THE KRUMEN AND FANTI.
LOCALITY OF THE KRUMEN -- THEIR FINE DEVELOPMENT AND WONDERFUL
ENDURANCE -- THEIR SKILL IN BOATING -- COLOR OF THE KRUMEN -- THEIR
VERY SIMPLE DRESS -- DOUBLE NOMENCLATURE -- THEIR USE TO TRAVELLERS
-- GOVERNMENT OF THE KRUMEN -- THEIR LIVELY AND CHEERFUL CHARACTER
-- DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE KRUMEN -- EARNING WIVES -- RELIGION OF THE
KRUMEN -- THE DEITY “SUFFIN” -- KRUMAN FUNERAL -- THE GRAIN COAST --
THE FANTI TRIBE -- THEIR NATIVE INDOLENCE -- FANTI BOATS AND THEIR
MANAGEMENT -- THE KRA-KRA DISEASE -- A WILD LEGEND -- DRESS OF THE
FANTI -- IDEAS OF A FUTURE STATE.
Along the Grain Coast of Western Africa there is a race of men who come
too prominently before European eyes to be omitted from this work. They
have, in a degree, lost the habits of their original savage life, but
they illustrate so well the peculiar negro character that a small space
must be devoted to them.
The name Kru, or Croo, and sometimes Carew, or Crew--so diversified
is the orthography of native names--is a corruption of the Grebo word
“Kráo.” The tribe inhabits a district about twenty-five or thirty miles
along the coast, and extending for a considerable, but uncertain,
distance inland. A good many smaller tribes have been gradually
absorbed into them, and, as they have adopted the language, manners,
and customs, as well as the name of Kráo, we will treat of them all
under the same title.
In the “Wanderings of a F. R. G. S.” there is a curious account of the
derivation of the word Grebo, one of the absorbed tribes. According
to their own tradition, they originally inhabited the interior, and,
finding that their district was too thickly populated, a large number
of them determined to emigrate westward, and secretly prepared for
departure, the majority being averse to the scheme. As they embarked in
a hurry, a number of the canoes were upset, but the remainder succeeded
in bounding over the waves. The people who were capsized, and were
left behind, were therefore called “Waibo,” or the Capsized, while the
others took the name of Grebo, from the bounding gray monkey, called
Gré.
The Krumen are a fine race, and present a great contrast to the usual
slim-limbed and almost effeminate savages of the interior. They are
extremely powerful, and are able to paddle for some forty miles at a
stretch, without seeming to be the least fatigued at the end of their
labors. They are the recognized seamen of the coast, and have made
themselves necessary to the traders, and even to Government vessels, as
they can stand a wonderful amount of work, and are not affected by the
climate like the white sailors.
A Kruman lays himself out for a sailor as soon as he becomes his own
master, and is content to begin life as a “boy,” so that he may end it
as a “man”--_i. e._ he hires himself out in order to obtain goods which
will purchase a wife for him, and by dint of several voyages he adds to
the number of his wives, and consequently to the respect in which he is
held by his countrymen.
He is a marvellous canoe man, and manages his diminutive boat with a
skill that must be seen to be appreciated. He drives it through the
surf with fearless speed, and cares nothing for the boiling water
around him. “The Kruman,” writes Mr. Reade, “squats in it on his knees,
and bales the water out with one of his feet. Sometimes he paddles with
his hands: sometimes, thrusting a leg in the water, he spins the canoe
round when at full speed, like a skater on the ‘outside-edge.’ If it
should capsize, as the laws of equilibrium sometimes demand, he turns
it over, bales it out with a calabash, swimming all the while, and
glides in again, his skin shining like a seal’s.”
These singular little canoes are pointed at each end, and
crescent-shaped, so that they project fore and aft out of the water.
They are very narrow, and are made out of the single trunk of a
tree, usually cotton-wood, or a kind of poplar. The interior is first
hollowed out with fire, next trimmed with an adze, and the ribs are
prevented from collapsing by four or five cross-sticks. They are very
massively constructed, and, as the wood is very light, they do not sink
even if they are filled with water. So small are they, that at a little
distance they cannot be seen, and the inmates appear to be treading
water.
It is a curious sight to watch a fleet of these canoes come off toward
a ship. As soon as an English ship anchors, a swarm of these canoes
comes dashing along, their black inmates singing songs at the top
of their voices, and shouting “Bateo! Bateo! Gi’ way! Bar-gri!” and
similar exclamations, as they race with each other toward the vessel.
