[Illustration: Representation of the Court of Select audience Costume,
and the ceremony of swearing fidelity to the British Government.]
JOURNAL
OF A
RESIDENCE IN ASHANTEE.
BY
JOSEPH DUPUIS, ESQ.
LATE
HIS BRITANNIC MAJESTY’S ENVOY AND CONSUL FOR THAT KINGDOM.
COMPRISING
NOTES AND RESEARCHES RELATIVE TO THE GOLD COAST,
AND THE
INTERIOR OF WESTERN AFRICA;
CHIEFLY COLLECTED FROM ARABIC MSS.
AND INFORMATION COMMUNICATED BY THE MOSLEMS OF GUINEA:
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ORIGIN AND CAUSES OF THE PRESENT WAR.
* * * * *
ILLUSTRATED WITH A MAP AND PLATES.
* * * * *
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR HENRY COLBURN,
NEW BURLINGTON STREET.
1824.
LONDON:
SHACKELL AND ARROWSMITH, JOHNSON’S-COURT, FLEET-STREET.
CONTENTS.
* * * * *
PART I.
Page
Introduction i
CHAPTER I.
JOURNEY TO COOMASSY.
Departure from Cape Coast Castle — Mouree — Dutch Castle of 1
Nassau — Beetles — Ashantee Travellers — Ruins of Fantee
Crooms — Emperou — Defeat of the Fantees at that Place —
Formidable Serpent — Second Party of Ashantee Traders; Terror
of the Females — Moslem from Coomassy — Red and Black Ants —
Description of Doonqua — The Forests — Remains of Mansue —
Provisions Plundered by the Fantees — Courses of Rivers —
Abandou — Crooms or Towns of Fooso, Yancomady, and Akomfody —
Annoyance from Rats — The Youne, a kind of Sloth — Dansansoo —
Mekaren — Passage of the Praa — Prasso — Kikiwhary — Enmity of
the Inhabitants towards the Fantees; Seductive Arts of the
Females — Site of Miassa — Defeat of the Assins under Cheboo —
Remains of Saporgah, Tibiassah, Bequama, and Ensamah — Arrival
at Ansah
CHAPTER II.
Public Reception at Ansah — Description of an Assin House — 41
Effects of Negro Warfare — State of Health of the Party —
Akrofroom — Superstition of the Inhabitants with regard to
White Travellers — Beasts of Prey — Elephants — Moisy —
Frontier of Ashantee — The River Bohmen — Sable Naiads —
Chusah — Fomanah — Doompassy — Offering to a Household God —
Datchasoo — Message from the King of Ashantee — Adadwasy —
Amoafo — Visits from the King’s Son and Daughter — Bequa —
Assiminia — Boposso — Agemum — Sarasoo — Process of Clearing
Land for Cultivation in Fantee and Barbary — First Sight of
Coomassy — Public Reception by the King — Speech of the King
of Banna — Ceremonies — Observations on the Journey and
Climate
CHAPTER III.
COMMENCEMENT OF NEGOTIATIONS.
Audience of the King — Objects of the Mission — Delivery of 86
Presents — The Oath of Friendship and Alliance, taken by the
King and Principal Chiefs and Officers — Inspection of the
Presents, and Effect produced — Visits from the Ashantee
Moslems — Violation of Mohammedan Law — State of Religion in
Ashantee — Characters of the Caboceers — Second Audience of
the King — His Ideas of Europe — His Presents — Visits from
Mandingo Moslems — Interruption by Ado Quamina — Dispute and
Reconciliation with Him — Misconduct of the Fantees — Third
Audience — Prospect of an Amicable Conclusion of the
Negotiations — Presents to the Great Men
CHAPTER IV.
NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUED.
Arrival of the Interpreter Abroah — Prejudices of the King 131
against Him — The King’s Sister — Account of her Promotion to
the Rank of Governess of the Empire — Magical Rites and
Superstitions — Barbarity of the King towards his Wives —
Commencement of a History of the King’s Wars for the
Information of the King of England — Suspicions entertained
against the Interpreters — The King’s Notes for Cape Coast
Castle and Annamaboe — Remarks on the Conduct and Statements
of Mr. Bowdich respecting these Notes — The King’s Arguments
and Declarations — Qualities and Prices of Goods supplied from
Cape Coast — Human Sacrifices — Attempt of the Caboceers to
Sound the British Agent — Conference on the Sketch of a Treaty
— Message to the King from Cape Coast Castle — Disputes
respecting a Penalty alleged to have been Represented as
Inserted in the Former Convention — Return of Mr. Hutton to
Cape Coast — Erection of a Fort by the King — Misunderstanding
respecting the King of Juabin (Dwabin) — Continuation of the
Palaver — Little Adai Custom — Human Sacrifices — Audience of
Ceremony — Presents from the King — Instructions from Cape
Coast — Indignation of the King — Exhibition of the Magic
Lanthorn — Appointment of a Day for the Author’s Return, on
his solemn Requisition
CHAPTER V.
RETURN OF THE MISSION.
Presents from the Moslems — Diplomatic Advice — Farewell 151
Visits — Fort George — Proposed Embassy from the King of
Ashantee — Examination of Plate of various European
Manufactures — Merchandize suitable for African Markets —
Visit from the King to the Quarters of the Mission — Jealousy
of the Ashantee Chiefs — Discussions on the Cape Coast Prices
— On the Slave Trade — The King’s Wars — Bardic Recitations —
Exposure and Harsh Treatment of a Captive Prince — Signature
of a Treaty — The King’s Commercial and Financial Plans —
Peculiarities of African Commerce — Audience of Leave — Troops
of Slaves intended for the King of England — Instructions to
the Ashantee Ambassadors — Presents to the King of England —
To the Envoy — Ceremonies of naming the Ashantee Fort —
Extraordinary Condescension of his Majesty on taking Leave —
Mortification of the Moslems at the Author’s rejection of the
Koran — Departure — Heavy Rains — Liberation of a Slave —
Journey to Cape Coast — Disavowal of the Treaty by the
Governor and Council — Preparations for War — Fantee
Conspiracy — Protest — Sir George Collier refuses to convey
the Ambassadors to England — Correspondence — Observations —
Return of the Author to Europe
CHAPTER VI.
OCCURRENCES SUBSEQUENT TO THE AUTHOR’S RETURN.
Correspondence of Messrs. Gordon, Robertson, Dawson and 194
Collins — Inactivity of the Ashantees — Stoppage of Trade —
Conduct of Mr. Smith — Government take Possession of the Forts
— Effective Force there — Commencement of Hostilities — Attack
of Mouree by the British — Observations — Vindication of the
Dutch from the Charge of exciting Hostilities — Appointment of
Sir Charles M‘Carthy as Governor of the British Settlements on
the Western Coast of Africa — His Ideas of the Power of
Ashantee — State of the Gold Coast on his Arrival — Blockade
by the Ashantees — Their Military Tactics — Murder of a
Serjeant — The British Force takes the Field — Defeat and
Death of Sir Charles M‘Carthy — Correspondence — Observations
CHAPTER VII.
HISTORICAL MEMOIRS OF ASHANTEE.
