THE ASHANTI.
ORIGIN AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE ASHANTI -- AN ASHANTI CAPTAIN
AND HIS UNIFORM -- THE GOLD COAST -- GOLD WASHING -- THE “TILIKISSI”
WEIGHTS -- INGENIOUS FRAUDS -- THE CABOCEERS, OR NOBLES OF ASHANTI --
PORTRAIT OF A MOUNTED CABOCEER -- THE HORSE ACCOUTREMENTS -- LAW OF
ROYAL SUCCESSION -- MARRIAGE RESTRICTIONS -- THE YAM AND ADAI CUSTOMS
-- FETISH DRUM AND TRUMPET -- RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF ASHANTI -- WORSHIP
OF EARTH AND SKY -- FETISHES -- DERIVATION OF THE WORD -- THE “KLA,”
OR FAMILIAR SPIRIT.
Whence the Ashanti tribe came is not very certain, but it is probable
that they formerly inhabited a more inland part of the continent, and
worked their way westward, after the usual fashion of these tribes.
Their traditions state that, about a hundred and fifty years ago, the
Ashanti, with several other tribes, were gradually ousted from their
own lands by the increasing followers of Islam, and that when they
reached a land which was full of gold they took courage, made a bold
stand for freedom, and at last achieved their own independence.
At this time the people were divided into a considerable number of
states--between forty and fifty, according to one historian. After
having driven away their oppressors, they came to quarrel among
themselves, and fought as fiercely for precedence as they had formerly
done for liberty, and at last the Ashanti tribe conquered the others,
and so consolidated the government into a kingdom.
In general appearance, the Ashanti much resemble the Fanti, though
they are not perhaps so strongly built. They are, however, quite as
good-looking, and, according to Mr. Bowdich, the women are handsomer
than those of the Fanti. As a rule, the higher classes are remarkable
for their cleanliness, but the lower are quite as dirty as the
generality of savage Africans.
As a specimen of the remarkable style of costume in which the Ashanti
indulge, a description of an army captain is here introduced. On his
head is a vast double plume of eagles’ feathers, surmounting a sort of
helmet made of rams’ horns, gilt in a spiral pattern, and tied under
his chin by a strap covered with cowries. His bow is slung at his back,
and his quiver of small poisoned arrows hangs from his wrist, while in
his other hand is held an ivory staff, carved in a spiral pattern. His
breast is covered with a vast number of little leathern pouches gilt
and painted in light colors, mostly scarlet, and from his arms hang a
number of horse tails. Great boots of red hide cover his legs to mid
thigh, and are fastened to his belt by iron chains.
This belt is a very curious piece of leather work. One of these
articles is in my collection, and is furnished with the following
implements. First comes a small dagger-knife, with a blade about four
inches long, and next to it is a little circular mirror about as large
as a crown piece, and enclosed in a double case like that which is
now used for prismatic compasses. Then comes a razor, a singularly
primitive-looking specimen of cutlery, mounted in a handle which is
little more than a piece of stick, with a slit in it. Next comes a
leathern pouch about four inches square and one inch in depth, having
its interior lined with coarse canvas, and its exterior decorated with
little round holes punched in the leather, and arranged in a simple
pattern. Lastly comes the razor strop, a very ingenious implement,
consisting of a tube filled with emery powder, and sliding into a
sheath so as to allow the powder to adhere to it. All these articles
are protected by leathern sheaths stained of different colors, and are
suspended by short straps from the belt.
The country where the Ashanti tribes now live is popularly termed the
Gold Coast, on account of the richness with which the precious metal
is scattered over its surface. It is found almost entirely in the form
of dust, and is obtained by a very rude and imperfect mode of washing.
The women are the chief gold washers, and they set about their task
armed with a hoe, a basin-shaped calabash, and several quills. With the
hoe they scrape up a quantity of sand from the bed of some stream, and
place it in the calabash. A quantity of water is then added, and, by a
peculiar rotatory movement of the hand, the water and sand are shaken
up, and made to fly gradually over the top of the basin.
When this movement is adroitly performed, the water and lighter sand
escape from the bowl, while the gold dust sinks by its own weight to
the bottom, and is thus separated, and put in the quills. Much skill
is required in handling the calabash, and one woman will find a fair
supply of gold where another will work all day and scarcely find a
particle of the metal.
Of course, by this rude method of work the quantity of gold obtained
is in very small proportion to the labor bestowed in obtaining it; and
if the natives only knew the use of mercury, they would gain three or
four times as much gold as they do at present. The quills, when filled
with gold dust, are generally fastened to the hair, where they are
supposed to be as ornamental as they are precious. The best time for
gold washing is after violent rains, when the increased rush of water
has brought down a fresh supply of sand from the upper regions. As one
of the old voyagers quaintly remarked, “It raineth seldom, but every
shower of rain is a shower of gold unto them, for with the violence of
the water falling from the mountains it bringeth from them the gold.”
