i ted States and En gland soon fol lowed ; France

partly agreed,and the i nterests of Portugal and Spain

were bought out by the Engl i sh,by the paymen t of huge

sum s of money to the respective nat ion s of those countr i es ,in orde r to secu re thei r co - Operat ion in putt ing an end

to a trade that had ex isted for so long . Towards the end

ofthe reign of W i l l iam the Fou rth,the r ight of search

was agreed upon by most of the European powers , and

in 1 842 the Un i ted States and G reat Bri tain agreed to

main tain a fleet,for the preven t ion of the exportation of

s l aves from the coas t OfGuinea .

The great quest ion affecting the commercial interes ts

88 THE GOLD COAST FAST AND PRESENT .

unti l the middle of the presen t century . From this date

c ivi l i sat ion has been the order of the day— by the aid

of the trader— and the old forts became s imply centres

for the export of palm nuts and oil,ground nuts and

gold dust,and for the importat ion of gaudy articles

of European man ufacture. Since thei r emancipat ion,

c ivi l i sat ion and freedom were going to do much for the

people,but for years

,instead Of progress ing

,they have

gradual ly dec l ined . A t the present day a new phase of

thei r ex i stence is open ing up the Engl ish are beginn ing

to see thei r importance,and the Government to wake up

to its respons ibi l i t ies . The same remarks that apply

to one of our West A fr i can colon ies apply al i ke to

them al l,Gambia

,S ierra Leone

,Gold Coast and Lagos

,

with regard to the labour question . The people,inu red

for centu ries to a system of s lavery,resent free labour

,

and hold agricu l ture as a : degradat ion to a free man .

The women and ch i ldren perform the field work,the

man ’s ambit ion i s to be id le orat most to become a petty

trader . The richest land s are uncu lt ivated and thin ly

populated,e ither one or both

,and l ands once left

,soon

become an impassable tract of bush . O f the four colon ies,

the Gol d Coast i s perhaps the better supp l ied with popu

l at ion,but l abour i s scarce

,and a strain soon exhausts

the Supply . A compu lsory labour ordinance had to be

passed as late as 1 896, i n order to secure carr iers for

Governmen t loads for the interior,but even that does

n ot work sat i s factori ly . Fortunes cou ld be made by the

natives by the cul t ivation ofcoffee,which grows to per

fection,cocoa

,r ice

,cot ton

,rubber and tobacco for export

,

and by the cu l t ivation of fru i ts and vegetables for con

sumpt ion by the res ident Europeans . Hard ly any capita l

THE LABOUR Q UESTION . 89

need be expended o rgan i sed and d isc ipl ined labour

i s al l that is requ ired,but even the super ior class ofnative

does n ot seem to be possessed of the necessary energy

for the organ isat ion of nat ive labou r to carry this out .

The Fantis,Akras and Apo llonian s wi l l

’

work better

than the rest of the tribes,and I fi rmly bel ieve that much

n at ive labou r cou ld be organised in the interior,with the

ass i stance of the ch iefs Of the var i ous towns , to wo rk the

gold m ines that at presen t ex i st,and to Open up new ones .

A ccu rate and regular payment fo r work done, and the

establ i shment and the open ing of stores in the inter ior,

wou ld soon create a des ire in the native mind for better

art i cles for dai ly u se,and th i s desi re once created

,the

nat ive wou ld soon work to sat isfy h is demands .

Unti l the face ofthe country is c leared of bush,o rganised

white labou r i s out of the quest ion,except in a few more

favou red parts ; the importat ion of cool ie labou r wou ld

be of n o use,as cool ies would not stand the cl imate .

The native himsel f seems to be the on ly person who can

stand the c l imate,and who shou ld do the wo rk but the

quest ion is,how is he to be induced to do it

,i n order that

i t shal l be profi table to those who invest their cap ital ?I n J u ly

,1 897 ,

the late Governor,S i r W

'

i l l iam Maxwel l,

caused S i xteen Chinese m iners to be sen t to the Gold

Coast . This was to test the cl imate for Chinese labou r,

and to see what were the prospects of gold min ing in the

colony . They returned to England in December last,

and spoke exceed ingly wel l of the gold -min ing prospects

i n the Ak im and Tarkwa D is tr i cts,where they cons idered

al luvia l gold was very p len ti fu l,but

‘

the cl imate was in

no way su itable to thei r heal th . None had d ied,but

most of them had been at t imes very i l l .

CHAPTER IV .

Go l d in West Afr ica— An t iqu i ty of the same— Go l d -p roduc in gAreas— Presen t Go l d M in es— H ow Obta in ed— Go l d WorkGo l dWe igh ts— The Future ofWest Afr ica as a Go l d -producing Coun try.

TO obtain a thorough idea ofthe value of the Gold Coast

as a gold -producing area,i t is necessary to go back to

i ts early h istory of the fou rteen th centu ry,when the

French declare that they imported the precious metal

from the presen t E lm ina,j ust one century before the

arr iva l of the Portuguese . Whether the French cl aims

are good or not,i t i s certain that the Portuguese

,under

Gonzales Balde z a,brought gold from the Gold R iver or

R io de Ouro in 1442 ,and that in 1470 other nav igato rs

brought suppl i es of i t from the neighbou rhood of Chama

into the Eu ropean market . About the same period

another Portuguese merchan t,Fernando Gomez

,bought

from the Ki ng of Lisbon the monopoly of trad ing in

gold dust for five years,at a year ly rental of less than

£ 50 ,and bind ing himsel f in add ition to explore some

300 miles of coast l ine every year . Th i s exploration

led to the open ing of la rge and important m ines at

Commendah,to defend which

,i t i s assumed the castle

at E lm ina was bui l t,and a flou r i sh ing trade was carried

on t i l l ear ly in the seventeenth century,when the m ines

at Commendah were shut down and the d igging of gold


i ts d iscovery by the Portuguese . The Portuguese gave

way to the Dutch,who held sway ove r a great part ofthe

'

coast from 1 637 unti l 1 868,but who were interrupted

in thei r turn by the Engl ish and the F rench adventu rers,

who had heard ofthi s E l Dorado of Western A fri ca,and

began to take thei r share . The fi rst Engl i shman to br ing

away the p recious metal was Captain Thomas Wyndham,

who in 1551 b rought to England 1 50 lb . of gold dust

from the Gold Coast . He was qu i ck ly fol lowed by

many others,among whom were Captain Phi l ips

,R i chard

Thompson and R i chard Jobson,but by far the larger

share of the gold then produced,fel l to the Portuguese

and the Dutch traders of that t ime .

The gold -bearing a reas i n the vast conti nent of A frica

are three in number,two of which date from the most

remote times . The fi rst i s found in the north - eastern

corner of the con tinent,inc l ud ing Nubia and Abyss in ia

the second extends along the whole of the western

shores from Morocco to the Vol ta,whi le the thi rd occu

pies enormou s areas in the south -eastern d istricts . The

two first-mentioned areas are of most remote origin,

whi le the thi rd is of compa rat ively recent date . Tradi

tion on the west coast of A fr i ca points to sensat ional

finds of the precious meta l,and the barbar i c splendour

of some of i ts past ru lers freely j u st ifies such trad i t ion .

Ghana,the old name poss ibly of Guinea

,was famous

among the ancients for i ts golden th rone : Bontuko,for

i ts golden stool,whi le Bowd ich tel ls us that the King

ofGaman , of which Bon tuko was the capital , had steps

of sol id gold by which he ascended to h is bed . The

Ashantis were most profic ien t ‘ i n.the manufacture of

ornaments made from gold,but were su rpassed by the

GOLD -PRODUCING AREAS . 93

people ofDagwumba, who inhabi ted a large terri tory to

the n orth -east of the Ashant i country,ornaments being

made i n weight to the extent ofmore than 1000 ounces .I n fact

,the whole of the states north and south of the

great range of the Kong Mountains were more or l ess

wel l suppl ied with extens ive depos its of the precious

metal,the source apparently being the Kong range

itsel f,the northern l im its being the borders of the N iger.

For centu ries thi s vast terri tory poured in to Europe

mi l l ions of pounds ’ worth of th is precious metal,and

coming down to Bosman ’

s t ime we find s ix d istinct areas

in and about the Gold Coast supplying the yel low ore.

These were Denkira,includ ing Wassaw

,En casse

,Ju ffer

and Commendah,A can ny,

Ak im , Ashant i , Adansi and

lastly Aowin . A reference to the map on page 13 wi l l

show the relat ive pos i t ions of these terri tories . A S the

o ld Dutch traders were most ass iduous in securing as

large a supply as possible of the gold then produced,i t

may be fai r ly assumed,that what Bosman says concern

ing the quanti ty produced by these countries i s correct .With regard to Denkira

,he says : “ The fi rst country

which produces gold is Denkira,which incl udes the

conquered states ofWassaw,Encasse

,J uffer

,and Com

mendah ”. The Denkiras at this period were a very

powerful race of people,possessed of vast treasures of

gold,partly obtained from thei r own mines

,and from

plunder and commerce with the inter io r tribes . That the

countries men t ioned produced a vast supply is proved bythe fact , that the Denkiras from thei r own terri tory and

from those in subj ection to them,p roduced enough gold

to satisfy the demands of the coast from Ax im to

Sekond i, a d istance of forty m i les , contain ing some eight

94 THE GOLD COAST FAST AN D PRESENT .

forts or trad ing stations . The metal thus suppl ied by

the Denkiras was very pure,though often al loyed with

fet ishes,

” odd ly- shaped figures composed of several in

gredien ts . Sometimes these “ feti shes ” would be m ixed

from one- third to one -hal f thei r va lue with al loys of

earth,s i lver or copper ; those of pure gold being kept

by the n atives for ornament and seldom parted with .

Thus in the early days of h is h i story,the nat ive knew

the val ue of trying to soph ist icate his gold for the

European .

The second d istr ict was A can ny ,a prov ince not marked

i n Bosman ’

s map,but ly ing somewhat north -east of the

Ax im coun try between Ashant i and Ak im . The people

of thi s count ry were greate r traders than the Denkiras,

and bought the gold of Ashanti and Ak im,which in

addi t ion to thei r own,they brought down to the forts of

E lm ina,Cape Coast

,Mouri

,Anamaboe

,Corman t ine and

Winnebah . The gold brought to the coast by the A canny

people was neve r m ixed with “ feti shes,and on th i s

account i t was known to the coast nat ives as A can ny

Sika or A can ny gold ,“ Sika ” being the nat ive word

for the preciou s metal . These peopl e in tu rn fel l to the

power of the Denkiras,who them selves were defeated by

the Ashant i s,and in after t imes formed one of the most

powerfu l al l ies ofthat rap id ly extend ing state .

The th i rd d istri ct was A leiin,which in Bosman

’

s t ime

produced as l arge quanti ties ofgold as any land that he

knew,and that bei ng also the most valuable and pure of

any carried away from the coast . I t was eas i ly d ist in

guished by i ts deep colou r . The gold Of Ak im was

brought to Accra unal loyed in any manner whatever .

Auri ferous Ak im,as i t has been termed

,was general ly

96 THE GOLD COAST PA ST AND PRESENT

ofgo ld per d iem The Ashanti p i ts at Soko were reported to yield from 700 to 2000 ounces Of gold permonth, and their store was further in cre s edby the dai ly

washings th roughout Denkira and the h i l ls between Ak im

and As sin , then repu ted to be very rich in gold . E ach

ch iefpaid a tax to the King ofAshan t i upon the gold

ornamen ts in his possess ion , and all t ributary states contributed ann ual paymen ts amoun t ing in a l l to nearly

per annum in addi t ion to the t ribute demanded

in s laves,cows

,sheep

,co tton and s i lk good s .

Rock or nugget go ld had, when found,to be a lways

brought to the k ing,a third ofits value be ing given to the

finder. On stated occasion s the market-p lace in Kumas i

was washed,andproduced as much as 800 oun ces ofgo ld

at a time . Gold dropped in the market-place be longed

to the k ing andcould not be again picked Up on pain of

death. The gold thus obtained was stored up hy'

the fet ish

men agains t future d iffi cu l t ies, and in t imes of danger,it is said ,was buried in thei r sac red riverthe P rah, where

I bel ieve much wi l l ul timately be found .

The fifth terri to ry was Adans i orAnan s i,the country

to the south ofAshan t i east ofthe Tando R iver and to

the eas t ofDonk ita,whi ch a lso furn ished largequanti tiesofgo ld . The s ixth and last place was Aowin

,the stri p

ofcoun try ly ing north OfApo l lon ia and to the west ofAxim . A t on e peri od i t Suppl i ed vast quant i ties Of the

precious meta l,whi ch was pure and una l loyed,and the

people who brought it to the coas t were among the

c iviles t andfaires t dealers Ofall the negroes, wi th whom

the Dutch, accord ing to Bosman , traded wi th a d ea l ofp leasure ” . The coun try ofA owin was

, however, des

tined , in its turn , to become tribu tary to the ris ing power

THE GOLD FOUND . 97

of Denkira, though not unt i l many batt les had beenfought. After their defeat, the gold brought down by

the Aowins decreased in amount, the inhab itants of the

coun try preferring rather to let i t remain in the ground ,than to dig i t for the benefi t ofa neighbouring tribe .

The gold obtained by the natives in these early dayswas of two kinds

,dust go ld and mountain go ld . The

former was ofthe fines t nature , often as fine as flour and

obtain ing the h ighes t pri ce, whi ls t the latter varied w ry

much both in siz e and qual i ty . The siz e of the piecesof mountain go ld w ried from grai ns no larger than a

pin’

s head,to others varying i n value to twe n ty or thirty

guineas,but these latter were always m ixed with a multi

tude of smal l stones , wh ich greatly reduced their value .

The go ld thus found was produced, accord ing to the

natives, i n three d ifferent k inds of places , the exact

local i ty ofwhich was seldom or never divu lged to the

Euro pean, for fear that he should take pos s ess ion of

their m ines and thus nob them of their sto re ofweal th .

The bes t go ld was found in or between particu larhil l s ,where the natives dug pits andseparated it by washingfro m the earth thus obtained.

The second p lace was in, at or about some rivers and

waterfal ls , where the vio le nce ofthe water brought down

larg e quantities ofearth , bringing the go ld with it.The thi rd p lace was along the sea-shore , particu lar ly

where the streams and titers emptied theirwaters alongthe coast.

This a l l p oi nts to the fact that ma ny of the present

h i l ls a ndmoun tai ns in the interiorofthe G old Coas t mus t

form the sources from which these supplies were then

obtained . and that in spite of the enormous quantities


that have been obtained in the past,there must st i l l re

main in the interior of the country vast stores of the

precious metal,wai t ing to be d iscovered and worked by

Eu ropean energy and enterpr i se .

I n later t imes,the known gold -bearing areas became

reduced to three,Wassaw

,Ak im and A shant i

,with i ts

powerfu l rival,the Gaman country

,none of which have

ever been proper ly developed,and which became practi

cal ly forgotten by the open ing up of Cal i forn ia and

Austral ia,on account of the gold d iscoveri es in those

countries . A fter the lapse of many years,attent ion i s

again being turned toward s West A fri ca as a gold -pro

ducing area, and a short accoun t of what real ly does

exist in the Gold Coast wi l l perhaps not be out of place

in these pages .

Axim ever was and has cont inued to be the gold port

ofthe colony,S i tuated as i t i s to the south of one of the

bes t gold -producing countries,via ,

Wassaw,where most

ofthe present gold mines are s ituated,and many attempts

at development are tak ing place . Tarkwa,the presen t

centre of the min ing industry of the colony, i s S i tuated

in Wassaw,some fi fty m i les from the coast

,travel l ing

by bush and river . The mineral depos i ts ofthe Wassaw

distr i c t may be d ivided into two classes,w

’

z

( I ) Gold -bearing quartz,and (2 ) bedded al l uvial de

pos i ts,in add it ion to more recent al l uvia l depos i ts .

The fi rst are stated to be found to the west of the

A ncobra,whi le the second are found to the east of the

same river . There i s no doubt that the present group

of Tarkwa mines was on e of the pl aces i n the Wassaw

country,from which the Portuguese and the Du tch were

suppl ied with their gold,though the m ines themselves


form the western part Ofthe Gold Coast,form one Of the

most promis ing Ofthe gold -producing a reas Of the colony,

l ack ing on ly tran sport and capita l to place thei r weal th

before the European market . Many attempts have been

made in th is d i rect ion,on ly to meet with fai l ure

,be

cause,in the compan ies fo rmed , adequate preparat ions

were not made,either for the land ing or transport Of the

machinery absolutely necessary for the work ing of the

m ines . The top a l l u v i al beds have been worked out,

and engineering sc ience i s now needed to Obtain the gold

from the qua rt z and the lower strata,where i t s t i l l ex ists

in large quanti t ies . Remains of O ldDutch forts are al so

to be found at Essaman,some twelve mi les n orth -west

OfTarkwa,near the main st ream Of the river An cobra

,

and some forty m i les from Ax im in a stra ight l ine,and

this i s no doubt the place referred to by Bosman,when he

says that the gold comes from as far in land,that our

servants are common ly five days in going from E lm ina

to i t,and ten days from Ax im

,not so much on account of

the d istance,but on accoun t ofthe d iffi cu l t ies Of the road .

I n the Apol l on i an country are to be found remain s of

O ld nat ive m ines which were vis i ted and described by

Bu rton and Cameron in 1 882,and leased through thei r

instrumental i ty by Mr . R . B . N . Walker, who had fi rs t

v is i ted the place in 1 88 1 . The fi rst was cal led the Iz rah

mine,S i tuated with in an easy march Of the coast from

Nanipoliand promis ing to pay and pay wel l the second

lay some d istance east,a l i ttle south from the fi rst at a

place cal led Imyoku,near New Amanta

,and could be

eas i ly approached from the town Of E siamo on the coast .

This m ine al so gave some wonderfu l Specimens and pro

mised to give a rich reward to the owners . Noth ing,

ASHANTI GOLD WE IGHTS . 10 1

however,i s heard Of i t at the present day . A th ird was

s i tuated at IngotrO ,a short d i stance west Of the A n cobra

R iver,and was Of far larger d imens ions than the two

p revious ly ment ioned . Nothing has been done with this .

ASHANT I GOLD WE IGHT S .

Down to the end of the eighteenth century the m ines

remained enti rely in the hands of the nat ive owners,but

1 0 2 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT.

i n 1 825 the Gold Coast M in ing and Trad ing Company,with a capi tal Of was formed

,for the purpose

,

among others, Of extend i ng the intercou rse now subs ist

ing with the native chiefs and princes,and to make

arrangements with them to in troduce a better method

Of work ing the mines and pi ts in the Denkira,Wassaw

,

Ahanta and Fanti terr i tor ies on the Gold Coast . This

company, however, left m in ing alone, and confined its

attent ion to trad ing . Coming down to st i l l l ater t imes,

71 2133, 1 874, M . Bonnat,a French trader

,drew attent ion to

the poss ibi l i t ies Of thi s pa rt Of A fr ica . He explo red the

Vol ta R iver unti l stopped by the Ashant is,and was held

by them for fi ve years as a pri soner in Kumasi . Re

l eased by the Ashant i war of 1 873-74 he retu rned to

France, and succeeded i n the foundation Of the Soc iétédeS Mines d’

Or d’

Afrique Occidentale . This was moreofa synd icate than a company

,and devoted i ts energies

to the acqu is i t ion Of concess ion s and demonstrat ing the

p ract i cabi l i ty Of dredging the bed Of the A n cobra for

gold . The exploration Ofth i s synd icate lasted for abou t

three years,when Bonnat again returned to France

,and

i n 1 879 he was instrumental in forming the Anglo

French Compagn ie M in ie re de la COte d’

Or d’

Afrique,or the A fr i can Gold Coast Company . He retu rned to

the coast again i n 1 88 1 and d ied there in J u ly, 1 882 ,being

buried at Tarkwa . H i s name w i l l always be associated

with the Tarkwa mines,for he was the fi rst European

to cal l atten t ion to thei r poss ib i l i t ies,and to vis i t them .

O thers have fol lowed,but he was the fi rst . The two

French companies j o ined hands i n 1 886,and in 1 888 the

m ines were taken over by an Engl ish company,who have

S ince that time been qu ietly opening them up,with

1 04. THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT.

I n the same report wi l l be found an account of the

auri ferous l ands in the Winnebah d istr i ct of the Gold

Coast,contributed by the request of the Government

by Mr. Henry Eyre,a then D i s tri ct Comm i ss ioner .

H aving d iscussed at some length the mines of the

Wassaw country,I wi l l now endeavour to show that other

parts of the co lon v are as rich , and have been SO from

al l an t iqu ity,as those at present known . I refer to the

Ak im country . Let us see what h isto ry has said con

ce rn ing it . Bosman speaks Of i t as being the th i rd place

ofimportance for the p roduct ion of gold,plac ing A can ny

as the second,but nei ther A can ny nor Ak im is to be

found upon his map . H i s in formation was drawn from

intercourse on ly with the nat ives,and I am incl ined to

bel ieve,that the A can ny S ika

”Of the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries,the pu res t gold of any Obtained on

the coast,was none other than Ak im gold

,A canny,

accord

ing to D r . Leyden,being another name forA k im . The

pos it ion of th is importan t country in these early times

was very uncertain the nat ives purposely avoided giving

i ts exact locat ion in order to retain in the i r own hand s

the enormous supply of precious meta l that i t furn ished .

Bosman says Having several times heard that Ak im

was an extraord inary large country,I took once the oppor

tunity of ask ing some Of the Akimese how many days

their country was ;they repl ied , that very few natives knew

how far i t extended in land towards the Barbary coast,

which,accord ing to what they told me

,was i ncred ible

Again Bowdich says , i n quoting D r . Leyden “ On the

wes t ofAquamboe l ies the powerfu l s tate ofAk im ,some

t imes denominated Akam,Acham and A canny,

which

occupies a lmost al l the i nterior of the Gold Coast,and

GOLD IN AKIM . 1 05

i s supposed by the natives to extend to Barbary This

somewhat proves that Ak im was the same as A can ny . I n

D r . Leyden ’s map,he places i t east Of Dahomey

,instead

ofwest of the Vol ta,which is i ts true S i tuation . I n the

earl i es t maps of Afri ca i t is marked Akim,rz

'

c/z in gold,and of thi s fact there i s no doubt

,for in more modern

t imes i t ranks second in importance for the production of

the yel low ore, A canny being lost s ight of enti rely .

So far as I have been able to ascertain,both from

reference and from actua l t ravel through the country,no Euro pean attempts at min ing have ever yet

been made i n the Ak im country,though the whole

terr i tory is l a rgely honeycombed with nat ive pits and

women ’s washings . The abol i tion of the s l ave trade and

the introduct ion of rubber into the European market

from this part Of the world,fo rm no doubt two of the

chief reason s for the decl ine in the work ing of the gold

in the Gold Coast colony . To collect rubber,which

abounds in the Ak im forests,i s far easier than d igging

and washing forgold,and thus l i tt le has been heard of

l ate years ofthe gold in Akim . I t i s my fi rm opin ion that

the whole OfAkim i s impregnated with the precious metal ,and this opinion has been formed from actual travel l ing

through the country,not once

, -but ten t imes . What

wou ld be thought of a place,that I can mention

,where

pieces Ofquartz,broken offan ou tcrop in the very street

Ofthe town,gave vi s ible gold and assayed S ix teen dwts .

to the ton ? Yet the quartz in th is part of the colony

has never yet been touched by Eu ropean machinery,and

the whole ofAkim is pract ical ly unexplored . I wi l l add

the test imony ofothers in addition ‘

to my own .

Captain Butler described Western Akim as “ a country

IO6 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

teem ing with gold,whi le Captain Glover has stated “ that

in Eastern Ak im gold is as plent i fu l as potatoes in I re

land,and the paths are honeycombed with gold pits

I n h i s Wanderings in West Africa,the late Captain R .

F . Burton says : I n several countries,especial ly Akim

,

the h i l l region lying north ofAccra,the people are st i l l

active in d igg ing gold . The pits, from two to three feet

in d iameter,and from twelve to fi fty feet deep

,are Often

SO near the roads that loss of l i fe has been the resu l t .

Shor ing-up’ being l itt l e known

,the m iners are not un

frequently buried al ive . The stu ffi s d rawn up by ropes

in clay pots or cal abashes,and thus a workman at the

bottom widen s the pi t to a pyr i form Shape . Tunnel l ing

is,however

,unknown . The excavated earth i s carried

away~

to be washed . Bes ides s ink ing these holes they

pan in the beds of r ivers and in places col lect quartz

which i s roughly pounded . Mr. H . Ponsonby found the

nat ives gett ing quanti t ies Of gold by d igging holes eight

to ten feet deep on ei ther s ide of the forest paths . He

saw as much as three ounces taken up i n hal f an hour .A round the capital Of Eastern Ak im

,Kyebi orKibbi

,the

land i s honeycombed with manholes,making n ight travel

l ing dangerous to the stranger . I t requ i res a sharp eye

to detect the deserted pi ts,two feet in d iameter

,and sunk

stra ight as i f they had been bored by huge augers . The

workman descends by footho les,and works wi th a hoe

from four to s ix inches long by two broad,and when hi s

calabash is fi l led i t i s drawn up by his companions .

I t is general ly acknowledged that the earthquakes ,which occurred i n and about th is part Of the Gold Coast

in 1 862 (Apri l and J u ly), so d isturbed the hi l l s i n the

Akim country,that the natives left thei r ord inary ho le


the process repeated unti l nothing is left but the grains

ofgold and a l i ttl e sand,which a re again washed and the

gold final ly extracted . Th roughout the whole ofAk im,

wherever water is avai lable,these wash ings are carri ed

on,and the farther in land one travel s the ri cher the al lu

vial deposi ts become . I n some places the quartz i s

roughly pounded,and general ly cons i sts of only those

pieces that Show vis ible gold . A s l ight ly hol lowed s lab

Of gran ite i s general ly used for th is purpose,upon wh i ch

the quartz i s pounded with a hand -stone . O ften the

same stones are used forgrind ing the quartz,that are u sed

forpound ing the corn to make flour .

The Fanti s and the Ashant is are the most expert gold

sm iths at present i n the colony,but in the past each

importan t tribe,i n fact each important town

,had its

goldsmith,who fab ricated rough ornaments for the k ing

and chiefs,and the r i cher portion of the commun ity .

These general ly took the shape of bangles,rings

,studs

,

bracelets,brooches

,chains and charms of al l k inds

,or

fetishes as they were cal led,o rnamented with a common

pattern,the S igns of the zod iac

,

” which were no doubt

introduced to the country by the fi rst vis i tors,the

Portuguese. The workmen,however

,a re very ski l fu l

in the art of im itat ion , and can make an artic le to a set

copy,or to any des ign that may be furn ished to them .

Art ic les thus made are sold for the val ue Of thei r own

weight in gold,plus a commiss ion of twenty -five per

cent . for workmanship ; thus an art ic le weighing one

sovereign wou ld be so ld for twenty- five sh i l l ings . Gold

ornaments thus made are very soft,owing to the absence

of al loy,which

,when i t is used

,general ly consi sts ofa

l i tt le s i lver. The natives work in s i lver as wel l as gold,

NATIV E GOLD WORK . 1 09

charging fi fty per cent . of the value forworkmansh ip in

the former,owing to the greater d ifficul ty of work ing

the harder metal . The implements at the command of

the goldsmith for h i s work are Of a very prim it ive char

acter . Some bees ’ wax,a model l ing block and stick

,

melting pots and trays are his chief tool s . Thei r mode

Of procedure is as fol lows : Suffi cient bees ’ wax for

making the model of the arti cle wanted is worked out

upon the mode l l ing block or table by the S ide of the

fi re on which stands a pot ofwater the model l ing st ick,a piece of flat

,hard wood

,i s d ipped in to this

,and with

this the wax is made of the requis i te softness forwork

ing ; i t takes the workman about a quarter ofan hou r

to make the model of a ring . When the mode l of the

art icle wanted i s fin ished,i t i s enclosed in a case ofwet

clay and charcoal,which

,being closely pressed round

the model,forms a mou ld . This i s then dried in the sun

,

and has a smal l cup of the same materials attached to

i t (i n which to put the gold for mel t ing) communicat ing

with the model by a very smal l aperture . When the

whole model is fin ished,and the gold for the art i cl e to

be made enclosed safely in the cup,the whole is placed

in a charcoal fi re with the cup undermost . When the

gold has had time to become fused,the cup i s turned

uppermost,i n order that i t may run in to the place of

the mel ted wax,and take i ts place in the mould when

cool the clay mould i s broken,and the arti cle taken out

,

which if not perfect is again mel ted and the whole pro

cess gone through again . The stoves for thei r fi res are

bu i l t of swish or native mud i n a c ircular form and

about three or four feet in height,being open for one

fifth part of their ci rcumference . Through the closed


part a hole i s made on a level wi th the ground of the

fi re,through which the nozz le of the bel lows i s to pass .

The bel lows are an exact im itation of our own,made

with sheepskin tied to the wooden s ides with leather

thongs,and Often two or three pai rs of bel lows are

used to one fi re . Shou ld an anvi l be wanted , a large

stone is general ly selected for the pu rpose,or a p iece

of i ron placed on the ground,and upon this rude

su rface al l hammering work i s performed . When the

article i s completed,i t i s covered al l over w i th a layer

of a k ind Of red och re (cal led In chuma by the

nat ives) , and placed in boi l ing water mixed with sa l t

and some Of the same red earth,boi led for about th i rty

m inutes,and then taken ou t and final ly pol i shed . Th i s

process gives a good colou r to the gold . I n add it ion to

the manufactu re of ornaments for the people,the gold

sm ith i s the buyer and sel ler of the gold dust for the

di strict . He possesses a complete set Of weights and

scales,the former varying from the value of a farth ing

to £ 24 63. The ackie orone- S i xteenth part Of an ounce

i s the un it Of value . A native proverb says,

“ You cannot

buy much gold for a farthing,and in th is

,at least

,al l

Europeans wi l l agree . There are thi rty - five weights,each

with a d ist in ct value,i n use in the Ashanti and Fant i

countr ies,a complete l i st ofwhich wi l l be found at the

end Of the chapter . The complete set of weighing apparatus is cu r ious and very compl icated

,con s ist ing Of

blowers,S i fters

,spoons

,native scales

,and weights of

many k inds . The smal ler we ights are no larger than

tiny seeds,whi lst the larger consi s t Of brass or copper

castings Of almost every art ic le,an imal

,fru i t

,fish or

vegetable with which the people are acquainted . I l lus


with black,and are cal led dambas (equal to twopence) ,

twenty- four ofthem amounting to an angel,and each Of

them reckoned two styver weights . The white beans with

black spots,or - those en ti rely black

,are heavier

,and

accounted four styver weights ; these are usual ly cal led

tacoes,but there are some which weigh half or a whole

gu i lder . But these are not esteemed certain weights,

but are on ly used at p leasu re,and thus Often become

instruments of fraud " Several have bel ieved that the

negroes on ly used wooden weights , but thi s is a m istake,al l ofthem having cast weights (see pages 10 1 and of

copper or of t in,which though d ivided or adj usted in a

manner qui te d ifferent to ou rs,yet upon reduct ion agree

exactly with them .

” S ince i ts fi rst d i scovery by the

Eu ropeans,i t has been roughly est imated that from 600

to 700 mil l ions ster l ing Ofgold have been produced from

the Guinea Coast,and in i ts most flou r i sh ing days the

town of E lm ina alone annua l ly exported

work of the precious metal . Early i n the eighteenth

century Bosman computed that twenty- three tuns Of gold

were annual ly brought by the nat ives to the forts along

the coast,a tun of gold in Hol land at that date being

reckoned at gu i lders,or about He

made the total output 7000 marks , and est imated i t i n

the fol lowing manner

The Dutch West I n d ia CompanyThe Engl i sh Afr ican CompanyThe Zealan d In terlopersThe Engl i sh In terlopersThe Bran den burgers andDan esThe Portuguese andFren ch

Mak ing a total of

ASHANT I GOLD WE IGHTS . 1 13

Early in the n ineteenth century the export became

reduced to S l ightly under sterl ing,about

ounces,and averaged thi s amount for nearly

ASHANT I GOLD WE IGHTS .

hal f a century . Ear ly i n the S ixt ies thi s export fel l to

under ounces,constantly varying between that

and the ounces of the earl ier part Ofthe century .


This became again reduced in the seventies and the

eighties of the present century to an an nual average of

about sterl i ng,which i s about the output at

the present time .

With the decl ine of the S l ave t rade began also the

decl ine in the gold -min ing industry,though the d i s

covery Of new gold -bearing areas in more heal thy parts"/Of the world

,must also have had its effect upon the

output Of the Gold Coast . Another reason for the de

cl ine is that the nat ives always wash and dig for years

i n the same pl ace after the ra ins . They seldom ornever

fol low the gold to the hi l l s from whence i t i s carried by

the torrents,but res t conten t with the head waters Of

the various r ivers that flow from them,where the rapid ity

Ofthe stream has al ready cleared much Of the sand and

clay away for them . A s a ru le,the richest depos its are

found after the ra ins,near the foot of some hi l l where

gold has been previous ly seen . Accord ing to the

natives,the most l ikely places i n which to find gold

,are

those that contain a foundation of redd ish sand m ixed

with smal l part ic les Of black matter,l ike fine gunpowder

,

and cal led by the natives “ sana m ira ”. The same

style Ofwashing and pann ing is common throughout the

Gold Coast,and apparently there is an art even in th is

s imple process,for some women wi l l find gold where

others cannot . NO mercury is ever used,and con se

quently much fine gold must be lost in the prim i t ive

process of washing. I n some places nugget gold is

again buried,i n order that a more bount i ful supply may

be Obtained in the futu re,and trad it ion has i t

,that in

some places the presence of a thin white smoke or

vapour leads to a rich depos i t,whi le the find ing Of


pounds’ weight to reach Kumas i from the coast,at a

m in imum cost Of 1 2 s . 6d. fo r carr iage,a rate equal to

nearly £ 25for a ton ? No m i n i ng scheme for the Gold

Coast wi l l ever succeed,that does not inc l ude provi s i on for

a means Of transport and the con struct ion of better roads

than at present ex ist . A Roads Department i s wanted

in this country,with trave l l ing road commiss ioners

,

who shou ld report from actual inspection upon the state

Of the roads . Narrow paths are Of no use ; they soon

become overgrown with bush and practi cal ly u seless for

al l transport pu rposes . A min imum wid th Of s ixteen

feet Shou ld be cleared,wel l banked in the centre

,d itched

on either S ide,stones being u sed wherever obtai nable

for the edges of the road s . Timber ex ists i n abundance

for bridges,and soft pl aces cou ld be cordu royed with

the trunks of the smal ler t rees . A Roads Department

was created in 1 894 by one gove rnor to be abol ished by

another in 1 896,when it was merged into the Publ ic

Works Department,before i t had had time to prove its

worth o r u selessness . A l l departments in the colony

suffer a l ike from this want Of cont inu i ty Of purpose .

I n the height of thei r power the Ashantis knew too wel l

the value Of roads,for they caused to be kept open and

maintained,no less than n ine good road s that led from

thei r capital to the other most important parts of the

Gold Coast . These road s were to Dwaben,Akim ,

Ass in i,Wassaw

, Sauree,Gaman

,Soko

,Daboia and

Salaga . The chief Kumas i -Accra roads were two in

number,both pass ing through the Ak im coun try ; one

took fi fteen days and the other seventeen . This latter

passed near Lake Bosomshwi and covered a d istance

Of230 mi les in a south - easterly d i rection (see page

THE FUTURE OF THE GOLD COAST . 1 1 7

The futu re Of the Gold Coast l ies in i ts commercial

prosperity, and thi s can on ly be increased by greater

attent ion to the m in ing capabi l i t ies of the colony,and

the production of t imber and rubber . Good road s once

establ ished,the introduct ion ofwheeled traffic wi l l soon

fol low,though the matter Of an imals for draught pur

poses wi l l sti l l be somewhat of a d ifficu l ty . Horses do

not thrive,oxen have never been tried

,elephants would

be too expensive,but I th ink mu les from Canary could

be used to great advantage . These last are n ow being

tried by the Government in the VV Orks Department .

Before much introduction ofthese an imals takes place,

large areas in the min ing d istri cts ofWassaw and Ak im

should be c leared of vegetation,and hydrau l icked for

the gold that they con taTri. Th i s shou ld produce enough

gold to pay for the rai lways necessary for the tran sport of

heavy machinery,i n order to work the reefs that would be

laid bare by the process previous ly referred to . Before any

rai lway can be la id,a port on the coast i s wanted where

a breakwater could be eas i ly constructed,and ra i lway

plant securely landed . Under ex isting circumstances

everything i s transferred to a surf-boat for l anding,and

more Often than n ot the goods are landed in the last

breaker on the shore,i n stead of upon d ry land . Much

damage and loss i s the resu l t,in addi tion to a great waste

oft ime,which to a wh ite man Often mean s loss ofmoney.

Every coast l i ne,however ‘ bad

,has somewhere in

i ts length a natu ral coign Of vantage,where engineer

ing art ifice cou ld eas i ly step in and make the necessary

improvements . Thi s n atural advantage in the coast l ine

is to be found,along this surf- beaten shore

,between

D ixcove and Sekond i in the western part of the colony,

1 1 8 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .

somewhat nearer to the l atter place than the former.

A t Takorad i i s a bay large enough to contain a fleet at

anchor,with deep and comparat i vely st i l l water

,and at

Apoassi, or Sekondi , i s a natu ral point, which cou ld be

extended into the sea without much diffi cu l ty,and formed

into a breakwater,along which vessel s cou ld moor and

d ischarge thei r cargoes,und isturbed by the long A t lan t i c

swel l for ever breaking on this coast . This poin t shou ld

be made the chief port ofentry for the colony,a coast

rai lway shou ld be constructed west to Ak im and Apol

l on ia,and east to Cape Coast

,Saltpond and Accra

,with

b ranches to Tarkwa,l nsuaim

,Kumasi

,Kyebi and Abetifi .