Antiquity and Power of the Monarchy of Ashantee — National 224
Character — War of Dinkira — Reign of Sai Tooto — Massacre at
Acromantee — Sai Apoko — Civil War — Sai Akwasy — Sai Kodjoh —
War of Gaman — Sai Quamina — Embassy from Dahomy — Sai Apoko
II. — Sai Tooto Quamina — War of Ghofan — First Bontoko War —
War of Assin — Murder of the King’s Messengers by the Fantees
— Fantee War — Attack of Annamaboe — Death of Cheboo —
Ratification of the Truce — Exchange of Presents — Prisoners
of War awarded to the Governor, and their Disposal
* * * * *
PART II.
CHAPTER VIII.
ON THE GEOGRAPHY OF WESTERN AFRICA.
WANGARA.
Credibility of Information obtained from the Moslems of Guinea I
— Character of the Religion of Islam — Anecdote of the Khalifa
Omar — Anecdote of Mulai Soliman, Emperor of Morocco —
Vindication of the Character of the Moslems of Ashantee —
Their Correspondence with the Author — Remarks on the Mission
from Cape Coast Castle, in 1817 — Travels of the Moslems —
Authorities, and Explanation of the Map of Wangara — Remarks
on the Geographical Statements published by Mr. Bowdich,
relating to the Courses of the Niger — On the Various
Distances denominated a Day’s Journey — Enumeration of Errors
in Mr. Bowdich’s System of the Geography of Africa —
Geographical Description of Ashantee; its Roads, Paths, Towns,
Rivers, Lakes, &c. — Wangara — Course of the Niger — The
Aswada — The Logos — Great Lake of Ayoh — River of Benin —
Empire of Zogho — Yarraba — Rapid Changes in the Political
Divisions of Africa — Haoussa — Relative Situation of the
Moslems and Heathens — Protection necessary for Travelling in
the Interior — Great Divisions of Wangara — Enkasy — Ghofan —
Yandy — Abomey — Eastern Districts of Wangara — Horses,
Weapons, &c. — Benin — Gaman — Rock Gold and Gold Dust —
Manufactures in Gold — Moslem Population in Ashantee —
Character of the Fantees
CHAPTER IX.
SOUDAN.
Ancient Africa — Derivation of the Name — The Gharb — Soudan — LXXVI
Traditions — Inroads of the Ocean — Names given by the Arabs —
Ancient Population — Ignorance and Indifference of the Pagans
— Great Divisions of Africa, South of the Desert — Ghunja —
Sarem — Dagomba — Ganowa — Bambara — Fillany — Marroa —
Killinga — Haoussa — Yarraba — The Niger — Shary — Ghulby —
Captain Laing’s Observations — Description of Routes Marked on
the Map — Jews of Soudan — Travels of the Ashantees —
Privileges of Moslem Travellers — Current Coin — Weights and
Measures
* * * * *
APPENDIX.
No. I. Appointment of the Author as Consul at Coomassy CXVII
No. II. Treaty made with the King of Ashantee, by Mr. Bowdich, CXIX
in the Name of the Governor and Council
No. III. Treaty made with the King of Ashantee, by the Author CXX
on behalf of his Majesty
GEOGRAPHICAL DOCUMENTS.
No. IV. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, shewing the CXXIV
route from Salgha in Ghunja, to Youry in Haoussa, &c.
No. V. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, shewing the route CXXVII
from Coomassy to Salgha
No. VI. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, shewing the CXXVIII
route between Salgha and Kassina by the river Ghulby
No. VII. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, descriptive of CXXX
distance, &c.
No. VIII. An Arabic Manuscript descriptive of the journey CXXXI
between Coomassy and the Jolliba, at Sego and Jenny, distance,
&c.
No. IX. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, descriptive of CXXXIII
the route between Jenny and Bornou
No. X. An Arabic Manuscript and Translation, descriptive of ib.
the journey from Coomassy to Kassina, by the route of Magho
and the Ghulby, written by a native of Haoussa
No. XI. An Arabic Manuscript, describing distance, &c. from a CXXXIV
travelling chart of the Sheriffe Brahim or Ibrahim
LIST OF PLATES.
* * * * *
1. Representation of the Court of Select
Audience Costume, and the Ceremony of
Swearing Fidelity to the British Government to face the Title.
2. South Prospect of the River Praa and the
Forest of Assin 33
3. A Woman and Youth of Banna, and a Marroa Slave 40
4. Moslems of Dagomba and Salagah, in the
Costumes of their Countries 72
5. Priests or Magicians of Ashantee invoking
the National Deities 75
6. The Palace of Ouso Adoom, the King’s Nephew;
the Author’s temporary Residence at Coomassy 83
7. Specimen of Ashantee Sculpture 85
8. A Street in Coomassy leading to the Palace 112
9. The Close of the Adai Customs 142
10. An Ashantee Soldier 193
11. A Caboceer of Ashantee equipped for War 223
12. Military Weapons of the Ashantees 264
13. Map of Wangara and Soudan to face Part II.
Page I
14. A Moslem of Kong, in Military Costume XXXVII
15. A Man and Woman of Gaman LVI
16. A Man and Woman of Banna LXXV
DEDICATION.
* * * * *
TO
THE KING’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY,
GEORGE THE FOURTH,
&c. &c. &c.
SIRE,
IN conformity with the permission which I have received, I now
place under the patronage of your Majesty’s august name, a volume
exhibiting the intimate and political feelings of the Sovereign of
Ashantee, demonstrative of a friendly regard, as well towards your Royal
person as to the commercial prosperity of the British Colonies on the
Gold Coast: the contents of which I stood pledged to make known to your
Majesty.
With sentiments of the purest attachment to your Majesty’s service, and
to the honour and interest of the crown,
I remain,
With the profoundest veneration,
SIRE,
Your Majesty’s most faithful Subject,
and dutiful Servant,
JOSEPH DUPUIS.
JOURNAL
OF A
RESIDENCE IN ASHANTEE.
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION.
The British trade with the Gold Coast of Africa was placed by charter,
in the reign of Charles II. under the controul of the Royal African
Company, whose governor-general (the Governor of Cape Coast Castle) and
council (consisting principally of the commandants of the subordinate
forts) had the direction of matters on the African shore, acting, of
late years, under instructions sent from England by a body of men chosen
for that employ, called the African Committee. This committee was
latterly allowed by parliament £30,000 per annum, for the maintenance of
their forts in Africa, the protection of the trade, &c. The system was
highly injurious to the public, for the trade was only nominally free—in
fact it was monopolized by the governor and council themselves, and so
much of the public grant as was actually laid out in the maintenance of
the forts and establishments, served only to keep the public out of the
African market; the application of the remainder it is not difficult to
conjecture.
The forts were held at certain rents secured to the native chiefs by
notes, which will be more particularly mentioned in the following pages.
On the conquest of Fantee by the King of Ashantee, the notes came into
his possession, and the rent was paid to him for a time. He several
times ravaged the Fantee and other maritime countries, and the English
having interfered to protect the natives, he blockaded Cape Coast itself
in 1816, but was induced by presents to withdraw his forces.
In 1817, Mr. John Hope Smith being Governor of Cape Coast Castle, and
president, and the council consisting of the Governors of Accra, Tantum,
Annamaboe, and Dixcove, the African committee on the suggestion of the
council, sent instructions to forward what they termed both an _embassy_
and an _exploratory mission_ to Coomassy the capital of Ashantee. Mr.