A good gold washer will procure in the course of a year a quantity
of the dust which will purchase two slaves. The average price of a
slave is ten “minkali,” each minkali being worth about 12£. 6_s._;
and being valued in goods at one musket, eighteen gun flints, twenty
charges of powder, one cutlass, and forty-eight leaves of tobacco. The
reader may judge what must be the quality of the musket and cutlass.
Gold is weighed by the little familiar red and black seeds, called
in Western Africa “tilikissi,” and each purchaser always has his own
balances and his own weights. As might be supposed, both vendor and
purchaser try to cheat each other. The gold finder mixes with the real
gold dust inferior sand, made by melting copper and silver together,
or by rubbing together copper filings and red coral powder. If larger
pieces of gold were to be imitated, the usual plan was to make little
nuggets of copper, and surround them with a mere shell of gold. This,
of course, was the most dangerous imposition of the three, because the
gold coating defied the test, and the fraud would not be discovered
unless the nugget were cut in two--rather a tedious process when a
great number were offered for sale.
As to the buyers, there was mostly something wrong about their
balances; while as to the weights, they soaked the tilikissi seeds in
melted butter to make them heavier, and sometimes made sham tilikissis
of pebbles neatly ground down and colored.
In spite of all the drawbacks, the quantity of gold annually found in
Ashanti-land is very great, and it is used by the richer natives in
barbaric profusion. They know or care little about art. Their usual way
of making the bracelets or armlets is this. The smith melts the gold
in a little crucible of red clay, and then draws in the sand a little
furrow into which he runs the gold, so as to make a rude and irregular
bar or stick of metal. When cold, it is hammered along the sides so as
to square them, and is then twisted into the spiral shape which seems
to have instinctively impressed itself on gold workers of all ages and
in all countries.
The collars, earrings, and other ornaments are made in this simple
manner, and the wife of a chief would scarcely think herself dressed if
she had not gold ornaments worth some eighty pounds. The great nobles,
or Caboceers, wear on state occasions bracelets of such weight that
they are obliged to rest their arms on the heads of little slave boys,
who stand in front of them.
The Caboceers are very important personages, and in point of fact were
on the eve of becoming to the Ashanti kingdom what the barons were to
the English kingdom in the time of John. Indeed, they were gradually
becoming so powerful and so numerous, that for many years the king of
Ashanti has steadily pursued a policy of repression, and, when one of
the Caboceers died, has refused to acknowledge a successor. The result
of this wise policy is, that the Caboceers are now comparatively few in
number, and even if they were all to combine against the king he could
easily repress them.
An umbrella is the distinctive mark of the Caboceers, who, in the
present day, exhibit an odd mixture of original savagery and partially
acquired civilization. The Caboceers have the great privilege of
sitting on stools when in the presence of the king. Moreover, “these
men,” says Mr. W. Reade, “would be surrounded by their household
suites, like the feudal lords of ancient days; their garments of costly
foreign silks unravelled and woven anew into elaborate patterns, and
thrown over the shoulder like the Roman toga, leaving the right arm
bare; a silk fillet encircling the temples; Moorish charms, enclosed
in small cases of gold and silver, suspended on their breasts, with
necklaces made of ‘aggry beads,’ a peculiar stone found in the country,
and resembling the ‘glein-ndyr’ of the ancient Britons; lumps of gold
hanging from their wrists; while handsome girls would stand behind
holding silver basins in their hands.”
An illustration on page 564 represents a Caboceer at the head of his
wild soldiery, and well indicates the strange mixture of barbarity and
culture which distinguishes this as well as other West African tribes.
It will be seen from his seat that he is no very great horseman, and,
indeed, the Caboceers are mostly held on their horses by two men, one
on each side. When Mr. Duncan visited Western Africa, and mounted his
horse to show the king how the English dragoons rode and fought, two
of the retainers ran to his side, and passed their arms round him. It
was not without some difficulty that he could make them understand that
Englishmen rode without such assistance. The Caboceer’s dress consists
of an ornamental turban, a jacket, and a loin cloth, mostly of white,
and so disposed as to leave the middle of the body bare. On his feet he
wears a remarkable sort of spur, the part which answers to the rowel
being flat, squared, and rather deeply notched. It is used by striking
or scoring the horse with the sharp angles, and not by the slight
pricking movement with which an English jockey uses his spurs. The
rowels, to use the analogous term, pass through a slit in an oval piece
of leather, which aids in binding the spur on the heel. A pair of these
curious spurs are now in my collection, and were presented by Dr. R.
Irvine, R. N.