The Tarkwa l ine cou ld run d i rect from Sekond i ; the

I n suaim -Kumas i l i ne from Sal tpond,and the Kyebi

Abetifi l i ne from Winnebah or Acc ra . The capi tal

required to construct a harbou r at any other point along

thi s coast wou ld be suffi c ien t to lay the greater part

of the much -needed coast rai lway . I f Apoassi were

made the chief port of entry for the colony,I am aware

that i t wou ld necess i tate the establ ishment of a Customs

stat ion and the European officials at or near that point .So much the better ; Accra is not a des irable place for

headquarters . There are many places i n the west far

better su i ted for the res idence of Europeans . Boutrii s

one of these,D ixcove and Sekond i are others

,al l s i tuated

in what was known as the Ante country in the days of

the Dutch and the Portuguese,and where the former

traded cons iderably for a large quanti ty of gold .

Boutrii s s i tuated about one and a hal f m i les east of

D ixcove and original ly possessed a fort bui l t upon a very

high hi l l,strengthened wi th two batteries of eight smal l

guns . The Dutch name for th is place was Bartenstein


Engl ish ships received fal se gold for the whole of thei r

cargoes,of which they d isposed

,on e to the value of

£ 1 700 . Bosman says they complained to the Engl ish

governor at the time,but that to complain to him was

as good as going to the devi l to be confessed,and the

trade in fal se gold SO prospered that open business was

done in i t at the rate ofone dol lar for two pounds ’ value

sterl ing of fal se,unti l this part of the country became

known as the false mint of Gu inea .

TAB LE OF GOLD WE IGHT S AND TH E I R V ALUE S INENGL I SH MONEY U SED IN TH E GOLD COA STCOLONY.

Weight.

PuwaPesiwa

DambaSimpuwa

Kokuwa

Akau TakuTakuNtaku-mmien sa

Suwa-fa

Dumba-fa

Agyiratwi-fa

SuwaNtaku -akumDumbaAgyiratwi

Nsuwa-n sa

BodombuN sau

I wi l l conclude this chapter by endors ing the remark s

of Bosman written nearly two centu ries ago,but which

are nevertheless true of to -day . I wou ld refer to any

intel l igent metal l i s t whether a vast deal of ore must not

of necess i ty be lost here,from which a great deal of

Weigh t.

Akau-dwuasruAbau-dwuasruSuruPiresuru

As iaKandwuaAnamfi -sur

Abau~dwuaOsua

Ndwua-mmien

Ndwua-mmien sa

Asuan u

Asuasa

Ben daPireguan

Ntan u

Ntan sa .

LOSS OF THE FINE GOLD . 1 2 1

gold might be separated,forwant ofsk i l l in the metal l i c

art ; and not only so , but I fi rm ly bel ieve that large

quanti t ies of pure gold are left behind , for the negroes

on ly ignorantly d ig at random,without the least know

ledge Of the veins of the mine . And I doubt not but i f

thi s country belonged to the Europeans,they wou ld soon

find i t to produce much richer treasures than the negroes

obtain from it .”

N ote.— S in ce th is chapter was written , a copy ofthe A tlas M aritime

de l ’Asie et de l ’Afrique (1 764) has come in to my possess ion . In map

1 06, La Coste d’

Or,”the two d iv is ion s ofthe Ak im coun try are marked

as fo l lows Western Ak im as Pays d’

Akan ni, autrefo is tres pu issan t et

riche en or, andEastern Ak im as Pays d’Akim on b rand Akan n i ,

tres éten du et riche en or Th is proves that Acan ny S ika was the

same as Ak im Go ld . See pp . 1 04 and1 05.

CHAPTER V .

HalfAss in i to Axim— Apo l lon ia— The Lake V i l lage—Axim and

its N e ighbourhood— The An te Coun try— Cape Th ree Po in tsChama andthe Prah— The K ingdom s of Was saw

,Den kira

andSefw i .

THE lower course ofthe Tano orTando R iver forms the

western boundary ofthe Gold Coast colony,though the

coast extends in a strip some two or more m i les wide

farther west to N ewtown,a short d istance beyond the

A ss in i H i l l s,where i t j oins the terr i tory known as French

Gu inea,the Old I vory Coast . Here the French have

two important trad ing stat ions,Grand Bassam and

Ass in i,or as the latter was once cal led

,Fort J oinvi l le

,

from which port la rge quan ti t ies Of t imber are now ex

ported . The whole Ofthe Apol lon ian coast,from New

town to the mouth Of the A ncobra R iver near Axim,i s

a low stretch of sand,studded with no less than forty

fi sh ing towns and v i l l ages between the two po ints I have

mentioned,i n a d is tance ofsome s ixty Odd mi les .

I mmed iately behind Newtown,extend the Tano and

the Eyi Lagoons,into which are d i scharged the waters

Ofthe river bea r ing the former name,after a course of

some m iles from the ancient town of Tak ima,some d i s

tance north Of Kumasi,whence the Fantis are supposed

to have original ly come . The most importan t town s along

this western seaboard are Newtown,Hal f A ss in i

,Beyin ,

1 24 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT

Newtown into the interior i n a most i rregular manner,

and at the present day is not at al l wel l defined . I n

the map publ ished by Stanford in 1 895 a note s tates

that,The boundary between the Engl ish and French

possess ion s has been taken from the text of the agree

ment between Great Bri tain and France of 1 2 th J u ly ,

1 893, and the map attached thereto, but has not been

demarcated on the ground,and the l ine must therefore

be regarded as on ly approx imately correct ” .

This approx imate l ine of demarcation runs east from

Newtown for some twenty—five miles,and turn s north to

fol low the Tano R iver for about the same d istance . I t then

leaves the Tano,st i l l going north

,trends north -west un t i l

the same longitude as Newtown i s again reached,and

then north again for about 100 mi les,to turn off again

towards the east. Thus the whole ofthe upper waters of

the Tano are in Engl i sh terr i tory,and the lagoons into

which its waters are emptied remain in French Gu inea .

The resu l t of thi s i s,that the French port Of Ass in i has

become the centre Of the mahogany trade that comes

down the Tano R iver,which is in Engl i sh te rri tory . A

canal Should be cut from the lagoon behind Hal f Ass in i

to the shore,and an Engl ish t imbe r port establ ished at

th is l atter place . The in land terri tor ies to the north Of

Apol lon ia conta in the k ingdoms of Wassaw,Sefwi and

Denkira,which wi l l be separately treated in th is chapter .

This coast received its name of Apol lon ia from the

Portuguese,who named i t from the saint bearing that

name,the pres id ing saint of the day upon which i t was

fi rst d iscovered,via , 9th February . There i s al so an

Apol lon ias Of5th March .

I n the Old days the Kings ofApol lon ia were held to

APOLLON IAN SACR l FICES .

be important personages,and much human sacrifice was

practised upon al l great occasions . Mered ith in h is

A ccoun t of Me Gold Coast says that when a k ing d ied,

twenty men were sacrificed every Saturday for the fol

lowing Six months,when the “ great custom took place

,

whi le the jou rnal Of an A fri can cru iser,publ i shed in

1 848, mentions the royal res idence Of the Apol lon ian

kings as being most gorgeous ly furn ished in imi tat ion

of European style,and contain ing vast stores Of riches .

The death of a k ing was the occas ion for the sacrifice Of

S i xty men to attend thei r lord to h is next realm,each

being bu r ied wi th kn ife,plate

,cup,

sword,gun and

cloth for use in the unknown land,whi le the co rpse of

the k ing was wel l O i l ed and powdered with gold dust .

I n the early h istory Of these savage people,many

strange devices were resorted to in order to escape

fal l ing into the hands Of their enem ies,many preferring

death by thei r own hands to torture and death from the

hand s of the victors . One i l l ust ration wi l l be sufficientas an example of a practice once common throughout

the colony . About the year 1 7 85, the King Of Apol lon ia

d ied,and two competi tors appeared and claimed the

stool,

” one ofwhom was cal l ed Suikee . To test their

r ight each col lected his s laves and adherents and fought .

Suikee was defeated in the engagement , fled and hid

himsel f in the bush . I n the meant ime his opponen t was

duly made k ing,but the people be ing d issat isfied with

the conqueror, Suikee reappeared again st hi s o ldenemy

and besieged his capital . The k ing,his rival

,reduced

th is t ime beyond al l hope,threw al l h i s gold

,which

fi l led several j ars,in to the lake

,and col lecting his wives

and the d i fferent branches of his fami ly,took them to


a remote part of the bush,cut all thei r throats with the

exception of one son,who ass isted him to bury the

bod ies . He then made feti sh,and caused his son to

swear upon i t that he wou ld ki l l and bury him,and never

d isclose the place of the burial of the bodies . The son

d id this and returned to Apol lon ia,and was for a t ime

lost s ight of. Suikee, now seated fi rm ly on the throne,by

some means d iscovered the burial place . He caused al l

the bodies to be dug up,carried to Beyin and ranged

them in a s i tt ing pos i tion upon the beach,with stakes

support ing thei r arms and heads . There this horrid

spectacle remained unti l even the bones had perished,

and Suikee had thus gratified his revenge upon the dead

bod ies of his adversaries . Many instances of S im i lar

barbari ties could be given .

The country immed iately to the north of Apol lon ia

was known as Amanahea. Both were once under the

sway of the Ashantis, who extorted gold from them in

various quantit ies,though no annual tribute was fixed .

The Apo llonian s are a branch no doubt of the once

great Akan fam i ly, al l speak ing the same language, and

related to the Akra, Cheripong,

Late,Ahanta and

Adangme tribes,and incl ude the people of Ax im

,who

are Apol lonian s . Thei r speech d iffers somewhat from

the Fant i,but each i s i ntel l igible to the other. Fish ing

is thei r chief occupation,though the Apol lon ian men

make good hammock men and carriers . They are fond

Of d r in k,somewhat noisy

,easi ly pleased

,and clean as

regards the wash ing of thei r bod ies . Fowls,goats

,

cattle and sheep thrive throughout the country,the

sheep being among the best in the colony . The women

are much the same as al l others i n the colony,though a


Unti l qu i te recen tly,big game and elephants were to

be found with in a two days ’ j ou rney in the grassy lands

above Beyin,but i t is very seldom now that a tooth is

ever brought i n, though qu ite c lose to the old Ivory or

Tooth Coast,belonging to the Cote d

’

orOf the French.

I cannot leave the Apol lon ian country without giving a

Short description ofthe lake vi l lage that i s to be found a

short d istance in land from Beyin,and which has been

vis i ted by very few Europeans . I n Mered ith ’s A ccozm t ofMe GoldCoast ( 1 8 1 2 ) i t i s thus described

“ About three

m i les from the fort in land,there i s a very fine lake of fresh

water that forms the boundary ofthe plain,and may be

computed at six miles in c i rcumference . I t i s deep,for

no bottom was found about the centre with a l ine ofthirty

fathoms . There is a variety Of fi sh here : the crocod i le oral l igator inhabi ts i t

,and a large species of snake has

been d iscovered on i ts banks . A smal l vi l lage is erected

on th is lake ; the houses are formed on wooden pi les ;they are separated from each other so that every house isi nsu lated . The inhabitants form a commun icat ion by

means Ofcanoes,which are general ly padd led by women .

The original inhabi tants Ofth i s vi l lage are said to have

been composed Of d isaffected and i l l -disposed person s,

who emigrated from thei r nat ive country Chama, a smal l

state some d istance eastward of Apol lon ia and where the

Dutch had a fort . I t i s reported that the King of

Apol lon ia at fi rst refused them any indu lgence,and

des i red them to depart from his k ingdom they,however

,

entreated him with much importun i ty,and in formed him

that they were wi l l ing to undergo the meanest oflice i f

he would perm it them to settle in any part ofhis country.

A t l ength the king a l lotted to them a smal l spot of

THE LAKE V ILLAGE . 1 29

ground adjoin ing to the lake,but told them they must

not bui ld upon i t bu t endeavour to erect houses in the

lake,so as to be secluded from his subjects . Necess i ty

thus obl iged them to exert al l the ingenu ity and art

they were masters of and after much labou r they suc

ceeded i n forming comfortable and secure houses of

wood,chiefly

.

of the bamboo cane . The inhabitants Of

th is vi l lage are carefu l in retain ing thei r prim it ive language,

and have no fu rther intercourse wi th the Apo llon ian s

than a trifl ing trade wi l l admit of,which on ly cons is ts

of the fi sh caught in the lake,and for which they get

corn and rice in exchange . Whatever may have been

their character and d ispos i t ion,they appear to l ive peace

ably and happ i ly . Thei r s i tuation i s favourable to tran

qui l l i ty,as no part ofa fam i ly can move abroad without

some d ifficul ty,which affords no opportun i ty ofu s ing mal

practices,and fearfu l Of incurr ing the d ispleasure of the

k i ng,they must be str i ct i n thei r behaviour and conduct .”

This vi l lage i s of great antiqu i ty,and is s i tuated a

short d istance to the east ofthe town Nuba orN iba,which

can be approached ei ther from Beyin orby a long water

way runn ing paral lel to the coast from the fi sh ing vi l lage

Of Eku E nunu E bomesu at the mouth Of the r ive r,

some s i xteen mi les to the east of Beyin . The local i ty

of this pecu l iar vi l lage i s not Shown on any ordnance

map before 1 887 , and an interesting account Of a j ourney

there , made by the then D is t rict Commiss ion er ofAx im ,

Mr . C . A . O’

Brien,appeared in Bloc/e and W/zz

'

te in

J anuary , 1 897 , ofwhich the fol low ing IS an extract“ The lake v i l l age is s i tuated in Apol lon ia

,the most

western part ofthe Gold Coast Colony,some miles from

Beyin town and five or six from the coast yet i ts ex istence

9


is vi rtual ly unknown to Europeans,close as i t i s to the

coast l i ne. Doubtless th is i s owing to the fact that the

white populat ion in that portion of the colony res ides at

Axim,some thi rty- five mi les away . Ti l l after 1 887 no

trace Of such a vi l lage could be found in the maps pre

pared by the Intel l igence Department Ofthe War Offi ce .

Burton and Cameron were both at Axim for a t ime,and

explored the country and i ts vi c in i ty . Sti l l they make

no mention Of th is extraord inary vi l lage,which they

certain ly would have done had they seen i t .” The

writer here is so far correct in stating that Burton and

Cameron never saw i t,but that no mention i s made of i t

by them is a m istake,and I am sure he wi l l forgive me

for pointing i t out . I n the map prefacing volume i.,

To tko Gold Coast for Gold, by Burton and Cameron ,

1 883, the lake vi l lage i s d istinctly marked , as a lso the

waterway lead ing to i t,but not the town of Nuba

,whi le

on pages 148 - 151 , volume i i . Of the same work,i s to be

found a ful l description Of the lake vi l lage and its sur

round ings,which I shal l have pleasure in quoting later o n .

Mr . O ’

Brien continues : “ I had occas ion to travel to

Nuba,l ake vi l lage and some other places by a route

other than the ord inary one— that i s,not by Beyin

,on

the coast l ine. I t became necessary to travel through

dense bush orforest to several vi l lages unknown to whi te

men save by name,and thence by a ser ies of lagoons ;

some ofthem,though dign ified by th is t i tl e by the nat ives,

were naught but evi l -smel l ing d rains,sometimes not

three feet wide,and Often with no more than S ix inches

of water i n them . Completely covered in by trees,they

were even in the daytime dark tunnels,whi le at n ight

the blackness became awfu l i n i ts in tens i ty . Having


trop ical fol iage on i ts banks . I t affected even the canoe

men,who chal lenged one another to race . The five

canoes were ranged in l ine,and then started for the lake

vi l lage . While th is two -mi le struggle was in p rogress,

I had t ime to notice the pecul iar vi l l age we were ap

proaching. I t i s bu i l t on pi les and i s surrounded by

water,whi le each house

,placed on a ki nd of plat form

,

supported by these stakes,seemed to be d ist inct from its

neighbour,and to have i ts own rough ladder lead ing to

the water. The on ly means of commun icat ion is by

boat,there being no connect ion with the land at the

back . I f a nat ive des i res to v i s i t another three or four

houses off,he has to gO down h i s l adder, enter h i s canoe

and paddle to the house . The populat ion numbers

about 300 ,and I shou ld say there are s ixty or seventy

houses i n al l . I tried to d iscover the reason forbu i ld ing

the vi l lage in th i s manner,but cou ld get no sat isfactory

explanation . O ne sa id that the method adopted was

conven ient for fi sh ing ; and another, that the place was

once used as a place of confinement for person s trouble

some to forme r k ings Of Beyin . The p resent inhabi tants,

at least,are not prisoners i n any sense

,as thei r canoes

have free access everywhere . Like other natives on the

coast,they l ive by fi sh ing and trad ing .

” 1

The account given by Bu rton and Cameron of thi s

extraord i n ary vi l lage is not from thei r own pen,but

from an excurs ion made to the place by M r . Edward

L . McCarthy, i n Augu st , 1 88 1 . I wi l l give the ac

count in his own word s,and the reader can j udge for

himsel f how the two accounts agree . M r . McCarthy

says : Accompan ied by P rince John Coffee,hei r to

1 By the k in d perm i ss ion ofthe publ ishers ofBlack andWhite.

THE LAKE V ILLAGE . 133

King B lay, three other chiefs, thei r servants , and my

own party ofKroo men,we l eft the town ofBe in

,Apol

l on ia,to go up to the V i l lage in the bush cal led Esua- t i .

Hal f a m i le from the town we found canoes awai ting us,

and in these we were poled along for over hal f an hou r

over what in the dry season is a nat ive path,but now a

narrow channel ofwater,wind ing about in a dense j ungle

of reeds . Emerging from these reeds,one broad

sheet ofwater presented i tsel f to the eye,enci rcled by a

low shore fringed with can es,bush and palm trees . The

lagoon receives several smal l streams and empties i tsel f

i n to the sea by the Ebomesu R iver,i ts mouth being about

hal f-way between Béin and the A n cobra. The length of

the lagoon appears to be about th ree to four mi les,and

about one to one and a hal f in breadth .

-Twenty m inutes ’

paddl ing brought u s round the point ofa smal l head land,

where we came in s ight of a pretty lake vi l lage,bu i l t

upon pi les,at some l itt le d i stance from the shore

,the

whole forming a most p icturesque and an imated scene .

“ From house to house canoes laden with people,

plantain s,etc . ,

were pass ing to and fro ; groups of

V i l lagers,some standing

,others s i tt ing

,upon the raised

bamboo platforms outs ide thei r hou ses,were busy barter

ing fish for plantains,whi le the chi ld ren played around

,

apparently unconscious Of any danger from fal l ing into

the water. The settlement cons isted ofover forty houses,

mostly Of bamboo,a few Of swish

,forming one l ong

i rregular l ine,and th ree or fou r stand ing away from the

rest,round a corner of land

,after the Fanti custom .

These houses were bu i l t on a bamboo platfo rm supported

by pi les,and raised above the water some three and a

hal f feet . One hal f of the plat form is covered by the


house ; the other hal f, left free, is used to fi sh from,for

the chi ldren to play about o n,and for recept ion s when

pal avers are held . The distan ce from the Shore varies

with the overflow Of the lake,at the t ime Of my vis i t

abou t thi rty or forty yards,though for mi les beyond

this the ground was saturated with water,whose depth

varied from three and a hal f to n ine feet . I closely

questioned the natives as to why they had bu i l t thei r

V i l l age upon the lake,and they invariably gave as thei r

reason that they ch iefly fi shed at n ight and,as the water

Often overflowed,they wou ld have to bu i ld thei r houses

too far away to come and go during the n ight whereas ,‘ now,

’ they said,

‘ we are close to where we catch our fi sh,

and we often catch them even from ourhouses Under

neath each house were t ied from on e to five and sometimes

more canoes . These were much l ighter,more rounded Off

in the keel,stem and stern than the beach canoes .” 1

“ Three white men,they told me

,had vis i ted thei r

vi l lage,Captain Dudley in 1 876, j udging from the age Of

a ch i ld that was born at the t ime of h is V i s i t ; Captain

Grant andMr Gi l lett in 1 87 8, I afterwards learnt were

the other two .

’

Thus,except for the vis i t ofMr . McCarthy,

who wrote

the above account,I bel ieve M r . O

’

Brien is the fi rst

white man to vi s i t th is in teresting Spo t S ince that t ime .

The port Of Ax im l ies as near as poss ible in lat i tude

5° N . and 2

°

14’

45" W . longitude . I ts appearance from

the sea i s most picturesque,and the fi rs t impress ion s Of

the place are far from dispiri t ing,and upon the whole

,

the heal th ofthe Eu ropeans stat ioned there is decided ly

good . Two bays are vis ible from the sea,a larger and a

1 To the GoldCoastforGold. Burton andCameron


to al l other parts of the coast and exchanged for mi l let,

yams,potatoes and palm oi l (then u sed for food) , which

were not to be Obtained in any quanti ti es in the Axim

d istri ct .

The A n cobra,or Snake R iver

,cal led so on account of

i ts windings,i s the R io Cobre of Bosman

,and is n ow

navigated in s team launches for some eighty or n i nety

m i les . I t was,

” says the same author,a waterway too

FORT ST . ANTHONY , AX IM .

pleasant to be l ightly passed over,its mouth being some

di stance to the west of Fort St . Anthony . I t possesses a

wide,shal low estuary

,sand - locked l i ke al l other rivers i n

th is part ofA frica,over the bar of which the great A t lantic

rol lers thunder wi th unceas ing roar,that makes i t im

passable to ord inary vessels ;whi le a short d istance in land ,i t grows deeper and narrower for some mi les of its course

,

THE AN COBRA R IVER . 137

andbecomes a u sefu l stream . In the early part of the

eighteen th cen tury,a smal l three days

’

voyage upon it

was con s idered a great undertak ing,and afforded a

pleasan t trip . I n those days the banks down to the

water ’s edge were adorned with lofty trees,afford ing the

most agreeable Shade to the voyager,Whi le the trees

were en l ivened w i th troops of monkeys and variet ies

of birds of the most var iegated plumage . The lower

reaches of the river are very tortuous,and many towns

and V i l l ages are scattered upon its banks . For some

years the Dutch held a fort at the vi l lage ofEquira, somemi le s from the mouth Of the river . This d istr i ct was

then the centre Of a large gold -min ing industry,and the

people d id a very cons iderable trade in the preciou s

metal derived from the m i nes then in ex is tence in the

neighbou rhood,as wel l as from the great amount Of gold

brought in from the su rrounding coun try. Bu rton and

Cameron mu st have passed near to the source of th is

wealth when on their way to the Ingotra mine described

in t he l as t Chapter,though I am of Opin ion that th i s

mine is on e Of the O ld n at ive workings of that date,

included in this d i stri ct of Equira. I n my Copy Of

Bosman’

s Gaz’

nea ( 1 705) n o mention is made ofthe name

Ofthe fort at th is place . Bu rton cal l s i t “ Fort Equirawhi le Bosman speaks of i t as “ the country ofEquiraSome authori t ies

,among whom are Bowd ich and Mere

d i th,place E l i sa Carthago at this spot

,whi le others

,in

clud ing Bosman,Lieutenant Jeekel (Royal Dutch Navy )

and Burton and Cameron,place E l isa Carthago upon

A kromasiPoint,near the mouth Of the An cobra R iver .

The account of the destruct ion of the fort i s men

tioned by most authors,but the d i fficul ty remains as to


whether i t was Fort Equira or Fort E l i sa Carthago .

The latter place was bui l t by the Portuguese,sometime

before 1 700,and captu red by the French

,who held i t

for a conside rable t ime,did a great trade in gold

,and

were final ly driven out by the Dutch . These last pos

sessors d id n ot enjoy i t for long . The fol lowing account

of i ts destruct ion is by Bosman :“ I remember when I

had the government ofAx im,a very rich one (mine) was

d iscovered,but we lost our foot ing there in a very tragica l

manner,for the commander-in - chief Ofthe negroes being

closely bes ieged by ourmen (so fame reports) shot gold

instead ofbul lets,showing by s igns that he was ready to

treat and afterwards to trade,but in the m idst of thei r

n egotiations he blew up him sel f and al l his enemies at

once,as unfortunately as brave ly putt ing an end to our

s iege and to his own l i fe,and

,l i ke Samson

,revenging his

death upon his enemies . To encompass h is des ign he

had encou raged a s lave,by prom i se Of new cloths

,to

stand ready with a match,with which he was to touch

the powder when he saw him stamp wi th h i s foot,which

the s i l ly wretch but too punctual ly performed , und is

covered by any one but one of our company ’s s laves,

who,Observing it

,withdrew as s i lent ly as t imely

,being

on ly left al ive to tel l us the news ; and s ince we could

get no better accoun t,we were obl iged to bel ieve th is ,

i t being too certain that our fort,to the cost Of our

d irector and some of our enem ies,was blown up.

The Axim of the presen t day and the immed iate

country su rrounding presents a very d i fferent appearance

to what i t d id in these early t imes . The O ldDutch fort

has seen several masters and undergone many changes .

O r iginal ly bu i l t by the Portuguese about 1515, i n the days


seems to have an equal r ight with the burghers ofMinde

to the advice,that they shou ld keep thei r gate shut for

fear the fort should run away "

This was cal led Fredericksborg and was n ear~to the

town of P rinces at the mouth of the Pr inces o r St . John ’s

R iver. On ly the great double doorway now remains .

Some ten mi les farther to the east was another

Brandenburger fort cal led Dorothea,which appears to

have been given by the Dutch to the B randenbu rgers,

who cons iderably en larged and improved i t . I t was

flat- roofed,contained two smal l batte r ies

,and was fu r

nishedwith a number ofrooms and conveniences s l ightly

bu i l t and somewhat crowded . A th i rd place of impor

tance belonging to these i nterlopers,as they were styled

,

was a smal l fort-house between the Mamfro H i l l and

Fort Dorothea,bui l t on the m idd le tongue of Cape Th ree

Points,at the vi l lage ofTakrama

,i n 1674.

A t the end of the seventeen th century these places

were the centre of a thriving gold trade ; at the present

t ime they have d isappeared and thei r s i tes are almos t for

gotten . The B randenburgers were n ot successfu l in thei r

deal ings with the nat ives,who treated many of the

d i rectors and ofl‘icers of the company with the utmost

contempt,final ly break ing thei r power and becom ing

masters over them,unt i l they were compel led to leave

the coast through the stagnat ion of thei r trade.Axim is now an importan t trad ing station

,and has

yet a great fortune in store as the entrance port to the

valuable Tarkwa min ing d istri cts,and to the t imber

forests to be found on either bank of the A ncobra R iver .

The amount Of gold s ti l l shipped annual ly from this

port amounts to £ 6000 ,whi lst thousands offine mahogany

TIMBER AT AX IM . 141

trees are fel led every year, and towed down the An cobra,

to be squared upon the beach and exported to Europe .

Rubber and sk ins are also brought from the interior to

this port i n large quanti t ies . The surround ing country

is hi l ly and wel l wooded . Water i s plen ti fu l and the

whole d istrict i s very rich in gold . Transport i s the one

thing wanted to trans form th is comparatively healthy

S Q UAR ING MAHOGANY ON THE BEACH , AX IM .

part of the Gold Coast in to a busy centre of mining

industry and trade,which is at present crippled by a trans

port costing some £ 25per ton from Axim to Tarkwa .

Axim is various ly wri tten Axem,

’

A tzyn and Achen,whi le the natives cal led i t E ssim . I t must not be con

founded with Ak im in the eastern part of the colony to

the north ofAccra .


The country of Ante orHante,the present Ahanta

upon modern maps,was cont inuous with the Axim

terri tory,and extended from Bushua or Acoda in the

west to Sekondi,a d istance of some twenty- five mi les .

Formany years the Ante country included Axim,which

was known as Upper Ante . I t was a popu lous and

powerfu l state,i nhabited by a war- l ike people

,who gave

much trouble to the Dutch , and were constantly at war

with their neighbours,more parti cu larly wi th those to

the north of thei r own terri tory,i n the Adorn country

,

and who final ly broke thei r power. A t D i xcove,or

D i ck ’s Cove,the Dikjeschoft ofthe Dutch , in the Infuma

country,a l i ttle to the west Of the vi l lage Of Bu shua

,the

Engl ish establ i shed themselves and bu i l t a fort in 1691 ,after several struggles wi th the B randenbu rgers

,who

d isputed th is terri tory with them . This took six years

to complete,and became the headquarters Of the trade

in sophist icated gold ment ioned i n the previous chapter.Burton says i t was bu i l t i n 1 68 1 and fin ished in 1688 .

A t the present day i t has a terri tory qu i te d ist in ct from

the Ahanta country,extend ing along the shore to

Achowa Point,and for some twenty mi les in l and .

Three m i les to the east Of this sett lement were Boutri

Vil lage and Fort . The smal l river runn ing into the sea at

Boutririses in the Adom country,which i s said to abound

in gold . Amanfee also abounds in very fine gold,which

is general ly found in quartz,and is ground upon stones

arranged under large sheds for the pu rpose. The former

remains,but the latter has been long in ru ins

,while

s ixteen mi les farther to the east was Sekondi,where the

Dutch had a smal l s tation cal led ‘ Orange Fort,below

which the Ante country ended . I trust I may be excused


rebui ld their fort,but met

,upon each occas ion

,with much

oppos it ion from the nat ives,the town of Sekond i i tsel f

fal l ing at l ast before the ravages of the people Of Adom .

Sekond i i s also described as being on e Of the health ies t

p laces on the coast for the res iden ce Of Eu ropean s.

The country round i s d ivers ified and very fert i l e.Some four mi les west ofSekond i are Takorad i Bay and

Fort,the latter now in ru ins and overgrown wi th bush .

The fort was bui l t sometime before the m idd le Of the

seventeenth centu ry , and has had many European masters,the Engl i sh

,Du tch

,Brandenbu rgers, Swedes and the

Danes each having had possess ion in turn . De Ruyter

took i t from the Engl i sh in 1 665, during the Dutch wars

in the reign ofCharles the Second,and after many years

Of prosperi ty the town gradual ly decl ined,to be at last

destroyed by the people ofAdorn . Takorad i was the scene

ofthe murder ofthe Dutch m i l i tary commandant ofBoutri

and his ass i stant i n 1 837 , andan encounter between the

Dutch troops and Bon su,the chief ofthe Ahan tas .

The whole country appears to have been at the

height Of i ts prosperi ty at the end of the seventeenth

century,when i t contained numerous vi l lages

,wel l popu

l ated,a plent i fu l harvest

,and abundance of cattl e

,so

much SO,that the Dutch sold iers , who cou ld hard ly l ive

on thei r pay elsewhere,could here l ive wel l upon hal f.

Bosman declares Boutrito be heal thier than other places

along the coast,for during his stay there he O bserved

,

that fewer people d ied there in proport ion to the number

Ofpeople and time than anywhere el se, and that i f the

whole coast were l ike i t,i t would soon lose i ts dead ly

name .

About midway between 2 the V i l l age of Boutri and

CAPE THREE POINTS . 145

Takorad i Fort i s the smal l town Of Adjuah . This place,though not very large or populous

,i s a port of entry

,

and is provided with customs,post and telegraph

offices . I t i s reported that large beds of s late are to be

found in th is neighbourhood,which may in t ime prove

ofvalue . The mosqui toes at th is town at certain t imes of

the year render l i fe to the European almost unbearable.

The Ante country was final ly subdued about 1 692

by the Adom people,who were governed by five or s ix

principal men without a king,and who were a terror to al l

the tribes around . Their country extended north Of Ante

from the A n cobra to the P rah,a d istance Of more than

fi fty m i les,and for about the same d istance in land . The i r

leader in warwas a native cal led A nquah,whose name was

a terror to al l the tribes around,on account ofthe atrocious

manner in wh ich he treated his prisoners .

Cape Three Points stands about m idway between Ax imand D ixcove

,upon the m idd le point of which stands

the presen t l ighthouse. This was the o ld Cape Tres

Puntos Of early days,forming an excel lent landmark for

mar iners,the capes being respectively fi fty ,

forty -five and

forty m i les west Of Cape Coast . About four mi les to the

east of the cape are the remains Of another Dutch ru in,

now cal led A cquidah,the Acoda of the seventeenth

century,one of the stations of the Brandenburgers

,bu i l t

about 1 680 and named Dorothea,which I have previous ly

described . Good oysters abound here .

The next town Of in terest along the coast is Chama,

s i tuated at the mouth ofthe Prah R iver,between which

po int and the town OfSekondi extends a strip ofcountry

known by the same name . Chama is also written

Chumah and Essama,pronounced by the people Nshama.

IO


I t is continuous with the Ahanta country,and resembles

i t in poin t Of ferti l i ty. The town itsel f is fairly large and

wel l popu lated,but is very hot

,and on the whole

not SO heal thy as the country farther west . The present

fort,overlook ing the town

,was bui l t by the Portuguese

in 1680,and captured from them by the Dutch . I t is

very smal l,contain ing four batteries

,and is known as

I NTER IOR OF WESLEYAN SCHOOL , CHAMA .

Saint Sebastian . l t furn ishes miserable Offices for the

D is trict Commi ss ioners who res ide at E lm ina, and

quarters for an ass istant Colon ial Surgeon in add it ion to

the usual rooms for customs,post and telegraph requ i re

ments . I n the Dutch wars wi th England it was almost

completely destroyed,but was restored by the Dutch ,

in whose hands i t remained unti l the whole coast was


of the upper courses of the Prah and the Birrim flow

through a rich auri ferous country,Eastern and Western

Ak im,which I hOpe wi l l be opened up in the near

futu re to Eu ropean development .

The k ingdoms of Wassaw,Sefwi and Denkira l i e

d i rectly to the north Of the Apol lon ian,Ahanta and

Chama countries on the coast . The largest of the th ree

is Wassaw,which was governed in the past by four chiefs

,

whose relat ion and power were exerci sed independently

Of each other . Sefwi and Denkira form the no rthern

boundaries of th is country,which is general ly given to

extend from 1 00 to 1 20 mi les east to west and some s ix ty

mi les from north to south,the eastern port ion of the

country com ing down to the sea at Sekondi . The Anco

bra flows through the centre ofthe country,and the Tano

upon i ts western border,almost d ivid ing i t from Ass in i

i n French Guinea . The Tarkwa and most ofthe present

we l l -known mines are s ituated in Wassaw,and most of the

t imber exported from Ax im is Obtained from the same

terri tory . The chief town s are Ak ropong . Awudwa and

Tarkwa . I t i s very thin ly populated in proport ion to i ts

s i ze,and was once a strong tributary power to the

Ashanti s,paying an indefin ite yearly tax

,based upon the

number oftowns and vi l lages found in the country .

Sefwi l ies due north ofWassaw,having Aowin for i ts

western boundary and Ashant i on i ts no rth . Very l i ttl e

i s known about the country and i ts inhabitants even at

the present day,th i s part Of the colony having been

vis i ted by very few Europeans,and consequently but

l itt l e explored . Like Wassaw,the country is wel l wooded

and is watered by the uppe r cou rses of the same rivers .

I n some maps th is country i s incl uded in the Ashant i

SEFWI AND DENKIRA . 149

terri tory,and the peop le were no doubt tributary at one

t ime to the dominant power of th is race . The chief

town in the Sefwi country i s Wiawusu,near the northern

border Of Wassaw . Sefwi is a lso wri tten Sawee and

Sahue .

Denklra IS the th ird Ofthese inland states,lying north

east between Wassaw and Ashanti,and is the smal lest

ofthe three terri tories . I ts capital bears the same name

and is S i tuated a l i tt le to the west Of the Ofi n R iver,

which passes through the centre Of the country. Osa i

Tootoo,the first King of Kumas i of whom ment ion is

made,conquered Denkira

,notwi thstand ing that the latter

country received help from the Europeans at E lm ina,

i n the form ofcannon,about 1 7 20 . These cannon were

captured by the Ashantis and carried as troph ies to thei r

capi tal . Before th is t ime the Dutch governor of the

coast paid a monthly sum to the King Of Denkira for

E lm ina Castle,which

,by his conquest by Osai Tootoo

,

became the spoi l of the vi ctor,whose ances tors enjoyed

i t for many years afterwards . These monthly pay

ments were cal led “ Notes,

” and many stat ions along

the coast were held by the Europeans i n the same way.

The brother Apokoo, and successor to Osai Tootoo ,com

pletedthe conquest OfAkim,and secured from the people

ofthat d i stri ct the paynotes that the Akims held for the

Engl ish,Dutch and Dan i sh forts at Accra and for those

farther to leeward . These paynotes had been original ly

held by the chiefs OfAccra,who lost them to the Akims

when seeking help from them against thei r enemies,

the Aquamboes , a Volta R iver people .

J udging from thei r language the Wassaws, Sefwis

and Denkiras al l speak d ialects of the same tongue,


which wou ld induce to the bel ief that they have sprung

from the same source,being on ly d i fferent branches of

the same fami ly,and related to the Fanti

,Ak im and

Ashan t i people .

Before leaving this part of the coast,I must mention

one other station belonging to the Dutch,some five mi les

west of Chama . I t was then cal led A boary,the Aboadd i

ofour modern maps,and forms a smal l point of rocks

j utt ing for some d istance out to sea. For several years

during the early part of the eighteenth century,a Dutch

lodge was maintained at th is place,but as i t appeared to

bring more profi t into the pockets of the offi cers res id ing

there than into the coffers Of the o ld Dutch Company,

i t was c losed as being unnecessary,the fi rs t principle

i n Dutch trad ing being,

“ That you must trade with

advantage to yoursel f or not trade at al l ”.


The o ld Dutch fort thus mentioned was a square

bu i ld ing,strengthened with large and roomy batter ies

,

on which was accommodation for no less than thirty- two

guns,each gun having its separate port i n the breast

work,and garrison - room for s ixty men . . I t was sel dom

,

however,that the ful l complement Of guns and men was

found necessary to defend the place against the attacks

Of the nat ives . I n 1695the place was be s ieged by the

surround ing tribes,and susta ined a vigo rous attack

,of

which the fol lowing i s the Dutch accoun t

Our enem ies attacked us by n ight,when I had but

a very sorry garrison,not fu l l twenty men

,hal f Ofwhom

were not capable of service,and yet I forced them to

reti re wi th loss,after a fight offive hours .