Smith furnished a sketch of a treaty to be concluded between the
governor and council, and the King of Ashantee. Mr. James was appointed
to head the mission, from his rank as senior member of council, and
governor of Accra fort, and Messrs. Bowdich, Hutchison, and Tedlie were
selected as his associates; the two former gentlemen writers, the last
named an assistant-surgeon in the company’s employ. At Coomassy Mr.
Bowdich, of his own authority, assumed the chief command, superseded his
superior officer Mr. James, and concluded with the king the convention
which will be found in the appendix, No. 2, where it is inserted from
the original in my possession, which differs materially from that
published by Mr. Bowdich as the treaty in question.
Such was the state of our relations with Ashantee, when, by the advice
of a friend, I forwarded a memorial to the Right Honourable the Lords
Commissioners of the Treasury, tendering my services as resident consul
in that country.
In due time I received letters[1] from the Treasury and Downing-street,
intimating that my offer had been accepted, and ordering me to make the
necessary preparations for proceeding to my destination.
It was explained to me, in England, that my appointment originated in an
earnest desire on the part of His Majesty’s government, to cultivate the
existing harmony with the king of Ashantee, and, upon the basis of a
mutual confidence, to nurture the seeds of an accidental friendship as
an essential preliminary step to the advancement of certain hopeful
expectations connected with the manufacturing and commercial interests
of Great Britain; whereby government, it would seem, had built upon the
probability, through the auspices of the king, not only of enticing all,
or the greater part of Ashantee commerce, to the several British
settlements on the Gold Coast; but also of inducing that monarch to
suffer the traders from the more inland districts to visit the British
markets in common with the Ashantees themselves. In elucidation of these
sentiments, I beg to refer the reader to the following extracts taken
from my instructions.
“It must be almost superfluous to point out to you, that the _most_
important object to attain, is, to establish mutual confidence; since
upon this basis alone can mutual interest be raised. And with this view,
it may be good policy to defer the prosecution of any plans for
_immediate_ profit that may have a tendency to excite the suspicion or
jealousy of the natives. For though the promotion of our commercial
relations with the interior is, undoubtedly, a consideration of the
_first_ importance, yet in a country with which we have had so little
intercourse, _that_ should be but a secondary object. Your particular
care should be to satisfy the minds of the king and his ministers, that
our professions of _friendship_ and _good-will_ are _sincere_, before
you allow it to be understood that the intention is to pursue our
enquiries, and to extend the trade beyond the boundaries of his
dominions.
“The duties of a British consul at Coomassy must necessarily be of a
peculiar nature: He must therefore, for a _time_, be _almost wholly_
guided by _circumstances_ as they _arise_, bearing however always in
mind as the general rule of his conduct, his duty and allegiance to his
sovereign and country, the _promotion_ of the Christian religion, and
the interest of British commerce.
“Your acquaintance with the characters of the Moors or Arabs (obtained
during your long residence in Barbary,) renders any suggestions for your
government, with respect to them, wholly unnecessary; further than it
will be deserving of much consideration, how far it may be politic to
place confidence in any of those who are resident at Coomassy, by making
use of them as interpreters or otherwise, as they _must_, both from
their religious principles and self-interest, be rather disposed to
_prejudice_, than to promote our interests. You may, however, find them
to be less bigoted than self-interested, and by prudent measures may be
able to turn their influence with the government very much to the
advantage of this country.
“One object most desirable to obtain, as it would essentially assist in
the realization of the views of government, might _perhaps_ be a grant
from the king of Ashantee, of a district, about _twenty-five miles from
the coast_, subject to a perpetual annual rent, with full liberty to
clear and cultivate the same, and to erect houses, &c. Such a spot, if
judiciously chosen, might open an extensive field for the employment of
the youth educated at the Company’s schools, and be the beginning of a
system which might eventually extend to the cultivation and civilization
of the whole coast. You will, therefore, keep this object constantly in
view, and seize every favourable opportunity of impressing upon the mind
of the king, the signal advantages that would result to the Ashantees as
a people, and the immense accession of riches and strength which would
be acquired by the sovereign, from the country being brought into such
an improved state. It hardly need be observed to you, that this is a
matter which will require to be treated with the greatest delicacy, and
that no opinion upon it should ever be hazarded by any other person
attached to the mission.
“The enclosed are copies of the treaties entered into with the kings of
Ashantee and _Dwabin_: upon reference to which, you will see that _they_
pledge themselves to continue on terms of friendship with the British.
To permit a British officer constantly to reside at Coomassy; to
encourage trade with Cape Coast Castle, and its dependencies, and to
commit _their_ children to the care of the governor in chief (of the
Company’s establishments) for education at Cape Coast Castle, &c. &c.
“You will be sensible how necessary it is to get geographical
information, and therefore you will carefully treasure up every thing
you can learn, without showing that you attach any importance to the
obtaining of it.” &c.
I was detained in England about nine months, reckoning from the date of
my appointment; for I did not sail for the coast of Africa until the
month of November following. The voyage itself was as favourable as
could have been desired: we left the Downs with the wind at north-east,
which increasing to a gale, conveyed us to Madeira in six days. After a
detention at Funchal short of a week, we finally weighed anchor for Cape
Coast Castle. More than this outline, it is presumed, would not afford
the reader any real interest.
From January, the month I landed on the Gold Coast, to the following
June, my health was unimpaired by the effect of climate, while many sunk
under the mortal influence of tropical diseases; yet I courted rather
than shunned exposure to the air by night as well as day.[2] It was the
opinion of my friends that the seven or eight years of “seasoning” I had
undergone in Mauritania rendered me less susceptible of danger; but in
this sentiment I never could agree with them; and I was the more
prejudiced in favour of my own way of reasoning when the periodical
rains set in, for I was instantly assailed by a fever, which for
severity and duration, was of the most dangerous character. When from
this attack I emerged to a state of convalescence, which I did only
under symptoms of extreme debility after the lapse of nearly two months,
I retired from the castle to a little cottage in the “bush,” where for
six ensuing weeks I gradually improved in health. But the season of
fogs, mists, and exhalations succeeding the first fall, as it does upon
this parallel of latitude, I again relapsed under the malignant
influence of the period. The fever at this time attached itself
locally[3] to the liver, spleen, &c., and although the danger was more
remote than heretofore, yet as I laboured long under it, and grew
gradually worse, I had no hopes of gaining strength sufficient for my
contemplated journey to the interior, unless by a change of air. Thus
prepossessed, during the height of the ulterior rains which usually set
in in the month of September, I embarked on a cruise in his Majesty’s
ship Pheasant, commanded by Captain Kelly, an officer every way
conspicuous for his gentlemanlike conduct.
The rains chased us from the coast to the bight of Benin, whither we
were bound, and for five ensuing weeks the strides of death among the
crew were considerable. My health continued to be seriously bad, and the
cruise becoming irksome, I availed myself of an opportunity that offered
to transship myself to the Snapper gun-brig, (commanded by a late
lamented friend) then on her passage back to Cape Coast. A tornado which
we experienced, and the set of the current together, carried us to our
destination in two or three days, and when I set foot again on shore at
the close of November, I was little improved in health. The rains,
however, had ceased, and in less than a week my disorder wholly
subsided. I recovered, seemingly, to the most perfect state of health,
and my anxiety to take upon myself the duties for which I was sent out
to Africa, was proportionate to the now alarming state of public affairs
in relation to our connexions with Ashantee; for this was the period
when the king, exasperated to the highest pitch of indignation against
the servants of the Company as well as the native population of Cape
Coast, demanded satisfaction of both in sums of money equivalent to
£12,800., the half of which was, as he termed it, the assessed penalty
for a violation of the treaty made by Mr. Bowdich.
