* * * * *
_Customs._
The Yam Custom is annual, just at the maturity of that vegetable, which
is planted in December, and not eaten until the conclusion of the
custom, the early part of September. All the caboceers and captains, and
the majority of the tributaries, are enjoined to attend, none being
excused, but such as the Kings of Inta, and Dagwumba, (who send
deputations of their principal caboceers,) and those who have been
dispatched elsewhere on public business. If a chief or caboceer has
offended, or if his fidelity be suspected, he is seldom accused or
punished until the Yam Custom, which they attend frequently unconscious,
and always uncertain of what may be laid to their charge. The Yam Custom
is like the Saturnalia; neither theft, intrigue, or assault are
punishable during the continuance, but the grossest liberty prevails,
and each sex abandons itself to its passions.
On Friday the 5th of September, the number, splendor, and variety of
arrivals, thronging from the different paths, was as astonishing as
entertaining; but there was an alloy in the gratification, for the
principal caboceers sacrificed a slave at each quarter of the town, on
their entré.
In the afternoon of Saturday, the King received all the caboceers and
captains in the large area, where the Dankara canons are placed. The
scene was marked with all the splendor of our own entré, and many
additional novelties. The crush in the distance was awful and
distressing. All the heads of the kings and caboceers whose kingdoms had
been conquered, from Saï Tootoo to the present reign, with those of the
chiefs who had been executed for subsequent revolts, were displayed by
two parties of executioners, each upwards of a hundred, who passed in an
impassioned dance, some with the most irresistible grimace, some with
the most frightful gesture: they clashed their knives on the skulls, in
which sprigs of thyme were inserted, to keep the spirits from troubling
the King. I never felt so grateful for being born in a civilized
country. Firing and drinking palm wine were the only divertissemens to
the ceremony of the caboceers presenting themselves to the King; they
were announced, and passed all round the circle saluting every umbrella:
their bands preceded; we reckoned above forty drums in that of the King
of Dwabin. The effect of the splendor, the tumult, and the musquetry,
was afterwards heightened by torch light. We left the ground at 10
o’clock; the umbrellas were crowded even in the distant streets, the
town was covered like a large fair, the broken sounds of distant horns
and drums filled up the momentary pauses of the firing which encircled
us: the uproar continued until four in the morning, just before which
the King retired. I have attempted a drawing, (No. 2.) it is by no means
adequate, yet more so than description could be.
[Illustration: _Drawn by T. E. Bowdich Esqr._
_Engraved by R. Havell & Son._
THE FIRST DAY OF THE YAM CUSTOM.
_Published Decr. 2, 1818, by John Murray, Albemarle Street._]
On the left side of the drawing is a group of captains dancing and
firing, as described in our entré. Immediately above the encircling
soldiery, is a young caboceer under his umbrella, borne on the shoulders
of his chief slave; he salutes as he passes along, and is preceded and
surrounded by boys (with elephants tails, feathers, &c.) and his
captains, who, lifting their swords in the air, halloo out the deeds of
his fore-fathers; his stool is borne close to him, ornamented with a
large brass bell. Above is the fanciful standard of a chief, who is
preceded and followed by numerous attendants; he is supported round the
waist by a confidential slave, and one wrist is so heavily laden with
gold, that it is supported on the head of a small boy; with the other
hand he is saluting a seated caboceer, sawing the air by a motion from
the wrist. His umbrella is sprung up and down to increase the breeze,
and large grass fans are also playing; his handsomest slave girl
follows, bearing on her head a small red leather trunk, full of gold
ornaments, and rich cloths; behind are soldiers and drummers, who throw
their white-washed drums in the air, and catch them again, with much
agility and grimace, as they walk along. Boys are in the front, bearing
elephants tails, fly flappers, &c. and his captains with uplifted
swords, are hastening forward the musicians and soldiers. Amongst the
latter is the stool, so stained with blood that it is thought decent to
cover it with red silk. Behind the musicians is Odumata, coming round to
join the procession in his state hammock lined with red taffeta, and
smoking under his umbrella, at the top of which is a stuffed leopard. In
the area below is an unfortunate victim, tortured in the manner
described in the entré, and two of the King’s messengers clearing the
way for him. The King’s four linguists are seen next; two, Otee and
Quancum, are seated in conversation under an umbrella; the chief,
Adoosey, is swearing a royal messenger, (to fetch an absent caboceer,)
by putting a gold handled sword between his teeth, whilst Agay delivers
the charge, and exhorts him to be resolute. The criers, all deformed and
with monkey skin caps, are seated in the front. Under the next umbrella
is the royal stool, thickly cased in gold. Gold pipes, fans of ostrich
wing feathers, captains seated with gold swords, wolves heads and snakes
as large as life of the same metal, depending from the handles, girls
bearing silver bowls, body guards, &c. &c. are mingled together till we
come to the King, seated in a chair of ebony and gold, and dressed much
in the same way as described at the first interview. He is holding up
his two fingers to receive the oath of the captain to the right, who,
pointing to a distant country, vows to conquer it. On the right and left
of the state umbrella are the flags of Great Britain, Holland, and
Denmark. A group of painted figures are dancing up to the King, in the
most extravagant attitudes, beating time with their long knives on the
skulls stuck full of thyme. On the right of the King is the eunuch, who
superintends the group of small boys, the children of the nobility,
waving elephants tails, (spangled with gold,) feathers, &c.: behind him
is the above mentioned captain and other chiefs dressed as in the left
end of the drawing. Musicians, seated and standing, are playing on
instruments cased or plated with gold. The officers of the Mission are
next seen, their linguists in front, their soldiers, servants, and flag
behind, at the back of whom is placed the King’s state hammock, under
its own umbrella. Adjoining the officers is old Quatchie Quofie and his
followers; at the top of his umbrella is stuck a small black wooden
image, with a bunch of rusty hair on the head, intending to represent
the famous Akim caboceer who was killed by him; vain of the action, he
is seen according to his usual custom, dancing before and deriding his
fallen enemy, whilst his captains bawl out the deed, and halloo their
acclamations. The manner of drinking palm wine is exhibited in the next
group, a boy kneels beneath with a second bowl to catch the droppings,
(it being a great luxury to suffer the liquor to run over the beard,)
whilst the horns flourish, and the captains halloo the strong names. The
Moors are easily distinguished by their caps, and preposterous turbans.