’

Twas wonder

fu l that we lost but two men in thi s act ion,for we had

no doors to most ofou r gun -holes,and the nat ives poured

smal l shot on us as th ick as hai l ; insomuch , that those

few doors wh ich were left to some gun -holes were become

l ike a target,which had been Shot at for a mark

,and the

very staff wh ich our flag was fastened on,though i t took

up so l i tt le room,did not escape shot- free . You may

imagine what case we were in when one of them began

to hack our very doors with an axe,but th is undertaker

being k i l led,the rest sheered Off. The general to whom

I had represented my weak condit ion,advised two ships

to anchor before our fort,i n order to supply me with

men and ammun it ion. Peter H i nken,the captain Ofone

of these vessel s (the day before I was attacked ) , sent his

boat fu l l ofmen with orders to come to me, but they

were no sooner on the land than the nat ives fel l upon

them so furiously,even under our cannon

,that they

k i l led several of them,which though I saw

,I could not


two compan ies ex isted for many years,and at the

present day Commendah i s divided into two fact ion s,

Engl ish and Dutch,though the forts and trad ing factor ies

have long s ince d isappeared from the scene.

The Dutch fort was destroyed during the Amer i can

War,and time and cl imate have destroyed that Of the

Engl ish . When approached from the west Commendah

i s backed by a high hi l l,an insul ated elevat ion known as

the Gold H i l l,the source of the nat ive d ispute with the

Dutch,which is re lated as fol lows : Large quantit ies of

gold were exported from this part of the coast,and the

Dutch were natural ly anxious to become possessed Of the

source Of these suppl ies,supposed to be the Gold H i l l .

Arrangements had been made with the n at ives,and in

1694the Dutch caused fou r miners to be sent from Europe

to prospect the country forgold . They were o rdered to

assay the hi l l i n question,which was s i tuated in the

Kommany count ry, about two mi les from the Dutch fort

Vredenburg,which seemed to be wel l p laced for the

purpose,and prom i sed to reward them wel l for thei r

pains . A s was Often the case wi th the nat ives Of the

coast,th is h i l l was at th is t ime a fetish

,and dedicated

to one Of thei r many gods,and thus cons idered sacred .

The Dutch miners went to work,but in a few days they

were assau l ted,i l l - treated and robbed by the natives

,

and even taken pr i soners . The Dutch complained to

the k ing,but i n the usual sh i fty fashion he placed the

blame on somebody else, and the war began between the

Dutch and the n at ives which led to the fi rm establ i sh

ment ofthe Engl ish,as before mentioned , on the ru ins

of the O ld fort they had previous ly posses sed . Com

mendah has been variously wr i tten Commenda and

ST. GEORGE D ’ELMINA . 155

Kommany , and is cal led by the nat ives E kki-Tokki orA katay Ki , and somet imes A katay Kin . The Engl ish

were said to be wel l fortified at th is p lace,so wel l so

that Bosman said i t wou ld be imposs ible to move them

except in time Of war,and even then they would have a

n ice bone to pick . The fort was l arge and possessed

four batteries,i n add ition to a tu rret that cou ld also be

used for guns,and ser iou s ly incommode the Dutch

,as

wel l as having more and larger cannon than thei r rivals .Commendah i s one Of the towns mentioned by Barbot

to which the Rouen and D i eppe traders sent thei r fleet

Of three vessel s as early as 1383, one of which,cal led

La V z'

erge, touched at Komenda or Koman i one hundred

years before the arrival of the Portuguese .

Some ten or twelve mi les to the east of Commendah

stands the present important town of E lm ina,with its

two forts ofSt . Jago and St . George d’

E lmina,famous

as being the fi rst European establ ishment on the Gold

Coast . The castle of St . George i s supposed to have

been bui l t by the French in 1383, rebu i l t by the Portu

guese in 148 1 , captured by the Dutch about 1 638 , and

handed to the Engl ish by the last owners in 1 867 , and

is one of the largest and finest cast les remain ing upon

the Gold Coast at the presen t day, stand ing as an

example of the pat ience,sk i l l and industry bestowed by

the Portuguese and Dutch upon thei r colon ial possessions .

The native n ame for the town is Oddena, Addina or

Edina,and why the Portuguese named i t Ora del M ina

ormouth ofthe m ines,i t i s d ifficu l t to say,

for no mines

are now found in the immediate neighbou rhood,though

i t was famed for centu r ies as the port from which the

greatest output of gold came,probably drawn from al l


parts Of the coast,and which reached its zen i th early in

the eighteenth century,with an annual export Of near ly

ofthe prec ious metal .

The castl e i s one of strength and beauty,bui l t square

wi th very high wal ls,and four batteri es wi thin and

another on the ou tworks of the cast le,al l wel l fu rn ished

with brass and i ron guns (of course now Obsolete) , and

provid ing garri son accommodation for 200 men , i n add i

t ion to the officers’ quarters . On the land s ide i t was

supp l ied with two canals or moats,cut in the rock on

which the cast le stands,i n order to provide enough

fresh water for the garri son and the sh ips frequenting

the port . Above it,a short d istance i nland

,s tands

Fort S t . J ago orS t . J ames,cal led by the Dutch Conrads

burg,on a hi l l bearing the same name

,which completely

commands the other fort of St . George,and is a l arge

rectangular fort with one square tower,the whole being

now used as a j ai l . St . J ago was bu i l t by the Dutch

in 1 640, and i t was from this h i l l , before the fort was

bu i l t,that they d irected thei r guns and compel led the sur

render Ofthe Portuguese in Fort S t . George in 1 638, the

on e completely command ing the other . D i rect ly under

the fort Of S t . George is s i tuated the nat ive town,l ong

and i rregularly bu i l t,the houses being mostly of stone

,

which i s very plent i fu l in the neighbourhood,and con

trasting very much with the ord inary mud houses of the

coast towns . A short d istance east of E lmin a the Sweet

R iver runs into the sea,poss ibly cal led SO because i t

brings down so much fresh water in the ra iny season

that its waters are qu ite fresh,whi le in the : dry season

the opposi te i s the case . This river rises i n the Denkira

country,and in ear ly t imes formed the boundary between

ELMINA AND CAPE COAST. 157

the k ingdoms of Kommany and Fetu , i ts near neighbou r.I ts cou rse is very swift .The present castle of E lm ina is now the res idence Of

the D i s tri ct Commiss ion er,an Ass istant Colonial Sur

geon,the Officer Commanding

,and some few Hausa

t roops,besides provid ing the necessary accommodation

for the var ious departmental officers . Prempeh was de

tained here after h is captu re in 1 896. The country

round E lm ina is d ivers ified,and gives evidence of having

been worked for gold . The town itsel f i s unheal thy ;the natives su ffer from smal l -pox and Europeans from

the d readed malar ia so prevalent along the coast.A three hours ’ j ourney

,the d is tance being about eigh t

mi les,along rather a good road

,brings us to Cape Coast

Cast le,the Ooegwa Of Bosman and Cabocors or Cabo

Corso of the Portuguese . The cast le,next to that of

E lm ina,is the largest and best on the coast .

O n approaching Cape Coast from the west th ree eleva

t ions are seen,two forts and the castle . The most westerly

i s Fort Victoria,once cal led Fort Royal l

,and also Ph ipps

Tower,and the ear ly Fredericksborg of the Danes

,bui l t

i n 1 659,bought by the Engl ish in 1 685, and consist ing

of a huge round martel lo tower, unoccupied and com

manding both the town and the castle . The second i s

Fort Wi l l iam,once known as Smith’s Tower

,bui l t by

P res ident Maclean about 1 830 ,another martel lo

,circu lar

below and square above,mounted with twelve guns and

also commanding the cast le . I t is now the l ighthouse for

the port,and stands nearly 200 feet above the sea level .

Cape Coast Castle i tsel f stands upon a narrow

spi t of rocks wi th the nat ive town clustering behind

i t.Fort Cabo Corso is supposed to have been bu i l t


by the Portuguese in 1624,though the Rev . Mr . Rein

do rf states that i t was bu i l t by the Swedes in 1 652,

by whom it was named Caro lusborg or Charles ’s Fort,

and that in 1 658 i t fe l l i nto the hands of the Danes,

through the instrumental i ty of one Of thei r servants .I n 1 659 the Danes su rrendered i t to the Du tch, from

whom the nat ives Of Fetu captured i t in 1660 . From

these the Swedes are supposed to have taken i t,i n whose

hands i t remained for th ree years,when i t again fe l l i nto

the possess ion of the Fetus,who voluntar i ly su rrendered

i t to the Dutch in 1 663. I n the next year,1664,

Admi ral

Holmes captu red i t for the Engl i sh,in whose hand s i t

has s ince remained,though several t imes be s ieged ; by

De Ruyter i n 1 665, and by a Fre nch squad ron i n 1 7 57 .

The author of Battles places i ts captu re by

Admi ral Holmes in 166 1,and this i s borne out by

anothe r author i ty,the Rev . J . B . Anaman

,who s tates

that the Engl ish en la rged i t i n 1 66 2 . However this may

be,Cabo Corso was the fi nest fort in the hands Of the

E ngl ish du ring the e igh teenth centu ry,con ta in ing wel l

bu i l t qua rters for its Offi cers . I t was st rengthened wi th

five batteries and a turret,al l wel l suppl ied wi th guns

,

command ing both the l and and the sea,which made it

almost in v i ncibl e to attack from either s ide .

The Cape Coast ofto -day is a l arge and i rregularly bu i l t

town ofsome inhabitants,European quarters and

native huts being in close proximity,much to the detriment

ofthe heal th ofthe inhabitants ofthe former. Next to the

cast le the Chief bu i ld ings Ofimportan ce are Goth ic House,the res idence and Offi ces ofthe D i s tri ct Commiss ioner

,the

Colon ial Hospital,the Engl ish

,Roman Cathol i c and Wes

l eyan places Of worship and thei r respective school s,and


but th is has been,and wi l l remain

,in m i l i tary hands for

some time to come . The resu l t i s that other officers

have to l ive where they can , there bei. g l itt le other p ro

vis ion for their accommodation .

Landing at Cape Coast i s at t imes very unpleasant,but

during the Harmattan season in December,J anuary and

February the sea is fai rly calm,and land ing i s effected

TH E L IGHTHOU SE (FORT W I LL IAM ), CAPE COAST .

without the least danger,while between May and August

the su rf i s Often so bad that boats cannot work for days

together . The principal landing- place is a smal l bay

j ust under the north- east Of the castle,partly protected

by a reef j utt ing out from the rock on which the cast le

i s bu i l t . Near the land ing- place are a number of cannon

(l ate ly pi led to extend the breakwater) lying near the

CAPE COAST CASTLE . 1 6 1

beach,l anded no one knows when

,and left there ever

since to rus t away. Cape Coast i s not the on ly town

along thi s shore where now obsolete cannon ornamen t

the beach,a tribute to the lack ofenergy ofbygone days .

The whole coast i s an example of the undoing by one

Governo r of the doings of h i s predecessor .

There has been in the past l i tt le orno continu ity, and

this perhaps is to be accounted forby the fact that each

new- comer,knowing h i s stay wi l l be brief

,i s anxious to

carve out fame for himsel f as qui ck ly as poss ible,by

pu rsu ing a plan that brings the ind ividual in to p ro

minen ce,but sometimes to the detriment Of the general

wel fare Of the colony . West Afri ca i s a country where

great haste is inj urious,and the nat ive motto Softly

,

softly,catch monkey

,

” i s a very true one . The motto

of one governor was “ Festina lente I t was erased

from the place where i t was inscribed by his successor .Both are now dead and gone

,but the fact points a

valuable lesson nevertheless .

I n the tr iangular courtyard of Cape Coast Castle l i e

the mortal remains of Mr . and Mrs . Maclean, .the

last rest ing- place of the poetess “ L . E . L .

” and her

husband , Pres ident Maclean . The local practice of

inte r-mural sepultu re was here fol lowed,and the floors

of the surgery, the k i tchen and the store- rooms of

the colon ial hospital have al l been used for the same

purpose . The graves are marked in the fol lowing

manner, and a neat tablet on the wal l n ear by,bears

record Of the death of the poetess,and the su rvivor’s

grief.


Mr. and Mrs . Maclean landed at Cape Coast in August ,1 838 . The poetess d ied on the 15th ofOctober, and her

husband fol lowed her in May,1 847 , to the great regret

of the whole popu lat ion . The story of her tragi c death

n eed not be retold in these pages,but a short accoun t Of

her l i fe may be Ofin terest to many readers .Laetit ia E l i zabeth Landon was descended from a

Herefordsh i re fam i ly , which held landed property in the

county. Her grandfather was the Rev . John Landon,Rector Of Tedstone . This l i ving

,together wi th Tedstone

Court and estate,was sold in h i s l i fet ime

,and the fam i ly

was left wi th very slende r means . A t an early age his

eldest son,Miss Landon

’

s fathe r,went to sea ; but some

years later he settled in London,where he became an

ass istant and final ly a partner in the house Of Adairs,

army agents . Soon afterwards he married a Welsh lady

of the name Of Bi shop,and took up hi s res idence in

Han ’s P lace,Chel sea

,where in 1 80 2 his eldest chi ld ,

Laet iti a E l i zabeth,was born . I n her s ixth year she was

sent for a few months to a board ing school,almost next

door to her father’

s house ; but M r . Landon having

taken a farm on the borders ofHerefordshire,which he

confided to the superintendence of one ofhis brothers ,

1 64 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT.

which the strai tened ci rcumstan ces Of her fami ly made

doubly welcome . Shortly after the publ i cation Of the[rnprovisatrica which, though far from being her best,was her most popu lar work

,Miss Landon lost her father

,

to whom she was deeply attached . I n 1 825 she pub

lisheda volume contain ing “ The Troubadour Poetica l

S ketches ofModern P i ctu res ” ;and“ H i s torical Sketches ”.

The next production ofher muse was The Golden V iolet

i n 1 8 26,fol lowed by me V en etian Bracelet in 1 829.

Miss Landon might now have graceful ly reposed upon

her wel l -earned poeti c lau rel s . But she resolved to enter

the l i sts with the novel ists ofthe day,and to struggle in a

new arena for the wreath Of fame . Her fi rs t ventu re in

thi s new and per i lou s field was Romance and R eality ,

publ i shed in 1 831 , fol lowed bv two others,Francesca

Carrara and E tnel Cnnrc/zill .

From her chi ldhood L . E . L . might be said to have

l ived upon the same spot,and with the same people .

Soon after her father ’s death she became an inmate of

the fam i ly Of the M isses Lance,who had occupied the

hou se in Han ’s P l ace,in which she had for a br i ef t ime

gone to school,and which was formany years a temple

oftu it ion,and cou ld boast Ofmany gi fted scholars

,among

others,Miss M itfo rd and Lady Carol ine Lamb . Her

attachmen t to London was in tense . She pai d a v is i t

n ow and then to her relation s i n the country ; but we

find from her co rrespondence that her heart was always

in London . In the summer of 1 834 she joined S ir A .

Farquha r and h is daughter in an excurs ion to Par is .

She does not appear,howeve r

,to have been so deeply

impressed with the novel ty,gaiety and picturesqueness

Of the French metropol i s as might have been expected

FORT MACARTHY . 1 65

from her l ively and su sceptible imagin at ion . On her

return to London she resumed her l i terary pursu its wi th

even greater zest than before .

I n the sp r ing of 1 836 the fr iends of L . E . L. were

apprised that she was about to fo rm a matr imon ialal l iance wi th a gentleman whose friendsh ip she had long

en j oyed . Circumstances,however

,induced her to break

Off th i s engagement,and in 1 838 she gave her han d to

Mr . George Maclean,Governo r of Cape Coast Cast le ,

who had been for some time on a vis i t to England . A

fortn ight after her marriage she sai led for her home on

the Shores ofAfri ca,fu l l ofplans fo r the continuation Of

her l i terary pursu its . But al l her anti cipations Of the

future were doomed to di sappointment . The same vessel

that brought to her fr iends and relatives SO many pleas~

ing hopes and remin iscen ces,conveyed al so the stern

announcement that “ L . E . L .

” was n o more,for early on

the morn ing Ofthe 15th Of October, 1 838, she was founddead in her room

,lying close to the door .

A l i tt le to the n orth of the castle stan d s Fort Ma

carthy upon an isolated em in en ce,whi le about o ne mile

to the north-west l ies a l arge lagoon,known as the Salt

pond,the scene of a sk i rm ish with the Ashantis in 1 8 1 6,

and approached by the Saltpond Road . Women have

frequen t ly washed gold from the sands to the west of

the cast le,and the land at the east s ide of the town is

studded with gold -d iggers ’ pits,now become receptacles

fo r al l the refuse that can be found to be thrown i nto

them ev idences of the r i chness Of the soi l in former days .

About one mile to the east Of Cape Coast Castl e isthe smal l fi sh ing vi l lage Of Manfu l or Aman fu l

,the scene

ofan Ashant i attack ear ly in the p resent cen tu ry .


One ofthe best roads in the colony extends from Cape

Coast to Prahsu,unt i l recently the boundary of the

Ashan ti country,a d istance Of some seventy- n ine mi les

a lmost due north from the cast le . This road was con

structed in 1 873by Sir Garnet Wolseley forthe transport

of the troops to Ashant i,and has been kept in good re

pai r s ince that date . This road has now been carr i ed across

the P rah,th rough the Adans i country to Kumas i

,and tele

graphic communication i s now establ ished the whole way.

The total d is tance from Cape Coast Cast le to Kumasi i s

about 1 80 miles,but in a d irect l ine not more than 1 25.

The country for the fi rst few mi les along the road

to the P rah i s covered with rather stunted bush,giving

way at last to tal ler trees and the denser growth

that extends through the coun try from east to west

for about fi fty m i les north Of Kumas i,th i s in i ts turn

giving way to the vast grassy plains that rol l away to

the foot of the Kong Mountains . From the river P rah

to the Adans i H i l l s,which a re about forty m i les away

,

the country is more open and a l i tt le less wooded— th in ly

peopled by scattered vi l lages of not more than 500

people . A fter the Adansi H i l l s are crossed the real

A shanti count ry i s entered,and the vi l lages on the road

are more numerous and more th ick ly populated .

The Adans i H i l l s const i tu te the most seri ous phys i cal

d i fficu l ty to be overcome between Cape Coast and Kumas i .

They cross the P rah road some forty m i les from P rahsu,

and are supposed to be connected with the Ak im and

Aquapim ranges i n the east . The ascent on the south

s ide is very rugged and steep,ri s ing to 1600 feet, where

a smal l p lateau extends for a short d istance to lead down

on the other s ide by a much more favourable path .


Guinea Coas t he marks Saboe as an in l and coun try .

Saboe, he says , begin s at the bottom of the hi l l and

ends about hal f a m i le below Mou ri,being in i ts whole

extent along the shore about two mi les (Dutch) and

about twice as broad . From the Dan i sh mount,i.e.

,

Fort Victoria, i t i s about hal f a mi l e (Dutch) to Congo ,where the Dutch formerly had a fine stone house

,d ivided

and s ituated upon two smal l h i l l s,upon which thei r flag

was planted in order to keep out other Europeans whomight have been tempted to trade there

,and thus have

cons iderably interfered wi th the trade done at Mou r i .The Congo ofwhich he speaks I am unable to find any

mention of,and the s i te seem s to have d isappeared from

the maps,i f i t was ever marked .

Saboe,

was about equal i n power wi th K ommany,and

i ts people were as great vi l la ins,but the country produced

an abundance Of corn,yarn s and potatoes

,and from

Mouri about 1 00 canoes were dai ly laden with palm Oi l

forAxim and Accra .

The Dutch fort at Mouri was cal l ed Nassaw,and

was bu i l t by them in the seventeenth centu ry,being

thei r chief place of res idence when the Portuguese held

E lm ina . I t was a l arge fort,almost square

,with the

front somewhat broader than the other s ides,provided

with four batteries suppl ied with no l ess than eighteen

pieces of ordnance,the wal l s of the fort be ing higher

than those Of any other fort along the coast, E lm ina

excepted . The curtain on the seaside contained two

batter i es,almost as spacious and conven ient as those at

Cape Coast,whi le at each angle Of the fort was a spaciou s

tower . This place was once garri soned by seventy men

fo r defence against the nat ives and the attacks of other

MOUR I AND THE IRON H ILL . 1 69

European powers . The vi l l age Of Mouri was s ituated

close to the fort . I t was n ot so large as E lm ina but

contained more people,who were chiefly engaged in

fi shing.The Dutch exacted a tol l upon th is town , as

also upon Ax im,Chama and E lm ina

,of every fi fth fish

that was caught by the natives, which was paid every

day to the factor who governed the town . From Mou r i

alone some 400 or 500 canoes would go out to fish dai ly,

I NTER IOR COURTYARD OF CAPE COAST CASTLE .

so that the garri son must have been wel l suppl ied with

thi s usefu l art ic le of food . NO other Europeans on the

coast ever exerc ised such a p rerogat ive as th is over the

nat ives . Near Mouri is the I ron H i l l,an elevat ion

about a quarter Of a mi le long,covered wi th the thickest

bush . From the fort on this hi l l the Fanti country

stretches away to the east,a descript ion Ofwhich must


be reserved for the next chapter The true Fanti

country commences at the foot of the I ron H i l l and

extends along the sea-board for some thi rty - five miles,

and into the interior for some ten or a dozen . In early

t imes the Engl ish held four stations in th is terri tory— one

fort and three lodges,and the Du tch had one fort also .

The fi rst Engl ish sett lement was at the p resent

A nishan,some e ight m i les east of Cape Coast

,where

,

accord ing to Bosman,

“ the enti re garri son cons isted Of

one whole Engl ishman , who l ies there”

. Some hou rs ’

j ou rney to the east ofth is lodge is Anamaboe,where in

early t imes we had a smal l compact fort,which was the

cen tre ofa very cons iderable trade,Engl i sh vessel s being

always in the roads,much to the chagrin and annoyan ce

Ofthei r Dutch compet i tors .

Anamaboe Fort was bu i l t hy the Engl ish in 1 753,but the

nat ives were so troublesome that they Often confi ned the

Engl ish garrison with in the wal l s of the fort,and held

general ly such power over the traders that,when a

governor was sen t to the fort to superintend the trade

there,and in any way d ispl eased them

,they retu rned

him in a canoe again to Cape Coast . Peace was con

stan tly bought with them by p resents , and the Oftener

this was done the more troublesome they became . A s

a nat ive town Anamaboe was the strongest on the coast,

on account of the number of armed nat ives that i t con

tained the whole land round was wel l populated,besides

being very ri ch in gold,s laves and corn

,this l ast be ing

Sold to the Engl ish vesse l s in great quanti t ies . The

p resent town ofAnamaboe was once the flourish ing centre

of a very importan t trade,which has Of late years been

considerably d im in ished owing to the r i se of the neigh


usual amb i t ion to be sole masters or not at al l,we pu shed

out our enterpr i s ing r ival s,much to thei r d isgust . The

remains of an O ld fort are st i l l to be fou nd here,and the

latest map Of the I ntel l igence Department Of the Wa r

Offi ce marks the place “ E tsin”

. This was probably

the s ite Of the Dutch Adja,and the cause of the com

mercial r i val ry early in the eighteenth centu ry.

Not far away stood the vi l lage cal led Litt le Cormantine,

where the Dutch held the fo rtress cal led Amsterdam,

which was the ch ief res idence of the Engl ish traders in

Fan tilandunt i l 1665, when the Dutch admi ral De Ruyter

d rove them out. The fort was bu i l t by the Engl ish in1 624, was of fai r ly large d imen s ions and contained one

l arge and three smal l batteries,mounted wi th twenty

pieces ofcannon,and in the t ime of the Dutch govern ed

by a ch ief facto r,as at Mouri .

Near Littl e Cormantine,Upon another h i l l about a

cannon shot from Fort Amsterdam,stood a l arge and

very popu lous town cal led G reat Cormantine,the in

habitants ofwhich,bes ides be ing trade rs

,were fishermen

to the number of 1000 . Nothing but ru in s are now left

ofFort Amsterdam,andthe towns ofCorman t ine are Of

the most wretched description .

The original Fanti k ingdom ended at Mumfort or

Mumford,

and between Cormantin e and thi s place

were two more Engl i sh establ i shments, Tantum orTan

tumquerry and Mumford , the former place being knownas Tuam . Both these forts were bu i l t by the Engl ish,afte r much oppos i t ion on the part of the natives

,toward s

the end ofthe seventeenth century . The bui ld ings have

long since d isappeared and thei r s i tes are almost for

gotten . The country in which these two towns are

THE FANTI COUNTRY . 1 73

s i tuated was once known as Gomoah or Gomoor, and

was si tuated on the east of Fant i and to the south of

Akim . The d istri ct i tsel f was wel l popu lated, al l the

in land towns being qu ite su rrounded by the densest

forests,where the people long maintained thei r barbarous

practi ces . The people now inhabit ing the coast towns are

almost enti rely engaged in fishing . The Fanti nat ives in

those early days gave much trouble to al l the traders,and

thei r character i s best shown by the fol lowing extract“ The Engl i sh and the Dutch possess in Fan ti an

equal power,that i s

,none at al l

,for when these vi l l ainous

people are incl ined to i t,they shu t up al l the passes so

close that not on e merchant can poss ibly come from the

in land countries to trade with us ; and sometimes not

content with this,they preven t the bringing Of provis ions

to us ti l l we have made peace with them . They have

a hank upon us,we having former ly contracted to give

them a good sum Of ready money,bes ides 300 gui lders ,

for every one of the company ’s sh ips wh ich for the

future shou ld bring any goods hither,i n consideration Of

thei r aid in tak ing Fort Amsterdam and other aux i l iary

ass i stan ce ; but in th is contract i t was part i cu larly stipu

lated that s lave ships shou ld be excepted from paying

anything,notwi ths tand ing Which they are now become

so un reasonable that they wi l l make no di fference be

tween s lave ships and others,obl iging us equal ly to pay

for al l,andal l our remonstrances that i t is contrary to

the treaty are whol ly ineffectual,for i f we wi l l l ive at

qu iet, we are always obl iged to humour them .

”

I n later t imes Fanti inc luded al l the countries from

the Sweet R iver,E lmina to Mumford

,and compr i sed

Cape Coast,Anamaboe

,A bracrampah ,

Dunquah,Domi


nass i,Mankassim and Adjumako ,

a l l of which and

many other smal ler towns are governed by separate kingsand chiefs . A t the present time Fant i i s the mos t con

fused part Of the Gold Coast wi th regard to pol i t i cal

d ivis ions . I n every croom or v i l lage there is a k ing or

chief,though his l and often does not extend for a m i le

round h is so - cal led cap ita l . Fan tI 15,however

,the most

c ivi l ised port ion Ofthe western d ivis ion of the Gold Coast.

At Cape Coast and Anamaboe are some good,strong

,

substantial bu i ld ings Of native-made bricks and stone,

but in the maj ori ty Of the towns the hou ses a re of

s imple mudand sti cks . The towns are qu i te devoid Of

properly laid out streets,the nati ve hu ts be ing j umbled

together in a confused mass,many present ing a very

unfin ished appearance to Eu ropean eyes . About one

i n a hundred of the Fantis can read and write,and

n inety-n ine Ofa hundred st i l l d ress i n the nat ive fashion .

Gold i s found al l through the Fant i country in smal l

quanti t ies below the surface soi l,which is washed by the

women the men cons ider i t beneath thei r d ign i ty to do

such work,and spend the greater part of their t ime

s i tt ing laz i ly about under the shade of the trees .

Domest ic s lavery ex ists in al l i ts various forms . The

women are the hard -work ing portion of the communi ty ,

t i l l i ng the ground and br i nging i ts produce to the markets

for sale,which i s exchanged for either gold or s i lver

Yams,plantains

,cassada

,corn and a large quan t i ty of

vegetables are grown in the country with in a few mi les

of the sea coast,but very l i ttl e or nothing of nat ive

growth is exported from th is fert i le part of the colony.

Domest ic s lavery and the plura l i ty Ofwives enervate the

energies Of the male popu lat ion,so that even the produc


exported from th is town,i n add it ion to large quantit ies

of rubber and monkey skins . As a port,Saltpond

ranks th i rd i n importance on the Gold Coast . The in

teriorcountry is wel l watered by the r ivers Amissa and

Narkwa. The former i s a stream Of con s iderable breadth,

though shal low and unsu i table fornavigat ion,and flows

,

after a cou rse Of nearly fi fty m i les,into the sea at a

d istance of five mi les east ofSal t pond . The river Narkwa

r ises near ln suaim,the capi tal of Western Ak im

,and

after a course Of some s ix ty mi les empties i tsel f in to

the sea near the town of Narkwa,some ten m i les away .

The schools in the town Of Sal tpond are among the

best i n the colony,and are u nder the management of

the Roman Cathol i c and Wes leyan M iss ionary bod ies .

They are wel l attended,and new and substanti al school

premises have lately been provided to meet the wants

ofthe population in this respect , which is fast awakening

to the value of a sound elementary educat ion for i ts

ch i ld ren .

Tufel andA ssin are two smal l states lying immedi

ately to the north Of E lm ina and Fanti,and to the south

of A shanti,by which power they were conquered under

O sai Too too . Very l i tt le i s known about the former

country,except that i t is remarkably wel l wooded andi s

watered by the m idd le courses Ofthe river P rah,and was

poss ibly once a part of the great kingdom OfDenkira,

before that power became tributary to the A shantis .

A ssin i s s i tuated to the south -east Of Denkira,and

was al so once a powerful p rovince ofA shan t i . I t was

original ly bounded on the north by that country,south

by Fan t i,west by Denkira and east by Ak im . I t was

pol i t ical ly d ivided into two d ivis ions,each Ofwhich had

CHAPTER V I I .

Appam— The Dev i l ’s Moun t—W i n n ebah— Bereku—Accra orAkra— The Akra Peop le— Man n ers andCustom s— The Adangme

Tribe fi Names—The Presen t Town— Ch r i st ian sborg— M er id ian Rock .

OF the coast countr i es known to the ear ly vis i tors to th is

part,there are now but three left to describe . These

are marked in old maps as Acron,Agonna and Aquam

boe . The fi rst extended over the presen t Winnebah

count ry the second lay to the north a l i tt le i n land and i s

marked as Agoona on recent maps : whi le the th i rd was

a smal l strip of country s i tua ted beyond the AquamboeMountains i n the distr i ct Of the same name . I t is at

present cal l ed the Akwamu count ry,the people speaking

the Akra and the Adangme languages . The fi rst point

of interes t in the O ld Acron country was the then vi l lage

(now a town of con s iderable s i ze) of Appam ,where in

1697 the Dutch began to bu i ld the p resent fort, or rather

house,which was subsequently fort ified with two batter ies .

The fort stands upon a considerable eminence,and has

ofl ate years been repai red,and accommodation provided

for any European travel l ing through the place,though

there is n o European res ident at present at Appam .

By the Dutch thi s fort was cal led Leydstambeyd or

Patience,on account of the manner in wh ich thei r vi rtue

was tried in th i s respect by the natives,when they were

bu i ld ing the fort . A t the p resent day it i s more general ly

THE DEV I L ’

S MOUNT .

known as Appam Fort . On the two batter ies weremounted eight p ieces of cannon

,and a fine turret com

mandedmost extens ive land and sea views . The whole of

the Winnebah distr i ct i s extremely wel l wooded,Often

being cal led The Forest Country,” and comp r i ses a series

ofundulat ing rocky hi l l s , ris ing apparently to about 300feet

,with wel l - clothed val leys between

,watered with in

numerable smal l streams that flow on al l s ides .

From the elevation m idway between Appam and the

town OfWin nebah,i s the Devi l

’

s Mount or Monte da

D iable,abou t which many a native legend ex ists

,and

which is fet ish to the inhabitants . I t i s supposed to have

derived its name from the sa i lors of the Old sai l ing vessels

that frequen ted the coast,from the fact that being very

high and close to the sho re they cou ld see i t at a long

d istan ce and yet cou ld n o t reach i t,for the wind i s very

con trary in th is di rection . The hi l l i tsel f i s over 600 feet

high,and is now known as Mankwadi H i l l

,fo rming the

most importan t landmark between Appam and Accra .

The district is supposed to be gold - bea r i ng,and the hi l l

i s reported to be r ich in gold . I t has never been properly

prospected,though i t i s affi rmed that after violen t

storms of rain the natives of the local i ty always find a

considerable amount Of gold round its base . Early in

the present century a Mr . Baggs was sent out by the

d irectors of the A frican Company,with al l necessary

apparatus,to test the ore from this h i l l

,but he un

fortunately died on his way at Cape Coast Castle. Since

thi s date no ser ious effort has been made,and the fact

of a white man dying,when on such an expedi tion

,has

on ly tended to strengthen the opin ion of the nat ives

that the mountain i tsel f is a very strong fetish . While


on the subject Of gold in th is local i ty,I may as wel l give

what evidence the re is of i ts existence,and for th is pur

pose wi l l quote from a report on gold m ines,made in

1 889to the Secretary Of State for the Colon ies by the

late S i r Wi l l iam BrandfordGriflith,the governor of the

colony at that date. A Mr . Eyre, D i strict Commissioner,was sen t to the Winnebah d i str i ct for this purpose in

1 888 . He reports as fol lows

I n the afternoon (24th J uly, 1 888 ) I examined the

rocks cropping out along the sea-coast immediately in

front ofWinnebah and extend ing up the coast for about

a quarter ofa m i le. These rocks are principal ly i ronstone

with quartz vein s runn ing through them,though here

and there the quartz reef i tsel f also crops out. The

quartz var ies much in colou r,from d irty red to pu re

crysta l andopaque white,but does n ot show any ind ica

t ion Of being au ri ferous , at least n o t at the su rface,

though I bel ieve that below the surface there are aurif

erous veins runn ing th rough the quartz,espec ial ly the

quartz vein s runn ing through the i ronstone,but as I had no

tools with me suffi c ient ly powerfu l for break ing through

the su rface—stone,I was unable to ascerta in the fact .

The land immed iately around Winnebah is of a l ight,

sandy nature,with e ither clay

,dark- colou red earth

,or

quartz or i ronstone below i t . The quartz crops out

every here and there,and is princ ipal ly of a d i rty red

colour ; but white opaque and clear crystal quartz al so

crop up at t imes,but none Of them show any traces of

gold,at least not at the surface . The natives state that

they Obtain gold here near the sea-beach by wash ing,

after the rains,the d i rt taken from the tracks of the

water-flows . They s ink holes t i l l they arrive at a b l ack


thei r forefathers Obtained gold almost anywhere along

the foot Of this range of h i l ls by s ink ing holes and

washing as described,and that sometimes nuggets were

found . From the nature ofthe coun try,and the evident

fact that the nat ives do Obtain gold here,I should say

that i f the base of th i s range of hi l l s was properly

p rospected,i n al l probabi l i ty al l uvial depos its bearing

gold in payable quant i t ies would be found,and the reef

from which they come could subsequently be traced .

Wherever there is a flow Of water on the h i l l -s ide during

the rainy season the quartz reef has been laid bare i n

places .

“ Tuesday the 3l st I left Appam about seven in the

morn ing with Mr . Wil l iams, the nat ive proprietor of the

hotel,who wanted to Show me the various spots where

he h imse l f had Obtained gold . A fter proceed ing about

three mi les along the Ak im road,we came to the bed of

an almost d ry water—course . Here Mr . Wil l iams showed

me various holes along the track of the stream ,and

about fi fteen to twenty feet from it,where the nat ives

had been or were st i l l p rocuring gold by washing . I

took away some Of the earth from these holes,and on

our return had it washed,and Obtained speck s of fine

gold du s t m ixed with the fine black sand al ready men

tion ed. A fter examin ing the holes and procuring some

Ofthe d i rt,Mr. Wil l i am s took me to several pl aces where

the quartz reef crops out,and where he had tried to s ink

holes to see whethe r there was gold or not in the lower

strata . From on e of these holes he found a smal l nugget

lying in the soi l . H e then took me to where an outcrop

ofi ronstone veined with quartz occu rs, and where he had

sunk a hole about ten feet deep th rough the i ronstone .

GOLD NEAR W INNEBAH . 1 83

Here, wherever the quartz ve ins traverse the i ronstone,specks ofgold are most d i st inct ly vis ible to the naked

eye,and even th rough the i ronstone i tsel f specks of gold

are to be seen,but very few . Another metal i s trace

able in th is s tone,resembl i ng s i lver in co lour

,but very

br i ttl e,but wi th which I am not acquain ted . August

2nd I left Appam for Mankwad i . I s topped on the wayat the smal l town of Moeyan s , where there are very

exten s ive gold diggings,one hole being abou t twenty

yards in d iameter and eight orn ine feet deep and fu l l of

water . A l l around this central excavation are inn umer

able smal ler holes,al l Ofwhich have been sunk for gold .

I tried d irt from several of these smal ler holes and in

each case obtained specks of fine gold dust,and also

larger part ic les the si z e Of fine sand . Here the natives

i nform me that nuggets are by no means unfrequen t

and that grains of gold l i ke sand are common . This

spot i s by far the best I have examined yet for al luvial

work ing,and seems from al l accounts of the natives to

be fairly rich in places . The native gold holes here are

many of them sunk to a considerable depth , t i l l theyreach the clay bottom on which the gold rests . Gold

washing seems to be very extens ively carried on here ,the holes dug by the n atives lying in every d i rection .