During my absence on the cruise, a Mr. Wm. Hutton, a writer in the
service of the company, landed at Cape Coast. I had once before
accidentally seen him at Gravesend, when, it seems, he contemplated
returning to Africa, this I knew at the time I sailed myself, and this
was the limit of my knowledge of this gentleman. When I returned from
the cruize, he shewed me the respect of a common place visit of
congratulation or condolence, (for I had unhappily lost an infant member
of my family during my absence) and this was succeeded by a letter,
which I received the next day, from my friend Mr. Joseph Dawson, (ex-
governor of Cape Coast) a merchant in town of the first class of
respectability, both in property and character. It ran as follows:—
“The gentleman I sent to the Castle is Mr. Hutton, whose name you have
frequently heard me mention. I now introduce him to you as a particular
friend whom I wish well to. He accompanied the expedition of Major
Peddy, and is well-seasoned to the climate. I think he would be useful
to you, if you go to Aquamassy, (Coomassy), in case of sickness, for he
knows the nature of business here, and can act under your direction. He
has begged of me to see you and offer his services voluntarily to go up
with you; so I may recommend him to you as a young man who has talent,
and for his integrity I will answer,” &c.
Pleased with a voluntary tender of service for such duty, as it was a
solitary instance of the kind, and gratified with the idea of obliging a
friend, I accepted of the offer, although I was already provided with a
vice-consul,[4] a youth inexperienced indeed, but whose qualifications
of the heart were of the first distinction.
Mr. Hutton being more competent to take an active part, I employed him
on many occasions, and indeed I may not omit my public acknowledgments
of his industry and zeal on many early occasions, and which I stamped
with my approbation in a memorial submitted to me to obtain my sanction
ere I forwarded it to the lords commissioners of the treasury, the
result of which procured both him and Mr. Collins the rewards they
petitioned for.
During my third illness, a few days antecedent to the journey to
Coomassy, I gave Mr. Hutton a temporary power to act for me, mainly
because I was apprehensive that measures would be taken to supersede me
in my command upon the score of ill health—a step which might be imputed
to motives of _humanity_. I therefore authorised Mr. Hutton to proceed
to Doonqua, with the presents under his charge. Finding subsequently,
however, that the influence of the governor and council still endangered
my possession of the charge, and as my indisposition for several days
continued obstinate, rather than allow any authority in that country to
interfere with the powers which had been granted to me, I increased that
which I had granted to Mr. Hutton, authorising him now to jog forward at
a gentle pace, if my illness should still increase in severity, to
relieve me from the uneasy thoughts arising from the daily and hourly
interference of the castle with duties which belonged to me alone.
My recovery, two or three days afterwards, rendered this precaution
unnecessary, and I had the satisfaction to assume the command at
Doonqua.
Looking back to the period of my arrival in Africa—the month of January,
1819,—I found Mr. Hutchison, who had been left at Coomassy by his
coadjutors, Messrs. Bowdich and Tedlie, in quality of resident, upon the
coast, having been recalled by Mr. Smith, the governor of Cape Coast
Castle, to fill the office of salesman in his warehouse, at that
interesting period when the king of Ashantee was occupied with his
military preparations for the approaching war with Dinkera, king of
Gaman.
During Mr. Hutchison’s stay at the court, the king, on various
occasions, acknowledged the satisfaction he enjoyed from his connexions
with the whites, and particularly the British. The fervor of the king’s
attachment indeed, had developed itself in many little conciliatory
acts, and in tokens genuine or politic of his personal esteem for
Messrs. Mollan, Smith, and Hutchison[5]; nor was the primary
consideration forgotten, for that monarch employed every means in his
power to promote trade with the British, which for a time flourished,
although chiefly, it must be admitted, in the governor’s warehouses; for
when the tributary sovereigns and caboceers assembled their retainers,
preparatory to the meditated invasion of Gaman, they were all directed
to procure supplies from Cape Coast, so that, according to the most
authentic accounts, Mr. Smith’s stock of rum, powder, and cloth, was
metamorphosed into gold dust in the lapse of a few days only.
These were benefits conferred by the court alone. In regard to the
inferior classes of traders, they, not being bound by the royal
restrictions, speculated freely and sought their own markets, either
with the officers of the castle, or among the free merchants in town.
Thus all participated, more or less, in the temporary influx of
commerce; although it was stated by some to have been of no solid
advantage, except in bulk, as the business was chiefly transacted by Mr.
Smith, and a favoured few. This correspondence is supposed to have
received a slight check, from an omission, on the part of Mr. Smith, to
acknowledge the king’s benefits according to negro courtesy, by
reciprocal donations, courtly messages, &c. This neglect, however, made
no impression on the political attachment of the king, whose conception
of the treaty of 1817 favoured an implicit confidence in the good faith
of those who had courted the union; and this belief was encouraged by a
persuasion that the smiles of the British government, or rather the
British sovereign, irradiated his throne with a refulgence that dazzled
the multitude, excited the envy of cotemporary powers, and rendered his
political existence more secure from foreign enemies, or the ambitious
schemes of the tributaries and nobles of his empire.
Mr. Hutchison’s occupation, as warehouseman, was found profitable to his
employer, as it attracted a private connexion from Coomassy, who chose
that gentleman for their broker in preference to one they did not know.
This preference excited much dissatisfaction among the merchants and
inferior traders. Without the castle walls the treaty itself was
bewailed in serious lamentations, reproachful to its authors, although,
in truth, a few of the complainants had no cause to be dissatisfied,
unless by comparison with the channel that absorbed so much gold in
mass. Be this as it may, the evil, real or imaginary, vibrated in my
hearing, shortly after I landed on the coast, and the treaty was
unreservedly condemned as the cause of the public grievance. The mission
which gave existence to that treaty was represented to have been
conceived in mercantile enterprize and intrigue; the expence of which
was cast upon the government, while the profit was almost exclusively
pocketed by the few leading servants of the African Committee. It was
boldly affirmed that the document dignified with the name of treaty, was
in reality a shadow, although not an innoxious one; and although it
could deceive no one versed in the tortuous politics of the country, yet
it was reasonably calculated to stand the test of criticism in the
meridian of London; where the organs of its supporters (who were liable
to the same imposition) afforded the only channel from which information
could be elicited: that to effect the sinister purposes of a plot deeply
laid, a meritorious officer, such as the late Sir James Yeo described
Mr. James to be, was recalled with censure, at the instance of his young
aspiring associates, the companions of his dangers and fatigues.