One is blessing a Dagwumba caboceer, who is passing on horseback, (the
animal covered with fetishes and bells,) escorted by his men in tunics,
bearing lances, and his musicians with rude violins, distinct from the
sanko. The back of the whole assembly is lined with royal soldiers, and
the commoner ones are ranged in front, with here and there a captain and
a group of musicians, who, some with an old cocked hat, some with a
soldier’s jacket, &c. &c. afford a ludicrous appearance. This
description will be rendered more illustrative of the drawing, by
referring to that of our entré.
The next morning the King ordered a large quantity of rum to be poured
into brass pans, in various parts of the town; the crowd pressing
around, and drinking like hogs; freemen and slaves, women and children,
striking, kicking, and trampling each other under foot, pushed head
foremost into the pans, and spilling much more than they drank. In less
than an hour, excepting the principal men, not a sober person was to be
seen, parties of four reeling and rolling under the weight of another,
whom they affected to be carrying home; strings of women covered with
red paint, hand in hand, falling down like rows of cards; the commonest
mechanics and slaves furiously declaiming on state palavers; the most
discordant music, the most obscene songs, children of both sexes
prostrate in insensibility. All wore their handsomest cloths, which they
trailed after them to a great length, in a drunken emulation of
extravagance and dirtiness.[84]
Towards evening the populace grew sober again, the strange caboceers
displayed their equipages in every direction, and at five o’clock there
was a procession from the palace to the south end of the town and back;
the King and the dignitaries were carried in their hammocks, and passed
through a continued blaze of musketry: the crush was dreadful. The next
day (Monday) was occupied in state palavers, and on Tuesday the diet
broke up, and most of the caboceers took leave.
About a hundred persons, mostly culprits reserved, are generally
sacrificed, in different quarters of the town, at this custom. Several
slaves were also sacrificed at Bantama, over the large brass pan, their
blood mingling with the various vegetable and animal matter within,
(fresh and putrefied,) to complete the charm, and produce invincible
fetish. All the chiefs kill several slaves, that their blood may flow
into the hole from whence the new yam is taken. Those who cannot afford
to kill slaves, take the head of one already sacrificed and place it on
the hole.[85]
The royal gold ornaments are melted down every Yam Custom, and fashioned
into new patterns, as novel as possible. This is a piece of state policy
very imposing on the populace, and the tributary chiefs who pay but an
annual visit.
About ten days after the custom, the whole of the royal houshold eat new
yam for the first time, in the market place, the King attending. The
next day he and the captains set off for Sarrasoo before sun rise, to
perform their annual ablutions in the river Dah. Almost all the
inhabitants follow him, and the capital appears deserted; the succeeding
day the King washes in the marsh at the south-east end of the town, the
captains lining the streets leading to it on both sides. He is attended
by his suite, but he laves the water with his own hands over himself,
his chairs, stools, gold and silver plate, and the various articles of
furniture used especially by him. Several brass pans are covered with
white cloth, with various fetish under them. About twenty sheep are
dipped, (one sheep and one goat only are sacrificed at the time,) to be
killed in the palace in the afternoon, that their blood may be poured on
the stools and door posts. All the doors, windows, and arcades of the
palace, are plentifully besmeared with a mixture of eggs, and palm oil;
as also the stools of the different tribes and families. After the
ceremony of washing is over, the principal captains precede the King to
the palace, where, contrary to usual custom, none but those of the first
rank are allowed to enter, to see the procession pass. The King’s fetish
men walk first, with attendants holding basins of sacred water, which
they sprinkle plentifully over the chiefs with branches,[86] the more
superstitious running to have a little poured on their heads, and even
on their tongues. The King and his attendants all wear white cloths on
this occasion. Three white lambs are led before him, intended for
sacrifice at his bed chamber. All his wives follow, with a guard of
archers.
Another national custom is the Adaï, by the number of which the
Ashantees appear to reckon their year, which began, I could not
understand why, on the first of October. The common people pretend, or
believe, that the time for repeating the Adaï, is marked by the falling
of a fruit like a gourd, from a tree called Brebretim, and which
generally takes place in about twenty days from its first appearance,
all the birds and beasts in the neighbourhood crying out simultaneously.
They further pretend, that from the fruit of this tree spring various
kinds of vegetables. This account of the tree, known in Warsaw as well,
is peculiar to Ashantee. The customs are alternately called the great
and little Adaï, the former taking place always on a Sunday, the latter
on a Wednesday; and it appeared to me, from calculation, that there were
six weeks between each great Adaï, and six between each little one, so
that the custom was generally held every twenty-one days.
The large drum which stands at the entrance of the palace, adorned with
skulls and thigh bones, is struck with great force at sun set the
preceding day, as a signal; the whole of the establishment of the palace
shout, and their shout is echoed by the people throughout the town.
Music and firing generally beguile the night. The next morning the King
goes to the fetish house, (Himma,) opposite the palace, and offers
several sheep; the blood of this sacrifice is poured on the gold stool,
to which extraordinary virtues are ascribed, being considered the
palladium of the kingdom: the deposition of Saï Quamina was protracted
from his having it in his possession at Dwabin. The caboceers and
captains, many coming from towns two or three days distant, begin to
march to the large yard of the palace about sun rise, to secure their
places. We generally attended between nine and ten, when the King had
just seated himself. The first ceremony was penetrating to the King,
through the various state officers and attendants, to wish him good
morning, at which he slightly inclined his head. The chiefs as they
advanced to do so, were supported and followed by a few favourite
attendants, who flourished their swords in the air, the gold handles
upwards, and the band of each began to play as he left his seat. Young
caboceers of five and six years of age, stalked by with interesting
vanity. After this the King left his chair, which was turned upside
down, and retired a few minutes into the palace. All the horns
flourished as he made his exit and entrée; swords, feathers, elephants
tails, were waved rapidly, and the drums beaten with deafening effect.