These holes are al l sunk at haz ard and consequently

are no guide to the d i rection taken by the gold . The

formation cont inues from the town ofMoeyan s to the

town ofMankwad i,and is about a quarter of a m i le in

width . I n conclus ion I wi l l add that I bel ieve there is

a cons iderable quant i ty Of gold in the d istri ct,and that

in places i t would probably pay Europeans to work i t ;but unti l the direction it takes has been ful ly determined


and the richness of the depos its pract ical ly ascertained

nothing is l ikely to come of it . ”

I must now retu rn to the town Of Appam,which in

early t imes was but a mere fishing vi l lage,poorly in

habited,ly ing j ust under the wal l s of the fort . I t was

wel l s i tuated for trade and soon developed,being for

some t ime a populou s and important town . The country

was governed by a k ing and was under the protection

Of i ts more powerfu l neighbours,the Fanti s

,and on this

account,was very seldom engaged in war

,so that the

nat ives of th is part Of the coast had a comparat ively

qu iet t ime ofi t and were able to devote al l thei r energies

to the cu l t ivation of the soi l . Deer,hares

,partridges

,

pheasants,wi ld fowl and quad rupeds were found i n

great abundance. The fol lowing chase of a hare is told

by Bosman as being very uncommon,i n which I th ink

al l my readers wi l l agree .

Behind our fort,which is bu i l t on a hi l l

,i s a vale

which i s about a m i le square,where there were abundanceof haycocks ;he re about twi l ight we met a young hare

that,being pu rsued by my dog

,took refuge in a haycock

,

i n which,though we made a d i l igent search

,we cou ld

not find him,t i l l at l ast, bu rning the haycock , to our

mighty surprise we found the hare s i tt ing under the

ashes of the hay,unhurt

,and we carr ied her al ive wi th

us to E lm ina .

”

The smal l terri tory ofGomoah or Gomoor i s s i tuated

south Of Ak im and north Of Fanti . The Acron country

was d ivided into Li tt le and Great Acron , the former beingthe country I have j ust described . Great Acron lay farther

in land,i ts government being a k ind Ofrepubl ic

,or rather

anarchy,and these two d iv i s ions, though they had no

THE TOWN OF WINNEBAH . 1 85

dependence on each other,were in perfect am ity for many

years . A smal l river empties i tsel f in to the sea near

Appam,the waters of which are always more or less

sal t,and which in some maps is named the Sal t R iver.

The Devi l ’s H i l l,previous ly mentioned

,was the

commencement of the Agoona country , Which was re

ported in the seventeen th and eighteenth centuries to

have been governed by a woman,who showed as much

spi ri t and courage in the conduct of affai rs as many Of

the male ru lers . She was indeed sufficiently wise to

remain unmarried,i n order to retain the government of

her k ingdom in her own hands,though report had i t that

she d id not complete ly remain a stranger to the soft

pass ion,but satisfied her desi res wi th amours with the best

of her s l aves,upon whom she bestowed her favours wi th

out fear or scandal . About the middle of the Agoona

country the Engl i sh bu i l t a fort in 1 694,which took its

name from the adj acent vi l lage ofWimba orSimpa , and

i s now cal led Winnebah . This fort had a flat roof and

was suppl ied wi th four batter i es,so l arge

,says Bosman ,

“ that a man cou ld leap over them withou t a sti ck ”"

The guns too were Of a proportionate s ize,on e of them

discharging a hal f-pound bal l " The Agoona distr i ct

was Of twice the area of i ts neighbour Acron , possess ing

too more power and riches , though equal i n general

ferti l i ty and pleasantness, the coast being wel l suppl ied

with al l k inds Of fish and oysters,whi le the country ln

l and was plent i ful ly suppl ied with al l sorts of apes .

The Winnebah ofthe present day is the name ofboth

the oldA goona d istr i ct and the present town , bou nded

on the west by Saltpond and on the east by the Sekoom

or Humo R iver,a d istance ofsome forty mi les from west


to east . The seaboard i s level,but the inter ior i s d i

versifiedwith several ranges of hi l l s,of which the Mank

wad i Range IS the most important. The d istrict is wel l

watered by the r iver A nisu,and its tribu tary the Akora

,

the former ris ing in the Ak im country and emptying its

waters some two mi les east ofWinnebah after a course of

about forty m i les . The product ions of the d i stri ct are

kernel s,palm O i l and rubber

,to which

,i n the past

,might

be added gold dust,the gather ing Of these products

and fishing form ing the chief Occupat ion of the people,

who number some 4000 i n Winnebah alone. I n add i t ion

the people are great agricu l tu rists,the in land plantat ions

produc ing large suppl ies Of ground -nuts,plantains and

bananas forhome consumption . Nat ive canoes are al so

made here in large numbers,which a re used as far down

the coast as Ben in,and are much sought after. The

forest lands conta in hard and valuable woods,the Odom

,

mahogany and A fri can cedar being among the best,but

l i tt le export trade i s done in these on account Of the

want Of transport . The quarters i n the Old fort are very

damp and most unsu itab le forthe res idence of Europeans .

The Colon ial Hospital,a good

,substant ial bu i ld ing

,i s

about a mi le from the fort . The last stat ion Of impor

tance along th i s coast is Bereku,some twelve miles from

Winnebah and about twenty-one mi les from Accra . The

Dutch had a fort at Bereku,Ofwhich but l i tt le mention

is made . The fort i s now converted into a rest-house

for travel l ing Officers,and but l i tt le trade i s done in the

town . Bereku Poin t is a wel l - known landma rk,on which

the nat ive town is s i tuated .

Thi s brings us to the last d ivi s ion of the Gold Coast ,the Aquamboe country,

which i n the seventeenth and


known as Ussher Fort,after a governor of that name

,

which was bu i l t a few years before the Engl i sh fort .

The Dutch fort was much larger and better fu rn ished

wi th guns than the Engl ish,though Of about equal

s t rength,with the exception of the wal l s

,which were

thinner,and consequent ly less able to stand a siege .

Some two mi les farther east was the Dan ish fort of

Christian sborg,bu i l t i n 1 659, and taken from them by

the natives in 1693, who held i t for a cons iderable t ime .

Thi s fort was far stronger and better than ei ther that of

the Engl i sh or the Dutch,and more than a match

,with

regard to the number of the garri son,for the combined

forces of the other two . The date upon i ts wal l s i s

1694,but th i s

,I think

,must refer to i ts restorat ion in

that year,after the nat ives had captu red i t in 1693, and

stripped i t Of everyth ing,leaving only the wal l s stand ing.

This m isfortune was caused by the death of several

Of the Dan ish garri son,the remainder being i l l - treated

and plundered by the natives,under one A ssameni

,

who dressed h imsel f in the governor’

s clothes,and

caused himsel f to be salu ted by his name,wasting the

powder in the castle by thunder ing salutes to every

vessel that passed,unti l the arriva l oftwo Dan ish vessels

at Accra,when he was induced to give up possess ion . The

fort was square in shape,with four batteries furn ished wi th

twenty good guns ava i labl e foruse at all points,the roof

being enti rely flat . One account says,the castle was bu i l t

by the Portuguese during the seventeenth centu ry,in what

year cannot be accurately laid down . I t was a smal l

fort ificat ion,and resembled a block -house more than a

fort . The Swedes expel led the Portuguese and in the

year 1 657 his Dan ish maj esty Freder i ck I I I . sen t an

CHR IST IANSBORG CASTLE . 1 89

exped it ion to the coast ofA fri ca under the d irect ion and

command of Sir Henry Carlof, who conquered the

Swed ish forts Carolusborg (now Cape Coast) , Taccarary,

Anamaboe,and U rsu Lodge (now Christiansborg) . A t

th is period the Danes erected a fort near Cape Coast

and named it Fredericksborg (which was afterwards pur

chased by the Royal A fri can Company and destroyed) .The governor of th is fort en larged U rsu Lodge

,and

gave i t the name Of Ch r i st ian sborg . The Danes re

mained un interrupted masters ofth is p lace unti l the year

1 679, when it was treacherou s ly sold to the Portuguese

by a man named Peter Bol t . I n 1 683 i t was restored

by order of the King Of Portugal,and ten years

after,the Aquamboes, who then l ived but a short

d i stance from Accra,took possess ion of i t

,at the in

stigation ofthe U rsu Caboceer, i n the fol lowing manner.They brought down a number of s laves and a large

quantity ofgold and ivory,in exchange for which they

would take nothing but guns and powder. This was

agreed to by the governor,who al so consented that the

guns and powder should be proved before they were

taken out of the fort . Having now Charged a numberof their muskets

,they loaded them with bul lets which

they had concealed,and i n a moment seized the un

guarded garrison,as also every white person in the fort .

There was but l i ttle res i stance made, no l ives were lost,and the fort was plundered but not inj ured . The Ursu

Caboceer was proclaimed governor,and compel led both

Engl ish and Dutch whites who had occas ion to pass

the forts to pay their Obeisance to him after which he

general ly treated them civi l ly,and frequently honou red

them with a salute from the great guns . He often in


dulgedhimsel f with a salute , sometimes at midn ight . The

next year i t was del ivered up,through the intercess ion

ofthe Dutch nat ion , and on a large sum being paid by the

Dan ish Government . The town ofChristian sborgwas s itu

ated immediately under its wal ls . A l though the Engl ish ,Dutch and the Danes possessed forts at Accra , the power

Ofeach was very l im i ted , and autho r i ty ex isted with in the

CH R I ST IAN SBORG CASTLE , ACCRA , RE S IDEN CE OF THE GOVERNOR .

wal l s on ly for thei r own defence . One might suppose

from the presence of three important trad ing compan ies

i n the one place,that competi t ion woul d have l imi ted

the trade then done,but it seems that the contrary was

the case,for such was the supply of s laves and gold in

these early t imes that no one was i n danger of los ing a


and Fanti peoples . I f such be the case,and the name

has any des ignat ion,they must have been a very

numerous and powerfu l people,who eas i ly subdued the

original inhabitants of the country they now occupy .

Accord ing to thei r own trad it ions,thei r largest towns were

si tuated some distance inl and,before the present coast

town ofAccra had any ex istence,and occupied most of

the eminences south of the Aquapim country . Fourteen

such towns ex isted in land from Accra,and many others

in the neighbou rhood of the present towns of N ingo ,Labad i and Temma

,whi l st such states as Adangme

,

Akwamu and Aquapim were at one t ime tributary to them .

That they are a d ist inct race from the other tribes on the

coast adm its Of no doubt,the d i fference of language

,

manners and customs being most strongly marked .

Upon th is leeward part of the coast,two princ ipal

languages are spoken,the t rue Ga

,and i ts mother tongue

,

the Adangme . The true Gao r GaAkpa is spoken in al l

the coast towns from the Sekoom to Teshi,a vi l lage five

mi les east ofChrist iansborg,and once the s i te Of fort and

station Augustenborg ofthe Danes,bu i l t i n 1 700 but now

completely in ru ins,whi le the Adangme language is the

tongue from Teshi to the Volta R iver,the K robo country

and several towns at the foot ofthe Aquapim Mountains .

The Ak ras,Krobos

,K rep i s

,Awoonahs and Addahs

d iffer great ly from the branches Of the Akan fami ly in

physique . A s a ru le the men are ta l ler and stronger, and

the women remarkably wel l formed,with complex ions

not qu i te so black as those descended from the Tshi

speak ing race . They are expert fi sher and boatmen , and

make excel lent carriers .

Un l ike the people ofthe other tribes on the coast,they

THE AKRA PEOPLE . 193

name thei r chi ld ren accord ing to the number,and not from

the day of the week upon which they are born . Thus

there are the fi rst male,second male

,fi rst female

,second

female,and so on . Appended are the Akra names

Male. F emale.

F i rst Tet i DedeSecon d Tete Koko‘

I‘

hird Mesa Man saFourth Anan TsotsoF ifth Anum ManumS ixth N sia Sasa

whi le the seventh,eighth

,n inth and tenth are Ason

,Botfe

,

Akron and Badu respect ively for both male and female .

Most of these names have been taken from the Tshi

numerals,and Europeans are general ly named from

the day upon which they l and in the colony. I n many

places,however

,i n add it ion to this nomenclatu re

,the

chi ldren are named after thei r parents or grandparents,

the name Of the l atter preced ing that of the former,

whi le in al l the pure Akra names ofmale and female

chi ld ren,the name of the father precedes that ofthe chi ld .

Thus Ayi Dede would mean the first daughter ofAyi .

I n manner the Akras are qu iet and unassum ing,though

somewhat d ifficul t to govern,and when thoroughly

roused hard to conquer . I n the country d istri cts the

European is made welcome,a house is C leared on his

arrival,and whateve r the place affords i s soon brought

in for h i s use. The chief fet ish of the Akras is water,to

which it was usual for them to make an annual sacrifice .

Every year a gi r l oftwelve years ofage was sacrificed to

the sea,and at the present t ime i t i s thei r custom to vis i t the

chief rivers and streams,to make thei r Offering in the Shape

of food to the god that inhabits the water . The food is13


prepared on the banks,part th rown in and part eaten .

Many of thei r customs stri ke the European as being very

strange,found as they are in a land far from any other

,

where such ri tes are performed . I n thei r early histori cal

t imes the Akras were forbidden by thei r p r iests to touch

human blood,and when blood was sp i l t by accident or

des ign,the k ing and elders of the people made sacrifice

by way Of atonement for i t , and the people cau s i ng i t

were fined i n proportion . A k ind of rude bapt ism Of

their ch i ld ren i s al so Observed . A week after the bi rthofa ch i ld

,when i t i s to receive i ts name

,the father sends

the best ofh is relat ions or friends in to the house where

the chi ld and the mother a re to bring i t i n to the Open,

where his friends are assembled . The father then pro

ceeds to throw some water over and upon the roof ofthe

principal room ofthe fami ly house,which i s again caught

in a cal abash or d ish used for the purpose,and thrown

three times on the chi ld,when it receives its name .

Another un iversal practi ce among the Akras i s that of

c ircumcis ion , which is practised by al l the Gaand Adan

gme- Speaking tribes . By the natives thi s ri te i s cal led

Keteafo,or shortening , which every male chi ld from the

age Of s ix to ten years is made to undergo . S laves are

al so subj ect to the same Operat ion,and no unci rcumcised

person,from the k ing downwards

,i s a l lowed to enter the

inner yard ofthe fet i sh priest ’s house,to wi tness any cere

mony that is there being performed by him . Some people

think,from this pract ice

,that the Akra race Obtained

the ri te from the Jews,but we must remember that these

peop le derived the custom from Egypt,andthat Egypt

is in A fri ca,where the r i te had perhaps been pract ised

for centuries before the Jews went to Egypt. A t the


custom is cal led in the nat ive tongue Yereyelo . After

the fi rst custom fol lows the Homowo,when the yams

are gathered,which means l iteral ly the “ mocking Of

hunger,and which is the thanksgiving for the harvest .

Each ofthese ceremon ies fu rn ishes the occasion formuch

gun -firing,music

,danc ing

,s inging

,eat ing and d rink ing

,

but at Accra the excesses are not so great as in many

towns in the interior . The Akras do not recogn ise a

personal dei ty, attr ibut ing thei r h ighest power, which they

cal l Nyonmo,to many events . The word means A l

mighty,but i t i s al so used for the sky, rain , thunder and

l ightn ing . Throughout the whole of the Gold Coast,

however,among the Tshi and Ga races there ex ists a

bel ief i n the transmigrat ion of l i fe,which takes the form

of a spir i t and an imates al l the act ions Of the ind i v idual .

This spiri t i s known as the Ok la or Okra of a person .

I t in st igates him to actions (good or bad ) whi le al ive,and is supposed to inhabit another body after the fi rst i s

dead . Every person is supposed to be attended during

l i fe by two such Oklas , a male and a female , the former

for bad and the latter for good deed s . The word

Okla means l i teral ly a sanctified boy,and many of the

people of higher rank possessed a number of such boys,

who attended them during l i fe, and were sac r ificed at

their master ’s death,to be h is compan ions in h is next

state . When a King Of Ashanti d ied , his Oklas , to the

number of 1 00 or more,were murdered on his tomb .

During thei r master’s l i fe these attendants are d is

tinguishedby a large ci rcl e of gold suspended from the

neck : many of them are favouri te s laves,raised from

the common people to th is d ist inction,al l Ofwhom are

glad to stake,as i t were

,thei r l ives upon that Of thei r

SU PERSTITION S . 197

master,during which time they are free from al l pala

vers and supported by h is bounty,to be sacr ifi ced upon

his tomb when he d ies .

Chi ldren born with supernumerary fingers or toes were

Often strangled orburn t a l ive,and when several chi ld ren

had been lost by a fam i ly,the body Of the last that d ied

was Often cast t in to the bush,and any deform ity pos

sessed by a subsequent ch i ld,whose body they be l i eved

to be the same as the one cast in to the bush,was attri

buted to the bodi ly inj uries that the dead chi ld had

received from the wi ld an imals Of the forest .

From the sea the town of Accra has a very imposing

appearance,stretch ing alon g the sea- front from east to

west for a d istance Of nearly three mi les from the land ing

place to Chr istiansborg Cast le . The town itsel f 15 n o t

cont in uous for the whole d istance ; J ames Town is fi rst

wi th i ts fort and signal s tation ; Ussher Town, with i ts

Dutch fort and its suburb,V ictoriaborg,

adjoins i t,and

then comes a stretch ofgreen level country fora mile along

the sea- shore,interven ing between V ictoriaborg and the

castle and town Of Chri st iansborg . Landing from the

steamer is general ly accompl ished at the west Of the

town,n ear the Custom House

,except in very bad

weather,when a poin t farther east i s general ly selected

,

under the wal ls Of James Fort . I t i s general ly ac

compl ished with ease compared to other parts Of the

coast : hal f an hour ’s paddl ing from the s ide of the

s teamer to the breakers,a ru sh through the breake rs

,

general ly on the crest of a wave,and the surf-boat

touches the sand . Padd les are thrown overboard,the

boys spring out,and carry the passengers pi ck -a-back

to dry land . This costs a dash ”offive shi l l ings , which is


wel l l aid out, for shou ld there be any delay, the nex t

wave general ly swamps the boat . J uly,August and

September are general ly supposed to be the worst

months for land ing at A ccra,but in most cases there i s

l i t t l e more to risk than a wet j acket,un less the boatmen

are at al l careless,when danger may easi ly arise. A

fai rly steep bank Of redd ish earth or c lay leads from the

beach up to the Custom House and Post Offi ce,and the

vis i tor is i n the main road ofAccra . The impression from

th is point i s not encouraging,the place giving one the

idea of general bankruptcy. To the west of the land

ing-place and close to the edge Of the cl i ff are the Postal

and Telegraph Oflices , with the Q ueen’s Warehouse and

the Publ i c Works Yard hard by,whi l st on the opposite

s ide Of the road are the o ld Treasury Bu i ld ings and

the Custom House Offi ces . Behind these bu i ld ings l ies

J ames Town,a motley col lect ion of native huts Of al l

s i zes,i nterspersed with the Old ru ins of many a past

dwel l ing,and m ixed ind i scrim inately with the newer

stone bu i ld i ngs ofmodern t imes,that belong to the richer

nat ives and traders . To the right or east of the land ing

place the road widens and leads past the fort, leaving

the large rectangular Wesleyan Chapel on the left,be

hind which are the present Government School s accom

modating about 1000 scholars, once the s i te ofa French

factory . Behind th is are the Wesleyan M iss ion House

and School,once the property of Old M r . Bannerman .

From this point the main thoroughfare of the town is

entered,which leads in a di rect run Of over two miles to

Chri stiansborg. This is known as O too Street, the h igh

street of the capital,along which are s ituated some Of

the princ ipal trad ing hou ses Of the town . Yates B rothers’


i ng back a l i tt l e from the main road,are the headquarters

Of the A frican D i rect Telegraph Company,roomy and

commodious premises stand ing in the ir own grounds .

V ictoriaborg i s n owentered the nat iveHausaquarters and

parade ground are on the on e s ide, andthe HausaNat ive

and European Hospi tal s on the other . The newly con

structed Accra C lub House and the Colon ial Secretary ’s

res idence are next passed,on e on ei ther s ide ofthe road

the former sanctioned as a place Ofrecreation forres ident

Europeans,by the R ight Honou rable the Secretary of

State forthe Colon ies,i n 1 897 , and the latter erected in the

same year,as private quarters for the res ident ial Colon ia l

Secretary,F . M . Hodgson

,E sq. , the Governor.

To the left i s the Secretariat,once European quarte rs

,

but now devoted to the Official accommodation requ i red

by the various heads Of departments in the service

of the colony,whi le a branch Post Offi ce

,the new

Treasu ry Bu i ld ings,the Government P rint ing O ffice

and the n ew Bungalows,complete the ch ief p laces

of i nterest in what i s known as V ictoriaborg. This

part of Accra i s now the princ ipal res idence of the

offi cials ofthe town,some twenty bungalows having been

erected at various spots i n thi s local i ty during the past

five years,to take the place of the previous quarters that

were provided in the nat ive parts of the town . I t i s im

poss ible to over-estimate the benefi ts that have accrued

from th is change of res idence,with regard to the health

ofthe Government offi cial s at Accra . Malar i a st i l l ex ists ,but many ofi ts most pern icious effects have d isappeared .

A walk or drive of rather more than a mi le upon a good

road brings us to Christ iansbo rg,the l ate res idence Of the

Governor and the headquarters Of the I nspector-General

THE TOWN OF ACCRA . 20 1

of the Hausa Forces and his sta ff. On the road, lying

back some d istance to the left, i s the cemetery , where

many a European has found his final rest ing-place . I t

i s now a wel l -ordered and wel l -kept enclosu re, with

double gateway and porch,over which is the somewhat

ambiguous and muti lated scriptural quotat ion : “

Here

the wicked cease from troubl ing and the weary are at

rest ” Why the fi rst word i s “ Here”instead Of

TOWN T RAVELL ING I N ACCRA .

Where no one seems to know,except that from in

spection ,i t seems there was not enough room for another

letter,and the person who carved i t poss ibly thought ,

that the omission Of a lette r would not much matter.

A t the eastern extrem ity Of Chr ist iansborg, and at the

T HE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT.

western end of Am are the usual hgoons so oftm

found skirting the towns along the coast,and which

con tn’

bute to theirgeneral unhealthiness . Chr istiansborgis the coast ha dquarters of the Bas le Miss ion Society,where they have chape ls , schoo ls andworkshops , in ad

dition to spacious quarters for the residen ce of the

European members of the Mission . The road from the

port ofAccra to Ch ristiansborg is broad andhard, fit for

wheeled trafiic, and is con t inued from the latter place

to AbokobiandAburi, some fifteen and twen ty-seven

mi les north from the coast. The country beh ind the

capital is ro l ling grass land , rather th in ly wooded andsparing ly watered, stretching away to the hori z on in a

l ine of thin fading blue hi l ls, the h igh lands ofAquapimandAkim,

reaching to 2000 feet above the sea level .

Horde of catt le now feed upon these grass lands , but

birds andgame are scarce. Horses, which die after a

few months at other po in ts along the coast. thrive at

Accra, but do not l ive long when taken into the interior,

possibly owing to the presence of the fatal tsetse fly,

which, though supposedto exis t, has not defin itely been

foundto do so . Mules andasses would , I think, thrive

in this neighbourhood,ifthe necessary care andatten t ion

could be ensured for them,from the hands ofthei r native

atten dants, who ride them furious ly at all t imes and

se ldom orneverthink ofkeeping them clean . The usua l

mode oftravel l ing in Accra is by what is termed a Go

cart,"ao il lustrat ion of which appears on page 20 1 .

These are en tirely drawn by Kru boys .

Many Europeans andnat ives keep horses in Accra,anddriving or rid ing is a common recreat ion after5PM .

An annual two days’

race meet ing is held just outside


The native streets— al leys they shou ld be cal led— are

general ly very d i rty,contain ing the garbage thrown

out from the huts , which crowd together on al l s ides ;whi le dogs ofvery doubtfu l ped igree are common every

where . Fortunately, the greater part ofthe native quarter

ofJ ames Town and Ussher Town was destroyed by fi re

i n 1 895,and in the place of the previous overcrowded

and i l l -kept streets,spac ious thoroughfares are n ow

being provided,with properly constructed drains to

carry off the water,wel l l ighted with oil l amps

,and

with roads fi t for wheeled traffic . I n 1 893 O too

Street was about twelve feet wide,i t i s now as many

yards .

Many of the Akras and also the E lm inas are excep

tionally good cooks , the men being much better than

the women,which i s often the case i n uncivi l i sed races .

Some of the nat ive d ishes are part icu larly palatable ,and far preferable to many of the bad ly cooked Euro

pean foods that have been introduced .

“ Kan k ie ”

takes the place ofbread,and is made from the Hour of

nat ive corn,undergoing many operat ions before being

boi led or roasted in plantain leaves andfi t to eat . Many

people prefer i t to the sour Engl ish bread that is made

on the coast though th is has considerably improved of

l ate years . Fou - fou is a tenacious mass composed of

yam,plantai n or cassada

,which i s peeled

,boi led and

pounded and then made into large bal ls,to be served up

with the various k inds of native soups,i n place of the

European potato . I t is much l i ke boi led batter pudding,

but more tenacious,and is very savoury . Fresh ly baked

flour cakes seasoned with the oil of the palm kern el are

much rel ished by the nat ives,but are far too rich for the

NAT IVE FOODS . 205

vis i tor . Fish and stews are wel l prepared,and turtl e i s

good and plenti fu l during the Harmattan season,but

not after March . The fish mostly eaten by the nat ive

i s a k ind ofherring,which abounds in the Guinea Gul f

i n immense numbers,and which

,when cured

,i s carried

far i n to the interior beyond Ashanti . When these fi sh

are opened,cleaned

,stu ffed wi th green pepper and fried

i n the freshest and purest palm oil,i t i s cal led Kinnau

,

and forms an admirable food Palm -oi l chop ” i s

another favouri te d ish on the West Coast of Afri ca fromS ierra Leone to the Congo

,some Europeans being

very fond of i t . The ingred ients are freshly made

palm oi l,meat or fowl

,wel l peppered and served up

i n a nat ive pot wi th freshly boi led yam or fou - fou or

rice . I t is the curry ofA fri ca,but i s too r i ch a d ish for

many peop le . A l i queur of cognac after such a meal

general ly prevents a recu rrence ofi ts flavour . Ground

nut soup is a general favouri te wi th most people on the

coast,which is prepared in much the same way and with

the same ingred ients as p alm - oil chop,

”

but with finelypounded ground - nuts instead of palm oil as the bas is .

Last,but not least

,i s the nat ive k iek ie

,

” a compound of

finely-minced fowls orfi sh,high flavoured

,and served up

with “ fou -fou in the A ccra-made pots of black porous

earth into which the pepper thoroughly s inks . I t i s

somewhat l ike the West I nd ian “ pepper pot,” and is

very tasty to the palate . The Accra fowls are poor and

stringy,but good ducks and turkeys are suppl ied from

Ada and Jel la Kofi,near Kwitta . Mutton and beef are

poor,but are improving in qual i ty

,and cou ld be made

very good if some enterpris ing nat ive would only breed

the an imals,and feed them in a proper manner upon the


grass l ands at the back Of the town . But su ch an under

taking requ ires too much energy from the hands Of a

nat ive,though a fortune would soon be made from

supplying the town and the numerous vessel s that cal l

here wi th good fresh meat . Fru i ts are plent i fu l oranges,

l imes,bananas

,pine-apples

,mangoes

,guavas

,are always

obtainable . The topical rains at Acc ra are l ight com

pared with those at Freetown,S ierra Leone. The

annual average is about eighty inches . The best

season for travel l ing into the in terior i s during the

Harmattan,when i t i s very pleasant

,but i t i s attended

with l itt le danger from Novembe r t i l l the end OfApri l

orMay .

Rude nat ive gold work is done at Accra,which ch iefly

finds i ts out let in the manufacture of the zod iac ring,

which is worn by almost every one. Studs,brooches

,

watch chains and bracelets are al so made from copied

patterns,but the nat ives possess but l i t t l e art i st i c meri t

Of thei r own .

Accra possesses wi th Christ iansborg some

inhabi tants,and the whole Ga country some

The majori ty are engaged in fishing,though good

carpenters and masons are to be found,whi le many

are employed in petty trad ing . Education is making

rapid strides,and there i s no lack Of native clerks

for mercanti le and Offi cial work . Though the seat of

the headquarters Of the Government,the trade Of the

town is not increasing ; the chief imports are rum ,gin

,

tobacco,cottons

,provis ions and bu i ld ing materia ls

,whi le

rubber,palm Oil and kernels

, gold dust and kO la nutsform the bu l k of the exports . Gold dust i s exported

in but smal l amounts from Accra,and comes from

CHAPTER VI I I .

The Ak im and Kwahu Coun tr i e s— B egoro -Kyeb i— Abetifi TheAk im Forests— The Tsh i P eop l e— Man n ers and CustomsThe Futu re of Ak im— Nat ive Trad it i on s -Akwamu or Aquamboe .

THE Ak im and Kwahu countries of the Gold Coast l ie

between 6° and 8

°

north lat i tude,and nearly 1

°

westlongitude . Ak im being the more importan t of the two

,

and s ituated nearer the coast,I shal l describe that fi rst .

I t i s bounded on the north by the Kwahu (sometimes

Okwahu) and the Kanak i countries , on the east by

Krobo,on the west by Adans i and A shant i

,and on the

sou th by Aquapim . I t i s Often described as the h i l l

l and lying north -west of Accra,and the whole surface

i s occupied wi th a series ofmountain ranges,i n some

places as high as 2000 feet,with the exception of a smal l

portion in the south -east and in the west where the land

i s low . The Ak im country is d ivided into Eastern and

Western,the former having Kyebi or Kibbi

,and the

latter l nsuaim,for i ts capi tal . For the most part

,the

towns andvi l lages in th is d istri ct are s i tuated upon or

near the.

tops of the h i l l s,which perhaps accounts for its

comparat ive health iness for the res idence of Europeans .The Bas le m iss ionaries

,who have many important sta

t ions in th is d istrict,res ide here for a period varying

from fou r to seven years,without a vis i t to Europe

,

THE AKIM COUNTRY . 209

making i t thei r home with their wives and chi ldren,

though the latter are sent to Europe when they have

reached the age offour or five years . The lower d istricts

are not so wel l populated as the h ighlands,some ofthem

,

with the exception of a few hunters ’ huts,being total ly

uninhabi ted . I n the O ldmaps ofthe A fri can continen t

i ts s i tuation is marked Akim,famous for gold

,a char

acter i t wel l deserves . The people, who fu l ly know the

va lue of thei r country,though they cannot themselves

develop i t,are most des i rous that Europeans should

vi s i t i t for th is purpose . Their chief occupat ion is gol d

d igging,and as l ate as 1 863 two new rich deposi ts were

d iscovered . I t is a beaut i fu l country,and would wel l

repay the European botan ist and geologist .The King of Kyebi possesses more n ugget gold than any

other monarch in the Gold Coast,and the currency ofthe

country is gold dust . The whole surface i s wel l watered?the principal s treams being the Birrim

,the Den su

,the

Bompong and the Pompong with thei r various tributaries .

None ofthese rivers are ever dry,receiving thei r suppl ies

from the various mountain ranges,and being frequently

swol len and overflowed when the ra ins are on . The

Birrim i s the longest ofthe four rivers I have mentioned ,but not the widest . This river r ises near the l i tt l e

vi l lage of Appapam ,a short d i stance south -west of

Kyebi,the cap ital of the d istrict, and receives i ts source

from a mountain in the n eighbourhood,nearly 2000 feet

high . I t flows north - east past the capital , and then

turns north -west as far as E nyinam,where i t turns its

course south -west and joins the P rah a short d is tance

north - east Of P rahsu,on the borders of Ak im and

Ashanti . The whole of the val ley of the upper part ofI4


this river i s honeycombed with nat ive pits,where gold

d igging has been carried on and al l uvial washings are

common on the outsk i rts ofevery town that l ies near .I n the dry season I have crossed the bed of the Birrim

at E nyinam when the water was on ly knee deep, a

bright,clear stream

,with a c lean

,sandy bed

,whi le at the

same place in the rainy season i t i s transformed into a

rushing,muddy river

,ten feet deep

,nearly twenty yards

wide,and with a curren t runn ing at the rate offour mi les

an hou r. The whole course ofthe river i s between n inety

and on e hundred m i les .

The river Den su ri ses from the same moun tain near

the vi l lage of Appapam ,but flows in an enti re ly oppos i te

d i rect ion . Leaving Appapam i t flows fi rst south - east

and then almost due south to the sea,emptying i ts

waters some ten m i les to the west ofAccra . This river

i s known by d i fferent names to the nat ives at various

parts ofi ts course . I t ri ses as the Den su,i s known lower

down as the Humo,and flows into the sea as the Sekoom

at the place ment ioned . I t has no very large or im

portant town upon its banks,the on ly poin t of in terest

passed being the Ak im peak,an isolated mountain of

1 000 feet , at abou t i ts midd le d istan ce from the source

to the sea. The Bompong and the Pompong also ri se

together,but flow in oppos i te d i rections . The sou rce of

these two rivers i s found near the vi l lages Oseem and

Tafo,at a point on the main route between Kukurantumi

and Os ino . The former flows south and becomes a

tributary Of the Den su,whi l s t the latter flows north -east

and empties its waters in the A fram,which is i tse l f a

tributary ofthe Vol ta . None of the rivers I have men

tioned are navigable except for smal l canoes , owing to


growth of coffee,cocoa

,ri ce and tropical spices

,and to

the cul t ivat ion ofthe rubber vine and the tobacco plant .

The industry ofthe nat ives is l im ited to their wants,and

as these are few and easi ly sati sfied,the amount ofenergy

they put into the cul t ivat ion of thei r soi l,and in fact

into any k ind ofwork,i s in proportion to thei r dai ly

requ irements . The palm flouri shes everywhere,and in

places the tobacco plan t has been found growing in wi ld

l uxu riance,i n add it ion to fru its ofmany k inds

,i nc lud ing

the guava,mango

,banana

,plantai n and pine - apple .

Whenever cu l t ivated,the orange grows in profus ion and

i n excel lence,parti cu l arly at the m iss ion stat ion of

Begoro . I n this ne ighbourhood,too

,one of the most

northerly parts of Ak im,and some 1400 feet above the

sea,are a great variety ofrubber

, gum and dye trees, al l

ofwhich m ight with industry and care form the source

ofgreat weal th to the inhabitants . Kibbi or Kyebi is

the chief town and capital of Eastern Ak im,and the

residence ofthe k ing . I t i s wel l el evated,being about900

feet above the sea,at the sou thern extremity of the A tiwa

Range,and is the cen tre

'

ofa large gold—bearing area .

Another very important town in the Akim country

i s Begoro,s i tuated on i ts northern borders

,at the

same elevat ion,and almost surrounded by mountains of

a higher al t i tude . I t i s a very picturesque and healthy

stat ion ofthe Basle M iss ion,an i l lustrat ion of which wil l

be found on page 2 14. Coffee i s being cu l t ivated with

great su ccess,and grows luxuriantly throughout the

whole province . I have travel led the forest bel t,that

extends from Aburi,twenty- seven mi les from the coast

,

to Abetifi,some 1 75 miles from the sea , four t imes up

and down,and have been much surprised at the almost

THE AKIM FORESTS . 2 13

total absence of an imal l i fe . A few deer,leopards and

monkeys are the on ly occupants of the th ick bush that

everywhere prevai ls,and these are se ldom seen

,and in

access ible to the hunter owing to the security of thei r

haunts . Through this forest from south to north is a

seven days ’ j ourney,and travel l ing through i t i s most

monotonous and somewhat depress i ng . There is no

road,but ever the same narrow

,wind ing

,tortuous path

,

bordered on either s ide by the dense tangled undergrowth

of the bush,through which i s seen the ta l l straight

trunks of giant trees,whose lofty tops are lost in the

mass of fol iage overhead ; the spaces between being

fi l led in with depend ing and cl imbing plants Of every

description . But few flowers en l iven the way ; bright

patches of glaring sun l ight and dense banks of deep

shade seem to struggle for the mastery,and owing to the

dense Shade,there i s bu t l i ttle danger from the sun .

Over stagnant pool s ofwater,and occas ional ly across

the path,a few gaudy butterfl i es fl i t to and fro in the

gleams ofsun l ight,form ing abou t the on ly rel ief for the

eye,from the sombre dark green in which everything i s

endowed by nature. And al l i s st i l l ; save for the oc

casional cal l of a bird to its mate,or the wi ld harsh cry

ofthe sloth,no sound is heard . I nsect l i fe i s very plen ti

ful , and the s i lence of the day somewhat compensated

for,by the innumerable i nsect noises of the even ing and

n ight . On the higher lands of the forest the travel l ing

i s dry and comparat ively easy,but sometimes the bush

and undergrowth are so thi ck that what track there i si s lost ; and i n the lowly ing distri cts swamps are fre

quent, where the travel ler can on ly progress by walking

for hours through mud and water,poisoned by the


noxious gases r i s ing from the rapid decay of such an

abundance of vegetable matter .I mmediately to the north ofthe Ak im country l ies the

mountainous d istri ct ofKwahu orOkwahu ,which in the

native l anguage means the top of a rock or top of the

palm trees . This state has the A shant i country as a

western boundary,the river Vol ta on the east

,whi le

i t jo ins Ak im to the south and stretches in ro l l ing

BASLE M I SS ION STAT ION , BEGORO .

grass l and s far away to the north . The mountains Ot

Ak im are continued into Q uahu,and reach thei r h ighest

points at Abetifi and Obo . The former is 2000 feet

above the sea level and the latter even higher,form ing

the sou rce of the river P rah . From Begoro,the most

northern town of Ak im ,to A betifi is a three days ’ j ou rney

through the forest,and th is latter place is one of the

most in land stat ions Of the Bas le Miss ion Society. The


the former power. One ofthe ch ief roads from Ashanti

to Accra passes through Western Akim . I t i s poorly

popu lated and i ts productions are very few . A Govern

ment school has lately been opened at its capital,I nsuaim .