The king was at the head of his army on the Gaman frontier at the time I
landed, and a battle was shortly expected to take place between the
“rival powers,” as they were improperly called by the governor. The
natives of the town of Cape Coast, elated by reports which some affirmed
came from the windward towns, whilst others maintained that they were
fabricated in the castle, entertained hopes that the Ashantee monarchy
might be annihilated in the approaching conflict. These wishes they were
imprudent enough to promulgate, thereby affording the king’s friends and
his captain resident, who lived in the town, an opportunity to represent
the disaffection that prevailed. In due time the court noticed it, and
politically restricted the intercourse between the inland and maritime
traders, until the termination of the campaign. This restriction,
however, is to be understood in a limited sense, for still the
sovereign’s confidential servants and traders visited the castle, and
purchased, as usual, what was wanted for the court or camp.
The Ashantee captain resident had been stationed by the king at Cape
Coast, and was considered there as the organ of his government. While
the king remained in his capital, the maritime states were cautious of
giving offence; but when the southern provinces were no longer overawed
by the presence of the monarch on his throne, the natives of Cape Coast,
encouraged, it must be admitted, by the gossips of the castle, thought
proper to take a sudden umbrage at the resident, whom they looked upon
as a spy or inspector over their actions. Reports were circulated from
some unknown source, that the king’s army had suffered a defeat of
magnitude, and that Dinkera was pushing over the Tando river with intent
to repay the hostile visit of the king. The resident protested against
the falsity of the account, as did the chiefs of Elmina town, but the
interest they took in the business was supposed to proceed from other
motives than those sincerity might inspire.
Traders now but rarely visited the settlements; and when they did come,
it was found impracticable to elicit from them what alone would have
passed current for authentic information, namely, an admission that the
king had been defeated!
At this crisis two royal messengers came to Cape Coast to vent a
complaint against the conduct of the people of Commenda, whither they
had been sent by their sovereign to convey a _jaw-bone_ or two, as
trophies of the success of the Ashantee arms. They claimed the
protection of the British, by virtue of the treaty. It was confirmed
beyond disputation that these messengers had been used with some
violence, and turned out of the town in contemptuous defiance and
ridicule. At Cape Coast they were secure from molestation, but could get
no redress; for Mr. Smith, without the aid of the council, and without
regard to my particular interest and responsibility in the concerns of
Ashantee, refused to administer justice between the parties until, after
the lapse of many months, the threat of hostility became so alarming to
the interests of the settlements, that the council assumed the power of
acting independently of the views entertained by its president, and
determined to forward the mission.
As far as policy may be allowed to palliate those errors of
administration, which are connected with a violation of public and
private faith, so far only it was justifiable to abjure this treaty of
Mr. Bowdich. Let it be assumed that the early reports of the king’s
defeat were actually credited in the castle to the extent that the
military power of Ashantee had been vitally shaken in the conflict with
its western enemies, still it was the honour of England, and, as it was
imagined by the king, the faith of her monarch, which had been pledged
to him in the treaty of 1817, upon what authority I leave to the
judgment of the reader.
I believe, upon no slight grounds, that my consular appointment to the
court mainly contributed to inspire Mr. Bowdich’s uncle with the
temerity to induce a rupture with the king; for in opposition to my
solicitations that my arrival in the country should be communicated at
the capital by a public messenger, it was explained to me that the time
was not suitable, and I must wait until after the rains, as it would be
dangerous to travel before I was seasoned to the climate. Many
whisperings were circulated in augmentation of the difficulties, and my
hopes, although buoyed up in favourable expectancy, did not wholly
subdue my fears of disappointment; for the impracticability of visiting
the metropolis became a common topic of conversation, and every
discouraging prognostication was echoed about without reserve, but
certainly not without a motive. The sentiments of the parties in town
united in a rooted belief that every measure short of _actual hostility_
would be resorted to, to prevent the execution of those plans which were
contemplated in my appointment; and that Mr. Smith was, moreover,
personally interested in suppressing my visit to court, from the
feelings he had for his nephew, whose exaggerated representations of the
opulence and grandeur of the Ashantee monarchy, he was no stranger to.
Doubtful as the sequel might prove, my hopes and fears alternately
fluctuated as I anxiously looked forward for the king’s return to his
capital, upon which I was now inclined to concentrate all my
expectations.
The Captain resident, who was a young athletic man, was taken suddenly
ill in the month of March, while this misunderstanding existed, and his
death speedily ensued, not without a strong suspicion of poison, which,
it was whispered, had been administered by a slave of the caboceer
Aggry, a man who received pay from the company, and who was upheld as a
superior chief, and dignified with the title of King of the town.
Whether this was true or not I cannot affirm, but no successor was ever
appointed to the vacant situation, and yet it was more than ever
incumbent on the government to watch the idle rumours that gave so much
uneasiness to the king.
In the same month a silly tale was circulated at Cape Coast that a most
decisive battle had been fought between the belligerents; that the king
of Ashantee had fallen in the conflict, that his army was scattered over
the face of the country, and that his enemies, headed by the victorious
Dinkera, were within a few days’ march of Coomassy, where the advanced
guard had already arrived. Yet no clue could be discovered for tracing
this rumour to a source that might imprint upon it a semblance of
authenticity: notwithstanding which it was seemingly credited implicitly
by Mr. Smith, who assured me _he had no doubt of its truth_: hence the
same opinion predominated throughout the town, as well as in the castle.
I know no reason why it should have taken so deep a root, except that it
was what chimed with the anxious wishes of the natives, and, as it would
seem, co-operated with the views of some of the superior authorities in
the castle.
As my hopes and fears now centred in the truth or falsehood of the
statement, I hired a canoe and went to El Mina with a letter of
introduction to His Excellency the late Governor Oldenburgh, by whom I
was assured that there was not a word in the report deserving of credit,
although he doubted not there had been a general engagement. The
Ashantee traders who were in the town, amounting to near one hundred,
including their slaves, laughed outright at the tale, which they treated
as a malicious libel that would be attended with evil consequences in
the sequel. It was added, moreover, that these artful reports were
coined at Cape Coast exclusively, for every other town knew them to be
false; and even the people of Commenda were then sensible that they had
been betrayed into their late excesses by the influence of Cape Coast.
Towards the end of March, a messenger, bearing the gold-hilted sword,
came to the castle from the camp, stating that he had been deputed by
his sovereign to acquaint the governor that an outrage had been
committed at Commenda upon two men of office, who had represented to him
their inability to procure redress; but that the king expected, upon the
faith of the treaty, and the friendship that existed between them, that
justice would be done. However, if the governor declined taking that
trouble, he should send some troops for that purpose.
The king, it was added, had also heard with anger and regret, that the
natives of Cape Coast were not disposed to be friends; that they talked
foolish things, as if they wanted him to come down again to the water
side; but he trusted the governor would look to it for him, because he
was then engaged in war.
This was substantially the message which was laid hold of as a
palliative argument for having bidden defiance to the king in language
which that monarch deemed insulting, and a farewell adieu to the treaty
of Mr. Bowdich: for Mr. Smith, without listening to the main argument,
or attending to the justice of the king’s complaint, interrupted the
man, by desiring him to return to his master and acquaint him that he
might come down “in forty days, or in twenty, or as soon as he thought
proper.”
This messenger, whose name was Accra Dehe, lingered about the town for
some time, and vainly intimated that he durst not carry such a message
back: that it would be an insult to the king, and perhaps cost him his
head. But at length he was compelled to depart.