His weapons consist of the spear, bow, and arrows--the latter being
mostly poisoned, and furnished with nasty-looking barbs extending
for several inches below the head. The horse is almost hidden by its
accoutrements, which are wonderfully like those of the knights of
chivalry, save that instead of the brilliant emblazonings with which
the housings of the chargers were covered, sentences from the Koran are
substituted, and are scattered over the entire cloth. The headstall of
the horse is made of leather, and, following the usual African fashion,
is cut into a vast number of thongs.
One of these headstalls and the hat of the rider are in my collection.
They are both made of leather, most carefully and elaborately worked.
The hat or helmet is covered with flat, quadrangular ornaments also
made of leather, folded and beaten until it is nearly as hard as wood,
and from each of them depend six or seven leather thongs, so that, when
the cap is placed on the head, the thongs descend as far as the mouth,
and answer as a veil. The headstall of the horse is a most elaborate
piece of workmanship, the leather being stamped out in bold and
rather artistic patterns, and decorated with three circular leathern
ornaments, in which a star-shaped pattern has been neatly worked in
red, black, and white. Five tassels of leathern thongs hang from it,
and are probably used as a means of keeping off the flies.
The common soldiers are, as may be seen, quite destitute of uniform,
and almost of clothing. They wear several knives and daggers attached
to a necklace, and they carry any weapons that they may be able to
procure--guns if possible; and, in default of fire-arms, using bows and
spears. Two of the petty officers are seen blowing their huge trumpets,
which are simply elephant tusks hollowed and polished, and sometimes
carved with various patterns. They are blown from the side, as is the
case with African wind instruments generally.
In Ashanti, as in other parts of Africa, the royal succession never
lies in the direct line, but passes to the brother or nephew of the
deceased monarch, the nephew in question being the son of the king’s
sister, and not his brother. The reason for this arrangement is, that
the people are sure that their future king has some royal blood in his
veins, whereas, according to their ideas, no one can be quite certain
that the son of the queen is also the son of the king, and, as the
king’s wives are never of royal blood, they might have a mere plebeian
claimant to the throne. Therefore the son of the king’s sister is
always chosen; and it is a curious fact that the sister in question
need not be married, provided that the father of her child be strong,
good-looking, and of tolerable position in life.
In Ashanti the king is restricted in the number of his wives. But, as
the prohibition fixes the magic number of three thousand three hundred
and thirty-three, he has not much to complain of with regard to the
stringency of the law. Of course, with the exception of a chosen few,
these wives are practically servants, and do all the work about the
fields and houses.
The natives have their legend about gold. They say that when the Great
Spirit first created man, he made one black man and one white one, and
gave them their choice of two gifts. One contained all the treasures of
the tropics--the fruitful trees, the fertile soil, the warm sun, and a
calabash of gold dust. The other gift was simply a quantity of white
paper, ink, and pens. The former gift, of course, denoted material
advantages, and the latter knowledge. The black man chose the former
as being the most obvious, and the white man the latter. Hence the
superiority of the white over the black.
[Illustration: WAR KNIVES. (See page 531.)]
[Illustration: FETISH TRUMPET AND DRUM. (See page 559.)]
[Illustration: IVORY TRUMPETS. (See page 577.)
The right hand trumpet has a crucified figure on it.]
[Illustration: WAR DRUM. (See page 572.)]
Conceding to the white man all the advantages which he gains from his
wisdom, they are very jealous of their own advantages, and resent
all attempts of foreigners to work their mines; if mines they can be
called, where scarcely any subterraneous work is needed. They will
rather allow the precious metal to be wasted than permit the white man
to procure it. As to the mulatto, they have the most intense contempt
for him, who is a “white-black man, silver and copper, and not gold.”
It has already been mentioned that more stress will be laid upon Dahome
than Ashanti, and that in cases where manners and customs are common to
both kingdoms, they will be described in connection with the latter.
In both kingdoms, for example, we find the terrible “Customs,” or
sacrifice of human life, and in Ashanti these may be reduced to two,
namely, the Yam and the Adai.
The former, which is the greater of the two, occurs in the beginning
of September, when the yams are ripe. Before the yams are allowed to
be used for general consumption, the “Custom” is celebrated; _i. e._ a
number of human beings are sacrificed with sundry rites and ceremonies.
There are lesser sacrifices on the Adai Custom, which take place
every three weeks, and the destruction of human life is terrible. The
sacrifices are attended with the horrible music which in all countries
where human sacrifices have been permitted has been its accompaniment.
On page 558, a Fetish drum and trumpet, both of which are in my
collection, are illustrated, two of the instruments which are used as
accompaniments to the sacrifice of human beings. The drum is carved
with enormous perseverance out of a solid block of wood, and in its
general form presents a most singular resemblance to the bicephalous or
two-headed gems of the Gnostics. The attentive reader will notice the
remarkable ingenuity with which the head of a man is combined with that
of a bird, the latter being kept subservient to the former, and yet
having a bold and distinct individuality of its own.