I n appearance,the inhabi tants of Akim are much the

same as the other tribes upon the coast,di ffering but

l i ttle i n thei r habits,manners

,language and rel igion

from thei r surround ing neighbours . The men are of

medium height,though of s l ighter bu i ld than the coast

tribes,but they are capable of sustain ing great exertion

when they feel inc l ined,which is not very often . The

women are shorter than the men and wel l fo rmed,and

perform most ofthe work that is done. They obtain the

food supply, fetch the wood and water, and do most ofthe washing for go ld

,the proceeds from the sale of which

are Spen t by the men in rum and tobacco . Thei r ch ief

food is fou -fou,

” a tenacious mass of boi led p lantain s or

yams,beaten to the consistency of a thick batter by the

aid of a l i ttle water,and immersed in a d ish Of pepper

soup flavoured wi th a l i tt le d ried fi sh,monkey ’s flesh

,or

a few snai l s . They are very fond of palm -oi l food,but

are seldom able to get i t,as they are too lazy to cu l ti

vate the particu lar palm which provides th is dainty d ish .

Roast p lantains are also a favouri te fare,and when

cooked over a wood fi re form an agreeable d ish to a

hungry travel ler. I have tried both the palm -oil chop,

”

as i t i s cal led,and the roast plantains

,which make a good

substi tu te for bread,though a trifle sweet . Eggs

,fowls

,

Sheep and goats are plent i fu l throughout the country,

except when native troops are pass ing through,when

they wi l l suddenly d isappear,and al l k inds of food are

then d iffi cu l t to obtain . The travel l ing nat ive is,how

THE TSH I PEOPLE. 2 1 7

ever,as bad as the nat ive sold ier i n this respect. I f he

i s hungry and sees food,he takes i t and if remonstrated

with,h is answer general ly is No belong to any

one ; plenty food l ive ; God send i t What answer

can you make ? I remember on one occas ion when

leaving a town in the Akim d istrict,being presented

by the chief with a parting present of a sheep, which

was handed to on e of my bearers to lead by a

string to our nex t halt ing-place,when the day ’s march

shou ld be fin ished . When resting in the even ing

before taking my dinner,I heard a commotion in that

part of the compound inhabi ted by my carriers and

servants,and . upon proceed ing to inqui re the cause

,I

found that my sheep of the morn ing had become two .

On inqu i ry as to whom the other sheep belonged,I was

in formed that i t was the property of my bearers,who

could not tel l me how they obtained i t,but volunteered

the statement that they “ supposed it had fol lowed my

sheep because i t wanted company Some roadside

vi l l age that we had passed i n the day had one sheep the

less to fo ld that n ight "

To Show how completely the Akims were at one time

under the power of the Ashantis and feared thei’

r dis

pleasure,I wi l l give but one instance . About I 742, when

Osai Aquissa ruled over Ashanti and i ts tributarypowers

,the King of Ak im desired to make war upon

on e of h is near neighbours . Before he could do this,the

consent of the A shan ti monarch was necessary,which

was Obtained by the promise of halving the Spoi l . The

Akims went to war,but gained l i ttle or no spoi l

,and

Osai Aquissa hearing of thi s demanded the head of the

King of Ak im for hi s want of success in the campaign .


When the Ak im ru ler heard of the demand,he summoned

his ch iefs and explained his'

fate to them,and des ired to

sacrifice hi s l i fe i n order to ensure peace for his k ingdom .

Report has i t,that he and his chiefs had a barrel of

powder brought for each to s i t upon,and having drunk a

large quant i ty ofrum,they blew themselves up with the

fi re from thei r pipes,rather than su ffer the resentment of

the A shant i ru ler. Thi s i s recorded by Bowdich and

al so ment ioned by D r . I ssert,who reports i t as trad i

t ion from Akim .

The language of the Ak ims is a branch of the Akan

tongue,the mother language of both the A shanti and

Fanti peoples . I t is commonly cal led Tshi (pronounced

Chwee), and is spoken by the Ashanti , Gaman, Tufel,Ak im

,A ssin

,Aquapim ,

Akwamu,Fanti

,Wassaw and

Ahanta peoples . For conven ience the Tshi " may be

d ivided i nto two dialects— that spoken by the tribes in

the north,andthat spoken by the tribes i n the south of

the colony . This northern d ialect is often cal led Akan,

ofwhich the Akim tongue is an example,whi le that of

the south i s cal led Fanti,which i s spoken from E lm ina

to Winnebah . The people of Winnebah,though Fant is

,

speal"i n add ition to thei r own tongue a d ialect cal led

E ffutu,and from Hal f Ass in i to the Volta

,no less than

s ix d i fferent languages are spoken in a d istance of300

miles . The Akan excels the Fant i i n puri ty,and that

spoken by the people of Eastern Akim is c onsidered to

be the purest and best of the Akan tongue . There are

variations i n both languages common to part icu lar tribes,but the princ ipal d i fference between the Akan and the

Fanti,is that the l atter is the more sibi l ant language .

In addi t ion to the common language, the manners,


which she proceeds to mark the trees in the principal

s treet Of her town,to Show that she is no l onger a wi fe .

Should,however

,the d ivorce be granted to the man

,the

amount paid to the wife ’s relat ives for her must be re

tu rned in fu l l to the man .

The greatest custom,however

,of the Tsh i -speak ing

people,i s the yarn custom . This i s annual

,and is held

j ust before that vegetable arrives at maturity . The yams

are planted in December,and are not eaten ti l l the

conclus ion Of the custom at the end of the fol lowing

September . A ll ch iefs and headmen of the towns and

vi l lages are expected to appear wi th thei r noisy retinues

at the capital of the k ing,and none are excused . I f a

ch ief or headman has offended,or i f hi s fidel i ty is sus

pected,he is seldom accused or pun ished unti l the yam

custom,which they attend frequently quite unconsc ious

,

and always uncertain ofwhat may be laid to thei r charge .

This yam custom is a regu lar saturnal ia,nei ther theft

,

i ntrigue nor assau l t i s pun ishable during i ts continuan ce

the grossest l iberty i s al lowed to prevai l,and each sex

abandons i tse l f to i ts pass ions . The fest ival s are two

in number,one held in December at the planting

,and

the second held in September at the gathering . This

second lasts a fortn ight,and IS commenced by a loud

beating of drums . On the fi fth day the king eats new

yams,but the people are not al lowed to do so unt i l the end

ofthe festivals . They are real ly rel igious thanksgivings

to the gods for the crop of yams,but were made into

pol i t i cal customs by the A shant is . The fi rst and fifth

days were days of fast ing,but any amount of drink

cou ld be consumed du ring the whole time . This was

served out by the chiefs . On the fi fth day a human

MANNERS AND CU STOMS . 22 1

sacrifice was made to the soul s of departed k ings,whil st

the eighth day was further marked by another publ i c

d istri b ut ion of l iquor . On the days between those

mentioned,and unti l the close of the custom

,other cere

mon ies,such as sprinkl ing with water

,process ions to

thei r gods, bath ing in the n earest stream,making sacri

fices at the yarn plantat ion,i n order that some of the

fresh blood might run in to the ground,were rel igious ly

Observed .

O ther national customs are the Ada ‘

f,by which time

is counted,the New Year of the Tsh i people beginn ing

on the Ist of October . The Ada'

f customs are two in

number,known respectively as the great and the l i tt le

Ada ’

f. The former always occu rs on a Sunday and the

latter on a Wednesday,and s ix weeks are al lowed to

elapse between each great Ada ‘

t and the same between

each l itt le Ada ‘

i'

,with a period oftwenty-one days between

the two customs . A l l the fest ivals of these people are

occas ions for immoderate dri n king,general l i cense

,up

roarious noise,beating of drums and fi ring of muskets ,

commencing at sunrise and continu ing the whole day

and far into the n ight .

The customs of these people at a bi rth,marriage or

death are worthy of notice. When a Tshi woman finds

hersel f to be with chi ld,she commemorates the event by

an offering to the particu lar deity that pres ides over her

house,the priestess Of whom binds her neck

,wrists and

ankles with fetish charms made ofblack and white beads,in order to bring good fortune with the event . As the

t ime for the bi rth of the ch i l d draws near,the woman

usual ly leaves her husband ’s house and proceeds to that

ofher mother or some near female relation,in order that


she may receive whatever advice ‘ and assistance may

be necessary on the bi rth of the chi ld . This operat ion

i s general ly accompl i shed whi le the woman is seated on

the ord inary stool,where she is surrounded by her femal e

friends , relations and vi s i tors ,'

who wou ld look with scorn

upon her d id she dare to utter any cry of pain during

her period of l abou r . This being over,the chi ld i s at

once named from the day of the week upon which i t is

born , washed and bound round the neck, ankles and

wrists wi th strings of beads,l i ke the mother

,to bring

'

it

good fortune . A fter th is ceremony i s over,the mother

is not al lowed to do any work of a domest ic nature for

seven days,when she again takes her place andproceed s

with her dai ly work . A t the expiration ofthree months

more Offerings a re made to the fami ly god,and the

mother,with her chi ld

,pays a round of vis i ts to her

friends and neighbou rs,accompan ied wi th a band of

females,s inging and dancing by the n ay i n honou r of

her safe del ivery . General ly on the eighth day after

the bi rth ofthe chi ld,the father proceeds wi th a number

ofhis friends to the house where the mother and chi ld

are staying to see his newly-born Offspring . A rrived

there,they seat themselves i n front of the entrance : the

ch i ld i s brought to the father and handed round . Thanks

are given to the fet ish,and Often a second name i s be

stowed upon it by the father,after some particu lar friend

ordeceased relative,and a l i tt le sp i ri t i s squ i rted from

the father’s mouth in to the face of the ch i ld . The

second name thus given to the ch i ld i s a lways used after

the fi rst,and the pouring of some spi ri t upon the ground

completes the ceremony . A s the Tshi names are d ifferent

from the Akra,I give a fu l l l i s t ofthem

,male and female .


with the dai ly necessari es of l ife . I n many parts of the

country the women,when thei r custom is upon them

,

are compel led to reti re from the towns to some shel ter

in the plantat ions or i n the bush,and i n Ahanta,on the

same occas ions,the women are prohibi ted from entering

any inhabi ted place under penalty of heavy fines and

other punishment . The better cl asses general ly have

a hut orhouse in the bush to which thei r females reti re,

but the poorer classes are forced to suffer the inclemencies

of the weather without any shel ter . Fortunately,with

the advance of c ivi l i sat ion al l such customs are dying

out,part icu larly i n the parts nearer the coast

,and many

of those connected with the sacrifice of,or affecting

,

human l i fe no longer ex ist. Marriage among these

people i s a question ofphysical fi tness rather than ofage,

and when a girl has arrived at her eleventh or twelfth

year she i s cons idered capable of entering the married

state. A t th is age maturi ty i s reached,and the gi rl

i s taken by her friends to the nearest water-s ide and

washed,and an Offeri ng to the gods i s made upon the

banks of the stream,cons ist ing ofmashed yarn and palm

oil,to thank them that the gi rl has arrived at a mar

riageable age . A fter the washing in the stream i s com

plete,a bracelet of black and white beads and gold i s

placed round the gi rl ’s wri st,and where this i s not pro

curable the body is s imply marked with whi te l ines .

Phys ical development alone is often deemed by the

natives to be sufficient evidence of a girl ’s fi tness for the“

married state,and this being sati sfactory

,and the previous

ceremony complete,she is most carefu l ly dressed and

paraded through the town in order to not ify that she

has reached the age when she can be married . A l l the

MARR IAGE CU STOMS . 2 25

finery in the way Of gaudy cloths and gold ornaments

that the fam i ly possesses i s used for the occas ion,

and when there is none,i t i s frequently borrowed

for the occas ion . A s i l k cloth takes the place of the

ord inary cotton one,tied wi th a s i l k handkerchief round

the waist,leaving the upper parts of the body qu ite

bare . Her hair i s made up into some fantast i c design

accord ing to the fash ion of her country,and head

,neck

,

arms and ankles are plenti ful ly adorned with gold orna

ments . Her sk in shines l ike ebony,and she is perfumed

with scents that on ly native nostri l s can appreciate .

Thus atti red she i s paraded through the streets of her

town or vi l lage attended by a number of young gi rl s,

who chant a song in her praise . This is a publ i c notice

that she is of a marriageable age,and i f n ot al ready be

trothed,such a d isplay seldom fai l s to bring forward a

number ofsu i tors forher hand . The favoured one makes

his offer to the gi rl ’ s parents,which

,i f accepted

,i s at

once paid over,and the bridegroom prepares his wedding

feast . P resents for the bride and for her fami ly and

relat ions are bestowed by the future husband,and a

plenti fu l supply of l iquor and tobacco provided for the

ceremony,accord ing to the

'

financial pos i tion of the

bridegroom . A l l preparat ions being made,on a given

day the bride i s led to the house of the bridegroom,and

the two fami l ies join in a feast whi ch lasts long after

the couple have become man and wi fe . Next day the

husband shows h is sati s fact ion concern ing his wife by

anoin ting her head,shou lders and the upper parts ofher

body with a powder of fine white C l ay,and sends her

again through the streets accompanied by her friends,

who s ing in her honour . Should,however

,the husband

15


have faul t to find,he can obtain arelease from his wi fe

accord ing to his country ’s law . On the coast the character

ofthe bride i s made most publ ic,for part of the husband ’s

present to her fam i ly being a flask of rum,and that

being not sent unt i l the next day,the cond i tion Of th is

,

whether qu ite fu l l orsomewhat wanting,i s held to denote

the cond it ion of puri ty in which he received his newly

made wife from her fam i ly. Some of thei r funeral

customs are as strange as those relating to bi rth and

marriage . Loud shouts and cries announce the death of

a person , and the females ofthe house parade the streets

with d isordered cloth ing and unkempt hai r,uttering the

most mournfu l cries,and mak ing known the fact to al l

the people l iving in the neighbou rhood of the deceased

person . A lmost immediately after death the corpse i s

washed and then dressed in i ts ri chest c loths,and orna

men tedwith more or less profus ion of gold and beads,

accord ing to the rank of the deceased . When th i s i s

done,i t is e i ther a l lowed to repose upon a couch

,as i f

as leep,or i s supported in a s itt ing posi tion upon the

n at ive stool,to receive the las t v is i ts from friends

,

relat ions and neighbours . During th is t ime the whole

place is crowded with people,mostly women

,who in

turn approach the corpse and al ternately s ing its praises,

or reproach i t for having left them and the good things

of the world beh ind . The noise is astound ing,and the

greater the person the louder and'

more continued the

noise . A d ish of the food most favoured during its l i fe

t ime i s placed before the corpse,and the body is sur

rounded by the most valuabl e artic les that were possessed

by the deceased . The men seldom or never enter

the room where the body l ies,but sit outs ide smok ing


Shou ld i t be a person of some rank and weal th,s i l k

handkerch iefs and c loths,sandal s and pipes are in terred

with the body,which i s adorned with bracelets and

ank lets of gold and aggrey beads , and sometimes even

powdered over wi th gold dust . These buried t reasu res

form a source ofweal th to the fami ly in later days,and

are drawn Upon when necess ity arises,Often by the sons

of the deceased . A quanti ty Of sp i ri ts,general ly rum

,

food and tobacco are al so included for the use of the

departed and his shade on thei r long j ou rney to the un

known land . A fter the grave has been fi l led in,a sacri

fi ce of fowls,sheep orgoats i s made

,the last sal utes are

fi red and the day ends in a general d runken orgie,which

i s continued for some t ime in accordance with the wealth

ofthe fam i ly. The head is Often completely shaved by

the nearer rel at ions of the departed,and the widows

seldom leave the house for some weeks after the funera l,

part icu larly i f the buria l has been performed ins ide the

wal l s . They Sit and watch the grave, tak ing l i tt le or

no food,and being general ly in a most d isorderly and

unt idy cond i t ion . Thanks are sent round to al l those

people who ass isted in any way at the funera l ri tes , and

great debts are often incu rred by the poorer people in

order to ensu re an impos ing ceremony for thei r lost

relat ive . The Ashant is and other people in the north

bu ry thei r dead outs ide their houses,but the ri tes de

scribed are common to most ofthe Tsh i - speak ing tri bes .

The same native tradi t ions are common among these

people,some of which are worthy of record . The

fi rst,relat ing to thei r own origin

,i s i nterest ing . A l l the

Tsh i -speak ing people are supposed to have come from a

far country behind Salaga. This was an Open,flat

,grass

TSH 1 TRAD IT ION S . 2 29

country,plenti fu l ly suppl ied with oxen

,sheep and goats

,

and to this country came another race,a red people

,

supposed to be the Fu las . These new- comers,being

stronger than the original inhabi tants,took from them

thei r catt le and thei r women,and general ly made s laves

ofthe people,unt i l the nat ives

,to avoid such depredat ions

,

began to go away into the bush lands farther to the

south and west . Here,in the forests

,they were secu re

from thei r strange oppressors,and vi l l ages

,far away

from their own l and , were secretly formed , secu re from

the attacks oftheir invaders,who many times attempted

to force them back as s laves i n thei r own country.

The numbers of the runaways gradual ly increased,

and,as they grew and multip l ied

,they extended thei r

habitat ions farther and farther through the forests to the

south,unti l the sea was reached . The s ight of th is

thundering along the shore much startled them,and

they cal led i t i n thei r nat ive tongue,bo i l ing water that

was not hot ” This appears to be a l i kely explanat ion

ofthe emigration of the Tshi - speak ing people in to the

Gold Coast,though many years must have elapsed for

them to have become so numerous and to have been

broken Up into the many d i fferent tribes in wh ich they

are now found . I n the map forming the preface to

A N ew A ccoun t of Guinea,publ i shed in London in

1 734,and wri tten by Captain Wi l l iam Snelgrave, the

country to the north of the Gold Coast i s marked,Fou le

Guiallon,or the original country of the Foules

,which

would go to prove that the Fulas inhabited the country

that the Tshis describe,and that the latter were driven

south by the former . The Tshis state that when they

reached the sea-board,the country was unjnhabited, but


th is could hard ly be,as traces of an older language than

the Tshi are found to th is day at several poi nts along

the coast,notably at Winnebah

,where a d ialect i s

spoken known as E ffutu,previous ly described in an

earl ier chapter .

A second trad it ion that ex is ts concerns the origi n of

the names A shant i and Fant i,and is explained in the

fol lowing way I n the times long ago,when the Fantis

and the Ashant is were one people,poss ibly before the

migration of the Tsh is to the coast,before mentioned

,

and whi ls t engaged in war with some more in land

northern race,thei r provi s ions fai led them

,and they

were reduced to the verge of starvation . I n th i s diffi

cu l ty they agreed to save themselves by separat ing,and

to wander in d i fferent d i rect ions in search of food . The

one party d iscovered and subs isted themselves upon a

plant they found growing to the sou th of thei r own

coun try termed “ Fan,

” which word,together with the

verb “ d id i,

” to eat,formed the origin of the present

word “ Fant i,the eaters of the plant fan

,a k ind of

cabbage . The other section Of the tribe di scovered a

plant they cal led Shan or San,

” and coupl ing i t with

the same verb d id i,

” formed the present word Shanti o r

Santi,now cal led Ashant i . Hence the origin of the two

names .Palm wine is the national d rink of the country

,and

i ts d i scovery i s related in the fol lowing manner : The

Fanti s were once marching through the forest,headed

by a very famous hunter cal led Ansah,who was aecom

panied by his dog . One day when out hunting,the

dog led h im to a fal len palm tree,which had been up

rooted by an elephant,and a great hole bored in i t by his


had hi s s ister with him,and Kwagia,

who,with a large

number of their fol lowers and attendants,came out of

the sea to l ive upon the dry land,and after journeying

for some days,al ighted upon a part Of the beach between

Anamaboe and Cape Coast . The two l eaders,Amamfi

and Kwagia,had reached dry land attended by a host of

fol lowers,when they were seen by a hunter

,who

,clapping

his hands,exclaimed

,What a number " and immedi

ately al l those who had not completely emerged from

the water were tu rned into stone,and thei r bod ies

,i n the

shape ofa reef of rocks,may be sti l l seen stretching far

out into the sea . Amamfi and h is s i ster and Kwagia

travel led on unti l they reached the I ron H i l l,and

descend ing to the road at the base,they parted

,Amamfi

and his s ister turn ing to the interior and found ing the

vi l lage of A sabu orA ssibo,whi le Kwagia took the beach

road,unt i l he arrived upon a head land which he con

sidered a good place for fi sh ing,where he founded the

present Mouri,having cleared away al l the bush in s ix

days with the help ofhis fol lowers . From this,Kwagia

i s said to be the father of fi shermen,and Amamfi is

cal led the father of agricu l tu re,the latter us ing a bi l l

hook so large,that i t took S ix bars ofi ron to make it

,and

the point of it,which by some means became broken off

and was found in the bush,contained enough i ron to make

six ord inary artic l es of the same k ind . I t i s further re

ported that Amamfi came to vis i t Kwagia at Mou ri every

Friday,and on th is account no plantation work is done

on that day . The Fanti s who al ready inhabi ted the

country around A sabu,l ooked upon Amamfi as an

intruder,with the resu l t that many encoun ters took place

between Amamfi and his fol lowers and the Fantis,

NAT IVE TRAD ITION S . 233

which always ended in a vi ctory forthe former,on account

ofthe great strength ofthei r leader. The latter, however,determined to make one more effort to regain thei r

country,and after consu l tat ion with thei r feti sh , in tro

duced a certain creeping plant in to Amamfi’

s country,

with the resu l t that Amamfi and his chiefs were attacked

with guinea-worm,and unable to fight in the batt le that

ensued,they reti red aga in to the sea. From this arose

the fol lowing saying in the country : “ Amamfi fears

nothing so much as gu inea -worm

Another trad i t ion accounts for the rocks s ituated in

the sea by Ussher Town,Accra . A prince coming

from the sea was to be selected from A ccra to ru le

over Ak im,and two men were sent forward to spy out

the land . They had to run a race,and the fi rst who

saw the land was to c laim i t for h is master . The race

began,and the Accra messenger

,being outstripped

,

cal led to the other to help h im to remove a thorn that

had entered his foot . The Tshi man stopped,and said

,

How came a thorn upon th is rock ?” but wi l l ing to help

h is compan ion,he stooped down to get h is kn ife to lend

to the Akra,whereupon the latter j umped over h is

shoulders and exclaimed,

“ I t i s I who fi rst saw the

l and Immed iately the two messengers were turned to

stone and became the twin rocks on the beach,behind

the Basle M iss ion Factory at j ames Town ,A ccra . Sti l l

a further trad i tion is to ld to account for the Tsh i villagé/

at the foot of the Akim Peak ( 1000 feet) . A noble

woman in the in terior was loved by two princes,who

agreed to cast lots as to which shou ld ask for her hand .

This was done,but the unsuccessfu l one cal led upon her

one night and carried her away . The name of th is


prince was A kwamu , which afterwards became the name

of that tribe and k ingdom . A fter travel l ing for s ix

weeks they took refuge with the K ing of Accra,for

whom the husband worked as a servant . They had two

chi ld ren,a son and a daughter

,and in course of t ime

obtained the gran t Of a piece of land from the k ing and

bu i l t on i t thei r own vi l lage,some fou r or five m i les away

,

leaving thei r son at the court of the k ing to be trained .

This prince was cal led Akwamu . Akwamu,being a

Tsh i,soon managed to col lect a number of fugit ives

around him,and i n the space of fi fty years formed the

present smal l state,Nyanawan ,

at the foot of the Ak im

Peak,though st i l l remain ing under the King ofA ccra .


people seem to have been scattered in al l d i rect ions,to

be un ited again under the A k im prince Safori, the re

ported founder of the capi tal,Akropong . This would

be early in the eighteenth century . I n these days the

Aquapim people were not un ited under on e common

king,but each town recogn ised a separate ru ler

,among

whom quarrel l ing was very frequent . From thei r un i t ing,

under Safori,again into a common race

,n ine ru lers can

be traced,according to native trad it ions

,in the Short

space of abou t forty -five years,from I 734 to 1 77 8 . The

people at thi s time seem to have been very poor,possess

ing neither gold,money

,nor cloth to wear

,which last

defic iency they remedied by beat ing out the bark of a

certain tree to make the necessary cloth for thei r lo ins .

The country now contain s some twenty important

towns,the chief Of wh ich are Berekuso

,Aburi

,Mam

pong,Akropong and Late

,i n addi t ion to many vi l lages

ofvarying si ze and popu lat ion . The inhabitants make

good farmers,and are active and industrious

,speaking

the Tshi language i n add it ion to the Ga . Palm oil,a l i tt l e

gol d du st and coffee,which latter grows here to perfec

t ion,are among thei r chief productions

,whi le the surface

ofthe whole country i s d ivers ified and wel l wooded and

watered . The town of Akropong,some thi rty -n ine mi les

north - east ofAccra,is the capital of the k ingdom and

the res idence of the k ing . I t s tands on a ridge of the

Aquapim Mountains some 1440 feet above the sea l evel .The present k ing

, Q uamina Fori, speaks Engl ish wel l ,and tries to improve h is country to the best ofhis abi l i ty

,

but I am afra id some ofhis tribes are very troublesome,

owing to the power of the fetish that st i l l remains

among the people . This capi tal i s one of the most

THE TOWN OF AKROPONG. 237

important stat ions of the Basle M iss ion,where they have

an excel lent church and three schools,in which both

Engl i sh and the vernacu lar are taught,in add it ion to

plantation work and general industrial subjects . The

coffee plantat ions round Akropong are among the best

i n the colony,though the nat ive is often too apt to think

,

that after having once planted his coffee i t needs no further

attention . A regu lar postal service exists between this

town and Accra,which is continued to the Vol ta R iver.

The people of the capi tal seem to do l i tt le or no

work,the latter for preference

,but there is much drink

ing of palm wine,beating of drums

,playing the native

game of Warri and gambl ing for shel l s,by spinn ing

beans upon a mat spread on the ground . This latter

game seems to have earned the Engl ish name of

marbles,

” but I could not d iscover i ts nat ive t i tl e . Any

number of players can join in th is game,s itt ing in a

C i rc le with the mat spread in the centre . A stake i s

fixed upon by the players,and the beans are set spinn ing

,

and the person whose bean knocks out most ofthe others,

when al l are set sp inn ing, i s declared the winner .A moonl ight n ight in a large in l and town such as this

i s a t ime to be avoided,part icu larly i f after a long

march,the travel ler des i res to s leep . From moonri se to

m idnight,and sometimes long after

,the whole place is

made hideous with the noise oftom - toms,drums

,mouth

organs,bel l s

,sti cks beaten on each other

,and in fact

the knock ing together of any two substances that wi l l

make a noise (the louder the better), which is v igorouslyaccompanied by song and dance . The King ofAkropong

boasts a town band,with big d rum

,s ide drums

,fifes and

a bugle,upon which Engl ish tunes are done to death in


many and various keys . Each member ofth is band vies

wi th his neighbour to play the loudest,and as the big

drum,when vigorously hand led

,can speak for i tsel f i n

th is respect,i t i s general ly an easy victor in the pro

duct ion Of sound,and covers (l i ke charity) a multi tude

of s in s in the way of false notes committed by the

other players . The players themselves are dressed as

gorgeously as poss ible,in the colour or colours (and

garments) that each fancies, whi le the conductor smokes

a pipe when beat ing time,which is general ly in a

d i fferent measu re to that in wh ich the band is playing .

When at Akropong in 1 897 , the band tu rned out two

n ights in my honour,but on the th i rd I sent them to

my nearest European neighbou rs,the Basle M iss ion .

The members ofthe band are insensible al ike to praise

or rid icu le, and whatever one says , i s taken as a compl i

ment,and forms the s ignal for louder and more con

tinuous playing . Every event i s seized upon by these

people for “ mak ing play ” as they term i t,a birth

,a

marriage ora death,i t i s al l the same for them .

The road from A ccra to th is capi tal i s an excel lent

one,pass ing near Abokobi

,through Aburi to Akropong.

I t i s wide and wel l kept,fi t for wheeled traffic for the

greater part of i ts d istance,and was

,I bel ieve

,fi rst con

structed by the m iss ionaries,at a cost of someth ing under

£ 1000 . From Accra to Abokobi i s about s ixteen m i les ,over a flat and s l ightly undu lat ing country . The soi l i s

sandy and produces l i ttl e more than tal l rank grass,with

here and there smal l c l umps of stunted bushes,afford ing

no shade to the travel ler. NO place of importance i s

passed on the way,except the l i ttle vi l lage ofAkokomi

,

near wh ich runs the smal l DakobiR iver. This stream is


whi le K 0 i n Ga means bush,and B i means chi ld .

Thus the word means rock bush ch i ld ”. To explain

th is,trad i t ion says

,a rock of i ronstone exists a short

d istance from the hi l l s round,in which is a large hole

which fi l l s with water after ra in,and in to this hole a

chi ld fel l and was lost, hence, chi ld i n the rock of the

bush,from which the town was named . The people of

Abokobi are general ly very superst i t ious,and bel ieve i n

many fabled monsters that inhabi t the country round,

some ofwhich are so tal l,that on ly the branches of the

trees wi l l serve them for a seat .

Excel l en t dwel l ings,school and church have been

establ i shed here by the Basle M iss ion,and in the miss ion

gardens the date -palm,the van i l la and castor-Oi l trees

flourish,whi le the mahogany

,coffee and orange

prom ise wel l i n the surround ing neighbourhood .

From Abokobi a by-path leads in to the main road

again to Teimang,after from thi rty to forty m inutes ’ easy

walk,where as a ru le a cool

,comfortable rest can be ob

tainedat the so -cal led Hotel P rovencal , a house belonging

to the chief nat ive ofthe place . Teimang means Tei’s

Town,and is seven teen m i les from Accra by the main

road . From here to Abu ri i s a three hours’ j ourney

,

along a good road unti l the foot of the mountain i s

reached,which is continued after a thi rty minutes ’ cl imb

right into the town,some twenty- seven mi les from the

coast and 1400 feet above the sea . I ts elevated pos i t ion

ensures i t a certain immun i ty from the malarial vapours

ofthe low - lying coast,and the town i s cons idered to be

,

i n consequence,better su ited to the heal th ofEuropeans .

The Government has establ i shed an excel lent sanatorium

at this place,attached to which are the botan ical gardens

,

BOTAN ICAL GARDEN S,ABUR I . 241

where experiments in the cul t ivation of tropical agricul

tu re are carried on under the superintendence of a

Curator from Kew Gardens,for the benefi t Of the nat ives

ofthe colony. Coffee, both A rabian and Liberian , grows

here in profus ion,and cocoa also flouri shes wel l . Both

the Bas le M ission and Wesleyan Societies have stat ions

at Aburi,and much good has been done by them in the

BASE OF A BIG TREE, BOTAN ICAL GARDENS,ABU R I .

neighbourhood . Some fl in t axe heads have recently

been found here. From the verandah ofthe sanatorium,

the white roofs ofAccra,the sea and the passing steamers

are clearly vis ible during the fine weather . A l l the roads

from Aburi to the surround ing places of importance are

more or less mountainous and very rocky, quartz being

abundant everywhere . The one exception to th is, i s the16

242 THE GOLD COAST FAST AND PRESENT .

road to Akropong,which continues upon the ridge ofthe

mountains unt i l the l atter pl ace i s reached,and which

may be described,for i ts whole

'

d istance of about eleven

miles,as a fai rly good road .

Less than two hours ’ j ou rney south—east of Akropong

stands the importan t town of Late,sometimes written

Lateh or Daté,upon another d i sti nct range of h i l l s .

Though under the ru le of the Aquapim king, the Latepeople are d is t inct in speech and in many of thei r cus

toms from the other i nhabitants of the Aquapim country .

The Aquapim s general ly speak Tshi the Lates and

thei r branches have a d ist inct language cal led Cheripong .

The road to Late leads down the mountain behind the

present Basl e M ission prem ises,across the val l ey at the

base and up to the top of another range,qu ite d ist inct

from that Upon which Akropong stands . The ascent to

the town is -very steep and rocky,and much quartz i s to be

found in every d i rect ion . When near the top,the road

d ivides left and right,the one l ead ing to the Basle M iss ion

Stat ion and the other to the Wesleyan headquarters,both

of wh ich have important schools in the town . An assay

of the stones picked up in the former road showed 1 2

grains ofgold to the ton,whi le those from the latter gave 16

grains . Some pieces,however

,broken from the immense

bou lders which are everywhere to be found in the streets,

showed vis ible gold upon thei r broken surfaces,and upon

assay,gave 1 6 dwt . to the ton . These rocks are in the

streets of the town upon the top of a mountain some

1400 feet h igh, and on ly a seven hours’ j ourney from the

coast at Pram P ram . The nat ive houses are nearly al l

bu i l t of stone,but the people rej ect the quartz as being too

hard to work . I t i s,I bel ieve

,the fi rst t ime that gold has


2500 inhabitants and is d ivided in to.

an Upper and a

lower town . Large quanti t ies Of palm oi l and kernel s

are exported from th is place,which does a very con

siderable trade with the interior towns . Dodowah i s the

most important of these,where an immense market i s

held twice a week,attended by native traders from al l

parts ofth is d ivis ion of the colony . I t i s s i tuated in the

centre of a rich oi l -yield ing d istri ct,and contains con

siderably over 1 000 inhabitants . The most important

places on the coast are Temma and N ingo,s ituated

respect ively west and east abou t the same d istance from

P ram P ram . The inhabi tants are mostly engaged in fish

ing,and in the col lection of sal t

,which is transported

and sold in the in ter ior . A t N ingo was the Dan ish fort

ofFredensborg, bu i l t by the Danes somewhere between

1 735 and 1 741 , but which i s now a mass of tangled

bush and ru ins . The whole country from here to Ada

at the mouth of the'

V olta,i s a low- lying marshy

d istri ct,with a sea-board of about forty m i les

,upon

which breaks the most terrible surf to be found at any

point along the coast . The shore i s fringed for i ts

ent i re length by enormous groves of the cocoa -nut palm,

separated at intervals by cl umps oflow bushes and scrub .

The Vol ta R iver forms the eastern and northern boundary

of th is d istrict , which during the rainy season has more

than hal f i ts area under water,forming a vast shal low

lagoon,separated from the sea by a narrow elevated bel t of

sand , varying from two hu ndred yards to two mi les in

width . I n the dry season the waters of th is lagoon are

evaporated,leaving behind a thin deposi t Of sal t

,which is

col lected by the inhabi tants and sold in the i nterior. On

account of i ts s ituation,the whole d istrict i s very thin ly

ADA AND B IG ADA . 245

populated,the nat ives either congregat ing in the vi l lages

upon the sea - shore or in the towns upon the right bank

ofthe Volta. The town ofAda is s i tuated at the mouth

ofthe Vol ta R iver upon its right bank,and contains the

remains Of Fort Kongen stein ,belonging to the Danes

in 1 7 84, but which was ceded, with the other Dan ish

possessions on the coast,to the Engl ish in 1 850 . Ada

is the res idence ofa D i s tri ct Commiss ioner,and contains

about 1 000 people,engaged i n a cons iderable export

trade at the hands ofthe Engl ish,American

,French and

German factories . The Basle M iss ion has establ ished a

smal l school and church at th is port . The town is not

cons idered heal thy for the res idence ofEuropeans .

Four m i les up the river, o n its right bank ,stands B ig

Ada,a town ofmuch more importance than the on e at i ts

mouth . I t has a populat ion of abou t 8000 people , the

majori ty ofwhom are engaged in the col lect ion of palm

oil and kernel s from the surround ing d istricts ofKrobo ,Krepi and Akwamu

,and transporting them down the

river to the port at its mouth . The quanti ty thus obtained

and exported from Ada,amounts to no less than nearly

one th ird ofthe tota l produce ofthese commod ities from

the whole colony . Steam launches are employed in bring

ing down the pun cheon s ofpalm oil to the mouth Of the

river, and a“ tow ” often consi sts ofmore than one hun

dred such puncheons,the kern el s being brought down

in canoes and bar-boats . The Basle and Wesleyan

Miss ions have centres at B ig Ada,and many ofthe in

habitants are engaged in the cu lt ivation ofthe pin e—apple

and the rearing of ducks . By boat from the rivers ide

Ada to Big Ada is a pleasant passage of abou t one

hour, and should the river be at al l low,good sport can


be had on the way with the al l igators lying as leep in the

sun upon the muddy banks , and up the numerous creeks

which are to be found at al l points . A t certain seasons

of the year the mosqu itoes are very troublesome in th is

d istrict,parti cu larly at Ada . On ly once

,I th ink

,have

the Ashan tis troubled thi s waters ide port,and that was

in 1 807 , when they carried away the big bel l from the

fort as a trophy to Kumasi . I t has,I bel ieve, s ince been

recovered,and

,as far as my memory serves me

,is now

i n the possess ion of the Basle M iss ion .

The province of Awoonah i s the most eastern coast

terri tory in the Gold Coast of the present day,extend ing

from the Volta R i ver to the German boundary ofTogo

land,at Afflao

,a d istance of some fi fty m i les along the

shore,and in land

,at i ts greatest width for about forty

m i les . The general aspect of th is large stretch ofcountry i s

very S im i lar to that of Adangme,the greater part of the

lowly ing terri tory near the sea- shore being covered by

the Kwitta orAwoonah Lagoon,and i ts various branches .

Throughout i ts whole length,th is lagoon is separated

from the sea by a very narrow strip of sandy soi l,which

at t imes,after very heavy rains i n the interior

,i s broken

through by the great weight ofwater behind,which thus

finds its way to the sea. During the dry season the

water from a very large portion of its surface is com

pletely evaporated ,l eaving behind a bed ofblack mud

covered wi th t iny shel ls,from which the most nox ious

odou rs are emitted . This exposure of the black fetid

mud to the fierce rays of a tropica l sun causes the most

unwholesome vapou rs to ri se,that render the d istri ct a

very unheal thy one forEuropeans,and consequently the

death -rate in this d is trict i s h igh . A t one t ime the lagoon


portant of these are Awoonah Agbosome (3000)and j el l a Kofi A large and gradual ly increas ing

trade is being done at Kwitta,vast quanti t ies ofpalm oil

,

kernels,rubber and copra being exported to the ch ief

European and American ports . A market i s held in the

town twice every week,which attracts the natives from

al l the adj acent towns and vi l lages . Sugar-cane and

ground -nuts grow plenti fu l ly in th is part ofthe colony .