No European has been known to manage one of these frail canoes, the
usual result of getting into one being that the boat turns over, and
deposits the rash adventurer in the sea.
The appearance of the men has been graphically described by the “F. R.
G. S.” “Conceive the head of a Socrates, or a Silenus, upon the body
of the Antinous, or Apollo Belvedere. A more magnificent development
of muscle, such perfect symmetry in the balance of grace and strength,
my eyes had never yet looked upon. But the faces! Except when lighted
up by smiles and good humor--expression to an African face is all in
all--nothing could be more unprepossessing. The flat nose, the high
cheek-bones, the yellow eyes, the chalky white teeth, pointed like the
shark’s, the muzzle protruded like that of a dog-monkey, combine to
form an unusual amount of ugliness.
“To this adds somewhat the tribe mark, a blue line of cuts half
an inch broad, from the forehead scalp to the nose tip--in some
cases it extends over both lips to the chin, whence they are called
Bluenoses--whilst a broad arrow or wedge, pointed to the face, and also
blue, occupies each temple, just above the zygomata. The marks are made
with a knife, little cuts into which the oily husk of a gum is rubbed.
Their bodies are similarly ornamented with stars, European emblems, as
anchors, &c., especially with broad double lines down the breast and
other parts.
“Their features are distinctly African, without a mixture of Arab; the
conjunctiva is brown, yellow, or tarnished--a Hamitic peculiarity--and
some paint white goggle-like ovals round the orbits, producing the
effect of a loup. This is sometimes done for sickness, and individuals
are rubbed over with various light and dark colored powders. The skin
is very dark, often lamp-black; others are of a deep rich brown, or
bronze tint, but a light-complexioned man is generally called Tom
Coffee.
“They wear the hair, which is short and kinky, in crops, which look
like a Buddha’s skull-cap, and they shave when in mourning for their
relations. A favorite ‘fash’ (_i. e._ fashion) is to scrape off a
parallelogram behind the head, from the poll to the cerebellum; and
others are decorated in that landscape or parterre style which wilder
Africans love. The back of the cranium is often remarkably flat, and
I have seen many heads of the pyramidal shape, rising narrow and
pointed high to the apex. The beard is seldom thick, and never long;
the moustachio is removed, and the pile, like the hair, often grows in
tufts. The tattoo has often been described. There seems to be something
attractive in this process--the English sailor can seldom resist the
temptation.
“They also chip, sharpen, and extract the teeth. Most men cut out an
inverted V between the two middle incisors of the upper jaw; others
draw one or two of the central lower incisors; others, especially the
St. Andrews men, tip or sharpen the incisors, like the Wahiao and
several Central African tribes.
“Odontology has its mysteries. Dentists seem, or rather seemed, to
hold as a theory that destruction of the enamel involved the loss of
the tooth; the Krumen hack their masticators with a knife, or a rough
piece of hoop iron, and find that the sharpening, instead of producing
caries, acts as a preservative, by facilitating the laniatory process.
Similarly there are physiologists who attribute the preservation of
the negro’s teeth to his not drinking anything hotter than blood heat.
This is mere empiricism. The Arabs swallow their coffee nearly boiling,
and the East African will devour his agali, or porridge, when the
temperature would scald the hand. Yet both these races have pearls of
teeth, except when they chew lime or tobacco.”
The native dress of the men is simple enough, consisting of a pink and
white or blue and white check cloth round the waist, and a variety of
ornaments, made of skin, metal, glass, or ivory. The latter substance
is mostly obtained either from the Gaboon or Cameroon, and is worn in
the shape of large arm rings, cut slowly with a knife, and polished
by drawing a wet cord backward and forward. Some of the sailor Krumen
have their names (_i. e._ their nautical names) engraved on their
armlets, and some of them wear on the breast a brass plate with the
name engraved upon it. Of course some of their ornaments are charms or
fetishes.
The women present a disagreeable contrast to the men, their stature
being short, their proportions ungainly, and their features repulsive.
Their style of dress, which is merely a much-attenuated petticoat,
displays nearly the whole of the figure, and enables the spectator to
form a very accurate opinion of their personal appearance. Of course,
the chief part of the work is done by the women, and this custom has
doubtless some effect in stunting and deteriorating the form.