From the top of the united heads rises the drum itself, which is
hollowed out of the same block of wood. The parchment head of the
drum is secured to the instrument by a number of wooden pegs, and it
is probable that the heat of the meridian sun was quite sufficient to
tighten the head of the drum whenever it became relaxed. Of course,
the plan of tightening it by means of a movable head is not known in
Western Africa, and, even if it were known, it would not be practised.
The natives never modify a custom. They exchange it for another, or
they abolish it, but the reforming spirit never existed in the negro
mind.
On the side of the drum may be seen the air-hole, which is usually
found in African drums, and which is closed with a piece of spider web
when the instrument is used. Sometimes the drums are of enormous size,
the entire trunk of a tree being hollowed out for the purpose. The
skin which forms the head is mostly that of an antelope, but when the
Ashanti wants a drum to be very powerful against strange fetishes, he
makes the head of snake or crocodile skin.
The former material holds a high place in the second instrument, which
is a fetish trumpet. As is the case with all African trumpets, it is
blown, flute-fashion, from the side, and not, like an European trumpet,
from the end. It is made from the tusk of an elephant, carefully
hollowed out, and furnished with a curious apparatus, much like the
vibrator in a modern harmonium or accordion. As the instrument has
sustained rather rough treatment, and the ivory has been cracked here
and there, it is impossible to produce a sound from it; and at the best
the notes must have been of a very insignificant character, deadened
as they must be by the snake-skin covering. The skin in question is
that of a boa or python, which is a very powerful fetish among all
Africans among whom the boa lives, and it covers almost the whole of
the instrument.
A most weird and uncanny sort of look is communicated to the trumpet
by the horrid trophy which is tied to it. This is the upper jaw of a
human being, evidently a negro, by its peculiar development, the jaw
being of the prognathous character, and the projecting teeth in the
finest possible order. From the mere existence of these sacrifices it
is evident that the religious system of the Ashanti must be of a very
low character. They are not utter atheists, as is the case with some of
the tribes which have already been mentioned; but they cannot be said
even to have risen to deism, and barely to idolatry, their ideas of
the Supreme Deity being exceedingly vague, and mixed up with a host of
superstitious notions about demons, both good and evil, to whom they
give the name of Wodsi, and which certainly absorb the greater part of
their devotions and the whole of their reverence, the latter quality
being with them the mere outbirth of fear.
Their name for God is “Nyonmo,” evidently a modification of Nyamye,
the title which is given to the Supreme Spirit by the Cammas and other
tribes of the Rembo. But Nyonmo also means the sky, or the rain, or the
thunder, probably because they proceed from the sky, and they explain
thunder by the phrase that Nyonmo is knocking. As the sky is venerated
as one deity, so the earth is considered as another though inferior
deity, which is worshipped under the name of “Sikpois.”
As to the Wodsi, they seem to be divided into various ranks. For
example, the earth, the air, and the sea are Wodsi which exercise
their influence over all men; whereas other Wodsi, which are visible
in the forms of trees or rivers, have a restricted power over towns,
districts, or individuals.
The scrap of rag, leopards’ claws, sacred chains, peculiar beads,
bits of bone, bird-beaks, &c., which are worn by the Wontse, or
fetish men, have a rather curious use, which is well explained by the
“F.R.G.S.”:--“The West Africans, like their brethren in the East, have
evil ghosts and haunting _evastra_, which work themselves into the
position of demons. Their various rites are intended to avert the harm
which may be done to them by their Pepos or Mulungos, and perhaps to
shift it upon their enemies. When the critical moment has arrived, the
ghost is adjured by the fetish man to come forth from the possessed,
and an article is named--a leopard’s claw, peculiar beads, or a rag
from the sick man’s body nailed to what Europeans call the ‘Devil’s
tree’--in which, if worn about the person, the haunter will reside. It
is technically called Kehi, or Keti, _i. e._ a chair or a stool. The
word ‘fetish,’ by the way, is a corruption of the Portuguese Fei-tiço,
_i. e._ witchcraft, or conjuring.”
Their belief respecting the Kra, or Kla, or soul of a man, is very
peculiar. They believe that the Kla exists before the body, and that
it is transmitted from one to another. Thus, if a child dies, the next
is supposed to be the same child born again into the world; and so
thoroughly do they believe this, that when a woman finds that she is
about to become a mother, she goes to the fetish man, and requests him
to ask the Kla of her future child respecting its ancestry and intended
career. But the Kla has another office; for it is supposed to be in
some sort distinct from the man, and, like the demon of Socrates, to
give him advice, and is a kind of small Wodsi, capable of receiving
offerings. The Kla is also dual, male and female; the former urging the
man to evil, and the latter to good.