To the north ofAdangme and Aquapim and south of

Akwamu l ies the smal l country ofKrobo,close to the

right bank of the Vol ta,a country notorious unti l most

recent t imes for the human sacrifices carried on within

i ts borders . I t i s a wel l -populated d istrict,and the bu lk

ofthe people are now industriously employed in plantation

work,particu larly in the growing ofcoffee

,which finds a

good market at Hamburg . This d istrict contains some

large and very important towns,the ch ief ofwhich are

Odumase,Sra

,Kpong and Akuse

,the l ast be ing the res i

dence of the D i strict Commiss ioner,and si tuated upon

the right bank of the Vol ta,a short d istance south of

Kpong . A range of mountains from the Aquapimcountry traverses the Krobo d istri ct from south -west to

north-east,and isolated peaks are dotted about the

country. The ch iefof these are the Krobo Mountain,1000 feet ;Mount Yogaga,

1 200 feet ;Mount Noyo, 1400

feet,and Mount Lovolo . The town of Odumase

,the

res idence of the k ing and an importan t stat ion of the

Basle M iss ion,is almost surrounded by mountains

,which

causes i t to be very hot unti l even ing,when the land

breeze sets i n with great regulari ty about five o ’clock .

The populat ion ofth i s town is nearly 2000,and the town

i tsel f is very clean and somewhat picturesque,with good

THE KROBO COUNTRY . 249

roads runn ing in al l d i rections . Quite close are the

towns of Sra and Somanya,both large a nd populous

,

and famous for thei r week ly markets .

The Krobo Mountain l ies about mid -way between

Odumase and Akuse,ri s ing abruptly from the plain to

a height ofabout 1 000 feet,and qu i te inaccess ible except

from one side . On this mountain were the vi l lages Of the

ce the home ofthe worst fetish in the colony .

many years the inhabitants were under the power Of

people Of Aquapim ,who i l l - treated them upon every

avai lable occas ion,i t being a ‘ l aw that every Krobo who

was found alone in the bush shou ld be the property of

the finder and sold as a s lave . The Krobos themse es

were very fond ofcaptu ring individual s in the forest,and

k i l l ing them in order to obtain thei r sku l ls for the annual

fest ivals ofthei r tradit ional feti shes Kotokro and Nadu,

whose homes were in the mountain .

By degrees these people extended themselves from the

mountain,and began to form settlements in the bush near

thei r plantation s,where they Con structed rough sheds for

thei r habi tat ions,with two open ings

,one i n front andone

behind . This was done for the fol lowing reason O ften

but one Krobo wou ld be left in the hamlet orvi l lage,the

others being at work on the plan tations,and when he

took his meal,he wou ld drop pieces of food round the

d ish to make i t appear that more than one person had

been eating . Should a stranger pass and speak to him ,

the Krobo would not understand,

'

but point ing to the

crumbs on the ground,he wou ld int imate by S igns that

his friends were near and he wou ld cal l them i f des i red .

To do this he wou ld step ins ide his hut by the on e door

and out again by the other,and soon be lost to s ight in


the bush, so afraid wou ld he be of being captured by any

on e who spoke with him . The power of the Krobo

feti sh was completely broken in 1 893, when the ring

l eaders were hanged formaking human sacrifice .

The Krobo d istri ct i s general ly considered to be the

richest part of the colony for the production of palm oi l ,consist ing as i t does of an immense plain covered with

palm trees,which often shade the roads on both s ides .

The peop le are industrious in the manufactu re of the

palm oil,and the Basle M ission has made great progress

among them in the way of educat ion and agricuétural

pursu i ts . The whole currency of the coun try js cowryshel l s

,though Engl i sh si lver is now accepted all through

the d istri ct . Gold i s fet ish to these people,and on no

account wi l l they touch i t with the hands un less th rough

thei r c loth shou ld they do so the hands are immed iately

washed to cleanse them . A ri ch man wi l l possess a

house fu l l of cowry shel l s,which are also Often buried

i n the earth . I t i s supposed that there are large deposi ts

ofgold in the Krobo country,which for generations have

been held as sacred by the inhabitants,and which

,when

found,are again returned to the earth . The sand in the

bed of the Okoi river yields gold when panned , and the

country round is held to be ofan auri ferous nature .

The Krobos are not a warl i ke people,and when attacked

or i n danger,they ascend the Krobo Mountain

,a natural

fortress wh ich wou ld defy the ascent ofan army . They are

a wi ld and supersti t ious,but not a dangerous people . The

men dress i n much the same fash ion as the other nat ives

of the coast,but the women and gi rl s are

,for the most

part,often naked and are very wel l formed . The port

ofthe Krobo country i s Kpong or Pong, an important


inhabitan ts were conquered by the Aquamboean s , anddriven to a place cal led Little Popo

,which at present

contains the remainder ofthe great k ingdom of Accra ”.

The people were then so rich in s l aves and gold,that

this country possessed greater weal th than most of the

other d ivis ions of the colony put together.

An excel lent trade road now ex ists from Accra through

Aburi,Akropong

,Odumase

,Pong

,Akwamu

,to Anum in

the Pek i country,the most north -eastern l im i t of the

colony . Krepi orCreppee i s now included in the German

terri tory ofTogoland,and is a wel l—cul t ivated and fai rly

extens ive country on the left bank of the Vol ta,and in

c l ud ing the oldA rgotime country . Though in German

terri tory the Basle M ission has some stations in the

country,the ch ief ofwhich i s Bismarcksburg,

some m i les

south -east ofSalaga . P reviou s to the del im itation of the

Anglo -German boundary to the east ofthe colony in 1 890 ,

Krepi was i ncl uded in the P rotectorate ofthe Gold Coast .The inhabitan ts are said to be very industrious

,

smel t ing thei r own i ron and col lecting large quant i t ies

ofcotton,which are shipped from the coast towns . The

o ld country of Argotime,which formed a part of the

Krepi country,was inhabited by a very brave and ener

getic people,very much resembl ing the Krobo people Upon

the western s ide of the Volta . They bui l d thei r towns

and vi l lages among the groves ofcocoa - nut trees,which

everywhere abound,and which partly conceal them from

the travel ler . The people are supposed to cons ist of

emigrants from the coast neighbourhood of N ingo,Shai

and Ada,who left thei r own country more than one

hundred years ago to settl e in these regions,but who

have no connect ion wi th the people of Little Popo,who

THE KREP I AND PEKI COUNTR IES . 253

al so migrated from the Shai plains and the Ga country .

The language of the coun try i s the same as the coas t

terri tory ofAdangme,but by so much and such constant

i ntercourse with the neighbouring tribes in customs and

intermarriage,they are rap id ly acqu i ri ng the language of

the surround ing people . The inhabitants are very in

dustrious,and in every town and vi l lage are to be found

cotton sp inners,weavers and dyers . A pecul iar featu re

of thei r towns and vi l lages i s said to be the centra l

shaded streets,form ing a spacious shed as i t were

,which

i s used as the market-place . The branches of the trees

along the s ides of the main street are drawn together at

the top,and propped up by st icks to form a shady arch

over the whole .

I mmediately to the west of Krepi and bordering the

left bank of the Volta,is the smal l country of Peki

,a

narrow strip runn ing almost due north and south for

some forty mi les,by eight to twenty wide . Very few

Europeans have vis i ted this part of the colony,and

consequently but l ittl e i s known about i t. I t i s a wel l

watered and mountainous country,and in the neighbour

hood ofAnum very picturesque . The chief towns are

Boso and Anum,the latter stand ing 800 feet above the

sea,and commanding a fine V iew ofthe upper and lower

reaches ofthe Vol ta,and i ts tributary the A fram

,which

joins the former nearly Opposi te the town . Anum stands

on a mountain in the m idst of mountains on al l s ides

but the north -west,where the land fal l s away in rol l ing

grass lands as far as the eye can reach, across the Afram

plain to Kwahu,a d istance of nearly 1 00 miles . The

town is an important station of the Basle M iss ion, con

tain ing commodious quarters,and an excel lent chapel and


schools . The town was vi s i ted by the A shantis about

1 870 the m iss ion station was captured,and the res idents

,

the Rev . Mr . and Mrs . Ramseyer and Mr. Kiihn e,taken

away to Kumas i,where they were detained for nearly

four years . The district round Anum might wel l be

cal led the Switzerland ofAfrica,for at no other spot in

the colony are such beautifu l views to be obtained . I t i s

a comparat ively heal thy d istri ct and Should be the res i

dence of a D i stri ct Commiss ioner,who should control this

part of the colony . Before th is can be done a su i table

res idence should be provided . An experiment in th i s

d i rect ion was tried in 1 897 , but fa i led for some reason ,and I bel i eve the idea of a res ident has been dropped .

The d istrict i s al so known by the name ofBrit i sh Krepi .The Volta

,or as the natives cal l i t

,the A tirriR iver

,

i s by far the largest stream in the Gold Coast,though

very l i tt l e i s known defin i tely about i t . This importan t

r iver i s general ly supposed to take its rise in the high

l ands near the Kong country,far away to the north of

the Gold Coast,near the twel fth paral lel of northern

l ati tude,and to be composed of three separate branches

ris ing at a considerable d istance from each other,and

known as the Black,White and Red Volta . The Black

Volta i s the most western stream,ri s ing in the Grunshi

country ; the Wh ite Vol ta forms the central waters ,flowing south from the Mosh i country

,where i t j oins the

fi rst some thirty mi les west of Salaga,whi le the th ird

arm comes from the Gurma terri tory and joins the

waters Ofthe other two at a point some thi rty m i les south

of Salaga,from which the main stream flows almost due

south into the Gu l f ofGu inea . From Salaga to the sea

i ts course must be about 140 mi les, whi le i ts total length


more fish . The river overflows in ju ly and August, and

the neighbou rhood of i ts banks i s excel lent for the cu l t i

vat ion of rice . Three mi les from the sea i s an i s land

cal led Bird I s land,fu l l ofpel ican s ofpecu l iar k inds

,and

a fi sh is caught i n the river, whi ch when smoked is very

s im i lar to European salmon . There are a lso hippo

potam i and crocod i les,whi le quanti t ies ofoysters adhere

to the mangroves which everywhere fringe the banks .

Monkeys and s inging bi rds are reported plenti fu l,and

a spec ies ofn ightingale,which S ings only in May and

December . A k ind of cedar is found along i ts ban ks,

which shoots up many branches from the ground , about

as th ick as a pipe,and qu ite dest i tute ofleaves th is tree

i s so very sal t i n i ts nature,that i n the morn ing a great

quanti ty of l iqu id sa l t i s found upon its leaves,which

crystal l i ses in the course of the day . A plant of th i s

c lass and order i s a lso found in the province of St . J ago

i n Chi l i . Some forty -eight mi les from its mouth is the

i s l and of Amalfee,the inhabitants of wh ich

,with those of

Agravi and many other rivers ide towns, cal l themselves

river inhabitants,who acted in the past as the chief

brokers of sl aves for the people of the Krepi and the

Argotime countries . I n Bosman’

s map the river is

marked as the R i o Vol ta,emptying into the sea at Ponn i

Vi l lage,the then eastern boundary of the Gold Coast

,

whi le in Capta in Wi l l iam Snelgrave’

s N ew A ccoun t ofS ome Parts of Guinea,

1 734,i t rece ives i ts correct s i tua

t ion . By travel lers along the coast,the Vol ta mouth is

crossed from a poi n t cal led R ivers ide on the right bank,

to the Custom stat ion ofA ttitition the left,a d istance of

five or s ix m i les, anda pu l l of from forty to fi fty m inutes,

which at times i s attended with some danger when near

THE VOLTA R IVER . 257

the bar and the surf is bad,and a native canoe the

on ly transport avai lable . The mouth of this important

river has recen tly been thoroughly surveyed by the

Colon ial Offi ce authori t ies,with a V iew of open ing the

estuary to ord inary n avigation,to which

,I am afraid

,

almost insurmountable obstac les bar the way . A better

sol ution ofthe d ifficul ty would be found in the construe

t ion of a rai lway from Kpong on the right bank of the

Vol ta to Accra,and a land ing stage at the latter p lace .

This brings us to the c lose of the descript ion of the

various coast and in land terri tories that comprise the

Gold Coast Colony andP rotectorate,with the exception

of the Ashant i country and the recently added interior

provinces . The former has played so important a part

in the hi story of the Gold Coast from the year 1 700

down to the present t ime,that its rise and fal l must be

given in their ent i rety,in the two fol lowing chapters

whi le the present may be closed with an epitome ofthe

genera l products of the eastern part of the colony .

The resources of the whole of this d istri ct between the

P rah and the Volta are vast and extens ive,and requ ire

only to be developed . The country provides a number of

exportable p lants not to be found in any abundance in

other parts of the coast the soi l i s ri ch and ferti le,and

wou ld faci l i tate the growth ofmany artic les rapid ly and

luxurian tly . The Volta R iver might be used to bring down

the ri ches ofthe interior,and an impetus be given to the

export ofgo lddust,palm oil,mon key sk ins,gum,

copal and

cotton . A s previous ly stated,the amount of gold dust

now exported from Accra i s smal l,but this could be con

siderably increased by the open ing up and the working of

the m ines in Eastern and Western Akim . Before thisI7


can be accompl ished several d i fficu l t ies must be over

come,parti cu larly with regard to the fool i sh superst i t ions

ofthe nat ives . The people in the gold d istri cts are very

much prej ud iced agai nst having any one who wears

European clothes,or who can read or wri te i n Engl i sh ,

in the gold -bearing d istricts . They are afraid of the

gold being worked by civi l i sed people,and make thei r

rel igion the excuse for doing so . They ins ist that thei r

fetish forbids any white man,or for the matter of that;

any black man in white man ’s c lothes,to go near or find

out the real sou rce of thei r native m ines . Norwi l l they

dig too deep for fear of the gold runn i ng away,and the

resul t i s that many extens ive gold fields of the country

remain undeveloped . This i s'

not on ly true in Ak im,

but in al l the gold -bearing parts of the colony . Civi l ised

organ isation and proper mach inery must be introduced

to successfu l ly work the mines,and su itable means of

transport from the coast must be provided by the construe

t ion of roads,avai lable at al l seasons for wheeled traffic .

A good road i s the fi rs t developmen t that must be

undertaken ; money, engineering sci ence and Engl ish

energy wi l l do the rest . One i l lustration of the nat ive

oppos i t ion wi l l serve to show how true thei r supersti t ion

is,with regard to the work ing of gold by educated per

sons . I t i s reported that a M r. Thomas Hughes , an

intel l igent native of Cape Coast,commen ced min ing

Operations in the s ixt ies in the rich gold fields ofWestern

Wassaw. Being prom ised support by the local govern

ment, he imported expensive machinery for the pur

pose, and after much diffi cu l ty had i t transported by the‘

natives to the local i ty selected,and commenced min ing.

Within a short d i stance from the surface,his miners


at Kwitta and Ada, but i t i s my fi rm bel ief in years to

come,al l things being equal

,and development pro

gressive,the d iamond wi l l u l t imately be one of the

exportable artic les .”

O thers in add ition to M r. Horton hold this bel ief,and

Burton and Cameron report that in a smal l m in ing con

cess ion near Ahema or Huma,i n the west

,a crystal

was found,which was strongly suspected of being a

d iamond. They say : I t was taken to Ax im,where i ts

gl ass -cutting propert ies were proved . Unfortunately

during one of these trials the sett ing gave way,and the

stone fel l in to a heap Of rubbish,where i t cou ld not be

found . Many have suspected that these regions wi l l

prove diamanti ferous . ”

The H interland of the Gold Coast Colony has now

been sati sfactori ly sett led with France,and accord ing to

the Anglo -French Convent ion of the present year the

fol lowing bas is of agreement has been determ ined upon .

The boundary l ine which has been accepted as a pro

longation of the front ier between the Gold Coast

(Brit ish) and the I vory Coast (French) takes the upper

courses of the river Volta as the most convenient

d ivid ing l ine and cedes a s l ice of the theoret ic H i n ter

land ofthe Gold Coast Colony to France . The friendly

departure which has been made from our academ ic

c laim gives the towns ofBona and Dawkita,l ately the

scene of the heroi c exploi ts of Lieutenant Henderson ,and now in the occupation of Brit ish troops , to France .

These are the on ly points upon the map which Great

Bri tain wi l l be cal led upon to evacuate . The French

wi l l evacuate Wa and al l other po ints to the east of the

river Volta and south of the eleventh paral lel , but

THE ANGLO-FRENCH CONVENT ION . 26 1

France obtains,north of the eleventh paral lel , the con

cession of the extens ive,heal thy

,and valuable terri tory

ofMoss i,for which Great Bri ta in receives no equ ivalent .

The new boundary,after fol lowing the eleventh paral le l

i n an eastward d i rect ion along the northern frontier of

Mamprusi,i s deflected northwards to include Bawku

,

and has the appearance of end ing without cause east Of

the Greenwich merid ian . A s a matter of fact, i t comes

in contact at that po int wi th the boundary lately defined

by the Franco-German agreement to mark the l im its of

French and German terri tory in that d istrict . The

boundary as n ow defined between ourselves and France

carries the northern frontier of the Gold Coast to

German terri tory. I t wi l l be a matter for future

negotiat ion between ourselves and Germany to deter

m ine the l ine wh ich shal l be defin itely drawn between

German and Brit i sh terri tory from the point at wh ich

the Anglo-German front ier of the Gold Coast and

Togoland ceases on the eighth paral le l to a point at

which i t shal l meet the Anglo -French boundary defined

under the present convention .

1

1 From the week ly edition of the Times , 4th Jun e, 1 898 .

CHAPTER X .

Th e K in gdom ofAshan t i— Its P eop l e— Origin— H i st ory— Dwaben— The Cap i tal , Kumas i— Wars down to 1 8 1 7

—The TownCon st i tut i on andLaws— Road s from Kumas i .

AUTHENT IC records concern ing the early h istory of the

A shant i people are very d iffi cul t to obtain even from

trad it ion,for among the Ashant is i t was made a capi tal

pun ishment to speak ei ther of the l i fe or the death of

thei r King,so that very l i tt le informat ion is to be gained

even from the nat ives themselves . With some it i s a com

mon and general ly accepted trad i t ion that the Ashantis

were once a more waters ide people than at present,and

that they migrated towards the interior,conquering the

I nta people and some lesser tribes on thei r way,final ly

sett l ing in the country we know as Ashant i somewhere

about 1 700 ,and found ing the two important towns of

Kumas i and Dwaben . This West A frican power has

thus lasted fora l i tt le less than two centuries,bowing

,in

i ts tu rn,to the civi l isation of Western Europe . By some

i t i s stated,that the A shant is went from the country

behind the present Winnebah,from the banks of the

river Ain su,and that the town Of Croomadie to be

found there was thei r original sett lement. But this is

not a l i kely solu tion of the d i ffi cu l ty. Among the

Ashanti,Fanti

,Wassaw

,Akim

,A ssin and Aquapim

people i t i s a general bel ief, that they were forced from


from capital pun ishment,and creat ing an aristocracy

composed of h is peers and associates .

I n al l the Ashant i history from this date,a s is ter tribe

,

known as the Dwaben s,has always p layed a very im

portant part,and i t i s recorded that thi s s ister kingdom

,

which ex isted unti l very recent ly,was founded by a

relat ive of O sai Tootoo,named Boitin ne

,about the

same time the latter choosing for h is centre the al ready

exi st ing town of Dwaben or J abin,some twenty mi les

east and a l i ttl e north of the proposed s ite for Kumasi .

These two ch iefs were sons of s isters,and i t i s Supposed

that when th is change of localitv took place,the tribe

over which Boitin ne had charge was the stronger of the

two,and was thus able to secure for its centre an al ready

ex ist ing town,l eaving Osai Too too to bu i ld h i s own at

Kumas i . However th is may have been,we find that the

inhabitants of the two towns became fi rm al l ies in war,

and equal Sharers in spoi l and conquest from 1 700

unti l very recen t t imes . This common interest remained

und istu rbed for more than a century,the two tribes

s ubord inating al l other in terests,to that of one great

pol icy ofi ncrease of terr i tory and power,at the expense

ofal l su rround ing tribes .

From the establ i shment of Osai Tootoo and h is

fol lowers at Kumasi,the latter became the head of the

m i l i tary power of his adherents . He caused his most

important chiefs to bu i ld large town s near the capital,

bestowing upon them ti tular d ign ity,and conci l iat ing the

conquered peop le by mak ing them tributary to h i s own,

and check ing any attempt to revol t,by exacting thei r

frequent .attendance at the cap ital on the occas ion of

al l pol it i cal fest ivi t ies and native customs . The despotic


And being resolved to retu rn his obl igation,he some

time after sent some of h is wives to compl iment the

King ofDinkira,and assure him of the great esteem he

had for his person . These ambassadresses were not l ess

sp lend id ly treated at Dinkira,being also loaded with

presents ; but the k ing cast a wanton eye upon one of

them,and grat ified h is brutal des ire ; after which he

su ffered her to return with the rest to thei r country

and thei r inj ured husband,who was i nformed of th is

affront . But he took care to make the King of Dinkira

sens ible that he would not rest ti l l he had washed

away the scandal in his inj urious blood . A fter he

was made sens ible of the King ofAshan t i ’s resolu tion,

knowing very wel l with whom he had to deal,the King

of Dinkira offered several hundred marks of gold to

compensate for the inj ury . The enraged k ing,deaf to

al l such offers,prepared h imsel f for a vigorous war

,by

rais ing a strong army to make a descent on Dinkira,

and not being suffi c ient ly stored with gunpowder,he

bought up great quantiti es on the coast . The Dinkiras

were fool ish enough to ass is t h im themselves,su ffering

h is subjects to pass wi th i t un interrupted ly through thei r

country,notwi thstand ing they knew very wel l i t was

on ly des igned for thei r own destruct ion . While he was

making these preparat ions,the King of Dinkira d ied

,

which m ight encourage a bel ief that the impend ing cloud

Of war would blow over . Whether the governors of

Dinkira were too haughty to implore a peace of the

inj ured Osai,orbeing instigated by the enemies of that

country,i s uncertain

,forhe sti l l pers isted in his purpose

ofutterly exti rpat ing the Dinkiras . And about the be

ginn ing of the present year being completely

THE ASHANT I KINGDOM . 267

ready,he came with a terrible army into the field and

engaging the Dinkiras he defeated them,and fighting

them a second time he again defeated them . The

natives report that i n these two battles,more than

men were k i l led,and that the natives ofAkim

,

who came to ass is t the Dinkiras,lost some men

,

i n add i tion to one of their great captains and his whole

fol lowing . The plunder after th is victory took the

Ashantis fi fteen days to col lect,the k ing’s booty alone

amounting to several thousand marks in gold,which is

affi rmed by on e of our European officers,who was in

the Ashant i camp and saw the treasure . Thus you see

the towering pride of Dinkira in ashes,they being now

forced to fly before those whom they not long before

thought no better than thei r slaves,and themselves

being now sold as s laves .

Osai Tootoo d id not l ive long enough to complete the

bu i ld ing ofKumas i . He met his death about 1 720 in

the fol lowing tragic manner. He had declared war

against A toa,a smal l d istri ct between A ssin and Akim

,

and invaded the country . The King ofA toa, wel l know

ing he could not s tand against so formidable a force as

the Ashant is cou ld put in the field,spread his smal l

army through the bush unt i l he reached the rear of the

A shant i force . Here they found the king leisurely

fol lowing the main body ofhis army with a few fol lowers

on ly,al l of whom were destroyed by the A toas, who

shot the k ing in his hammock . This event happened

near a place cal led Corman tee, and on a Saturday,from

wh ich arose the most solemn oath of the A shanti people,M em z

'

nda Corman tee or by Saturday and Corman tee.

Since that day it is reported that Saturday is regarded


by the Ashant is as fatal,and no enterprise has s ince

been undertaken on that day of the week .

Osai Opookoo,brother of the former k ing

,succeeded to

the stool abou t 1 7 20, and had there been no brother to

succeed,the s ister

’

s son wou ld have been the heir to the

right ofsuccess ion this extraord inary ru le ofsuccess ion,

which excludes al l ch i ldren bu t those of a s is ter,i s

founded upon the argument, that i f the wives of the

sons are fa ithless,the blood Of the fami ly i s ent i rely los t

in the offspring,but shou ld the daughters of the royal

fami ly deceive thei r husbands,i t i s s ti l l i n part preserved

on one S ide . A n ice d is t inction tru ly,and one showing

the moral i ty of Western Afri ca . Throughou t the Ashant i

race property descends to the s ister ’ s so n,andwi th the

exception ofthe k ing, t i t les on ly descend to the son of

the deceased .

Osai or Sai was the fami ly name of the Ashanti

royal ty,being shared by some Of the fami ly as wel l

,in

the same way that In nane was the fami ly name of the

k ings of Dagwumba. Osai Opookoo continued and

fin ished bu i ld ing the town of Kumas i,and made ap

proaches to the King ofDahomey for un ion with that

monarch,who refused al l iance

,poss ibly because he was

more despotic and refused to al low his subjects the same

freedom,that was then enjoyed by the Ashan tis .

The next effort of th is potentate was the invas ion and

subj ugat ion of the powerfu l Gaman country,of which

Bon tuko was the capital . Abo,the K ing of Gaman

,

hearin g ofthe approach of the Ashant is,retreated north

towards the Kong plains,fol lowed by the Ashanti army .

The King of Kong interfered,and refus ing to al low a

struggle i n his terr i tory , compel led Abo to return and


Committee of a set sum in gold dust,paid to the Fant i

ch iefs and k ings who res ided in the neighbourhood of

the Bri ti sh Settlements on the coast,to secu re thei r

attachment,influence and services for the safe- conduct

of merchand ise through their terri tories . When the coast

tri bes,who held most of these notes

,were conquered by

the rapacious Ashant is,they had to del iver them as part

ofthe spoi l of the vi ctors,and the month ly amount was

du ly claimed and received by the Ashantis by right of

conquest . I n th i s way many ofthe Engl i sh,Dutch and

Dan ish notes found thei r way into Ashant i hands,and

were u l t imately destroyed by them,thus unwitt ingly in

thei r ignorance d ispos ing of val uable European records .

The Akras state that they lost thei r notes to the Ak ims

by fraud , and the latter lost them to the Ashanti s, thei r

conquerors,under Osai Opookoo . Thus

,by right of

conquest the Ashantis became the recip ients of the

monthly payments,and many troubles arose in con se

quen ce, a detai led account ofwhich wi l l be given later onin the next chapter .

Dagwumba, a large country north -east of A shanti,

was next attacked and added to the Ashanti ru le . Osai

Opookoo had sen t messengers to the k ing, probably re

qu iring a pretext for war,demand ing tribute from this

country,which being refused

,war was declared

,the

people defeated,and thei r k ing glad to make terms with

the A shant i s,in order to prevent further loss ofd ign ity

with h is own people,and to save the further insu lts to

which he would be subjected as a conquered ch ief from

his adversaries . The al l iance thus formed was beneficia l

to both countries ; the King of Dagwumba’

s l oss of

d igni ty being compensated by a gain of commercial

CON Q UEST OF DAGWUMBA . 27 1

power,for

,on becoming tributary to Osai Opookoo ,

mercanti l e in tercourse was establ ished between the

Ashantis and the great markets of the far interior,

through the med ium of h is own people,to which they

al ready had access,because thei r coun try was farther

in land than Ashan ti . Thus by levying a tol l upon al l

commodi ties passi ng through his country,he increased

his revenues and at the same time obtained respect from

his conquerors as a superior tribu tary power . The I nta

country,which lay between Ashant i and Dagwumba to

the north -east,also became tributary during this reign

,

so that between 1 7 20 and 1 741 four great tribes, the

Gaman s,Akims

,Dagwumbas and I ntas , were each in

tu rn made subservient to the power ofA shant i . When

a fresh state was thus conquered,i t was placed under

the parti cular care ofsome important Ashanti ch ief,who

general ly resided at Kumas i,and who on ly V i s i ted h is

tributary state in order to receive the annual payment

due to h is king from i ts native ruler,for whose proper

conduct and obed ience he was held,i n a measu re

,to be

respons ible .

The ru ler of Dwaben d ied during the reign of Osai

Opookoo ,whose decease is al so reported about the year

1 741 . A brother agai n succeeded to the stool,by name

O sai Aquissa,who ru led in Kumasi for twelve years, unti l1 753. Nothing very remarkable appears to have taken

place during his short reign . He preserved tributary al l

the states previous ly conquered,but there are n o trad i t ions

of his add ing any fresh terri tory to the empire . The

one event of importance that is mentioned and the his

tory of i t preserved,refers to the King ofAkim . This

monarch,having received from Osai Aquissa permission to


wage warwith h is neighbours, on cond it ion of sharing the

Spoi l wi th that k ing,i s reported to have sacrificed him

sel f for the good ofhis people . For,fai l ing to obtain the

necessary spoi l,he sent none to Kumasi

,whereupon his

head was demanded by O sai Aquissa,and the Akim

king,after consul tation with his chiefs

,decided to end

h is l i fe wi th them . Trad it ion has i t that each sat Upon

a keg ofgunpowder,smoking his pipe

,and that after a

long and final d raught of rum,each appl ied the ashes

ofhis pipe to h is own funeral pyre and thu s saved de

struct ion at the hands Of the Ashant is .

Osai Cudjo succeeded in 1 7 53, and devoted h is

energies to retrenching the power of,and afterwards

conc i l i at ing,the so - cal led aristocracy

,which in power

was growing to such an extent as to menace the ex istence

of the state. Wherever possible,he rai sed h is favouri te

captains to the vacant stool s whenever an opportun i ty

offered,often un it ing three or four d i stri cts under the

newly made k ings,and tak ing an oath with them that

thei r l ives shou ld be held as sacred as h is own,i n order

to ant i c ipate any doubts as to thei r fidel i ty to the con stitu

t ion . The act of rais ing a man to the stool d id not of

necess ity give the recip ient a seat at the general counci l ,but merely notified a success ion to certain property,which was handed down to success ive generations .

The tribu tary Wassaws and A ssin s attempted in

th is reign to regain thei r freedom,but were again

attacked and defeated,and compel led to acknowledge

Ashant i as a superior power . Osai Cudjo then tu rned

his attention to Aquapim and Kwahu , subjected thei rpeople and placed them under tribute to his people .

These successes kept in awe other tribes,which were


upon every occas ion of a state ceremony,particu larly

when the Akim representat ives were present to witness

his van ity . Such s ights were n o doubt duly reported

to the conquered Ak ims,and on ly tended to make them

the more rebel l ious and to fight wi th more bravery when

in the field : and to constant ly see the effigy of thei r

favourite leader so gross ly insul ted,added to thei r hate

for the Ashantis,and so i ncensed them again st thei r

cruel masters,that i t i s reported that they fought for

thei r independence no less than eight t imes . The states

of Banda and Soota were also made tributary in this

reign,the subj ugation of the latter occupying the A shant i

army,under Odumata

,for ten years

,during which time

th is general was forbidden to come to Kumas i unti l the

subj ugation was complete . The same general attacked

and subdued the Nkoran z as,but to accompl ish h is end

,

he was compel led to ra ise a large aux i l iary army from the

Gaman country,al ready tributary to A shanti .

Osai Q uamina incurred the d ispleasure of his people,

by rais ing a servant named Apookoo to the vacant stool

ofA ssimadoo to the excl us ion of the rightfu l fam i ly,and

th is event was the commencement of d isagreemen t with

h i s people,which may perhaps have had someth ing to

do with h is own end . The last m i l i tary act of his re ign

was the despatch ofan exped it ion in answer to a request

forhelp from the Dan i sh Governor-General ofChrist ians

borg,to send h im an army with which to pun ish the

Popos . Osai Q uamina agreed , and despatched 5000

A shanti troops to the cast le at Christ iansborg,but on

thei r way down the Governor-General d ied,and his

successor,rather prudently

,paid to the Ashan t i k ing

the sum of 250 ounces ofgold dust to take his men back

H ISTORY OF ASHANT I . 275

again,rather than be a party to what would have been

a very troublesome al l i an ce .

I n 1 798 Osai Q uamina l eft Kumasi and paid a vis i tto the s ister town of Dwaben

,remain ing away for the

space of twelve months,a most unusual thing for an

Ashanti k ing to do,and in spi te of the urgent requests

of his people to return . I t i s supposed that he wasinduced to stay by the al l urements ofGyawa

,the k ing’s

daughter,ofwhom he seemed to have become infatuated .

I t was,however

,at last announced to him by his nobles

,

that i f he d id n ot return to h is country by the approach

ing Yam custom ,he would be deprived of his stool by

his people . He,however

,d id not return

,owing either

to the arts of h is m istress,or to her refusal to accompany

him to Kumas i,on account of the possibl e resentment

of his mother to her when she arrived . Some sup

pose that the King ofDwaben was privy to and urged on

her refusal,i n order that by the dethronemen t of Osai

Q uamina, he might reap the benefi t of join ing the twok ingdoms under h is own sway . That the king was dethroned is certain

,and the manner of this deprivat ion of

the stool i s worthy ofrecord and most in teresting .

The chief captains of Kumasi,headed by one Appia

Danqua, waited upon the queen mother, and recountedto her the shortcom ings ofher son

,command ing her

,as

daughter of thei r o ldk ing and as hi s parent,to remon

strate with him upon his conduct . H i s mother,how

ever,told them she had al ready done so

,but without

avai l,and also stated that in return her son had attempted

to take her l i fe,and that as remonstrances were ofno avai l

,

she would beg them to unseat Osai Q uamina, and to place

her second son Osai Opookoo on the stool in his place .


Thus Osai Q uamina was dethroned and his brother raisedIn his place . This decis ion ofthe queen mother and the

captains was then commun icated to the dethroned k ing

a few women and s laves were sent to him,with the re

quest that he wou ld ret i re to the bush and bu i ld himsel f

a croom and there d ie . Before h is death,however

,he

sought andobtained a private i n terview with the new k ing,

ask ing that those who had been the means of his down

fal l should be d istrusted and pun ished,and then he

implored death,which was effected by fixing his feet on

the ground,bend ing h i s body backward with a prop in

the smal l of the back,and suspend ing from a noose

round his neck several large tusks of ivory,the weight

ofwhich press ing upon his neck strangled him . (This

mode was chosen because hi s blood could not be shed,nor

could he be drowned in the sacred river . )1 799.

— Osai Opookoo l ived only a few weeks after h is

elevat ion to the stool,and was succeeded in tu rn by his

brother Osa i Tootoo Q uamina,a youth about seventeen

years of age . On the occasion of his access ion,the

captains of the country,from fear ofthe increas ing power

ofthe aristocracy,i ns i sted that the remain ing members

ofthe k ing’s fami ly should publ ic ly proclaim thei r l iabi l i ty

to capita l pun ishment,and thus remove the idea of the

sacredness of the royal fam i ly from suffering in this

way . I t was in th is re ign that the Fanti k ingdom was

invaded in 1 807 , and for the fi rst t ime the Ashantis

came in to d irect confl i ct with the Engl ish during the

campaign . Whi l e this Fanti invas ion was being con

sidered, Baba, afterwards the ch ief of the Moors ,appeared in Kumas i

,and requested protection from

its k ing against h is ch ief,who had driven h im from the


k ing at Kumasi,who as usual despatched messengers

to A ttah to inqu ire i f such was the case . Without

hes i tation,A ttah confessed to the k ing

’s messengers

that he had refused to j oin Opookoo ,and added

,more

,

over,that he was t i red of being a slave and incessantly

summoned to war,and that also he cou ld n ot forget that

Osai Cudjo , Q uamina’

s ancestor,had cut off h i s (Attah

’s)grandfather ’s head

,and that he wou ld fight wi th Opookoo

whenever he came . About th i s t ime Q uamina Guma

(the father of Beegua,captain ofDan ish Accra) , one of

the k ing ’ s sons,was return ing to Kumas i wi th a large

quantity of gold,in order to make custom for the king ’s

mother,pass ing through A ttah ’s terri tory . Here he was

intercepted,robbed ofhis gold

,and murdered with h is

party,with the except ion of one

,who was sent as a

messenger to the k ing at Kumasi,to tel l h im that

A ttah was i n earnest and determ ined to war with h im .

A ttah,to strengthen his forces

,had induced another ch ief

who was also weary ofAshant i ru le,Quaw Saffatchee, to

jo i n h im . Opookoo was therefore ordered by the Ashanti

k ing to at once march against A ttah,who

,when he

entered his country,was for attacking him at once at

sunrise,but to th is Quaw objected

,saying it would be

best to wait unt i l 3 RM,when the A shant is had eaten

and would be rest ing,and also i f they were defeated , i t

wou ld be a better t ime for retreat (evening coming on ) ,as the Ashantis never pursue in the dark . The at

tack took place as arranged,and the fight remained un

dec ided t i l l n ight fel l,when Opookoo ,

on counting his

men,found he had lost so many

,that he decided to send

messengers to cal l the Akras to h is help,they being

then vassal s of Ashant i . The Akras came to the help


of Opookoo,whereupon A ttah and Quaw divided and

retreated,the former to windward and the latter to Ada .

Opookoo fol lowed the latter, and think ing the then

Dutch governor,Mr . Fl indt, had ass isted Quaw to escape,

after being tedious ly and closely watched by Opookoo’

s

men,took the governor prisoner and marched away with

him to Aquapim ,where the army encamped for five

months,during which t ime Mr. Flindt was treated wi th

al l respect,and at last rel eased on a ransom of £ 400 .

Opookoo was then ordered back to Kumasi , and it i s said

took with h im the bel l from the fort at Ada as a trophy .