After he was seated, the linguists, preceded by their gold canes and
insignia, presented a sheep, a flask of rum, (drank on the ground,) and
ten ackies of gold to each superior captain, and somewhat less to the
others. Another flourish proclaimed the dispensation of the King’s
bounty. Five or six men then rose; and chaunted his deeds and titles for
about ten minutes. I regret exceedingly that this chaunt was not noted,
it was so harmonious. I observed them put something between their teeth
before they began. The same tedious form of saluting the King was now
repeated to return thanks. Any new law was afterwards promulgated, which
occurred but twice during our stay, and the levee broke up on the King’s
leaving his chair. Not unfrequently the whole took place during heavy
rain. It was computed that the King dashed or presented forty pereguins
of gold (£400.) every Adaï custom.[87]
The decease of a person is announced by a discharge of musketry,
proportionate to his rank, or the wealth of his family. In an instant
you see a crowd of slaves burst from the house, and run towards the
bush, flattering themselves that the hindmost, or those surprised in the
house, will furnish the human victims for sacrifice, if they can but
secrete themselves until the custom is over. The body is then handsomely
drest in silk and gold, and laid out on the bed, the richest cloths
beside it.[88] One or two slaves are then sacrificed at the door of the
house. I shall describe the custom for Quatchie Quofie’s mother, which
we witnessed August the 2d.; it was by no means a great one, but it will
give the most correct idea of these splendid, but barbarous ceremonies.
The King, Quatchie Quofie, and Odumata each sacrificed a young girl
directly the deceased had breathed her last, that she might not want for
attendants until the greater sacrifice was made. The retainers,
adherents, and friends of the family then sent contributions of gold,
powder, rum, and cloth, to be expended at the custom; the King, as heir,
exceeding every quota but that of the nearest relative, who succeeded to
the stool and slaves. The King also sent a sum of gold, and some rich
cloths to be buried with the deceased, in the basket or coffin. I could
not learn the various sums of gold dust with sufficient accuracy to note
them, but the following were the quantities of powder presented on the
occasion:
Quatchie Quofie 20 oz. (of gold) kegs.
King 4
King’s brother 2
Amanquateä 2
Odumata 2
Apokoo 1
Otee 1
Yapensoo 1
Amanqua Abiniowa (the nephew) 2
(Name illegible) 1
Adoosey 1
Jessinting 1
Saphoo 1
Ooshoo 1
Inferior retainers 4
--
44 nearly 12 barrels.
The inferior retainers of Quatchie Quofie gave four ackies of gold, and
eight fathoms of cloth each. I was told these contributions were
unusually small, from the command of the King that the greatest economy
should be observed in every expenditure of powder, on account of the
approaching war.
We walked to Assafoo about twelve o’clock; the vultures were hovering
around two headless trunks, scarcely cold. Several troops of women, from
fifty to a hundred in each, were dancing by in movements resembling
skaiting, lauding and bewailing the deceased in the most dismal, yet not
discordant strains; audible, from the vast number, at a considerable
distance. Other troops carried the rich cloths and silks of the deceased
on their heads, in shining brass pans, twisted and stuffed into crosses,
cones, globes, and a fanciful variety of shapes only to be imagined, and
imposing at a small distance the appearance of rude deities. The faces,
arms, and breasts of these women were profusely daubed with red earth,
in horrid emulation of those who had succeeded in besmearing themselves
with the blood of the victims. The crowd was overbearing; horns, drums,
and muskets, yells, groans, and screeches invaded our hearing with as
many horrors as were crowded on our sight. Now and then a victim was
hurried by, generally dragged or run along at full speed; the uncouth
dress, and the exulting countenances of those who surrounded him,
likening them to as many fiends. I observed apathy, more frequently than
despair or emotion, in the looks of the victims. The chiefs and captains
were arriving in all directions, announced by the firing of muskets, and
the peculiar flourishes of their horns, many of which were by this time
familiar to us; they were then habited plainly as warriors, and were
soon lost to our sight in the crowd. As old Odumata passed in his
hammock, he bade us observe him well when he passed again: this prepared
us in a small degree. Presently the King’s arrival in the market place
was announced, the crowd rolled towards it impetuously, but the soldiery
hacked on all sides indiscriminately, and formed a passage for the
procession. Quatchie Quofie hurried by, plunging from side to side like
a Bacchanal, drunk with the adulation of his bellowing supporters; his
attitudes were responsive to the horror and barbarism of the exultations
which inspired them. The victims, with large knives driven through their
cheeks, eyed him with indifference; he them with a savage joy, bordering
on phrenzy: insults were aggravated on the one, flattery lavished on the
other. Our disgust was beguiled for an instant by surprise. The chiefs
who had just before passed us in their swarthy cloths, and the dark
gloomy habits of war, now followed Quatchie Quofie, glistening in all
the splendor of their fetish dresses; (see drawing, No. I.) the
sprightly variety of their movements ill accorded with the ceremony. Old
Odumata’s vest was covered with fetish, cased invariably in gold or
silver. A variety of extraordinary ornament and novel insignia, courted
and reflected the sun in every direction. It was like a splendid
pantomime after a Gothic tragedy.
We followed to the market place. The King, and the chiefs not
immediately connected with Quatchie Quofie, were seated under their
canopies, with the usual insignia and retinue, and lined about the half
of a circle, apparently half a mile in circumference; the soldiery
completed it, their respective chiefs situated amongst them. Thirteen
victims, surrounded by their executioners, whose black shaggy caps and
vests gave them the appearance of bears rather than men, were pressed
together by the crowd to the left of the King. The troops of women,
before described, paraded without the circle, vociferating the dirge.