In order to elucidate these rash councils, so abruptly resorted to,
without the concurrence of any other individual associated in the
commission for the administration of public affairs; it is requisite to
say something of a finesse that was employed to give sanction to
hostility at such a crisis, when so many interests and expectations were
thrown away. Will it be credited that the message itself was perverted,
through the medium of the interpreter, who was instructed so to do, that
a plausible opportunity might be afforded for breaking off the friendly
connexion that existed with Ashantee? This was roundly asserted by many
who were not known as friends to the king, and who freely declared that
De Graaf, the castle linguist, interpreted the king’s message to the
governor with exaggerations, and even falsehood, in the course of which
he said (or as it was suspected was urged to say), “The king would
certainly come down to Cape Coast in forty days and _punish those who
had abused him_.” In order to obtain, as it were, a tacit sanction, Mr.
Smith invited me to meet the messenger in the hall, in company with
captain Kelly of H.M.S. Pheasant. We caught the words as they fell from
the lips of De Graaf, and I confess, for my own part, the colouring was
so artfully contrived, that I saw no other alternative than waiting
patiently where I was. Indeed, for some time after, I was a dupe to the
prejudice that the king actually designed war; notwithstanding that
Accra Dehe, before he quitted the Cape, declared that De Graaf had
perverted the king’s message.[6]
The elders and chiefs of the town were then privately instructed to arm
their people, and defend themselves in case of necessity. A wall of
circumvallation, extending across the hills, and entrenching the town
and castle, was hastily erected with mud and swish, loop-holed for
defensive warfare, as if it were actually believed that the Ashantees
would come down; and if so, that the people would find security behind
these frail bulwarks, against an enemy so terrible to their
remembrances.
Accra Dehe returned to the camp, and, as I learned at Coomassy, truly
reported what had occurred, together with his own suspicions regarding
the imposition. The king, however, was enraged to a great degree of
anger against his officer, whom he accused of falsehood, put him to the
torture of the bastonade to extort confession, and finally threw him
into prison with the intention of putting him to a cruel death, in case
he discovered equivocation or deceit.
In the meantime the farce was conducted at Cape Coast, with every
ostensible show of promptitude, although in reality it all ended in the
erection of the wall; for Aggry, who had boasted of his ability to
procure five thousand auxiliaries from the bush (country), found it
impossible to obtain a single man: every town and every village, being
either overawed by a dread of the vengeance of Ashantee, or in strict
alliance with that powerful nation.
These reports, reaching the capital, annihilated what little remained of
the trade, at a single blow; the traders either not caring to trust
themselves and their property at Cape Coast, or being laid under
prohibitions, which restricted the intercourse to El Mina, and the
windward settlements, where, for twelve months after, they deposited
their gold and merchandize. The Dutch, consequently, enjoyed all those
benefits which the treaty was supposed to have conferred upon the
British, who in truth were indebted to the agency of their European
brethren in the few commercial transactions they had with the Ashantees;
and these contracts were sometimes attended with loss upon the property,
varying from twenty to thirty per cent. (without including interest of
money and risk of payment) which fell to the share of the Dutch as the
intermediate parties.
The prospect of surmounting those obstacles which impeded my visit to
the court, was now but a faint one at best, and only to be discerned
through a cloud of trouble and vexation. By this time I was sufficiently
initiated in the sinister mysteries of African politics to know that,
although I might ultimately succeed in my endeavours to reach the
metropolis, yet it would not be until every hostile feeling had been
roused into action, thereby to give full employment to my time, and
excite general distrust and suspicion. These sentiments imperceptibly
stole in upon my secret thoughts, harassing my mind with tantalizing
reflections; nor were any of my friends able to console me at this time
with a solitary hope of what I so ardently desired. But one opinion
existed, and anxious as the majority were for my success, they did not
hesitate to suggest to me the propriety of returning to England, there
to submit a just statement of the obstacles I had to encounter.
This advice, it is almost needless to say, did not accord with my own
sentiments. Limited as my hopes were, I still enjoyed the mental
satisfaction of knowing that things were at least in a train to be
brought to issue, however unfavourable that issue might prove; and I had
previously resolved to abide the test, before I sought new instructions
or resigned my commission.
The rains set in with more than usual violence before the close of
April, and although I had hitherto enjoyed as good health as in England
or Barbary, I was early attacked with fever, which for six weeks held me
in suspense between life and death, nor did I recover without symptoms
of extreme debility, increased by the nature of the climate and the
anxiety which preyed continually upon my mind.
Another messenger came down in June, desiring, in the name of the king,
simply to know whether Accra Dehe had deceived him, or whether Mr. Smith
had actually sent him up a defiance.
I was too ill at this period to attend the hall, but I learned
afterwards that the reply retorted the charge of defiance upon the king
or his messenger, for having first used the language of threat.
Whilst all this was transacting, news reached the Ashantee army that
Cape Coast had been entrenched with a wall, and that the town’s-people
were in arms against the king’s authority (for this, indeed, was a truth
too palpable for concealment). When it was reported to the king, at
Houraboh in Gaman, as that monarch told me himself, his captains
simultaneously unsheathed their sabres and solicited him to allow a
detachment of troops to march down to the coast. “We will kill them,”
said the captains, “or bring them before you, for this insult is
insufferable.” However, enraged as the king was, he suppressed his
feelings, telling his captains that he held a “book” with the white men,
and could not acquiesce in the general wish, but that he would
nevertheless swear to seek satisfaction, for he believed the governor
was imposed upon.
Notwithstanding the royal messengers continued coming to and fro,
between the camp and the castle, the report of the king’s death did not
lose ground. In the castle the most favourable supposition supported an
opinion that the Ashantees had sustained a defeat of such magnitude as
to have produced the election of another king, who, from state policy,
negotiated in the name of his predecessor. Some were bold enough to
affirm that Ashantee no longer existed, but as a department of the Gaman
empire, and was then governed by a son of Dinkera.
In conformity with the king’s promise to his army, another messenger, of
high rank, and with a large retinue, made his entry in September. I was
at this time sufficiently recovered from a second attack of illness to
attend the interview. The man, in an able speech, recapitulated all
those grievances of which his master complained, beginning at the
Commenda “palaver,” and ending with the fortification or line of
defence. The mutinous conduct of the people was touched upon with
_delicacy_, yet the odium was cast upon Mr. Smith, who was indirectly
accused of having _invited_ them to _insubordination_, on a belief that
the king had been defeated by his enemies. In conclusion, the messenger
declared, in the name of his master, that the treaty was of no use if
_insincerity_ was attached to British councils;—that the king looked
upon that treaty as “Fetische,” (sacred) and therefore had sent it down
to the castle, in order that Mr. Smith should read its _contents_, and
determine whether or no he was bound to give satisfaction for the
injuries that had been done: and moreover, if it should be answered
negatively, that gentleman was desired to retain possession of the
treaty, in order that the king might apply to his own resources without
scruple, as it was contrary to his principles, or his notions of honour
and good faith, to keep that deed in his hands and make war; or, as it
was more figuratively described to me at Coomassy by Apoko, to march
against the town with the musquet in hand and the “book” in the box.
As this was uttered, the messenger drew from under his garment a little
morocco trunk, out of which he took the treaty, and presented it to Mr.