A t the t ime of th is insurrect ion Appia Danquahad been sent with 6000 men against the Fantis

,who

were d isposed somewhat to aid the rebels . Appia met

them at Appam,a town on the coast between Winnebah

and Sal tpond,and after the fight

,Baffoo

,the Anamaboe

Caboceer,was taken prisoner . Whi le

,however

,Appia ’s

army was in the neighbourhood of Tantum,some few

miles away,they heard of the approach Of A ttah

,who

,

i t wi l l be remembered,was retreat ing to windward before

the troops of Opookoo ,andwhose very name was suffi

c ien t to infuse genu ine fear into the victorious army of

Appia,who

,with a Show ofd iscretion

,then hurried away

into the interior .I n th is manner the passage of the Ashantis through

the Ak im country to the coast became closed,and

remained so for about a period of two years,partly

owing to the act ivity and energy of Cudjoe Cooma,the

new k ing of that country,who had been raised to the

stool some six months after the death Of A ttah . During

this six months ’ i nterval,between the death of A ttah

and the plac ing of Cudjoe Cooma upon the stool, the


Ak ims were governed by one Q waku A shanti, but who

ru led them so very harshly,that at the end of a few

months he was commanded by hi s peopl e to take his

own l i fe,and was al lowed by them one week in which

to accompl ish th is end . I t i s reported that he spent

the week thus a l lowed in mak ing custom and then com

mittedsu ic ide.

A t the t ime of A ttah ’ s rebel l ion,Quaw Saffatchee,

another Ashant i tributary ru ler,had joined forces wi th

h im,and about th is t ime thi s chief

,together with the

Fantis,attacked Accra

,but were repul sed . The King

of A shant i now determined to make on e bold effort to

reopen the road through the Ak im country,and to

receive the arrears of pay from the forts on the coast

that were due to h im . H e accord ingly col lected an army

ofsome men,and plac ing them under the charge

ofAmanquaAbiniowa,instructed h im to proceed through

the Ak im and Aquapim countries to receive the submiss ion of the people

,to do no violence

,and to commit

no act ofwar except in sel f- defence . A t the same time

Appia Banqua was sent wi th a smal ler body ofmen,to

encamp a short d istance from the coast beh ind Winnebah

and Tantum,in case the revol ters again retreated and

fled to windward . Abiniowa and his army reached to

within a day ’s march of the Aquapim coun try, and thenat a smal l place cal led Aquiasso ,

one of his advance

parties was attacked by Cudj oe Cooma andhis men,and

beaten back with a sl ight loss . The main body of the

Ashantis now prepared for attack,which took place next

morn ing. The engagement l asted about six ho urs,and

ended in a v i ctory for the Ashant is . After the fight

Amanqua sent a jaw - bone ofa man and a slave to each


enem ies, the Ashantis , prom is ing that i f the Akras

del ivered him in to thei r hands they wou ld prevai l upon

thei r k ing to give the stool to h is brother,who was now

trying to betray him . Quaw thereupon left Accra to

meet his brother,accompan ied only by a few Akras and

A shant is , and after one day’s j ourney came where hi s

brother was waiting h im . A palaver took place,Adoo

u rged his brother to k i l l himself,but from th is Quaw

dissented,saying he hoped eventual ly to wear out the

patience ofthe A shant i k ing in thus pu rsu ing him . A t

th is Adoo rose,a Shot was fi red at Quaw

,which struck

h im down,but before he was ki l l ed he was shotandrose

again no less than four t imes,dying with the reproach

on his l ips,that his brother was his murderer . The

body was sent to A ccra,and the head later to Kumas i .

Amanqua’

s miss ion being now complete he returned to

the A shanti capital in 1 8 1 7 .

About th is time the King ofAshant i received homage

and tribute unasked from the Aowin tribe,and em

boldened by h is m i l i tary successes,sent an embassy to

Bon tuko,the capital of the Gaman country

,demanding

the royal stool ofthe k ing . This stool was thick ly plated

and embossed with gold,and was in fear sent by Ad in

kara the king,in answer to the summons

,i n the absence

of his s ister,a woman of great spi ri t

,and real ly the chief

adviser of the k ing . On her return,l earn ing what her

brother had done,she severely reproached him

,and

ordered a new stool to be made of sol id gold to replace

the lost one,with a golden elephant for an ornament .

The King of A shanti hearing of th is,sent another

embassy demand ing th is new stool,but the S i s ter in

formed them with more force than del i cacy,that the


k ing shou ld del iver up neither the stool n orits ornament,

add ing she and her brother would change places,as he

was unfi t to be a k ing . Further,she wou ld fight to the

last, rather than submit to be so constantly despoi led .

This message was du ly del ivered,and the k ing

,admiring

her Spiri t,sen t word back to say She was a strong woman

and fi t to be a king ’s s i ster,and that he wou ld give her

twelve months to prepare for war . During the prepara

t ion many embass ies passed between the two countries,

one from the Gaman court,with gold to the amount

of £ 3200, to preserve peace . The aristocracy obj ected

to this,urging that their other tributary powers wou ld

mock them,d id they not get the King ofGaman

’

s head .

Up to th is t ime i t w i l l be remembered,that the

Ashanti people had real ly cons isted of two d ivis ions,

those of Kumas i and those ofDwaben,each with thei r

separate capi tal,but work ing together to carry out thei r

schemes of m i l i tary aggress ion . I t became clear about

1 8 1 7 that Osai Tootoo ,the King ofAshanti , contemplated

the reduction ofhis al ly ofDwaben to be a tributary power,

and to this effect sent a messenger to the King of Dwaben,

a very weak young man,demanding gold . To this de

mand an answer was sent by one ofthe royal captains to

the effect,that as no war was on hand no gold could be

requ ired in Kumasi,except for the benefi t of the k ing

himsel f,and also remind ing him

,that of o ld i t had been

the custom for the King of Dwaben to exact gold and

not to pay i t . Upon thi s being reported to the King of

A shanti,he sen t his messengers with a gold -headed

sword andother marks of favour to th i s captain , who ,to

his great surprise,refused them

,saying that the honours

he al ready possessed at home became him better.


This brings us down to the period when “ the Ashantis

fi rst began to be troublesome to the Engl i sh upon the

West Coast of A fri ca,and the various wars that arose

from th is wi l l be detai led in the fol lowing chapter,whi le

some account of the town ofKumasi,as i t was in 1 8 1 7 ,

may be of interest to the general reader.The fi rs t town of Kumas i was bu i l t upon the s ide of

a large rocky hi l l of i ronstone. I t was insu l ated by a

marsh close to the town on the north,and by a narrow

stream hal f a mi le d istant from i t o n the north -west,and

about s ix ty yards broad,whi le at the east

,south -east

and sou th i t was respectively twenty,seventy and fi fty

yards broad at these points . I n many parts,th is marsh

was five feet deep after the heavy rains,but more com

mon ly on ly two . I t contained many springs and suppl ied

the town with water,but the vapou rs ri s ing from it en

veloped the ci ty morn ing and even ing with a thick fog,which was favourable to the product ion ofdysentery in

Europeans . A bird ’s - eye view of the place was un

in terest ing,nothing being seen but the thatch roofs of

the houses,the whole enci rcled wi th bush and forest .

The town itsel f was an oblong about four m il es in cir

cumference,exclud ing the subu rbs of A ssafoo and Ban

tamah,which were once connected with the main town by

streets,at th is t ime most ly in ru ins . Four of the prin

cipal streets were abou t hal f a m i le long and from fi fty to

a hundred yards wide. The streets were al l named , and

each placed under the charge ofa separate captain , and at

the top ofOne,upon a mound

,were placed the cannon

taken from the Denk iras by Osai Tootoo,the first authentic

king . The royal res idence was s i tuated in a long and

wide street runn ing through the m idd le ofthe town,from


which it was shut out by a high wal l,term inating at each

end of the marsh,which was cons idered suffi cient pro

tection at these points . This street in cluded the k ing ’s

res idence and also that Ofhis brothers,wi th several smal ler

streets and open spaces to serve as recreation grounds for

the k ing, when confined to his palace by the superst i t ions

of hi s peopl e .

The whole town contained some twenty-seven streets

as shown in the plan . The smal l grove marked O,at

the back of the great market-place,was the sp i ri t house

,

where the trunks of the vict ims sacrificed were thrown .

The tracks leading to i t,which were dai ly renewed

,showed

the various d i rections from which they had been d ragged,

and the number of vu ltu res on the trees i nd icated the

extent of the sacrifice . The stench was terrible,and

panthers vis i ted the place n ight ly . Trees were scattered

about the town for the recreation of the people ofthose

part i cu lar parts where they ex isted,and smal l c i rcu lar

e levations of two steps,the lower about twenty feet in

c i rcumference,l i ke the bases of the o ldmarket crosses in

England,were ra ised in the m idd le ofseveral s treets

,on

which the k ing’s chair was placed when he went to drink

palm wine there,h is attendants stand ing round in a

ci rc le . I n these t imes the average dai ly res iden t popu

l at ion was about to though it was asserted

that the total number reached a much larger figure .

Dai ly markets were held from about eight in the

morn ing ti l l sunset,the larger market contain ing some

S i xty stal l s or sheds,bes ides crowds of in ferior vendors ,

s i tt ing about in al l d i rections,and the fol lowing arti cles

were freely Offered for sale : Beef, mutton , pork , deer

and monkey ’s flesh,fowls

,yams

,plantains

,corn

,sugar

THE TOWN OF KUMAS I 287

cane,ri ce,peppers , oranges , pawpaws ,pine -apple,bananas ,

sal t and dried fish from the coast,l arge snai l s smoke

d ried and stuck in rows on smal l s t icks i n the form of

herring bone,eggs

,palm wine , rum,

pipes,beads

,look ing

glasses,sandals

,S i l k

,cotton

,cloths

,powder

,pi l lows

,

thread and calabashes . P ri ces ru led much higher in

Kumasi than in the surround ing towns,owing to the

greater abundance of gold among the people . The

fol lowing wi l l show the prices in the capitals of Ashanti

and Dagwumba respectively

Article. Kumasi. Yahudi.

A bu l l ock f,6 o 0 I o o

A Sheep 0 1 5 o 0 4 o

A fow l O I 8 0 0 5

A horse 24 o o 8 O o

Yams O 0 8 (for 2 ) o o 8 (for 1 0 )

P lantat ions ex isted al l round the town,the exten t and

order ofwhich were surpris ing . No other implement was

used but the hoe,and two crops of corn were produced

every year . Yams

'

were planted at Chri stmas and dug in

the fo l lowing September . The latter plantat ions were

wel l looked after,and were wel l fenced in

,planted in

l ines,with a broad walk round

,whi le a hut was erected

at each wicker gate,where a S l ave and his fami ly res ided

to protect the plantat ion .

Down to the beginn ing of the n ineteenth century the

const itut ion of the Ashantis cons isted of three estates ,the King

,the A ristocracy (reduced to four in number)

and the great Assembly of the Captains or Caboceers .

I n the exercise ofhis j ud icia l au thori ty ,the king always

retired in private with his four counsel lors to hear thei r

opin ions, which they were encouraged to state wi th the


utmost candour,whi le the genera l assembly of the

captains was summoned,S imply to give publ ic i ty to the

decis ions arrived at by the k ing and its aristocracy,or

s imply to announce the wi l l and pleasu re of the former .The captains also made al l necessary provis ion for the

carrying out of such deci s ions . The most original featu re

of the law was that of success ion,al ready described .

The s isters of the k ing could marry or in trigue wi th

whom they pleased,provided that the chosen one was

an eminent ly strong or personable man . The king was

hei r to the gold of al l h is subjects,from the h ighest to

the lowest ; the fetish gold and the C loths being pre

sented by h im to h is successor . The successor became

l iable for al l the debts of the previous k ing,and in order

to meet these,a large sum of gold dust was often pre

sented to the one chosen to succeed to the stool . A l l

the gold and ornaments buriedwith members of theking’s fami ly

,and which were depos ited with their bones

in the feti sh house at Ban tamah,were sacred

,and cou ld

on ly be used to save the capital from destruct ion at the

hands of an enemy,or in a t ime of extreme national

d is tress,and shou ld the occas ion arise for thei r use in th is

manner,the reign ing king must on no account look upon

them,un less he wished to incur the fatal vengeance ofthe

fet ish god. A slave seek ing refuge from an al l ied or

tributary power was always restored,but i f he came from

an unconnected power,he was received as a free man .

A tributary state which d ist inguished itsel f in the suppress ion of revol t in another was rewarded with certain

privi leges at the expense of the revol t ing power. I f the

subjects ofany tribu tary power objected to the decis ion

of thei r own ru ler, accord ing to the laws of thei r own


person who thus d iscovered them,but were redeemable

by thei r fam i l ies .To praise the beau ty Of another man ’s wi fe was for

bidden,i t be ing considered intrigue by impl ication .

I f a woman became involved in a su i t,she compromised

her fam i ly,not her

.husband .

A woman cou ld leave her husband for i l l - treatment or

d is l i ke,by return Of her marriage fee

,but she cou ld n ot

marry again .

A husband unheard of for three years al lowed the wife

to marry again,and should the fi rst husband return

the claim of the second sti l l stood,but al l the chi ld ren

of the after marriage were considered the property ofthe

fi rs t husband,and could be pawned by him .

To intrigue with the wi fe of a k i ng was death,and

only the captains could put thei r wives to death for in fi

delity,though they were expected to a l low thei r redemp

t ion by their fami ly on payment of a large sum of gold

dust .The '

property of a wife was qu i te d ist inct from that of

the husband,but the k ing was hei r to i t .

I f a person brought a frivolous charge against another

and i t was dism issed, the accuser was bound to provide an

entertainment for the fami ly and the friends ofthe accused .

A captain general ly paid a periguin , £ 8 for a wi fe ,and a poor man two ackies

,about I S . 6d. I ntrigue with

the former incurred a fine often periguin s, with the latter

one and a hal f ackies and a pot ofpalm wine .

The Government had no power to d irect trade into

any part icu lar market,but i t cou ld prevent the commerce

ofany obj ectionabl e power from pass ing through its ter

ritories .

ROADS FROM KUMAS I .

TH E PR I N C I PAL ROAD S FROM KUMA SI.

Coast Roads .

To Apol loniaTo Three Pom ts andChama.

To Accra.

To Accra.

To the V olta. Ul

-P

wN

H

In landRoads .

To Bon tuko .

To Kin tampo .

To Attabubu.

To Salaga.

Governmen t Road.

291

CHAPTER X I.

M on th ly N ote s—Wars w i t h Englan d , 1 80 7- 1 8 1 7

—M i ss ion t oAshan t i— S econ d Ashan t i War, 1 824

— Th i rd Ashan t i War,

1 863— Fou rth A shan t i War

,1 873

—The Last Ashan t i War

Down fal l ofPrempeh, 1 896 .

ONE i l lu stration of the va lue placed upon the month ly

notes from the Government to the natives,wi l l be suffi

c ient to show the importance that attached to them,and

al so serve to show the ideas in the m ind of the reign ing

King of Ashant i,at that t ime Osa i Tootoo Q uamina.

The fol lowing is a letter from the King ofAshant i to

John Hope Smith,E sq. , Governor-in -Chiefofthe Brit ish

possess ions on the Gold Coast ofA frica .

This letter was sent down by Mr . Bowdich,soon

after the m iss ion which had been despatched from the

coast to interv iew the Ashant i k ing in 1 8 1 7 reached the

capital,to the governor ofthe colony

,and shows exactly

the state Of affairs a t that t ime . A shant i had conquered

al l the countries from the river Tando in the west,to

the Vol ta in the east,l eaving on ly the strip of shore,

with i ts forts and factories,which were now seriously

threatened . There is no doubt that the Ashantis con

templatedthe reduct ion ofthese,in order to sat i sfy their

des i re to become a mari time power .

Th e k ing sen ds h i s comp l im en ts to th e gove rn or . H e than ksth e K ing of Englan d andhim very much fo r t h e p re sen ts sen t to


go ld, what you get from th e books , and th en you shal l h ear what

palave r I have got in my head, andwe can be fr i en d s ” ; th enhe sen t some me ssen gers , andaft e r th ey wai ted m ore than two

years, t h e Fan t ee s sen t word back, N o "we don’t wan t t o serve

th e k in g, but on ly t o make th e path open and get good trade ”

;

th i s vexed the king too much .

Then t he Fan te e s sen t t o a strong man,Cudjoe Coomah , and

sai d,

“ Come,l et u s put ou r head s t ogeth er again st th e k in g ”

aft er that , when t he k in g h eard th i s, h e sen t on e, n ot a great man,

but h i s own s lave,and sai d

,

“ We l l,you wi l l d o

,go k i l l all the

peop l e,all t h e Aquapims

, andAk im s, andall andso he ki l l edall

,andafter he ki l l ed all h e cam e andto l d him .

When he sen t again st Ak im , th e p eop l e in Akim sen t word thatthey to l d th e ir head men n ot to vex th e k in g, but they wou ld n ot

m in d th em,so h e ki l l ed th e head peop l e

, and th e othe rs beggedh i s pardon .

When th e kin g wen t t o fight wi t h th e Fan t ee s th ey sen t th i ssaucy word, “ W e w i l l k i l l you andyou r p eop l e and stan d on

you”; th en they ‘

didn ot k i l l on e Ashan t ee captain,but th e k ing

k i l l ed all th e Fan tee captain s andp eop l e . Th ey do not stan d on

him .

That t ime , aft e r th e k in g fought,all th e Fan t ee s sen t word ,

We l l we wi l l se rve you, but you mu st n ot sen d more harm tohurt u s, we don

’ t wan t to fight mo re , but to make good fr i en d swi t h you ”

. Then th e k in g sai d,What cabocee r l ive s at Cape

Coas t and An amaboe,what books they get from th e fo rts

,l e t

th em sen d all,and t h en we can be fr i en d s ” . Andth e k in g sen t

word too,

“ Ifmy m es sen ge rs go to Cape Coast Fort, and i f th eybr in g pot s of go ld

,andcask s ofgood s

,t hen I can ’ t take that, but

I must have the books”

.

After that th e kin g sen t word to th e G overn o r of Cap e Coast andt he Govern o r of Anamaboe

,

“ We l l "you kn ow I have k i l l ed all

th e Fan tee s, andI mu st have Adocoo

’

s andAmoon ey’s books

,and

I can make fr i en d s w i th you,good broth e r andgood heart but

n ow they sen d fou r acki e s,that i s what make s th e k in g’s h eart

break out when h e l ooks on th e book and th in ks of four ack i es,and h i s captain s swear that th e Fan t ees are rogue s andwan t tocheat him. When the whit e men see the Fan t ees do thi s, and

MONTHLY NOTES . 295

th e Engl i sh offiéers brin g him th e se fou r ack i es,i t makes him get

up very an gry,but he has n o palaver wi t h wh ite men .

A l l Fan tee i s h i s, all th e black man’s coun try is h i s ; he h ears

that wh i te men br in g al l th e th in gs t hat come here ; he won dersth ey do n ot fight wi t h th e Fan t ees

,for he kn ows th ey ch eat them .

Now he see s wh i te men,andhe than ks Godandh i s fet i sh for i t .

When th e Engl i sh made Apo l l on ia Fort h e fought wi th th eAowin s , th e masters of that coun t ry

,and ki l l ed them ; th en he

sai d to th e caboceer, “ I have k i l l e d all your peop l e, your book i sm in e ”

; the caboceer sai d , “ True "so l on g as you take my t own ,t h e book be l on gs t o you ”

.

H e wen t t o Dan kara andfought,andk i l l e d th e peop l e ; t hen h e

sai d,

“ G ive me th e book you get from E lm in a,

” so th ey d id,and

n ow E lm in a be l on gs to him .

1

The En gl i sh Fort at Accra gave a book t o an Ak im caboceer,cal l e d Aboigin Adjumawcon . Th e k in g k i l l ed him and

’

took thebook . Th e Dutch Fort gave a book to an other Ak im cabocee r

,

Curry Curry Apam . The Dan i sh Fort gave a book to an otherAk im cabocee r, Arrawa Ak im ; th e kin g ki l l ed all and t ook the irbooks .Th i s k in g

,Sai, i s young on th e stoo l

,but h e keep s always in h i s

head what o l d men say, fo r i t i s good, and h i s great men and

l ingu i sts te l l i t him every morn in g . The K in g of Englan d make sth ree great men , andsen d s one to Cape Coast , on e to An amaboeand on e t o Accra ; Cape Coast i s th e sam e as Englan d . Thek ing gets two oun ce s from Accra every moon

,and th e Engl i sh

wi sh to give him on ly fou r acki es for th e b ig fort at Cape Coast,andt he same for An amaboe do wh it e men th in k th i s p roper ?When th e k in g ki l l ed the Dan kara cabocee r and got two

oun ces from E lm in a,th e Dutch governor said , “ Th i s i s a p rope r

k in g,we shal l n ot p lay w i t h him ,

andmade the book fou r oun ces .The k in g has k i l l ed al l th e peop l e andall the fort s are h i s ; hesen t h i s captain s to see wh it e men ; n ow he sees them , andthan ksGod and h i s fet ish . If th e path was good when th e captain swen t

,t he k in g wou l d have gon e un de r th e fo rts and seen all the

wh ite men . The Ashan tee s take good go l d to Cape Coast , butthe Fan t ee s mix i t ; he sen t som e of h i s captain s l i ke s lave s to see,

1 The king always spoke of the acts ofall h is ancestors as his own ,


andt h ey saw i t ; ten han dkerch i efs are cut to e ight, wat er i s putto rum

, and charcoal to powder, even fo r th e k in g ; th ey cheathim

, but h e t h in k s t h e wh it e men give all th o se th in gs prope r t oth e Fan t e e s .The king kn ows t he K in g of Englan d i s h i s good fr i en d

,for he

has sen t him han d som e dash es ; he kn ows h i s offi cers are h i s goodfr i en d s , for th ey come t o see him . Th e k in g wi sh es th e govern orto sen d to E lm ina t o see what i s pai d him th e re , and to wr i t e t heK in g of Englan d how much , as t h e Engl i sh say the i r n at i onpasses th e Dutch ; he w i l l see by the books given him by bot hforts . If th e Kin g of Englan d doe s n ot l i ke that , h e may sen dhim h imse l f what h e p l eases

,andt h en Saican take i t .

He than k s th e k ing and govern o r fo r sen d ing four wh ite men

to see him . The o l d k ing wi shed t o see som e of them,but th e

Fan t ee s stop i t . H e i s but a youn g man andsee s th em , andsoagain he than ks Godandh i s fet i sh .

D ictat ed in t h e p resen ce of

T . E DWA R D B OWD I CH .

W I LL IAM H UTC H I SON .

H E N RY TE DL IE .

I t was in 1 80 7 that an A shant i army reached the coast

for the fi rst t ime,though i n the previous year

,1 806

,they

had approached the neighbourhood of Cape Coast Castle,

the governor ofwhich,under some apprehens ion for the

safety ofthe Bri t i sh Settlements along the coast,wished

to send a flag of t ruce with a message to the King of

Ashant i, who was then

,i n May

,1 806

,encamped only

some fi fteen m i les from the town . The Fantis,with

whom the A shantis were at th is t ime at war,were con

sulted upon th i s measure and so much opposed it,

particu larly the nat ives of Anamaboe,that i t was dis

pen sedwith , the A namaboes th inking themselves qu i te

a match for the Ashant i s,and underrat ing thei r power .

Shortly after th is, a d ivis ion of the A shanti army made


to an unders tand ing,and that i f the A shant i army at

tempted to approach the fort at Anamaboe in a host i le

man ner,the guns wou ld be Opened upon them . To

impress upon the messengers the power of these guns,

some few shots were fi red from the fort,and as the

bearers were about to depart,private intel l igence was

received by the governor that the men bearing the flag

oftruce,were to be murdered on thei r way to Corman

t ine. To present s uch a d isaster,Mr. White and another

gentleman accompanied them,and left them at a safe

d istance from their fort . A week elapsed and nothing

occu rred,and th is c i rcumstance was looked Upon as a

favourable omen . But the commander of the Ashant i

d ivis ion,who happened to be the King of Denkira

,

having ascerta ined the s trength ofAnamaboe,took pos

sess ion ofand occupied a smal l vi l lage about on e mile

to the east of the Anamaboe Fort,whence al l the opera

t ions of hi s adversari es cou ld be observed . This act ion

was considered to be an annoyance,anda party cons ist

i ng of nearly al l the men in the town attacked the

Ashant is,and succeeded in d is lodging them from their

newly-acqu ired post,after a somewhat stubborn res ist

ance . While the A namaboes were occupied with thi s

attack,the Ashant i captain and the main body of h is

men were actively employed in securing al l the passes

that led again back to the town . Early on the next day

the A shanti army was seen to be in motion,the alarm

was given,and every man able to carry a musket

marched to meet the enemy . Confus ion soon spread

through the town ; al l the old people were co l lected in

the fort and the gate c losed . The sound ofmusketry

approached nearer and nearer, and in a short time the

INVASION OF THE COAST . 299

Ashant is entered the town on al l s ides,pursued the

people to the beach and s laughtered al l with whom they

came in contact . Many took to thei r canoes andothers

saved themselves by swimming ; the fort was several

t imes assai led,though the guns were used against them

with great effect . The governor was twice wounded,one

man k i l led,and an offi cer and another man wounded in

the assau l t . A fter repeated attacks by the Ashant is,the

garrison was reduced to eight able men upon whom de

penden ce cou ld be placed, and who defended the western

gate with much vigour . Chief among these defenders

were Mess ieu rs Governor White,Mered ith

,Swanzy

,

Smith and Baines .

N ight came on and hosti l i t ies ceased,but the morning

showed the resul ts ofthe fight,dead and wounded on al l

s ides,houses unroofed and others on fi re . The fort

gave refuge to about 2000 people of every description,

and about 200 escaped to a rock surrounded by the sea

and about a pistol shot from the shore,where they re

mained unmolested . Upon inqu i ry i t was estimated

that about 8000 Fantis had perished during the confl i ct.The attack on the fort was again renewed , but repulsed

each t ime by the l i tt le garri son . The Ashant is now

ceased active hosti l i t ies,remain ing in and near the town

for some days,and evidently anx ious for peace

,for,

al though they had defeated thei r enem ies the Fantis ,they too had su ffered severely, los ing in actual confl i ct

and by si ckness some 3000 men . On the 16th of J une,reinforcements arrived from Cape Coast

,and were

landed safely and lodged in the fort under cover of the

guns . A truce was soon afterwards agreed upon , by

which the Ashantis undertook not to molest the British


forts along the coast,provided that they observed a

stri ct neutral i ty . The forces then withdrew,proceed ing

along the coast to l eeward,infl i ct ing desolation and ru in

upon every town in the way. A t l ast,the A shant i

captain returned towards h i s own country,on ly leaving

a suffic ient guard at A ccra to loo k after the prisoners

that had been captu red,and to convey them to the

Ashant i capita l . The war,however

,continued in d i fferent

parts of the colony throughout the fo l lowing years un t i l

1 8 1 1,when the A shant is captured and conveyed into the

in terior M r . Flindt, the Dan i sh governor of the fort at

Ada,who remained in thei r custody for a period of five

months and three days . On thi s occas ion the states of

Ak im and Aquapim rebel led unsuccessfu l ly against

Ashant i .The next invas ion of the Fanti count ry by the

A shant is took place in 1 8 1 7 , when they advanced as far

as Cape Coast Cast le and blockaded i t,withdrawi ng

on ly after the payment of a large tribute by the Fant is,

to whom the money was advanced by the Engl ish . I t

was from this invas ion that the necessi ty arose for the

miss ion ofMr . Bowdich to Kumas i i n 1 8 1 7 ,i n order to

negotiate a peacefu l solut ion ofthe ever- recurring Ashan t i

troubles . Reference to this m ISSIOn has al ready been

made,and the letter from the k ing to the governor

commences the present chapter,in which a demand was

made for the pay notes to be continued,and which was

duly recogn ised by Mr . Bowdich . Relat ions of a friend ly

nature were establ i shed with the Engl i sh,and a t reaty

concluded in September,1 8 1 7 , one cond ition of which

was the leaving of a Bri t ish resid en t at Kumasi . The

treaty thus made was soon broken by these troublesome


in roads of the A shantis . This action soon roused the

king again to commence act ive operat ion s against h isformer adversaries . The fi rst act of the Ashantis was

to carry off from Anamaboe a sergeant of the Brit ish

servi ce and to execute h im for speak ing d isrespectful ly

of the A shanti k ing,and the second was to wri te to the

governor to say that hi s head shou ld be soon converted

into an ornament for the royal d rum . Opportuni ty for

the execution of th is threat came un fortunately but too

soon . The Dutch governor at E lm ina endeavoured to

settl e the negotiat ions peaceful ly,but fa i led and in 1 823

the Ashant is again invaded the d istr ict ofWassaw,and

encamped themselves on the right bank of the P rah .

The Engl ish governor,S ir Charles Macarthy,

determi ned

to leave h i s camp at Duquah and cross the P rah at

once,in order to give bat t l e to h is adversaries

,and with

but a force of some 500 men he carried out h is design ,crossed the river and took up a posi t ion at the vi l lage of

A ssamacow i n J anuary,1 824. I n the meantime he had

sent messengers to Major Chisholm,who

,with some

2000 men,was on the left bank ofthe river

,to come to

his support . About the m idd le of the month he ad

van ced st i l l farther to the banks of the smal l river

Adooman soo,and on his way

,with the greatest diflflculty

prevai led upon the t im id and retreat ing Wassaws and

Denkiras to remain in thei r country . Here a very

decis ive engagement took place,which unfortunately

ended in the defeat and death ofS ir Charles Macarthy .

On the 2 1 5t of J anuary,abou t m idday

,the Ashant is,

reported to be some strong,advanced to the

attack,and the act ion was continued unt i l dark . The

Wassaws retreated early in the fight,ammunit ion soon

WARS WITH ASHANTI . 303

ran short,and no more being avai lable massacre com

pleted the sad d isaster. The Ashant is,su re of thei r

victory,crossed the river

,surrounded the governor ’ s

smal l and rap id ly d imin ishing force,and cut them to

p ieces . The bush was too dense for open fighting and

n o orders cou ld be given . S ir Charles Macarthy,Ens ign

Wetherall,Mr. Buck le and Mr . Wil l iams , were sur

rounded,shot down

,and al l except the last named

were beheaded,S ir Charl es Macarthy

’

s head being

carried off by the victors’

to adorn the wal ls of the king’s

palace at Kumasi . Mr . W i l l iams was taken prisonerand kept in the hands of the Ashantis for two months

,

tortured and released . O f the twelve offi cers who fought

in th is engagement,n ine were ki l led and the remain ing

three bad ly wounded . Major Chisholm then succeeded

to the command,and by carefu l measu res saved the forts

upon the coast from being attacked . The name of S ir

Charles Macarthy l ives to th is day among the Fanti s,and the great oath of the country i s now the one that

cal ls upon his name . Some time had to elapse before

the Ashant is cou ld be pun ished for this defeat of the

Engl i sh force,and the base of operations was moved

from Cape Coast Castle to Accra . Here a force of some

men was col lected,aided by a smal l contingent

from the Engl ish regiments,and encamped at Dodowah,

some twenty- five mi les north - east ofAccra,i n the hopes

ofgiving battle to the Ashantis in the plains instead of

i n thei r favouri te bush . I t was in the latter hal f of the

year 1 826 that the Ashant i army,some strong,

and elated by their previous victory,marched coast

wards towards Accra,and met the encamped forces at

the town ment ioned and sustained a severe and crushing

304 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND . PRESENT .

defeat . The al l ie'

d t ribes fo'

ug'

ht wel l,the King of Ak im

and his people carried al l before them,thewhole army of

the . A shan tis was Completely routed,and their c amp and

gold captured,and by i t the country was set

'

at rest for ‘

many years . I n September,1 8 27 , the King of Kumas i

sent his messengers to the coast to say that he wished to

make peace with the white men and to be in'

future under

their control . To ensu re th i s Bri t ish envoys were sent

to Kumasi,and arrangements made by

“

which a treaty

was agreed upon in December,1 827 ,

and though not

final ly adopted, preservedpeace t i l l 1 831 , when a final

sett lement ofal l d ifficul ties was dec lared

The d isasters of the last fewyear'

s,the

‘

declin e'

oftrade,

and the death'

of Si r Charles Macarthy had at th is t ime

caused the Home Government to withdraw al l the publ i c

establ ishments from the Gold Coast,and to invest them

in the hands of the Company of African Merchants,of

whom Captain Maclean was the fi rst governor. The

treaty of 1 831 , j ust referred to , was concluded by th is

gentl eman,on behal f of the K ing of England

,with

the K ings of Ashanti,Cape Coast

,Fanti

,Anamaboe

,

Denkira,Tufel

,Wassaw and A ssin;of which the ch ief

point was as fol lows : “ The King'

of A shan ti having

depos i ted in Cape Coast Castle,i n the presence of

the above -mentioned part ies,the sum of 600 ounces

of gold , . and having del ivered into the hands of

the governor two young men of the royal family

of Ashant i as security that he wi l l keep peace with

the said parties in a l l t ime com ing,peace is hereby

declared betwixt the said King of Ashanti and al l and

each of the parties aforesaid,to continue . in a l l t ime

Peace was kept for some S ix or s even years

CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES . 305

after th is,when the 600 ounces of gold

,that had been

lodged in the cast le as securi ty,were sent back to the

King of A shanti . I t i s reported that the messengers

who came for i t were qu ite aston ished that they received

the ful l amount,and sti l l more so that i t was del ivered

to them in exactly the same cond ition as when i t was

given to the Government .

I n 1 840 a commiss ion of inqui ry was held,with the

resu l t that in 1 843the Home Government again resumed

occupat ion of the for ts upon the Gold Coast,and thei r

proper main tenance,and Commander H . W . H i l l

,R .N .

,

was appoin ted in the fol lowing year as Lieutenant-Gover

nor of the colony . H e was succeeded in 1 846 by Com

mander W’ i l l i am Winniett,R .N . ,

whose mission to

Kumas i wi l l be remembered for its efforts to Obtain the

abol i t ion ofhuman : sacrifice . From this t ime down to

1 863 was a t ime of comparat ive peace in the colony,

but the deman d of the King ofA shant i from Governor

P in e in December,1 862

,brought about fresh d ifficu l ties .

The King of Kumas i somewhat insolently demanded

the return ofa runaway S l ave boy,and also the del ivery

into his hands of an o ldman accused of thieving gold

dust belonging to the king . This demand was natural ly

refused,andthe Ashanti s somewhat crafti ly prepared for

war. They entered into an al l iance with the E lminas,who suppl ied them with large quantit ies of arms and

ammun ition obtained on the coast,and general ly couched

thei r messages to the governor in very strained language .

Roving bodies of A shantis appeared in d i fferent parts

of the Protectorate,and a new demand was sent to the

governor that a certain chief Adjaman shou ld be de

l ivered up to them,or as an alternative they, the

20


Ashantis,wou ld occupy the P rotected Terri tory for

years . When this l ast message was sent, these roving

part ies ofAshant is had al ready pi l laged and burnt some

th i rty vi l lages,in add it ion to k i l l ing several hundreds of

thei r inhabitants . Governor P ine at . on ce made known

the state of affai rs to the Engl ish Government,and re

quested that an exped ition be sent to for ever quel l the

troublesome A shantis,but to his great d isappointment

th i s wished - for help was for some reason refused . I t

was necessary to take action at once,and in December

,

1 863, having al ready a camp at Mansu , about hal f-way

between Cape Coast and the P rah,he determined to push

on and fortn a m i l i tary camp at the P rah,with a depot

,

now known as P rahsu,from which poin t he hoped that

he wou ld be able to induce the A shant i k ing to come to

terms once more . Accord ingly a camp was constructed

at P rahsu by some compan ies of the West I nd ia troops,

which occupied them unti l March,1 864,

when the rain s

commenced,somewhat earl ier than usual

,and the work

had,for the time being

,to be abandoned . With the

rains came the fever owing to the inaction of the men,

and in J une of the same year they were withdrawn

again,to be quartered at Cape Coast . Troubles between

the Fantis and the E lm inas occupied the next few years,

and no lasting peace had as yet been concluded with the

Ashant is . I n 1 869a party of the Ashantis had crossed

the northern port ion ofthe P rotectorate and reached the

right bank of the river Volta,attack ing and plundering

the town of A num,which lay some few mi les to the

east ofthe opposi te bank . Here was a very important

stat ion belonging to the Basle M iss ion,occupied by the

miss ionaries and thei r fami ly . A l though no actual war


J£9000 , andth e Dutch de l ivered the E lm in a t o him as h i s own,

and from t hat t ime tr i bute has been pai d u s to th i s p re sen tt ime . I hope , th erefore , you r Exce l l en cy wi l l n ot in cl ude E lm inain th e change , fo r i t i s m in e by r i ght .

This claim was of course den ied by the Dutch

governor,who

,however

,s tated the sum of £ 80 had

been annual ly paid to the Ashan t is,not as tribute

,but

rather as a presen t,to preserve friend ly relat ion s in

trade . There is no doubt that th is c laim was a piece of

impudence on the part of the King of A shant i,foron a

M r . P l ange being sent by the Engl i sh to Kumasi,the

claim fel l to the ground,and E lm ina was duly i n cl uded

in the Dutch terri tory that was t ransferred . I n the

meantime several u n successfu l attempts had been made

to effect the release ofthe captured Europeans at Kumasi,

but the k ing shel tered h imsel f wi th the excuse that as

his general had captu red them at great expense,he

cou ld not force h im to re lea s e them unti l a ransom of

1 800 ounces ofgold had been paid . Many communica

t ions took place,many delays occurred

,but the mis

sion aries were sti l l held at Kumas i . I n Apri l,

1 87 2 ,

both the Engl ish and Dutch governors sent letters and

presents to the k ing ask ing h im to give up the prisoners,but al l representations were of no avai l

,unti l l ater in the

year,when Mr . Pope Hennesey was in formed by letter

from the Ashant i capi tal,that the ransom of the Euro

peans was the on ly poin t to be settled in order to ensure

a lasting peace . To th is a reply was sent that the Basle

M iss ion Society wou ld be wi l l ing to pay any sum,not

exceed ing £ 1000 ,to cover the expenses of the Ashanti

ch ief who had captured thei r representatives,but that i t

was not to be looked upon as an exchange of men for

RENEWAL OF THE WAR . 309

money,and that the amount stated should be at once

paid i f the captives were sent safely down to the P rah .