Rum and palm wine were flowing copiously, horns and drums were exerted
even to frenzy. In an instant there was a burst of musketry near the
King, and it spread and continued incessantly, around the circle, for
upwards of an hour. The soldiers kept their stations, but the chiefs,
after firing, bounded once round the area with the gesture and
extravagance of madmen; their panting followers enveloping them in
flags, occasionally firing in all the attitudes of a scaramouch, and
incessantly bellowing the strong names of their exulting chief, whose
musket they snatched from his hands directly he had fired. An old hag,
described as the head fetish woman of the family, screamed and plunged
about in the midst of the fire as if in the greatest agonies. The
greater the chief the heavier the charge of powder he is allowed to
fire; the heaviest charge recollected, was that fired by the King on the
death of his sister, 18 ackies, or an ounce avoirdupoise. Their
blunderbusses and long guns were almost all braced closely with the
cordage of the country; they were generally supported by their
attendants whilst they fired, several did not appear to recover it for
nearly a minute; Odumata’s old frame seemed shaken almost to
dissolution. Many made a point of collecting near us, just within the
circle, and firing as close as possible to startle us; the frequent
bursting of their muskets made this rather alarming as well as
disagreeable. The firing abated, they drank freely from the bowls of
palm wine, religiously pouring a small quantity on the ground before
they raised them to their lips.[89]
The principal females of the family, many of them very handsome, and of
elegant figures, came forward to dance; dressed, generally, in yellow
silk, with a silver knife hung by a chain round their necks; one with a
gold, another with a silver horn; a few were dressed as fetish women; an
umbrella was held over the grand daughter as she danced. The Ashantees
dance incomparably better than the people of the water side, indeed
elegantly; the sexes do not dance separately, as in Fantee, but the man
encircles the woman with a piece of silk which he generally flirts in
his right hand, supports her round the waist, receives her elbows in the
palms of his hands, and a variety of figures approximating, with the
time and movement, very closely to the waltz.
A dash of sheep and rum was exchanged between the King and Quatchie
Quofie, and the drums announced the sacrifice of the victims. All the
chiefs first visited them in turn; I was not near enough to distinguish
wherefore. The executioners wrangled and struggled for the office, and
the indifference with which the first poor creature looked on, in the
torture he was from the knife passed through his cheeks, was remarkable:
the nearest executioner snatched the sword from the others, the right
hand of the victim was then lopped off, he was thrown down, and his head
was sawed rather than cut off; it was cruelly prolonged, I will not say
wilfully. Twelve more were dragged forward, but we forced our way
through the crowd, and retired to our quarters. Other sacrifices,
principally female, were made in the bush where the body was buried. It
is usual to “wet the grave” with the blood of a freeman of
respectability. All the retainers of the family being present, and the
heads of all the victims deposited in the bottom of the grave, several
are unsuspectingly called on in a hurry to assist in placing the coffin
or basket, and just as it rests on the heads or skulls, a slave from
behind stuns one of these freemen by a violent blow, followed by a deep
gash in the back part of the neck, and he is rolled in on the top of the
body, and the grave instantly filled up. A sort of carnival, varied by
firing, drinking, singing, and dancing, was kept up in Assafoo for
several days; the chiefs generally visiting it every evening, or sending
their linguists with a dash of palm wine or rum to Quatchie Quofie; and
I was given to understand, that, but for the approaching war and the
necessary economy of powder, there would have been eight great customs
instead of one, for this woman, one weekly, the King himself firing at
the last. The last day, all the females in any way connected with the
family (who are not allowed to eat for three days after the death,
though they may drink as much palm wine as they please,) paraded round
the town, singing a compliment and thanks to all those who had assisted
in making the custom.
On the death of a King, all the Customs which have been made for the
subjects who have died during his reign, must be simultaneously repeated
by the families, (the human sacrifices as well as the carousals and
pageantry) to amplify that for the monarch, which is also solemnised,
independently, but at the same time, in every excess of extravagance and
barbarity. The brothers, sons, and nephews of the King, affecting
temporary insanity, burst forth with their muskets, and fire
promiscously amongst the crowd; even a man of rank, if they meet him, is
their victim, nor is their murder of him or any other, on such an
occasion, visited or prevented; the scene can scarcely be imagined. Few
persons of rank dare to stir from their houses for the first two or
three days, but religiously drive forth all their vassals and slaves, as
the most acceptable composition of their own absence. The King’s Ocras,
who will be mentioned presently, are all murdered on his tomb, to the
number of a hundred or more, and women in abundance. I was assured by
several, that the custom for Saï Quamina, was repeated weekly for three
months, and that two hundred slaves were sacrificed, and 25 barrels of
powder fired, each time. But the custom for the King’s mother, the
regent of the kingdom during the invasion of Fantee, is most celebrated.
The King of himself devoted 3000 victims, (upwards of 2000 of whom were
Fantee prisoners) and 25 barrels of powder.[90] Dwabin, Kokoofoo,
Becqua, Soota, and Marmpong, furnished 100 victims, and 20 barrels of
powder, each, and most of the smaller towns 10 victims, and two barrels
of powder, each. The Kings, and Kings only, are buried in the cemetery
at Bantama, and the sacred gold buried with them; (see Laws;) their
bones are afterwards deposited in a building there, opposite to which is
the largest brass pan I ever saw, (for sacrifices,) being about five
feet in diameter, with four small lions on the edge. Here human
sacrifices are frequent and ordinary, to water the graves of the Kings.
The bodies of chiefs are frequently carried about with the army, to keep
them for interment at home, and eminent revolters or enemies also, to be
exposed in the capital. Boiteäm, (the father of Otee the fourth
linguist,) who accompanied the army of Abiniowa in his political
capacity, dying at Akrofroom in Aquapim, during the campaign, his body
was kept with the army two months before it arrived at Coomassie. I
could not get any information on their treatment of the corpse, beyond
their invariable reply that they smoked it well over a slow fire.
The laws of Ashantee allow the King 3333 wives, which number is
carefully kept up, to enable him to present women to those who
distinguish themselves, but never exceeded, being in their eyes a
mystical one. Many of these reside in a secluded part of the King’s
croom, or country residence, at Barramang; a greater number in a croom,
at the back of the palace, immediately in the marsh; and the remainder
in two streets of the capital. Many, probably, the King has never seen.
The streets as well as the croom, are inhabited by them exclusively, and
never approached but by the King’s messengers, or their female
relatives, who only communicate with them at the entrances, which are
closed at each end with bamboo doors, where there is always a guard. If
the King _consaws_ or marries an infant at the breast, which is not
unfrequent, she is thenceforth confined to the house, and rigorously
secluded from the sight of any but the female part of her family. The
King has seldom more than six wives resident with him in the palace. On
the occasion of signing the treaty, as explained in the public letter,
about 300 were assembled, and none but the King’s Chamberlain, and the
deputies of the parts of the government, were allowed to be present:
they were addressed through their own linguist, a very decrepid old man;
many of them were very handsome, and their figures exquisite. When they
go out, which is seldom, they are encircled and preceded by troops of
small boys with thongs or whips of elephants hide, who lash every one
severely who does not quit their path for another, or jump into the bush
with his hands before his eyes; and sometimes the offenders are heavily
fined besides. The scrambling their approach occasioned, in the more
public parts of the city, was very diverting; captains, caboceers,
slaves, and children tumbling one over another. I was told what it cost
the King daily to support them, but it has escaped me; they are said to
live as daintily as himself. None but the chief eunuch, an immense
creature, is allowed to bear a message to the King when in the seraglio
of the palace.