Smith, who evinced something like perturbation or confusion, as he
declared “he had nothing to do with it.” The linguist, De Graaf,
interposed a whisper, and it was then read over as far as the fourth
article,[7] when the messenger again rose and demanded satisfaction in
the name of his sovereign, upon the faith of that article, which, if not
complied with, he affirmed, would call down the vengeance of Ashantee
upon the natives of the town. In respect to the Castle, he added, the
king did not wish for war with white men, but his own people must be
obedient; he would not, however, hold the book or treaty if he made war.
The hall now resounded with vociferous arguments from the partisans of
Ashantee and others connected with the messenger’s suite. Some of the
town chiefs, awakened at last from the stupefaction of idle dreams,
joined earnestly in the debate, hoping, as it appeared, to mitigate the
wrath of the monarch, or exonerate themselves from censure, by declaring
that as they were under the government of the whites, they could not
help what had been done. In fact the audience for a time resembled the
upper gallery of a playhouse between the acts, so general was the
confusion; when order was restored, the messenger desired he might hear
more of the treaty, which Mr. Smith read, as far as the seventh article,
where he was interrupted, a second time, by a demand of satisfaction
upon the faith of it.[8] Nor would he listen to the palliative arguments
which were obtruded by Aggry and a chief of the name of Binie. He
declared that his orders were peremptory and his duty imperative; and,
therefore, he should leave the treaty in the castle, unless Mr. Smith
would promise to do the king justice.
At this juncture I requested the governor would make known to the
messenger the object of my mission, and the desire I had to see the
king; for, incredible as it may appear, that monarch was in total
ignorance of any thing concerning me, unless from report. My request was
complied with. The messenger again rose, bowed to me, and took me by the
hand in token of respect and good will. This circumstance appeared to
stagger the resolution he had formed; and he was, for some time pensive
and doubtful, as if he knew not what course to pursue; his
inflexibility, however, was overcome, as he testified by enquiring
whether he was to leave the treaty, or whether I would talk the palaver
with the king. The reply was, that he must be guided by his own
discretion, and accordingly he retired with the treaty to his quarters
in town.
The town chiefs and their retainers were now, for the first time, warned
of the danger they had incurred in giving an unbridled licence to their
tongues.[9] Indeed the advice was scarcely needful at this time, for
their minds were riveted upon the impending peril; and the scenes of
former years were revived in imagination, as they contemplated the
daring spirit of their enemies, and the power of the king. In the town,
tranquillity predominated for a time, among all orders of men; not a
whisper, or the rumour of one, was to be heard prejudicial to the
character or interests of the offended monarch, and the reports of a
Gaman invasion were now woefully discredited or silenced. Yet, in the
castle, the same idle speculations were indulged in, but whether their
propagators actually believed in such trash, although they affirmed it,
is very doubtful.
Mr. Smith was, it seems, still of opinion that the Ashantees had been
totally defeated, and accounts were again written to England to this
effect, but in order somewhat to qualify the tone of his former
sentiments, he affected to imagine that the government had recovered the
blow, still however doubting that the same monarch ruled the empire.
Trade was entirely at a stand, for the Ashantees had long since deserted
the Cape. The Dutch settlements, particularly El Mina town and castle,
were stored with the inland merchants; and British commodities gained
vent through that channel alone, whilst the Dutch, as heretofore,
continued to reap all the advantage.
The messenger, whose hesitation proceeded from doubts connected with the
importance of my mission, and my rank as coming from England direct to
the king, came to the resolution of remaining on the spot until he
should be furnished with other instructions from the king.
During the suspense, I was again so severely attacked with fever, that
by the advice of my medical attendant I was prevailed upon to take a
cruize in the Gulf, and accordingly I embarked on board His Majesty’s
ship Pheasant. The rains were still excessive, sickness tracked our
flight, and mortality made some havock among the officers and crew. At
the expiration of five weeks (it being then November) my health having
improved, I returned to the coast in the Snapper gun-brig. For some time
after I enjoyed indifferent good health, under a tardy convalescence.
The season of health and re-animation was, however, now in rapid
advance, and I believe the revived prospect of visiting the capital
contributed more than any thing else to my recovery.
Public affairs were precisely on the same footing as when I left the
Cape. The same messenger was still in town, but it was reported that a
man of high rank was coming down to the coast in quality of ambassador;
with a train of armed followers.
The town’s-people were more than ever sensible of their folly, and a few
vented their murmurs against the whites, under the impression that they
had encouraged them to resist a power which they could not unitedly
contend against. The wall of defence was, therefore, suffered to moulder
away in neglect, notwithstanding Mr. Smith continued still to give it as
a sort of private opinion, that both policy and necessity required our
entering upon defensive warfare at least, and offensive as regarded the
protection of the town, if needful, from the ravages threatened by the
Ashantees. The impossibility of affording thereby, protection to the
lives and property of the people, formed no part of the argument.
Many were the anxious hopes and fears in circulation, and no one could
form even a conjecture as regarded the future. On the one hand it was
feared that the accumulated provocations would weigh heavily in the
scale of Ashantee politics, and perhaps influence the king to carry fire
and sword through the town; for it was no secret that an enemy so
powerful as the sovereign of Ashantee might perform this with
comparative ease, and without incurring any particular hazard even from
the fire of the castle guns, should that course of proceeding be
resorted to. On the other hand it was admitted, that although the king
was exceedingly exasperated, yet he would be influenced to listen to any
reasonable terms, provided they were associated with the long agitated
mission. In one point of view there was an unity of sentiment outside of
the castle, namely, that any attempt at negotiation short of my visit to
court, would be fruitless.
This was the time when advices were expected from the committee, and
many sanguine hopes of relief were centred in that quarter. But when the
dispatches arrived, they were found to contain nothing important as
regarded the political aspect of affairs in Africa. The information, in
substance, was a reiteration of former strictures upon the conduct of
Messrs. Mollan, Smith, and Adamson[10], on the score of exorbitant
charges in their accounts; but more particularly as they concerned the
pecuniary affairs of the two former gentlemen; and the threat of recall
or dismissal was again fulminated at them with revived censure, in
consequence of their having defended their accounts with scornful
acrimony. Under these circumstances I was confirmed in the opinion that
the committee themselves had been misled by the interested reports of
their servants in regard to the affairs of Ashantee.
Mr. Smith now unequivocally gave it as his opinion, without however
specifying reasons, that to forward the mission would be the “height of
imprudence and madness.”[11]
Again, therefore, my hopes were blighted, and no other consolation
presented itself than the anticipation of the interview with the
ambassador, whose arrival was looked for within the month, and to whom
report gave the credit of extensive, if not ample powers. Indeed it was
affirmed that this great captain had been dignified by his sovereign,
with a commission that qualified him to decide for peace or war upon the
spot, and to act accordingly.
From this period, then, I no longer looked upon the councils of the Cape
(that term will imply the individual acts of Mr. Smith) but as a
barrier, or a chain of mountains on the march: and I availed myself of
an opportunity that offered, to make known to Lord Bathurst, in the
fullest extent, my situation and the predicament in which I was so
accidentally placed.
Another month elapsed, and still every measure of policy was
contemplated in secret hostility, whilst a semblance of inflexibility,
devoid however of the dignity of resolution, or the generosity of
fellowship and good faith in politics, tended to support the natives in
a belief that their “palaver” with the king was of consideration
sufficient to warrant unqualified hostility on the part of the castle.