To thi s the king repl ied : H i s chiefs,i n consu l tation

wi th him , had decided that the £ 1000 should be accepted,andhe asks for i t to be sent to Kumas i and he wi l l send

the men down ”. Nothing

,however

,came of i t

,nor of

a further request that the pri soners shou ld be brought

down to Cape Coast,and the money paid there . This

was about the l ast negotiation made,which was in

November,1 87 2 ,

for even ts that were soon to happen

were fortunately go ing to settle the difficultv that had so

long ex isted .

Some trade d isputes or m isunderstand ings arose at

th is t ime with the King ofE lm ina,on very s l ight grou nds

,

and the Government,when

,withou t the sl ightest warning,

news was rece ived on the coast that an Ashan ti army,

some 1 200 strong,had crossed the P rah

,occupying fi ve

days in the passage, and had invaded and attacked the

A ssin coun try,plunderi ng and burning the towns and

vi l lages on thei r way. This occurred in J an uary,1 873,

and earlv i n March i t was known in England that

another trouble wi th the Ashan ti power had become a

real i ty and not a farce,and that i f the prestige of the

Engl ish nat ion was to be upheld,immediate act ion was

necessary. The towns near Cape Coast and E lm ina were

fi l led wi th men,women and chi ldren

,who were forced

from the interior d istri cts by the ravages of the enemy

to take refuge under the wal l s of the castles,and as al l

the food crops had been destroyed by the advancing

A shantis,fam ine became inevi table. Stores ofrice were

sen t from England for the people, and arms and ammu

nition for the male part of the population . A body of


Hausa troops were brought from Lagos,and several of

the nat ive k ings prepared thei r forces to repel the in

vader . E lm ina,which had long shown s igns of d i s

content to the Engl i sh ru le,

n ow Open ly jo ined the

Ashant is,who

,advancing from the river Prah

,destroyed

n ine towns on thei r way,and final ly encamped with in

twelve m i les of E lm ina and Cape Coast Castle,having

twice defeated the nat ive forces Opposed to them on thei r

way. This latter defeat occurred on the 5th June, 1 873,at Duquah, when the Fanti forces were total ly routed , andretreated in great d i sorder in to Cape Coast

,swel l i ng the

al ready enormous crowd of refugees that occupied the

place,and los ing many of thei r number by smal l -pox

and dysentery,which had broken out among thei r ranks .

About the same time,to add to the d iffi cu l ties

,the

Dutch nat ives ofChama and E lm ina joined a d ivis ion of

the A shant i army and attacked Commendah,where the

people were practi cal ly at the mercy of the ir inveterate

enem ies . Colonel R . W'

. Harley was then admin i stering

the government of the colony,and the force at h is dis

posal was very smal l,consist ing as i t d id Of some 100

sold iers of the Second West I nd ia Regiment,less

than 250 Hausas armed with breech - l oaders,a local

volunteer corps from Cape Coast armed with E n fields,

and about fi fty nat ive Fant i pol icemen . On the coast,

however,were H .M .S . Druid and A rg us , and the gun

boats fi l er/in,Decoy and S eag ull ; opposed to these was

an advancing Ashan t i army of men,who

,flushed

with recent successes,had actual ly encamped with in

twelve m i les of Cape Coast Castle . The gun - boat

M erlin ,under Lieutenant Day

,was at once despatched

to the rel ief of Commendah,which was i n a most pi ti able


miles north ofE lm ina,when they returned to thei r camp

wi th the loss of thei r general,a nephew of the k ing

,and

several of thei r more important chiefs . Commander

Commerell then arrived on the west coast as Commander

in -Chief,but was dangerously wounded soon after his

arrival whi le vis i t ing the P rah to ascertain what faci l i t ies

i t afforded for navigat ion by boats,and Captai n Luxmore

ofthe A rg us was also severely wounded .

A l i tt le later in the year Major-Genera l S i r Garnet

Wolseley was sen t out as Governor-in—Chief to take

command of the forces in the colony,and to undertake

the pun ishment of the troublesome Ashan tis . H e arrived

with thirty - six spec ial service officers at C ape Coast

Castle,on the S S . Amoriz

,but wi thou t an army to assi s t

the presen t smal l force in the colony . He soon showed,

however,after h is arrival the superiority ofa smal l force

of d isc ipl ined men over a mul ti tude Ofbarbarous natives,

and towards the end of October,succeeded in infl ict ing

three defeats upon the enemy . This,however

,was only

the commencement of the campaign the country near

the coast was cleared of the Ashantis,and al l prepara

t ions were made for an advance into the interior and for

the destruct ion ofKumasi so soon as the n ex t dry season

shou ld come round . This exped i t ion was organ ised wi th

care and crowned with success . The main body of his

forces,consis ting of 1400 white troops, advanced d i rect

on the capi tal by the main road from Cape Coast

through P rahsu,whi ls t nat ive levies were organi sed to

attack and annoy the Ashant i s i n the eastern and

western portions Of thei r country . SO soon as the

A shant is heard of these preparat ions for thei r destruc

t ion they began to rely upon thei r tactics of the past,

THE CAMPAIGN OF 1 873. 313

send ing in message after message ofsubm iss ion,andgpro

mising al l sorts of good behaviour for the future . These

attempts at obtain ing peace had,however , no effect upon

THE BR IT ISH RE SIDENT AT KUMAS I (CAPTAIN DONAL D STEWART ,AND OFF IC IAL S .

S ir Garnet Wolseley he marched with his forces straight

upon the capital,defeated the Ashant is in several wel l

contested irregu lar bush fights,and u lt imately captured


and burnt thei r capital . The king was captured,and a

peace s igned in wh ich the Ashant is acknowledged the

Bri t ish authority , consented to pay an indemn ity of

ounces of gold,to abol ish human sacrifice and

to keep the trade roads from their country to the coast ,particu larly the P rah road

,clear of bush . I n th is expe

d it ion he was ass isted by Captain Glover,R .N . ,

the

Governor of Lagos,who ra ised a native force at Accra

and in the eastern d ivis ion ofthe colony to march upon

Kumasi from the east .From this t ime down to 1 896 peace was kept and but

l i tt le trouble give n to the Bri tish by the Ashant is,though

the promise of the payment of the war i ndemnity and

the abol i t ion of human sacrifice was not honoured by

these sh ifty people . I n 1 893-94, they attacked and

pi l laged thei r neighbours the Nkoran z as,and infl i cted

several severe defeats upon them,and as the latter came

into Bri t ish terri tory for protection,the Ashantis

threatened to fo l low them and pun ish them there . In

add it ion the roads had been al lowed to become again

overgrown,and the captured Nkoran z as were sacrificed

to the number of some thousands in Kumasi . An

exped it ion consi st ing of nat ive troops,under S i r Francis

Scott,

was despatched to the Nkoranza country

at the end of 1 893, and order was again restored , but

the events of th is exped it ion final ly led to the campaign

of 1 895-96 and the complete destruction of the Ashanti

power,and the captu re and deportation of the king,

Prempeh ,to S ierra Leone . To accompl ish this end

a wel l - selected and complete force was despatched from

England,cons is ting ofsome 2000 regu lar troops, accom

paniedby a large staff ofspecial offi cers ofevery descrip

CHAPTER X II.

Progre s s of th e Co l ony— Educat i on— The Bas l e M i ssion— TheW es l eyan M i ss i on— The Roman Catho l ic M iss i on ~—TheSchoo l s of th e Co l ony—The Future of th e Co l ony—Wan t ofRai lways andCen tral Harbou r .

IT becomes an interesting study to even the most ord in

ary observer who vis i ts or travels in the Gold Coast

Colony,to ascertain the resul ts of more than four cen

turies ’ in tercourse that th is part ofthe A frican con t inent

has had wi th so - cal led ci vi l i sed Europe,and to mark the

advantages and d isadvan tages received therefrom . As

sociated,as i t has been

,wi th the lead ing countries of

Europe at d i fferent epochs ofits ex i stence,one might

have reasonably expected to find a consti tut ion and laws

bu i l t up upon a pri n c iple su i table to the needs of a

West A fri can race,and the people themselves tak ing an

act ive interest i n the future wel fare ofthei r own people.

But this is not the case. The four centuries ’ connect ion

with Eu rope has been a purely commercial on e,which

seems to have insti l led in the minds of the natives of the

present day one very doubtfu l bus iness maxim,via , to

pay as l i ttle as poss ible for any artic le you buy, orbetter

st i l l— do not pay for i t at al l i f i t can be poss ibly avo ided .

So anx ious are we in Europe to extend our fo reign trade,that i t i s far eas ier for a nat ive ofWest Africa to become

a so- cal led merchant wi thout the need for absolutely

PROGRESS OF THE COLONY .

any capital,than i t is for a respectable European to

establ i sh himsel f in any branch of trade in his own

country. For years past,so -cal led native princes and

the sons ofprinces have been able to establ i sh themselves

as petty traders al l along the coast,at the expense of

Eu ropean merchants,obtain ing suppl ies of goods of al l

descriptions upon cred it,in some cases wi thout the

s l ightest intention ofmaking payment,and even sel l ing

them u nder the cost price in order to become possessed of

ready money . A portion ofthe money thus obtained i s

remitted to Eu rope accompan ied by a sti l l larger order,

and thus the debts to Europeans increase by leaps and

bounds . Many causes have led to th i s resu l t . I t i s easy

for a commerc ial house to obta in orders from the Gold

Coast,but obta in ing payment for the same is a very d i f

feren t matter. Some lay the blame for th i s state of

th ings Upon the local governmen t,others upon the

merchants who period ical ly res ide in the colony ; some

attribute i t to the mi ss ionary societies at work on the

coast,whi ls t others say i t i s the fau lt of educat ion .

Rather than s ide with any particu lar section,I am in

clinedto think that a l l four have ass isted in producing

the present unsat i sfactory state of affa irs in this respect .The Government has at times been too len ient

,the

merchan ts are too anx ious to gain orders,often at the

expense of each other,the m iss ionary often places the

n at ive upon a pedestal among the races of the world

that he is not yet fi tted to occupy,and the educat ion

given has not been founded upon a proper basis . These

remarks may give ri se to a d i fferent Opin ion in the minds

ofmy readers ; shou ld such be the case, my answer to

them is,vis i t the country and see for yourselves .


A constant change of masters s ince the beginn ing of

the fi fteenth century ; a vaci l lat ing pol i cy oftreatment of

the natives by the various governments ; want of con

tinuity and purpose in the work in the official s , and the

very uncertain nature of the West African cl imate have

al l tended to produce the unsat i s factory West A fri ca of

the present day. The other great d rawback to the gene

ral progress of the colony is the system of domestic

s l avery that exists in every part of the coun try,and

causes most of the laz iness and immoral i ty that every

where abound . The ord inary man possesses many

domest ic s l aves,they al ternately work and sl eep ; the

master does l i tt l e or noth ing. These s laves are fed by

thei r owners,morn ing and even ing

,and thus thei r on ly

des i re i s satisfied . They possess no energy,no vigour

,no

intel lect,and care n othing for the rights and respons i

bilities Of ordinary everyday l i fe . The bu lk of the popu

l at ion of the colony being incl uded under th is head , i t i s

l i ttl e wonder that progress i s s low and disappoint ing.

The country is rich,mines are wait ing to be worked

,but

the people,eas i ly sat isfied with a variety of food that

costs them l itt le or noth ing,are content to l ive in the

most miserable state ofdomestic sl avery amid the most

m iserable surround ings in the shape of dwel l ings .

Education in the colony at the presen t day i s in the

hands ofvarious m ission societies,the Government lead

ing the way,and enti rely support ing from publ i c funds

large school s at Accra and Cape Coast Cast le,i n add ition

to a smal ler one at the capital of Western Ak im,some

fou r days ’ j ourney from the coast to the i n terior .

The various miss ion agencies Impart thei r own deno

minational teaching to thei r own part icu lar group of


but one to continue the work and the school of somen inety scholars that had been establ ished . He also fel l

A NAT IV E BEAU TY .

a vict im early in March,1 832 , some short t ime before the

arrival of three new-comers to take the place of those

THE BASLE MISS ION . 32 1

who had fi rst d ied . The early h istory ofal l the m iss ions

on the Gold Coast i s one of s ickness and death , and of

the three new-comers bu t one was left,after the short

space of three months,to continue the work so nobly

begun . The on ly survivor up to this time was Mr. R i i s ,who

,finding the lowly ing coas t land so treacherous for

the res idence of the European,vis i ted the hi l l region

,

cal led Aquapim ,lying due north OfAccra

,and finding i t

by comparison heal th ier than the coast,decided to form

a sett lemen t in the mountains,and opened a Bas le

M iss ion Station at Akropong,the capital of Aquapim ,

some 1400 feet above the sea, and a journey of on ly one

day and a hal f from the sea coast . The stat ion at

Chri stiansborg was then abandoned and Akropong be

came the headquarters of the miss ion . Mr. R i i s was

wel l received by the natives ofAquapim,and was j oined

in his work in 1 836 by two new arrival s, both ofwhom,

however,fel l vi ctims to the cl imate before a two years ’

res idence had been completed . About thi s t ime,Mr.

R i i s vis i ted Kumas i,and on h is return . to the coast left

for Europe to recru i t and to consu l t with the home committee about the future ofthe m iss ion

,which

,on account

of the very heavy loss of l i fe, was about to be given up.

The success ofthe work,too

,in the Aquapim d istri ct was

at th is t ime seriously threatened by the pol it ical d istu rb

ances among the nat ives themselves,and al so by some

misunderstand ing that had arisen between the nat ives

and the Dan ish Government .

A new plan was now to be tried . Mr. Rns, in company

with a Mr. Widmann,proposed to in troduce from the

West I nd ies some of the l iberated Chris t ian A fri cans to

ass ist in the establ ishment of the work upon the Gold2 1


Coast,as the c l imate had up to thi s t ime been found to be

veryd isastrous to the continued res idence Of Europeans .They vis i ted J amaica in the West I nd ies

,and selected

,

with the ass istance of the Moravian M iss ion,some

twenty-four l i kely colon ists , with whom they landed at

Christ iansborg in Apri l,1 843. No stay

.

was made here ,but the party proceeded at once to the h i l l s tat ion at

Akropong,where for a t ime

,th ings general ly flourished

under the new regime. The success, however, was on ly

short- l ived,for after a few years

,the people

,with the

exception of a very few,turned out very unsatisfactory

,

and general ly d isappointed the expectations ofthe origi

nators of the“

scheme . Some were the cause of much

trouble to the m iss ion i n the -colony,others returned to

thei r old homes i n the West I ndies,whi le a few remained

to carry on the work . O f those that remained,I know

ofone who is st i l l l iving at Aburi in Aquapim ,though I

bel ieve there are others at d i fferent stat ions in the colony

in receipt of a smal l pens ion from the soc iety. The year

1 847 saw the arrival of Mr . Mohr (st i l l act ively at work

in the colony) and several others to take up the work

al ready begun . Chri s ti an sborg was again taken up,

another stat ion Opened at Aburi and a preparatory school

opened at Akropong,i n which native ass i stants cou ld be

trained for the m ission . Mr. Mohr devoted h is energies

to the erect ion of good houses as miss ion stations,and

also uti l i sed the West I nd ian colon ists in the formation

of coffee plantations,and other tropica l produce which

they had brought wi th them from the west . Thus gradu

al ly,though very slowly

,coffee planting began to work

its way among the members of the Bas le M is s ion, and a

part of the fi rst plantat ion made at Akropong exi sts to

324 THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PR ESENT .

establ ished by the m iss ion,led the committee in Eu rope

to send out to the coast special ly qual ified men as artisans

and mechanics to superintend thei r erect ion,and to

establ ish industria l workshops at the same time,where

,

under proper supervis ion,the native youth of the colony

might i n time learn usefu l trades,and become workmen

in thei r tu rn . A fter many d i fficu l t ies and comparative

fai lu res,workshops at Christ i an sborg were establ i shed for

carpen ters,j oiners

,wheelwrights and blacksm iths

,which

have progressed so far at the present day as to become

nearly sel f- supporting,and i n add i t ion have great ly

benefi ted the country . The m iss ion houses,al l erected

by nat ive l abour,are now to be reckoned among the best

habi tat ions in the colony,and stand as an example of

what can be accompl ished by nat ive hands when superin

tended by European minds . One of the greatest diffi

culties in thi s count ry has been , and wi l l be for years to

come,to find the proper persons as managers of these

establ ishments. Europeans cannot permanen tly res ide

in the country,and even to th is day

,l i tt le orno progress

is made,where a nat ive i s at the head of an industrial

department .

The next few years,1 85357 , saw an attem pt on behal f

ofthe Basle M iss ion to establ i sh themse lves at Gyadam ,

i n Ak im,but nat ive wars between rival tribes destroyed

thei r efforts . Gyadam was abandoned and Kukurantumi

tried,to give way in its tu rn to Kyebi

,the capital of

Eastern A k im ,and res idence of the king

,where

,under

much d iffi cu l ty,a stat ion was establ i shed in 1 86 1 . The

King of Kyebi was no friend to the miss ion,and used his

powers to prevent h i s people from receiving the benefits

of c ivi l i sat ion . Open dissens ions soon appeared , and

THE BASLE M ISS ION . 325

persecution fol lowed . The k ing accused a native mem

ber of the m iss ion of having stolen a quanti ty of gold

dust,and began to i l l - treat the accused person and

other members of the station . The Government was

appealed to,and upon an investigation being made the

king’s charge cou ld not be upheld,and the accused

person was acquitted . The king,ordered to the coast

by the Government to explain h is conduct,died in the

meantime,and the native members of the miss ion were

accused ofbeing party to hi s death . The miss ion station

was attacked,much property destroyed

,and many of

the people i l l - treated . P rompt act ion on the part ofthe

Government,however

,avoided further trouble

,peace

was restored,and the Kyebi people ordered to refund

to the m iss ion the value of the property destroyed . The

cause of c ivi l i sat ion d id n ot progress rapid ly at Kyebi ,partly on accou n t of the d istu rbances mentioned

,and

part ly on account of the cl imate being unheal thy for the

continued res iden ce of the European members . The

stat ion was surrounded by dense bush,and after the

loss of severa l of the Europeans by fever,the head

quarters were removed from Kyebi to Begoro in 1 876,

where a new stat ion was formed some 1500 feet above

the sea,and which has proved comparat ively heal thy

But though the European s wi thdrew to Begoro,the

stat ion at Kyebi was not abandoned,but the care ofthe

congregation and the management of the schools were

entrusted to a nat ive m in ister and his ass istants,aecom

paniedwith a series ofregu lar vis its from and the super

vis ion by the Eu ropeans,with the resu l t that Kyebi sti l l

remains a prosperous centre ofthe Basle M iss ion .

I n 1 857 Messrs . Locher and Zimmermann made a


vis i t to the Krobo country,near the river Volta i n the

north- eastern portion of the Gold Coast,and were re

ceivedby Chief Odonko ofOdumase . He gave one of

his sons to thei r care for educat ion,and in many ways

ass isted the efforts of the m iss ionaries,with the resu l t

that Odumase i s now the centre of a large number of

out- stat ions,where Engl i sh i s taught and plantation work

encouraged . This centre contains an excel lent church

and two good school s,i n add it ion to many smal ler ones

in the surround ing vi l lages . Two years after thei r estab

lishmen t at Odumase,visa

,in 1 859,

the M iss ion Trade

Soc iety,a j o int stock company work ing for the benefi t

of the m iss ion,and carrying on general trade to the ex

e l us ion ofguns,powder and sp i ri ts

,began i ts operat ions

in the colony. This company renders very valuable

ass i stance to the Bas le M iss ion Society,even to the

d irect support of the m iss ion work,as at Ada in 1 865,

and at Anum in 1 867 . The agen ts of the M iss ion

Trade Society are al l u nder the same ru les and regu la

t ions as the other m iss ionaries,and even occasional ly

take part in the ord inary miss ion work .

I n these days the town of Ada,at the mouth of the

Volta R i ver,was cons idered as an out- station ofOdumase

,

and was period ical ly v is i ted by the m iss ionaries from

the latter town,by means of the water-way ofthe Vol ta .

But i n 1 868 the M iss ion Trade Soc iety commenced large

and substant ial prem ises at Adafo,a vi ll age C lose to the

mouth of the Volta,s ince wh ich t ime a representat ive of

the m iss ion has either res ided there or at B ig Ada,the

principal town,some two hours’ jou rney up the river .

The number ofmembers in th i s d istri ct rapid ly increased ,and many of them being wel l - to -do traders

,they com


l ater Kumas i was captured and destroyed by the Engl i sh

troops . A fter a beneficial stay in Europe M r. and Mrs .Ramseyer returned to West A frica

,with the avowed in

tent ion of Open ing up miss ion stations in the Ashanti

country,but owing to the unsettled state of the place

,

they se lected Abetifi,the capita l of the Okwahu country

,

for the scene ofthei r new operat ions . This country was

formerly a tributary state to Ashant i , but since 1 874 had

thrown off the yoke and become independent under

Bri t ish protection . The stat ion at Abetifi was com

menced i n 1 876, and the selection of such a s i te has

proved a very fortunate one, for there i s no doubt that

Abetifi ,s i tuated upon the tableland of Okwahu

,some

2000 feet above the level of the sea,i s one of the

heal th iest station s in the’

co lony. I ts on ly d rawback

is i ts d istance from the coast , necess itat ing a somewhat

fatigu ing journey through swamps for several days .

I n 1 88 1 , ju st twelve years after the destruct ion of the

stat ion at Anum,the town was again occupied by the

m iss ion,and is n ow a very flourish ing centre

,beau t i fu l ly

s i tuated,and extend ing its c ivi l i s ing influence in the

su rround ing vi l lages in al l d i rections . O ther stat ions

were establ ished in the Western Ak im and the Agona

Fanti countries,and after some fi fty years ofmost arduous

l abour,the Basle M iss ion Society may claim to have been

fi rm ly sett led in the country. The bi l l ofmortal i ty had ,however

,been very heavy

,for from 1 82 1 down to 1 883

no less than seventeen Eu ropeans had given thei r l ives to

the work,and to t ry and lessen th is great mortal i ty in

the future D r. R . Fisch was appoin ted in 1 885as the fi rst

medical m iss ionary for the Gold Coast,3 posi tion which

he st i l l Occupies .

THE WESLEYAN MISSION . 329

I have here attempted to give a s l ight out l ine of the

work Of the Basle M iss ion on the Gold Coast from its

commencement,and would add in conclus ion

,from a five

years ’ personal acquaintance with thei r work in al l partsofthe colony

,that much good and lasting work has been

accompl ished by them,and that I hope to see i n the near

future a st i l l further development in their industrial

branches and the spread of Engl i sh in their school s.

A WEDD ING GROUP.

The work of the Wes leyan M iss ion Society on theWest Coast of A frica dates back to about the year 1 831 ,when a few young men , who had been educated in the

Government School at Cape Coast Castle, formed a

soc iety at Cape Coast,cal led A Meeting or Society for

Promoting the Christ ian Knowledge,

” wi th the Object of


meeting at regul ar t imes to examine Carefu l ly the nature

and c laims ofthe Christian rel igion .

I n 1 833, whi le Wi l l iam de Graft, one of the members

ofth is society,was at D ixcove

,he received a request from

his friends at Cape Coast to order out from England,

through some su i table person who might be proceed ing

th ither,a number of copies of the New Testament for

thei r use. De Graft appl ied to Captain Potter,the master

of a Bris tol merchant vessel,which short ly afterwards

arrived in port . Captain Potter was surpri sed to receive

such an appl icat ion from a native youth,and after some

conversation with De Graft, inqu ired whether he and his

friends would not l i ke to receive instruct ion from a

miss ionary . De Graft repl ied in the affi rmative,and

Captain Potter saw the other members of the society

when h is vessel proceeded to Cape Coast,and having

consu l ted P res ident Maclean,he sa i led for England

,

resolving to bring out with h im on his nex t voyage,not

on ly the copies of the Scriptures,but a m iss ionary.

On his arriva l in Bristol,Potter commun icated with

the Wesleyan M iss ionary Soc iety in London Upon the

subject,offering to take out with h im on his next voyage

a miss ionary to Cape Coast Castle,and to bring him back

to England without any expense to the committee,Shou ld he

,after t rying the nat ives

,conclude he cou ld

not commence a m iss ion at that place .

This noble offer was readi ly accepted by the committee,who sent out Joseph Dunwell. Mr . Dunwell arrived on

the coast on 3l st December, 1 834,and commenced work

Upon the fol lowing Sabbath, 4th January, 1 835. H i s

work lasted only for six months,for he d ied on the 25th

ofthe next J une,and was succeeded in September

,1 836,


I n addit ion to the 1 15 i nspected school s enumerated

above there are al so 83school s belonging to the various

mi ss ions that are not in receipt of a GovernmentGran t .

GRANTS EARNED .

The grants earned by the inspected schools have in

creased in about the same proporti on to the increase

of in spected school s . I n 1 894-95 the total amount

expended by the Government was £ 31 79 6s . upon

the passes obtained . This year the amoun t has ri sen

to £ 3400 an increase of £ 2 2 1 55. Upon the

previous year,and £ 100 1 1 5. in excess of the vote

sanctioned . This grant when divided by the tota l

number of scho lars for examinat ion (exclus ive of those

in the Government School s,for whom no grants are

paid ) , via ,8730 ,

gives an average grant per scholar of

7s . 95d,a sl ight decrease Upon the amount per eapita

for 1 894-95, but exactly the same as that for 1 893-

94.

This sum of £ 3400 1 1 8 . i s d ivided in the fol lowing

amounts :

Bas l e M i s s i onWes l eyan M i ss i onR . C . M i ss i on

Making a total of 3400 1 1 o

The fol lowing table shows the compari son of the

grants earned by the various educat ional bod ies for the

years 1 894 to 1 896

THE ROMAN CATHOLIC M ISSION . 333

1 894-95 1 895436

Denomination .

Total . PerScholar. Total . PerScholar.

s . d. [I s . d. s . d. s . d.

40 Basle M ission 1 0 1 2 19 o o 8 23 1 043 7 6 o 8 553 Wesleyan Mission 1 396 2 o o 7 8 1 6 13 1 7 6 o 7 2 11 6 R . C . Mission 7 70 5 o o 9 93 743 6 o o 8 43

Totals 31 79 6 o o 8 3400 1 1 o o 7 92;

The decrease i n the grant per eapita to the Roman

Cathol i c Schools,I attribute so lely to the heavy mortal i ty

the miss ion has sustained during the past twelve months,

by the sad l oss ofmany European princ ipals,who have

fal len vi ct ims whi l e bravely doi ng thei r duty,to the

treacherous nature of the West Afri can cl imate .

I n the year 1 88 1,the Roman Cathol ic M iss ion on the

Gold Coast was confided by His Hol iness Pope LeoX III. to the fathers of the Society of the A frican

M iss ions,whose mother house is in Lyons

,150 Cours

Gambetta,France . This important society was founded

in 1 856 by Mons ignor Marion de Brissillac,a miss ionary

bishop who had al ready passed several years i n the

Chinese miss ions . Having barely started the work,

Mgr. Marion entrusted i ts future to a young and able

priest,the Rev . Father P lanque , and taking wi th h im

his vicar-general,two priests and one l ay brother

,he left

France for the Gu inea Coast on board a sai l ing vessel,

and after a month ’s voyage landed at S ierra Leone .

Their stay there was of a very short duration,for at the

end ofsix weeks al l five were in the grave, having fal len

vict ims to malarial fever . The newly founded Society

“


ofthe A fri can M iss ions,not having men enough to sacri

fice them in such large numbers to the dead ly influence

ofthe cl imate Of Sierra Leone,abandoned that station

,

and i n 1 863 the newly ordained priests proceeded to

Lagos and Porto Novo,coast of Ben in .

I t was on ly in the year 1 88 1,on the proposal of Chief

J usti ce Marshal l,that the Rev . Father P l anque cast h is

eyes towards the Gold Coast . Two priests,the Rev .

Fathers Moreau and Murat,who had been chapla ins to

Her Maj esty’s troops at Sain t Helena,were appointed

by him for the new miss ion . They landed at E lm ina

early i n 1 88 1,and at once opened a miss ion and a school .

I n a very short t ime after thei r arrival Father Murat fel l

a vict im to the treacherous cl imate,and was the fi rst of

that long l i ne of priests and nuns who have laid down

thei r l ives for that noble cause,the convers ion and c ivi

lisation of the Gold Coast people,for al though the

miss ion only reckons seventeen years ’ ex istence,twenty

five m iss ionaries have fol lowed Father Murat to the

grave . I n spi te of th is h igh death rate,and a great

many other d ifficu l t ies,the m iss ionary work has made

marvel lous progress on the whole Gold Coast,but more

especial ly at E lm ina . Here three d ist inct schools have

been establ i shed by the fathers and the nuns .

1 . The boys’ school

,which reckons over 1 20 pupi ls

from the I . to the V I I . s tandard .

2 . The girl s’ school

,much inferior in number

,the

natives deeming the education of thei r female ch i ld ren

a matter of s l ight importance .

3. The infan t school , whose pupi l s amount to 250

boys and gi rl s combined .

The fathers ’ and s is ters’ dwel l ing houses are s i tuated


A l arge piece of l and s i tuated outs ide the town has

been pu rchased by the fathers for agricu l tu ral purposes .

A miss ion was opened at Accra in 1 893 by the Rev.

Father Hilberer. The work was in a most promisi ng

cond i tion when the miss ionaries were recal led to Cape

Coast,In order to replace those who had fal len victims to

the c l imate there.

The Rev . Father Wade founded the Cathol i c M ission

of Kwi tta in the year 1 891 . A l arge tract ofl and having

been ceded to him by a ri ch nat ive ch ief,he at once

bu i l t a large and comfortable m iss ion house. Some

other n ice bu i ld ings,such as a church

,school rooms

,etc.

,

have been added s ince.

Bes ides these m iss ions they have several out- stations,of

which Anamaboe and Adjuah are the most important .I n each of these stat ions is a nat ive catech i st

,who at

the same t ime fi l l s the post of schoolmaster .

The fathers vis i t these out-stat ions period ical ly,i n

order to see how the work i s progress ing,and also to

admin ister the Sacraments to the faithfu l . A namaboe

actual ly coun ts 150 schoolboys , and almost as many con

verts Adjuah s i xty -five school ch i ld ren and 1 80 converts .

They have in contemplation the extens ion of their

work to the interior,and to Kumas i

,as soon as the

means at thei r d isposal wi l l al low of them doing so .

The miss ion counts moreover the charge of fi fteen

slaves,male and female

,who have been entrusted to thei r

care by the Government . These chi ld ren having been

bought and sold by the nat ives,in defiance of the law ,

the Government,after having them

,hand them over in

order that they may be educated .

A good start has been made in farming near E lm ina .

FUTURE OF THE GOLD COAST . 337

Coffee,cacao , and a great number of rubber trees have

been planted .

There is l i tt le doubt that with the addit ion of the

A shant i terri tory,and the recent acqu is i t ion ofthe coun

try in the H in terland up to the eleventh degree of north

lati tude,the commercia l future of the Gold Coast pro

mises to be one of great activi ty. The great d iffi cu l t ies

to be fi rst overcome are the want of su itable land ing

pl aces and the absence of i nternal t ransport communica

t ion . Once these are establ ished,commercial activi ty

wi l l soon fol low ; valuable products wi l l be brought to

the coast,mines wi l l be opened up, and Brit ish energy

and capi ta l pave the way for a prosperous future for a

somewhat long-neglected colony. Two land ing places

should be constructed,one near Takorad i Bay and one at

Accra . The former place provides al l requ irements for

harbour,safe anchorage

,easy landing

,and for a coal ing

station,whi le at the latter place the rocks upon which

J ames Fort i s bu i l t,wou ld serve as a su itable foundation

for a l and ing stage for the eastern part ofthe colony .

I n a previous chapter I have al ready given an ou tl ine

ofthe rai lways required in the colony . Here I wi l l add

but one more suggestion . The short strip of seaboard

between A ccra and Ada,incl ud ing the estuary of the

river Volta,i s ofbut l i tt le commercial value orimportance.

Yet the town ofAda at the mouth of the Vol ta is the

port from whence nearly one thi rd of the palm oil and

palm kernel s produced in the colony are exported .

Kpong on the right bank of the Volta i s the col lecting

point for th is large export trade,from whence with much

trouble and expense,i t i s with cons iderable d iffi cu l ty

transported to the Volta mouth and across the bar for22


sh ipment from Ada . The trade ofAccra,al though the

town is the capital and headquarters ofthe colony,does

not improve,the exports being very smal l i n comparison

with other ports on the coast .

Now the present large export trade of Ada cou ld be

transferred with but l i tt l e d ifficu l ty to Acc ra,by the con

struction of a rai lway between that port and the town

of Kpong on the Volta river,and shipped with ease

,

provided that a land ing stage was constructed at Accra

in connect ion with the proposed rai lway . This increase

of traffic wou ld bring the capital into a state of com

mercial prosperi ty, at the expense of the present un

heal thy town of Ada,a change that no one wou ld

serious ly deplore ; the trade i tsel f would remain in the

same hands,but the present commerc ial houses at Ada

would have to c lose thei r premises and trans fer thei r s taff

to Accra, the present headquarters of many of the Ada

trad ing compan ies .


Chief Battles fought

P lace.

Batt l e of EgyaaBatt l e of AnamaboeBatt l e o f Nsimanke

Batt l e ofDomp imBatt l e of AfutuBatt l e of Cape CoastBatt l e of Dodowah

Batt l e ofBobi kumaBatt l e of Yan coomasieBat t l e o f Tets iBatt l e of DwukwaBatt l e of E lm inaBat t l e of AbakrampaBatt l e of AboguBatt l e of BoborasiBatt l e of OwuratserBat t l e ofAmoafur

Batt l e of BekwaiBatt l e ofFoman ahKumas i Burn tKumas i again Burn t

Chief Civil Wars on the Gold Coast.

War between Akwamus andAkrasWarbetween Fan t i andE lm inaWar between Fan t i andAccraExped i t i on t o Apo l l on iaSecon d Exped i t i on to Apo l l on iaWar between Don asiandAburaWar between Dun kwa andAburaAkim C iv i l War

S econd War between Fan ti andE lm in aWarbetween Ashan t i andN koran z a

A shan ti Wars .

Date.14th J un e, 1 80 71 sth J un e, 1 8072 1 st Jan uary, 1 82425th Apr i l, 1 8242 1 st May,

‘

1 824

1 1 th J u ly,1 824

26th Augus t,1 826

9th May, 1 863

1 0th February,1 873

6th Ap r i l,1 873

3oth May, 1 873

13th J un e, 1 8739th N ovembe r, 1 8731 7 th Jan uary, 1 87429th Jan uary, 1 87431 st Jan uary, 1 8743rst Jan uary, 1 874I st February

,1 874

2ndFebruary, 1 8743rdFeb ruary, 1 874

1 896

APPEND ICES . 341

Distances in Miles and Time between A ccra andthe prin

cipal towns and villages on the coast. From “ Actual

Travelling

I. To W INDWA RD .

Town . Place. Time. Mi les.

AccraR iver SekoomBe rekuW in n ebahMan kwad iAppamM umfordTan tumArkra .

Narkwa

SahpondSal tp on dAnamaboeCap e Coast .

E lm inaCommendahChama

Sekon d iAdjuahBoutri

D i xcoveAcquidahTh ree Po in t s L ightPr in ce sAx imE siamah

Attuabu

Bey inHal f As smi

R ive r SekoomBerekuW in n ebahMan kwad iAppamMumfordTan tumArkra

Narkwa

Sal tp on dCorman t in eAnamaboeCap e Coas tE lm inaC ommendahChama .

S ekon d iAdjuahBoutri

D ixcoveAcquidah .

Three Po in ts L ightPr in ce sAximE siamah

Attuabu

BeyinHal f Ass in iN ewtown


II. To LEEWA RD.

Town . P lace. Time. Miles.

AccraCh r istian sborgTe sh iPram PramGreat N ingoAdaAttititi

H ut iKwi t taDan oe

C .

Fares for H ammockmen and Carriers .

From. Amount.

Cape Coast

to Ch r i st ian sborgTesh iPram PramG reat N ingoAda .

Attititi

H ut iKwi t taDan oeAflao


Distances in Miles and Time between A ccra and the prin

cipal towns andvillages in the in terior.

From . Time. Mi les .

APPEND ICES .

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THE GOLD COAST PAST AND PRESENT .346

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APPEND IX F .

OUTFIT FOR THE WEST COAST .

I . CLOTH ING .

THE same clothing i s worn on the West Coast as in tem

perate coun tries in the heigh t of summer. For the dryseason flan n els , thin dark b lue serge, or thin tweed s wi l lbe foun d most u sefu l , whi le for the rainy season ord inarysummer su i ts wil l n ot be found too heavy. In ad d i t ion to

several chan ges of the above, the d ress su i t, thin b lackmorn ing coat and ves t , and a thin overcoat shou ld be

taken .

Soft white or fancy shirts forgen eral wear ; thin woo l lenunderclothing andsocks , woo l len pyjamas

,cholera bel ts and

flan nel dress ing-

gown s wil l be found the best . Travel lersshou ldalways wear flan nel shirts . Ordinary white shirtsare ofcou rse wan ted.

Shoes or boots are a matter oftaste— shoes are coo ler forthe town s, but travel lers mu st have boot s . Brown tan or

white canvas wi l l recommen d them selves accord ing to tas te .

Even ing shoes andsl ippers are al so wan ted . Heavier boot sand leggin gs, kn ickerbockers and p u tties are requ i red bytravel l ing ofl‘icers . Much heavier clothing i s requ i redu ponthe homewardvoyage.

The best travel l ing cases are the tin air-tigh t un iform


The Maconochie Ration s wi l l be found part icu larly wel ladaptedforofficers away from headquarters .

I w i l l n ot attempt to g ive any ru les here forhealth , forso much depends upon the individual , that what 1 8 on e man

’

s

food in this respect is another man ’

s poison . There isbut on e golden rule for West Africa—Moderation in

Things .

ABERDEEN UN IV ERS ITY PRESS .

nativ e majesty on th e gold coast. - Forgotten Books

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