It has been mentioned before, that the King’s sisters are not only
countenanced in intrigue, with any handsome subject, but they are
allowed to choose any eminently so, (however inferior otherwise,) as a
husband; who is presently advised by the King of his good fortune; thus
they consider they provide for a personal superiority in their monarchs.
But if the royal bride dies before the husband, unless his rank be
originally elevated, he is expected to kill himself on the occasion, and
also if the only male child dies: if he hesitates, he is peremptorily
reminded that as either are his superiors, to whom he is to be
considered as a slave, so he must attend them wherever they go; and when
a male child is born, the father does it homage and acknowledges his
vassalage in the most abject manner.
The Ocra’s are distinguished by a large circle of gold suspended from
the neck; many of them are favourite slaves, many, commoners who have
distinguished themselves, and who are glad to stake their lives on the
King’s, to be kept free from palavers and supported by his bounty, which
they are entirely; some few are relatives and men of rank. All of the
two former classes, excepting only the two or three individuals known to
have been entrusted with the King’s state secrets, are sacrificed on his
tomb. The royal messengers, and others of the suite have been described
in the processions; they are sometimes fed in the palace, but they have
a free seat at the table of every subject.
The King has a troop of small boys, who carry the fetish bows and
arrows, and are licensed plunderers; they are so sly and nimble, that it
is very diverting to watch them in the market place, which they infest
every morning. Whatever they can carry off is fair game, and cannot be
required or recovered; but the loser, if he can catch them before they
arrive at the palace, may beat them as severely as he pleases, short of
mortal injury; however, they bear it as obdurately as young Spartans.
Sometimes one party trips up a person with a load of provisions, whilst
another scrambles them up: the anxious alarm of the market people,
sitting with sticks in their hands, and the comic archness of these boys
threading the crowd in all directions, is indescribable. Some of the
earliest European travellers in Abyssinia met with a similar troop of
royal plunderers, and I believe suffered from them; our property was
always respected by them, but they used to entertain themselves with
mimicking our common expressions and our actions, which they did
inimitably: whilst sketching, they buzzed about me like musquitoes. The
Ashantees are without exception the most surprising mimics I have ever
heard. I have known a captain, called Adoo Quamina, repeat a sentence
after I had finished it, of at least a dozen words, which he knew
nothing about, and had not heard before. The King has a sort of buffoon,
whose movements were as irresistibly comic as those of Grimaldi.
The King appeared to have nearly a hundred negroes of different colors,
through the shades of red and pink to white; they were collected for
state, but were generally disgusting objects, diseased and emaciated;
they always seemed as if going to shed their skins, and their eyes
blinked in the light, as if it was not their element.
About twenty pots of white soup, and twenty pots of black (made with
palm nuts) are cooked daily at the palace, (besides those for the
consumption of the household,) for visitors of consequence, and a
periguin of gold is given daily to Yokokroko, the chamberlain, for palm
wine. This would have appeared too large a sum, had I not witnessed the
vast consumption and waste of it; for the vigour of an Ashantee being
estimated by the measure of the draught he can drink off; nearly half is
generally spilt over his beard, which it is his greatest pride and
luxury to draw through his fingers when wet. The King was very proud of
the superior length of his beard. A large quantity of palm wine is
dashed to the retinues of all the captains attending in the course of
the day; much is expended in the almost daily ceremony of drinking it in
state in the market place; and our party was always well provided for in
the course of the evening. The palm wine at the palace was seldom good,
but a zest was excited by the exquisite polish of the plate in which it
was served. Apokoo, Odumata, and others, sent us some daily that was
excellent.
It is to be observed that the King’s weights are one third heavier than
the current weights of the country; and all the gold expended in
provision being weighed out in the former, and laid out in the latter,
the difference enriches the chamberlain, cook, and chief domestic
officers of the palace, as it is thought derogatory to a King avowedly
to pay his subjects for their services. In the same manner the linguists
derive the greater part of their incomes, (their influence being
occasionally purchased,) for all the dashes or presents of gold the King
makes in the year, are weighed out by the royal weights, and re-weighed
by them in the current ones. The law allows a debtor to recover of a
reluctant or tardy creditor, in the King’s weights, besides the
interest, (noticed in the laws,) if he is esteemed enough by Apokoo the
treasurer, to be trusted with them; or rather, if he can afford to bribe
him, or engages to share the profit with him.
After a subject is executed for crime, the body and head are carried out
of town by some of the King’s slaves, appointed for that purpose, and
thrown where the wild beasts may devour them; but if the deceased be of
any consequence, some of his friends conceal themselves near where they
know the body will be carried, and purchase it, and the right of burial,
of these domestics, generally for eight ackies. There are a number of
fine large sheep, decorated with bells and other ornaments, about the
palace. If any person gets into an ordinary palaver, and wishes the
King’s interference in his favor, he goes to the captain who has the
charge of these sheep, pays him 20 ackies for one, and sends or takes it
to the King, as a dash, who commits it again to the care of the captain.
When the King sends an ambassador, he enriches the splendor of his suite
and attire as much as possible; sometimes provides it entirely; but it
is all surrendered on the return, (except the additional wives) and
forms a sort of public state wardrobe. The King’s system of espionage is
much spoken of (for its address and infallibility) by Apokoo and others,
who abet it. A shrewd but mean boy is attached to, or follows the
embassy, (sometimes with a trader,) in the commonest capacity and
meanest attire; and he is instructed to collect every report as he
passes, and to watch the motions of the embassy as closely as possible.