All the Krumen have two names, one being that by which they are
called in their own tongue, and one by which they are known to their
employers. It really seems a pity that these fine fellows should be
degraded by the ludicrous English names which are given to them. Their
own names--_e. g._ Kofá, Nákú, Tiyá, &c.--are easy enough to speak, and
it would be far better to use them, and not to “call them out of their
names,” according to the domestic phrase. Here are the names of five
men who engaged to take Mr. Reade to the Gaboon: Smoke Jack, Dry Toast,
Cockroach, Pot-of-Beer, and--of all the names in the world for a naked
black man--Florence Nightingale.
They always demand rice, that being a necessity with them, and as long
as they get their pint and a half per diem of rice they can stand
unlimited work. They cook the rice for themselves in their primitive
but effective manner, and feed themselves much as turkeys are crammed,
seizing large handfuls of rice, squeezing them into balls, and
contriving, in some mysterious way, to swallow them whole without being
choked. When they enter the naval service they consider themselves as
made men, getting not only their rice, but allowance in lieu of other
rations plenty of clothing, and high wages, so that when they go ashore
they are rich men, and take their rank. Of course they are fleeced by
all their relations, who flock round them, and expect to be feasted for
several days, but still the sailor Kruman can buy a wife or two, and
set up for a “man” at once. In his own phrase, he is “nigger for ship,
king for country.” One year is the usual term of engagement, and it is
hardly possible to induce Krumen to engage for more than three years,
so attached are they to “me country.”
Their government is simple. They are divided into four classes, or
castes,--namely, the elders, the actual warriors, the probationary
warriors, and the priests; the latter term including the priests
proper, the exorcists, and the physicians. They are strictly
republican, and no one is permitted to accumulate, or, at all events,
to display, wealth much above the average of his fellows. Should even
one of the elders do so, a palaver is held, and his property is reduced
to proper level. This is described by the English-speaking Krumen
as the punishment for “too much sass.” In fact, property is held on
the joint stock principle, so that the word “commonwealth” is very
applicable to their mode of government.
Capital punishment is rare, and is seldom used, except in cases of
witchcraft or murder, and it is remarkable that, in the latter case,
no distinction is made between accidental manslaughter and murder with
“_malice prepense_.” The poison ordeal is common here, the draught
being prepared from the “sass-wood” of the gidden tree; and there is a
wholesome rule that, if the accused survives the ordeal, the accuser
must drink it in his turn.
That they are arrant liars, that they are confirmed thieves, and that
they have not the slightest notion of morality, is but to say that
they are savages, and those who have to deal with them can manage well
enough, provided that they only bear in mind these characteristics.
If they hear that they are going to some place which they
dislike--probably on account of some private feud, because they are
afraid of some man whose domestic relations they have disturbed--they
will come with doleful faces to their master, and tell him the most
astounding lies about it.
Yet they are a cheerful, lively set of fellows, possessing to the
full the negro’s love of singing, drumming, and dancing. Any kind of
work that they do is aided by a song, and an experienced traveller
who is paddled by Krumen always takes with him a drum of some sort,
knowing that it will make the difference of a quarter of the time
occupied in the journey. Even after a hard day’s work, they will come
to their master, ask permission to “make play,” and will keep up their
singing and dancing until after midnight. Under such circumstances the
traveller will do well to grant his permission, under the condition
that they remove themselves out of earshot. Even their ordinary talk
is so much like shouting, that they must always be quartered in
outhouses, and when they become excited with their music their noise is
unendurable.
They are very fond of intoxicating liquids, and are not in the least
particular about the quality, so that the intoxicating property be
there.
It has already been mentioned that they are arrant thieves, and in
nothing is their thieving talent more conspicuous than when they
exercise it upon spirituous liquors. They even surpass the British
sailor in the ingenuity which they display in discovering and stealing
spirits, and there is hardly any risk which they will not run in order
to obtain it. Contrary to the habit of most savage people, they are
very sensitive to pain, and a flogging which would scarcely be felt by
a Bush boy will elicit shrieks of pain from a Kruman. They dread the
whip almost as much as death, and yet they will brave the terrors of a
certain flogging in order to get at rum or brandy.