As the extortions of these deputies are always loudly and publicly
complained of by the injured inhabitants of the dependent or tributary
crooms they pass through, (perhaps being aware they will reach the
King’s ears,) the particulars are easily acquired. The messengers who
were sent with our first dispatches to Cape Coast, excusing the length
of the time, (forty days) by alleging that it was found necessary to
collect a session of the Fantee caboceers at Paintree; the King replied,
“You tell me a lie; you fined a captain there four ounces for breaking
an Ashantee law, and you waited to procure and expend the gold, not
intending it should be known.” The men instantly confessed, and were put
in irons; one was the brother of Yokokroko, who paid six ounces for his
release, after several days.
When the King spits, the boys with the elephants tails sedulously wipe
it up, or cover it with sand; when he sneezes, every person present
touches, or lays the two first fingers across the forehead and breast,
as the Moors did when they pronounced a blessing, and the Ashantees,
invariably, to propitiate one. These troops of boys who carry the
elephants tails, are the sons of men of rank and confidence; for
whenever the King dignifies a deserving subject, with what may be termed
nobility, he exchanges some of his own sons or nephews, (from eight to
fourteen years of age,) for those of the individual, who maintains them,
and for whom they perform the same offices, as his own and others do for
the King. Thus the present King (the short reign of his brother Saï
Apokoo being unanticipated) carried an elephants tail before Apokoo,
whose kindness and indulgence to the child secured the preference of the
monarch.
It is a frequent practice of the King’s, to consign sums of gold to the
care of rising captains, without requiring them from them for two or
three years, at the end of which time he expects the captain not only to
restore the principal, but to prove that he has acquired sufficient of
his own, from the use of it, to support the greater dignity the King
would confer on him. If he has not, his talent is thought too mean for
further elevation. Should he have no good traders amongst his
dependents, (for if he has there is no difficulty) usury and worse
resources are countenanced, and thought more creditable than a failure,
ascribed to want of talent rather than to a regard of principle.
The fees to the King’s household on a captain being raised to a stool,
are generally eight ounces. I saw two instances of the King paying them
himself; the individuals, very suddenly elevated for extraordinary
courage, being too poor to do so. They were immediately dispatched to
collect tributes, the per centage on which, (see Laws,) and the
douceurs, which may be judged of by the amount provided for them in the
settlement of the Commenda palaver, would possess them of a good sum to
begin with.
The interference of Amanquateä, Quatchie Quofie, Odumata, and Apokoo, is
purchased at a most extravagant rate by offenders, whether foreigners or
subjects; it is irresistible with the King; Apokoo is generally
preferred; minor influence is purchased in proportion. No subject can
sit in public with a cushion on his stool, unless it has been presented
to him by the King, or one of the four, who, as well as all the other
superior captains, receive a periguin of gold for every oath the King
exacts of them.
During the minority, or the earlier part of the reign of a monarch, the
linguists and oldest counsellors visit him betimes every morning, and
repeat, in turn, all the great deeds of his ancestors. The greatest
deference seemed to be paid to aged experience or wisdom.
Apokoo is the keeper of the royal treasury, and has the care of all the
tributes, which are deposited, separately, in a large apartment of the
palace, of which he only has the key. Numerous and various as the sums
are, he disposes of them by a local association which is said to be
infallible with him, for the Moorish secretary, (who resided some time
at Hio,) only records the greater political events. Apokoo holds a sort
of exchequer court at his own house daily, (when he is attended by two
of the King’s linguists, and various state insignia,) to decide all
cases affecting tribute or revenue, and the appeal to the King is seldom
resorted to. He generally reclined on his lofty bed, (of accumulated
cushions, and covered with a large rich cloth or piece of silk,) with
two or three of his handsomest wives near him, whilst the pleadings were
going forward. He was always much gratified when I attended, and rose to
seat me beside him. I observed that all calculations were made,
explained, and recorded, by cowries. In one instance, after being
convinced by a variety of evidence that a public debtor was unable to
pay gold, he commuted sixteen ounces of gold, for twenty men slaves.
Several captains, who were his followers, attended this court daily with
large suites, and it was not only a crowded, but frequently a splendid
scene. Before the footoorh or treasury bag is unlocked by the weigher,
though it be by the King’s order, Apokoo must strike it with his hand in
sanction.
In all public trials, the charges are preferred, in outline, against the
criminal by the King’s linguists, and he is always heard fully, and
obliged to commit or exculpate himself on every point, and to take the
various primary oaths, before the witnesses are confronted with him; of
whom he is kept as ignorant as possible until the moment of their
appearance. The oaths, sometimes four or five, are progressive,
generally beginning by the King’s foot, or some arbitrary form, and are,
apparently, not considered awful or decisive; such perjuries being
commutable by fine. But when the oath, “by the King’s father,” is
administered, every one looks serious, and if, “by Cormantee and
Saturday” (see History) is resorted to, there is a gloomy silence; but
this is seldom ventured, if the witnesses, (hurried in with a sort of
stage effect between that and the former oaths,) confound or perplex the
accused.
There are various ways of taking fetish; the two I observed, were,
licking a white fowl twice or thrice, and drinking a nauseous vegetable
juice without coughing: it was administered by the linguists out of a
brass pan in a folded leaf of the plant. If the accused is cleared, he
comes forward, and is marked with white chalk by the linguists, after
which he bows to, and thanks all the great men in the council. Taking
doom is the infallible test, when they consider the case to be too
doubtful for human decision. The bark of that tree is put into a large
calabash with water, so as to make a strong infusion; it is stirred up
whilst the suspected parties sip in turn. It operates, instantaneously
and convulsively, as a most violent emetic and purge; those who sip
first may recover, and the dregs are frequently left designedly for the
obnoxious.[91]
The criers, upwards of a hundred, who always attend the linguists, are
all deformed or maimed, to make them more conspicuous; they wear a
monkey skin cap, with a gold plate in front, and the tail hanging down
behind. Their common exclamations are, Tehoo! Tehing! Odiddee! Be
silent! Be quiet! Pray hear! and these are so incessantly uttered, that
they are themselves the only interruption. Several less interesting
peculiarities are represented in the drawings of the Yam Custom, and
associated with other subjects.
A general is appointed to the command of an army by receiving a gold
handled sword of the King’s from his hand, (who strikes him gently with
it three times on the head,) swearing to return it encrusted with the
blood of his conquered enemies. One of the King’s linguists always
accompanies an army of any consequence, to whom all the politics of the
war are entrusted, and whose talent and intelligence in negotiating, are
expected to mature the fruits of the military genius of the general, and
to reimburse the expense of the war by heavy fines and contributions.
The Ashantees are as superior in discipline as in courage to the people
of the water side, though their discipline is limited to the following
precautions. They never pursue when it is near sun set; the general is
always in the rear; the secondary captains lead the soldiers on, whilst
those in command, with a few chosen individuals, urge them forward from
the rear with their heavy swords, and cut any man down who retreats
until the case is desperate. The first object of the Ashantee in close
fight, is, to fire and spring upon the throat of his enemy; to advance
every time he fires he feels to be imperative, if his commander thinks
it possible, who would, otherwise, if he escaped death in the action,
inflict it on him directly it was over. It is one of the sentences of
the most popular song in Coomassie, “if I fight I die, if I run away I
die, better I go on and die.” They are as the antient Spaniards have
been described, “prodiga gens animæ et properare facillima mortem.” The
general has his umbrella spread in the rear, and, besides his guard, has
several extra muskets ready loaded for those soldiers who may be driven
to him in case of reverse. His band plays all the time, and in his
assumed contempt for the enemy, it is the etiquette for him to divert
himself at some game, whilst the heads of the slain of any rank in the
hostile army are sent to him to put his foot on. When the result of an
important action is expected, even with an anxiety by no means sanguine,
and the messengers are known to be near the capital, the King is always
seated in public, with his golden worra board before him, playing with
some dignitary; and thus receives the news, to impress the people with
confidence by his affected indifference to victory or defeat, when
superstition had revealed and fated inevitable success ultimately.
All the superior captains have peculiar flourishes or strains for their
horns, adapted to short sentences, which are always recognised, and will
be repeated on enquiry by any Ashantee you may meet walking in the
streets, though the horns are not only out of sight, but at a distance
to be scarcely audible. These flourishes are of a strong and distinct
character. The King’s horns uttered, “I pass all Kings in the world.”
Apokoo’s, “Ashantees, do you do right now?” Gimma’s, “Whilst I live no
harm can come.” Bundahenna’s, “I am a great King’s son.” Amanqua’s, “No
one dares trouble me.” This will be further noticed in the chapter on
Music. These peculiar flourishes are more particularly for their
government in action, for all the soldiery, indeed I might say all the
women and children, being familiar with every flourish, the positions of
the various chiefs are judged of when they cannot be seen; whether they
are advancing, falling back, or attempting to flank the enemy by
penetrating the woods, is known, and the movements of all the others
become co-operative, as much as possible. The King’s horns go to the
market place every night, as near to midnight as they can judge, and
flourish a very peculiar strain, which was rendered to me, “King Saï
thanks all his captains and all his people for to-day.”
Several of the hearts of the enemy are cut out by the fetish men who
follow the army, and the blood and small pieces being mixed, (with much
ceremony and incantation,) with various consecrated herbs, all those who
have never killed an enemy before eat a portion, for it is believed that
if they did not, their vigor and courage would be secretly wasted by the
haunting spirit of the deceased. It was said that the King and all the
dignitaries partook of the heart of any celebrated enemy; this was only
whispered; that they wore the smaller joints, bones, and the teeth of
the slain monarchs was evident as well as boasted. One man was pointed
out to me, as always eating the heart of the enemy he killed with his
own hand. The number of an army is ascertained or preserved in cowries
or coin by Apokoo. When a successful general returns, he waits about two
days at a short distance from the capital, to receive the King’s
compliments, and to collect all the splendor possible for his entrée, to
encourage the army and infatuate the people. The most famous generals
are distinguished by the addition of warlike names, more terrific than
glorious, as they designate their manner of destroying their prisoners.
Apokoo was called Aboäwassa, because he was in the habit of cutting off
their arms. Appia, Sheäboo, as he beats their heads in pieces with a
stone. Amanqua, Abiniowa, as he cuts off their legs.
The army is prohibited during the active parts of a campaign, from all
food but meal, which each man carries in a small bag at his side, and
mixes in his hands with the first water he comes to; this, they allege,
is to prevent cooking fires from betraying their position, or
anticipating a surprise. In the intervals, (for this meal is seldom
eaten more than once a day,) they chew the boossee or gooroo nut. This
meal is very nourishing and soon satisfies; we tried it on our march
down. Ashantee spies have been stationed three and four days in the high
trees overlooking Cape Coast Castle, with no other supply than this meal
and a little water, before the army has shewn itself. There is always a
distinct body of recruits with the army, to dispatch those with their
knives whom the musket has only wounded, and they are all expected to
return well armed from despoiling the enemy, or they are not esteemed of
promise, and dismissed to some servile occupation. I could not find that
they had any idea of fortifications, though undoubtedly common to the
large cities on the Niger.
It is the invariable policy of Ashantee to make the contingency of the
power last subdued, the revolters recently quelled, or the allies last
accepted, the van of their army throughout the campaign, and very
frequently there are no Ashantees but captains with the army; but it is
composed entirely of tributaries and allies. Thus Odumata subdued Banda
with an army of Gamans. In the Ashantee body of the army, which is
always that of reserve, the youngest or last made captain marches and
engages first, and the others follow seriatim, until Odumata precedes
Quatchie Quofie, Amanqua follows him, and Apokoo precedes the King. Were
the country generally open, I have no doubt, necessity and their
military genius would have suggested greater arrangement and compactness
in their movement, which is nevertheless very orderly. Two divisions of
an army are rarely allowed to go the same path, lest, being in want of
supplies, the neighbourhood should prove inadequate. Aboidwee, our house
master, (see correspondence on the Ashantee suicide) who has 1700
retainers, always precedes the King’s or Apokoo’s division, (which will
exclusively occupy the Banda path in the invasion of Gaman) to raise a
bamboo house for the King’s reception when he comes up.
Infants are frequently married to infants, for the connection of
families; and infants are as frequently wedded by adults and elderly
men. The ceremony is to send the smaller piece of cloth, worn around the
middle, to the infant, and a handsome dash of gold to the mother, as her
care then ceases to be a duty, but becomes a service performed to the
husband, who also sends frequent presents for the support of the child.