No precautions seem to be available against their restless cunning, and
the unwary traveller is often surprised, when he feels ill and wants
some brandy as a medicine, that not a drop is to be found, and yet,
to all appearance, his spirit-case has been under his own eyes, and so
have the rascals who have contrived to steal it. Even so experienced a
traveller as Captain Burton, a man who knows the negro character better
than almost any European, says that he never had the chance of drinking
his last bottle of cognac, it always having been emptied by his Krumen.
Provisions of all kinds vanish in the same mysterious way: they will
strangle goats, and prepare them so as to look as if they had been
bitten by venomous serpents; and as for fowls, they vanish as if they
had voluntarily flown down the throats of the robbers. Anything bright
or polished is sure to be stolen, and it is the hardest thing in the
world to take mathematical instruments safely through Western Africa,
on account of the thievish propensities of the Krumen.
Even when they steal articles which they cannot eat, it is very
difficult to discover the spot where the missing object is hidden,
and, as a party of Krumen always share their plunder, they have an
interest in keeping their business secret. The only mode of extracting
information is by a sound flogging, and even then it often happens that
the cunning rascals have sent off their plunder by one of their own
people, or have contrived to smuggle it on board some ship.
* * * * *
We now come to the domestic habits of the Krumen as summed up in
marriage, religion, death, and burial.
These people are, as has been seen, a prudent race, and have the
un-African faculty of looking to the future. It is this faculty which
causes them to work so hard for their wives, the fact being, that, when
a man has no wife, he must work entirely for himself; when he has one,
she takes part of the labor off his hands; and when he marries a dozen
or so, they can support him in idleness for the rest of his days.
So, when a young man has scraped together sufficient property to buy a
wife, he goes to the girl’s father, shows the goods, and strikes the
bargain. If accepted, he marries her after a very simple fashion, the
whole ceremony consisting in the father receiving the goods and handing
over the girl. He remains with her in her father’s house for a week or
two, and then goes off on another trip in order to earn enough money
to buy a second. In like manner he possesses a third and a fourth, and
then sets up a domicile of his own, each wife having her own little hut.
However many wives a Kruman may have, the first takes the chief rank,
and rules the entire household. As is the case in most lands where
polygamy is practised, the women have no objection to sharing the
husband’s affections. On the contrary, the head wife will generally
urge her husband to add to his number, because every additional wife is
in fact an additional servant, and takes a considerable amount of work
off her shoulders. And an inferior wife would always prefer to be the
twelfth or thirteenth wife of a wealthy man, than the solitary wife of
a poor man for whom she will have to work like a slave.
Although the women are completely subject to their husbands, they
have a remedy in their hands if they are very badly treated. They run
away to their own family, and then there is a great palaver. Should a
separation occur, the children, although they love their mother better
than their father, are considered his property, and have to go with him.
* * * * *
Their religion is of a very primitive character, and, although
the Krumen have for so many years been brought in contact with
civilization, and have been sedulously taught by missionaries, they
have not exchanged their old superstitions for a new religion. That
they believe in the efficacy of amulets and charms has been already
mentioned, and therefore it is evident that they must have some belief
in the supernatural beings who are supposed to be influenced by these
charms. Yet, as to worship, very little is known of it, probably
because very little is practised. On one occasion, when a vessel was
wrecked, a Kruman stood all night by the sea-side, with his face
looking westward, waving the right arm, and keeping up an incessant
howling until daybreak. The others looked at him, but did not attempt
to join him.
There is one religious ceremony which takes place in a remarkable
cavern, called by the euphonious name of Grand Devil Cave. It is a
hollow in an enormous rock, having at the end a smaller and interior
cavern in which the demon resides. Evidently partaking that dislike to
naming the object of their superstitions which caused the believing
in fairies to term them the “Good people,” and the Norwegians of the
present day to speak of the bear as the “Disturber,” or “He in the fur
coat,” the Krumen prudently designate this demon as “Suffin,” _i. e._
Something.
When they go to worship they lay beads, tobacco, provisions, and rum in
the inner cavern, which are at once removed by the mysterious Suffin,
who is supposed to consume them all. In return for the liberality
of his votaries, Suffin answers any questions in any language. The
Krumen believe as firmly in the existence and supernatural character
of Suffin as the Babylonians in the time of Daniel believed that Bell
consumed daily the “twelve great measures of fine flour, the forty
sheep, and the six vessels of wine” that were offered to him. And, as a
convincing proof of the danger of incredulity, they point with awe to
a tree which stands near the mouth of the Grand Devil Cave, and which
was formerly a Kruman who expressed his disbelief in Suffin, and was
straightway transformed into the tree in question.
Their mode of swearing is by dipping the finger in salt, pointing to
heaven and earth with it, as if invoking the powers of both, and then
putting the tip of the finger in the mouth, as if calling upon the
offended powers to avenge the perjury on the person of him who had
partaken of the salt. Considering the wolfish voracity of the Krumen,
which they possess in common with other savages, they show great
self-control in yielding to a popular superstition which forbids them
to eat the hearts of cattle, or to drink the blood.
The dead Kruman is buried with many ceremonies, and, notably, a fire is
kept up before his house, so that his spirit may warm itself while it
is prepared for appreciating the new life into which it has been born.
Food is also placed near the grave for the same benevolent purpose.
Should he be a good man, he may lead the cattle which have been
sacrificed at his funeral, and so make his way to the spirit land, in
which he will take rank according to the number of cattle which he has
brought with him. Sometimes he may enter the bodies of children, and so
reappear on earth. But should he be a bad man, and especially should he
be a wizard--_i. e._ one who practises without authority the arts which
raise the regular practitioners to wealth and honor--his state after
death is very terrible, and he is obliged to wander forever through
gloomy swamps and fetid marshes.
It is a curious fact that the Krumen have some idea of a transitional
or purgatorial state. The paradise of the Krumen is called Kwiga Oran,
_i. e._ the City of the Ghosts, and before any one can enter it he must
sojourn for a certain time in the intermediate space called Menu or
Menuke.
It may be as well to remark here that the Grain Coast, on which the
Krumen chiefly live, does not derive its name from corn, barley, or
other cereals. The grain in question is the well-known cardamom, or
Grain of Paradise, which is used as a medicine throughout the whole of
Western Africa, and is employed as a remedy against various diseases.
It is highly valued as a restorative after fatigue: and when a man
has been completely worn out by a long day’s march, there is nothing
that refreshes him more than a handful of the cardamoms in a fresh
state, the juicy and partly acid pulp contrasting most agreeably
with the aromatic warmth of the seeds. The cardamom is used either
internally or externally. It is eaten as a stomachic, and is often
made into a poultice and applied to any part of the body that suffers
pain. Headache, for example, is said to be cured by the cardamom seed,
pounded and mixed with water into a paste; and, even during the hot fit
of fever, the cardamom powder is applied as a certain restorative.
THE FANTI.
The district of Western Africa, which is now known by the general title
of the Gold Coast, Ashantee, or Ashanti, is occupied by two tribes,
who are always on terms of deadly feud with each other. Internecine
quarrels are one of the many curses which retard the progress of
Africa, and, in this case, the quarrel is so fierce and persistent,
that even at the present day, though the two great tribes, the Fanti
and the Ashanti, have fought over and over again, and the latter are
clearly the victors, and have taken possession of the land, the former
are still a large and powerful tribe, and, in spite of their so called
extermination, have proved their vitality in many ways.
The Fanti tribe are geographically separated from their formidable
neighbors by the Bossumpea River, and if one among either tribe passes
this boundary it is declared to be an overt act of war. Unfortunately,
England contrived to drift into this war, and, as bad luck would have
it, took the part of the Fanti tribe, and consequently shared in their
defeat.
It is really not astonishing that the Fanti should have been so
completely conquered, as they have been termed by Mr. Duncan, a
traveller who knew them well, the dirtiest and laziest of all the
Africans that he had seen. One hundred of them were employed under
the supervision of an Englishman, and, even with this incitement,
they did not do as much as a gang of fifteen English laborers. Unless
continually goaded to work they will lie down and bask in the sun; and
even if a native overseer be employed, he is just as bad as the rest of
his countrymen.
Even such work as they do they will only perform in their own stupid
manner. For example, in fetching stone for building, they will walk,
some twenty in a gang, a full mile to the quarry, and come back, each
with a single stone weighing some eight or nine pounds on his head.
Every burden is carried on the head. They were once supplied with
wheelbarrows, but they placed one stone in each wheelbarrow, and then
put the barrows on their heads. The reason why they are so lazy is
plain enough. They can live well for a penny per diem, and their only
object in working is to procure rum, tobacco, and cotton cloths. So the
wife has to earn the necessaries of life, and the husband earns--and
consumes--the luxuries.