Apokoo told me it was a good plan for a man to adopt who wished to get
gold, for as the circumstance was seldom generally known, the most
innocent freedom when the girl became ten or eleven years old, grounded
a palaver against the individual, though he might consider he was but
fondling a child, and be wholly ignorant of her marriage. I afterwards
understood from several others, that this view was the leading
motive.[92]
It frequently happens, when the family of the wife is too powerful for
the husband to venture to put her to death for intrigue, that he takes
off her nose as a stigma and punishment, and makes her the wife of one
of his slaves. A wife who betrays a secret is sure to lose her upper
lip, and, if discovered listening to a private conversation of her
husband’s, an ear. Women so maimed are to be met with in all parts of
the town. Prostitutes are numerous and countenanced. No Ashantee forces
his daughter to become the wife of the man he wishes, but he instantly
disclaims her support and protection on her refusal, and would persecute
the mother if she afforded it; thus abandoned, they have no resource but
prostitution. During the menses, the women of the capital retire to the
plantations or crooms in the bush.[93]
In visiting, the chief always gives his principal slaves a few sips of
the liquor offered to him, not for security, for it is more frequently
after than before he has drank, but as a mark of his favour. He will
frequently give his daughter in marriage to a confidential slave, but
where there are a few thus distinguished and indulged, (apparently as a
political check upon a heterogeneous populace,) there are thousands
barely existing.
Their principal games are Worra[94] (see drawing, No. 10.) which I could
not understand, and Drafts, which both Moors and Negroes play well and
constantly. Their method resembles the Polish, they take and move
backwards and forwards, and a king has the bishop’s move in chess. They
have another game, for which a board is perforated like a cribbage
board, but in numerous oblique lines, traversing each other in all
directions, and each composed of three holes for pegs; the players begin
at the same instant, with an equal number of pegs, and he who inserts or
completes a line first, in spite of the baulks of his adversary, takes a
peg from him, until the stock of either is exhausted.
[Footnote 84: The description of the siege of Pondicherry in Voltaire
occurred to me; it will assist the imagination of the reader: “De grands
magasins de liqueurs fortes y entretenaient l’ivrognerie et tous les
maux dont elle est le germe. C’est une situation qu’il faut avoir vue.
Les travaux, les gardes de la tranchée étaient faits par des hommes
ivres · · · · · · · · De-là les scènes les plus honteuses et les plus
destructives de la subordination et de la discipline. On a vu des
officiers se colleter avec des soldats et mille autres actions infâmes,
dont le détail, renfermé dans les bornes de la vérité la plus exacte,
paraîtrait une exagération monstreuse.”]
[Footnote 85: In Ahanta, at the Contoom or Harvest custom, each family
erects its rude altar, composed of four sticks driven in the ground, and
twigs laid across the top; the whole is then covered with fresh pulled
leaves. A hog, a sheep, a goat, or a fowl is killed, according to the
means of the family, and the most delicate parts laid on the altar, a
mixture is made of eggs, palm oil, palm wine, the blood of the animal
slain, and other ingredients, and also dedicated to the fetish, in small
pots placed on the altar. In a few days these altars become so offensive
as to render it disagreeable to pass them, but they are never removed.]
[Footnote 86:
“Idem ter socios purâ circumtulit undâ,
Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivæ.” Æn. VI.
]
[Footnote 87: The Ahanta’s divide time into periods of three weeks. The
first week is called Adaï, and is termed the good week, in which much
work is done; and traders visit the markets more frequently in this week
than at any other time, supposing all they do in it must prosper. The
second week is Ajamfoe, or the bad week, in which no work or trade is
done, the natives believing every thing undertaken in it must fail. The
third week is Adim, or the little good week, in which they both work and
trade, but not as much as in the Adaï.]
[Footnote 88:
· · · Tum membra toro defleta reponunt,
Purpureasque super vestes, velamina nota,
Conjiciunt;
Æn. VI.
In Fantee they dress the body richly, and usually prop it erect in a
chair, exposing it until it is dangerous to do so any longer: they bury
it in their house, with as many gold ornaments as they can afford to
dedicate. The men called the town drummers are only allowed to die
standing, and when expiring are snatched up, and supported in that
posture. In Ahanta they frequently exhibit the body chalked all over.]
[Footnote 89:
“Hic duo rite mero libans carchesia Baccho
“Fundit humi.
Æn. V.
“Οἶνον δ’ἐκ δεπάων χαμάδις χέον, οὐδέ τις ἔτλη
“Πρὶν πιέειν, πρὶν λεῖψαι ὑπερμενέϊ Κρονίωνι.”
Ομηρ. η.
The Ashantees do so not only on solemn occasions, but invariably; and it
would seem that the Greeks did, from the following words of Hecuba to
Hector,
“Ἀλλὰ μέν’, ὄφρα κέ τοι μελιηδέα οἶνον ἐνείκω,
Ὡς σπείσῃς Διῒ πατρὶ καὶ ἄλλοις ἀθανάτοισι
Πρῶτον· ἔπειτα δέ κ’αὐτὸς ὀνήσεαι, αἴ κε πίῃσθα·”
Ομηρ, ζ.
]
[Footnote 90: Suetonius tells us that Augustus sacrificed 300 of the
principal citizens of Perusia, to the manes of his uncle Julius. We read
in Prevost, that 64080 persons were sacrificed, with aggravated
barbarity, in the dedication of a temple in Mexico.]
[Footnote 91: In the Warsaw country there is said to be a more dreadful
poison called Sabë: if it is thrown upon the skin, it is absorbed by the
pores, and has nearly the same instantaneous mortal effect as when given
internally.]
[Footnote 92: On the Coast, the bride’s character is very notoriously
published, for part of the husband’s present to her family being a flask
of rum, and that not sent until the next day; whether it is brimful, or
somewhat wanting, indicates her virginity, or early frailty.]
[Footnote 93: The women of Ahanta, on the same occasion, are prohibited
from entering any inhabited place; and if they attempt to go into a
house, are heavily fined or punished. If the family is respectable, they
generally erect a temporary shed to shelter her; the poorer class are
forced to endure the inclemencies of the weather without any retreat.]
[Footnote 94: This game is said to be played in Syria also.]