The Fanti tribe are good canoe men, but their boats are much larger
and heavier than those which are employed by the Krumen. They are from
thirty to forty feet in length, and are furnished with weather boards
for the purpose of keeping out the water. The shape of the paddle is
usually like that of the ace of clubs at the end of a handle; but, when
the canoes have to be taken through smooth and deep water, the blades
of the paddles are long and leaf-shaped, so as to take a good hold of
the water. The Fanti boatmen are great adepts in conveying passengers
from ships to the shore. Waiting by the ship’s side, while the heavy
seas raise and lower their crank canoes like corks, they seize the
right moment, snatch the anxious passenger off the ladder to which he
has been clinging, deposit him in the boat, and set off to shore with
shouts of exultation. On account of the surf, as much care is needed in
landing the passengers on shore as in taking them out of the vessel.
They hang about the outskirts of the surf-billows as they curl and
twist and dash themselves to pieces in white spray, and, as soon as one
large wave has dashed itself on the shore, they paddle along on the
crest of the succeeding wave, and just before it breaks they jump out
of the boat, run it well up the shore, and then ask for tobacco.
The men are rather fine-looking fellows, tall and well-formed, but are
unfortunately liable to many skin diseases, among which the terrible
kra-kra is most dreaded. This horrible disease, sometimes spelt, as it
is pronounced, craw-craw, is a sort of leprosy that overruns the entire
body, and makes the surface most loathsome to the eye. Unfortunately,
it is very contagious, and even white persons have been attacked by
it merely by placing their hands on the spot against which a negro
afflicted with kra-kra has been resting. Sometimes the whole crew of
a ship will be seized with kra-kra, which even communicates itself to
goats and other animals, to whom it often proves fatal.
The natives have a curious legend respecting the origin of this
horrible disease. The first man, named Raychow, came one day with his
son to a great hole in the ground, from which fire issues all night.
They heard men speaking to them, but could not distinguish their
faces. So Raychow sent his son down the pit, and at the bottom he met
the king of the fire hole, who challenged him to a trial of spear
throwing, the stake being his life. He won the contest, and the fire
king was so pleased with his prowess that he told the young man to ask
for anything that he liked before he was restored to the upper air.
The boon chosen was a remedy for every disease that he could name.
He enumerated every malady that he could recollect, and received a
medicine for each. As he was going away, the fire king said, “You have
forgotten one disease. It is the kra-kra, and by _that_ you shall die.”
Their color is rather dark chocolate than black, and they have a
tolerably well-formed nose, and a facial angle better than that of
the true negro. Their dress is simply a couple of cotton cloths, one
twisted round the waist, and the other hung over the shoulders. This,
however, is scarcely to be reckoned as clothing, and is to be regarded
much as an European regards his hat, _i. e._ as something to be worn
out of doors. Like the hat, it is doffed whenever a Fanti meets a
superior; this curious salutation being found also in some of the South
Sea Islands.
The women when young are ugly in face and beautiful in form--when old
they are hideous in both. In spite of the Islamism with which they are
brought so constantly in contact, and which has succeeded in making
them the most civilized of the West African tribes, the women are so
far from veiling their faces that their costume begins at the waist and
ceases at the knees. Unfortunately, they spoil the only beauty they
possess, that of shape, by an ugly appendage called the “cankey,” _i.
e._ a tolerably large oblong bag of calico, stuffed into cushion shape,
and then tied by tapes to the wearer’s back, so that the upper edge and
two of the corners project upward in a very ludicrous way. It is, in
fact, only a slight exaggeration of an article of dress which at one
time was fashionable throughout Europe, and which, to artistic eyes,
had the same demerit of spoiling a good shape and not concealing a bad
one. The married women have some excuse for wearing it, as they say
that it forms a nice cushion for the baby to sit upon; but the young
girls who also wear it have no such excuse, and can only plead the
fashion of the day.
Round the waist is always a string of beads, glass or clay if the
wearer be poor, gold if she be rich. This supports the “shim,” a sort
of under-petticoat, if we may so term it, which is simply a strip of
calico an inch or so in width, one end being fastened to the girdle of
beads in front, and the other behind. They all wear plenty of ornaments
of the usual description, _i. e._ necklaces, bracelets, armlets,
anklets, and even rings for the toes.
The hair of the married women is dressed in rather a peculiar manner.
Though crisp and curly, it grows to nine or ten inches in length,
and is frizzled and teased out with much skill and more patience.
A boldly-defined line is shaved round the roots of hair, and the
remainder of the locks, previously saturated with grease, and combed
out to their greatest length, are trained upward into a tall ridge.
Should the hair be too short or too scanty to produce the required
effect, a quantity of supplementary hair is twisted into a pad and
placed under the veritable locks. This ridge of hair is supported by a
large comb stuck in the back of the head, and, although the shape of
the hair tufts differ considerably, it is always present, and always
made as large as possible.
The Fanti have their peculiar superstitions, which have never yet been
extirpated.
In accordance with their superstitious worship, they have a great
number of holy days in the course of the year, during which they make
such a noise that an European can scarcely live in the town. Besides
uttering the horrible roars and yells which seem unproducible by other
than negro throats, they blow horns and long wooden trumpets, the sound
of which is described as resembling the roar of a bull, and walk in
procession, surrounding with their horns and trumpets the noisiest
instrument of all,--namely, the kin-kasi, or big drum. This is about
four feet in length and one in width, and takes two men to play it, one
carrying it, negro fashion, on his head, and the other walking behind,
and belaboring it without the least regard to time, the only object
being to make as much noise as possible.
Their fetishes are innumerable, and it is hardly possible to walk
anywhere without seeing a fetish or two. Anything does for a fetish,
but the favorite article is a bundle of rags tied together like a
child’s rag doll. This is placed in some public spot, and so great is
the awe with which such articles are regarded, that it will sometimes
remain in the same place for several weeks. A little image of clay,
intended to represent a human being, is sometimes substituted for the
rag doll.
The following succinct account of the religious system is given in
the “Wanderings of a F. R. G. S.:”--“The religious ideas of the Fanti
are, as usual in Africa, vague and indistinct. Each person has his
Samán--literally a skeleton or goblin--or private fetish, an idol, rag,
fowl, feathers, bunch of grass, a bit of glass, and so forth; to this
he pays the greatest reverence, because it is nearest to him.
“The Bosorus are imaginary beings, probably of ghostly origin, called
‘spirits’ by the missionaries. Abonsám is a malevolent being that lives
in the upper regions. Sasabonsám is the friend of witch and wizard,
hates priests and missionaries, and inhabits huge silk-cotton trees
in the gloomiest forests; he is a monstrous being, of human shape, of
red color, and with long hair. The reader will not fail to remark the
similarity of Sasabonsám to the East Indian Rákshasha, the malevolent
ghost of a Brahmin, brown in color, inhabiting the pipul tree.
“Nyankupon, or Nyawe, is the supreme deity, but the word also means
the visible firmament or sky, showing that there has been no attempt
to separate the ideal from the material. This being, who dwells in
Nyankuponfi, or Nyankuponkroo, is too far from earth to trouble himself
about human affairs, which are committed to the Bosorus. This, however,
is the belief of the educated, who doubtless have derived something
from European systems--the vulgar confound him with sky, rain, and
thunder.
“‘Kra,’ which the vocabularies translate ‘Lord,’ is the Anglicised
okro, or ocroe, meaning a favorite male slave, destined to be
sacrificed with his dead master; and ‘sun-sum,’ spirit, means a shadow,
the man’s _umbra_. The Fantis have regular days of rest: Tuesdays for
fishermen, Fridays for bushmen, peasants, and so on.”
There is very little doubt that the conjecture of the author is right,
and that several of these ideas have been borrowed from European
sources.
The rite of circumcision is practised among the Fantis, but does not
seem to be universal, and a sacred spot is always chosen for the
ceremony. At Accra, a rock rising out of the sea is used for the
purpose.
Burial is conducted with the usual accompaniments of professional
mourners, and a funeral feast is held in honor of the deceased. A sheep
is sacrificed for the occasion, and the shoulder bone is laid on the
grave, where it is allowed to remain for a considerable time. Sometimes
travellers have noticed a corpse placed on a platform and merely
covered with a cloth. These are the bodies of men who have died without
paying their debts, and, according to Fanti laws, there they are likely
to remain, no one being bold enough to bury them. By their laws, the
man who buries another succeeds to his property, but also inherits his
debts, and is legally responsible for them. And as in Western Africa
the legal rate of interest is far above the wildest dreams of European
usurers--say fifty per cent. per annum, or per mensem, or per diem, as
the case may be--to bury an exposed corpse involves a risk that no one
likes to run.
One of their oddest superstitions is their belief in a child who has
existed from the beginning of the world. It never eats nor drinks,
and has remained in the infantile state ever since the world and it
came into existence. Absurd as is the idea, this miraculous child is
firmly believed in, even by persons who have had a good education, and
who say that they have actually seen it. Mr. Duncan, to whom we are
indebted for the account of it, determined to see it, and was so quick
in his movements that he quite disconcerted its nurse, and stopped her
preparations for his visit.
[Illustration: (1.) THE PRIMEVAL CHILD. (See page 553.)]
[Illustration: (2.) FETISHES--MALE AND FEMALE. (See pages 562, 565.)]
“Being again delayed, I lost patience, and resolved to enter the
dwelling. My African friends and the multitude assembled from all
parts of the town, warned me of the destruction that would certainly
overtake me if I ventured to go in without leave. But I showed them my
double-barrelled gun as my fetish, and forced my way through the crowd.
“On entering through a very narrow door or gateway, into a circle of
about twenty yards’ diameter, fenced round by a close paling, and
covered outside with long grass (so that nothing within could be
seen), the first and only thing that I saw was an old woman who, but
for her size and sex, I should have taken for the mysterious being
resident there from the time of the creation. She certainly was the
most disgusting and loathsome being I ever beheld. She had no covering
on her person with the exception of a small piece of dirty cloth round
her loins. Her skin was deeply wrinkled and extremely dirty, with
scarcely any flesh on her bones. Her breasts hung half way down her
body, and she had all the appearance of extreme old age. This ancient
woman was the supposed nurse of the immortal child. The god’s house and
the principal actor in this strange superstition are represented on the
previous page.
“On my entering the yard, the old fetish woman stepped before me,
making the most hideous gestures ever witnessed, and endeavored to
drive me out, that I might be prevented from entering into the god’s
house, but, in spite of all her movements, I pushed her aside, and
forced my way into the house. Its outward appearance was that of a
cone, or extinguisher, standing in the centre of the enclosure. It was
formed by long poles placed triangularly, and thatched with long grass.
Inside it I found a clay bench in the form of a chair. Its tenant was
absent, and the old woman pretended that she had by her magic caused
him to disappear.”
Of course, the plan pursued by the old fetish woman was to borrow a
baby whenever any one of consequence desired an interview, and to
paint it with colored chalks, so that it was no longer recognizable.
She would have played the same trick with Mr. Duncan, and, from the
repeated obstacles thrown in the way of his visit, was evidently trying
to gain time to borrow a baby secretly.
At a Fanti funeral the natives excel themselves in noise making, about
the only exertion in which they seem to take the least interest. As
soon as a man of any note is dead, all his relations and friends
assemble in front of his hut, drink, smoke, yell, sing, and fire
guns continually. A dog is sacrificed before the hut by one of the
relations, though the object of the sacrifice does not seem to be very
clear. Rings, bracelets, and other trinkets are buried with the body,
and, as these ornaments are often of solid gold, the value of buried
jewelry is very considerable. Of course, the graves are sometimes
opened and robbed, when the corpse is that of a wealthy person.
One ingenious Fanti contrived to enrich himself very cleverly. One of
his sisters had been buried for some time with all her jewelry, and, as
the average value of a well-to-do woman’s trinkets is somewhere about
forty or fifty pounds, the affectionate brother thought that those who
buried his sister had been guilty of unjustifiable waste. After a while
his mother died, and he ordered her to be buried in the same grave with
his sister. The ingenious part of the transaction was that the man
declared it to be contrary to filial duty to bury the daughter at the
bottom of the grave, in the place of honor, and to lay the mother above
her. The daughter was accordingly disinterred to give place to the
mother, and when she was again laid in the grave all her trinkets had
somehow or other vanished.
The dances of the Fanti tribe are rather absurd. Two dancers
stand opposite each other, and stamp on the ground with each foot
alternately. The stamping becomes faster and faster, until it is
exchanged for leaping, and at every jump the hands are thrown out with
the fingers upward, so that the four palms meet with a sharp blow. The
couple go on dancing until they fail to strike the hands, and then they
leave off and another pair take their place.