Certainly the town had been made the dupe of this conceit at an earlier
stage of the quarrel, and doubtless it inspired them with that symptom
of courage, or folly, from whence emanated many offences which,
unhappily for themselves, called down upon their heads the vengeance of
the sovereign, and that not a slight one; for already I was sufficiently
informed to know that the united power of the British and _all_ Fantee
besides in the field, was inadequate to contend against that of the
king, who, if he chose it, might destroy the town of Cape Coast without
risking the loss of a man from our fire; and if he knew how to attack
the castle itself, it was not defensible. But the original infatuation
was nearly at an end, and perhaps had wholly subsided; for the people,
as if sensible at last that they had overstepped the boundary of
prudence, were armed with caution: they were now seriously alarmed, and
their efforts of courage were paralyzed in embryo; they therefore
endeavoured to screen themselves under a semblance of neutrality, as if
they were either unconcerned in the differences now existing between the
king and Mr. Smith, or as if the British government would rescue them
from their perils by negotiation or force of arms: and that too without
employing any efforts on their own parts. Indeed they had buoyed
themselves up with the hopes of a _white_ army coming to their relief.
The year was fast approaching to a close: I had already been held in
this state of anxiety and suspense upwards of eleven months, and for ten
of those weary months, or thereabouts, I had supported my lot with as
much fortitude and resolution as I could.
The messenger, whose approach had been so long the theme of
conversation, was now announced to be on his journey to the Coast, and
at no great distance. Various reports gained credit, also, that a large
body of troops would be quartered upon the town, until the negotiation
should determine between peace or war.
In this interval of suspense, Mr. Swanzy arrived upon the coast,
bringing under his charge despatches from the Committee, which warranted
his hopes of assuming to himself the direction of public affairs in
place of Mr. Smith, upon whom, together with his coadjutors, Mollan and
Adamson, a final act of censure was registered, on the score of
unjustifiable charges in the public accounts, and insolence in their
vindication.
Mr. Swanzy had the candour to admit that obstinacy and private
resentment alone had reduced the settlements to a situation so truly
alarming.
Hitherto, novel as it may seem in the system of government, no council
had ever been assembled for taking the sense of that body upon the
subject of Ashantee, as it has already been related. But now Mr. Swanzy,
in virtue of his own powers, took an active part in public, compelling
Messrs. Smith and Mollan to curtail their charges by a reduction of some
hundreds of pounds, and to recant certain injurious expressions which
they had applied to the committee.
Mr. Smith still adhered to his sentiments of defying the power of the
king; Mr. Mollan, with that obmutescence for which he is remarkable,
gave no opinion at all, and Mr. Swanzy, who it will be remembered, had a
political game to play more intimately associated with his private
interests, avoided saying more at this time than what might be qualified
affirmatively or negatively.
This semblance of re-animation, however, once more removed the cloud of
despondency that covered the minds of many of the chiefs in town, and it
was now imagined that Mr. Swanzy had ability and inclination sufficient
to avert the threatened calamities. That his inclinations would suggest
pacific measures, no one could reasonably doubt, as his mercantile hopes
naturally beat in unison with the feelings of those who had been such
long sufferers.
Again at the close of the month of December, I paid another visit to his
excellency governor Oldenburg. Trade was still brisk at El Mina, and the
Dutch were still profitting by our own evil policy. The Ashantees, I had
the mortification to learn, spoke in very loose terms of British faith,
nor did they seem to think that we were overburthened with common sense.
The information I derived from the governor gave me to understand, most
unequivocally, that, instead of having suffered reverses, the king had
been completely successful in the Gaman campaign, and that there no
longer existed a doubt of the death of Dinkera, and the final submission
of his subjects to the conqueror’s yoke.
During my stay under the hospitable roof of this worthy governor, I
received information from Cape Coast that the long looked-for ambassador
had arrived at Doonqua, and would shortly reach the place of his
destination. Thus informed, I returned to the Cape without loss of time,
where I found the popular rumours to be again very unfavourable. The
anxiety of all classes was extreme, from a presentiment of hostility;
for the ambassador’s train, according to report, was _an army_, and his
demands upon the castle and the town were stated to be exorbitant.
From this period it was a sort of breathless suspense for a day or two,
until the advanced guard, as it was termed, was seen traversing the
beach.
The ambassador entered the place with a degree of military splendour
unknown there since the conquest of Fantee by the king, and according to
prevailing courtesy, the town chiefs, headed by Aggry, were drawn up to
receive their unwelcome visitors.
Let the imagination trace the routine of etiquette, and let it be
believed, as there is no doubt of the fact, that the number of people in
the ambassadors train, at the lowest estimate, was about twelve hundred,
of whom about half were either Ashantees or Assins (some of them women
and boys) and the remaining half Fantees of Doonqua and Mouree, joined
by some El Mina people, who all professed allegiance in common to the
king.
The ambassador, who was a man apparently between the ages of thirty and
thirty-five, stood in the relationship of nephew to the king: it will be
unnecessary, therefore, to say more of his rank and influence at court.
On the day of audience, he delivered a speech in the Hall, which De
Graaf interpreted briefly as follows:—
“The king says, you (the governor) sent white men to Coomassy, and they
told him it was because the whites wished for peace and a good trade; on
hearing which he rejoiced to think that he should gratify the great king
and his captains. These white men saw the king’s face, and they knew he
was a good king and wished well to the governor and white men who lived
in the country; therefore they made a treaty of strict friendship. Then
the king sent down all the trade to the governor, thinking he loved him
as a true friend.
“The king was afterwards obliged to make war against Dinkera, who had
defied him, and refused to pay him gold as before. He ordered his
captains to bring all the people together, and clean the guns. And when
the white man,[12] who lived with him heard that, he said, now I must go
back to the water side; and the king, considering that to be right, let
him go.
“The trade went down as before, and the king was happy, because he
thought, as the white men were friends, they would not allow Fantees to
do foolish things and shame him before his captains.
“When the messengers went to Commenda, it was because he loved the
people; he, therefore, sent a jaw-bone[13] of Dinkera’s captain, that
they might know the king’s enemies were dead, and rejoice at it. Now the
governor knows that these messengers were robbed and beaten, and the
people laughed at the king; therefore, the messengers went to complain
to the governor of Cape Coast, but he would not hear them.
“When the king heard that he was much grieved, and he sent Accra Dehe to
make his compliments and tell the governor to examine that affair, and
do what was right. When Accra Dehe returned to the camp, and told the
king that the governor did not care for him, and said that he might come
down in twenty days, it broke his heart, because it shamed him before
his captains, and all the kings and great caboceers who fought for him.
He could not think the governor would use him in that manner, because he
never sent an offensive message to the castle. The king then punished
the messenger, but the captains said it was wrong, and that the people
of Cape Coast were insolent; and they took their swords to march against
the Fantees. But the king forbade them, saying he must do what was right
according to the book, and he should have satisfaction. Then the king
sent more messengers to the governor; but they tell him the governor
will not give satisfaction according to the book, and the captains
believe that it was true he sent a defiance, saying if the king chose to
come and fight he was ready. Then the king called all the chiefs and the
old men together, and told them the truth; and they said, ‘This
dishonours you, king; we cannot hear this and sit upon our stools, for
the people will laugh at you and us; it is a very bad thing: you must
have satisfaction.’ Then the king sent down another messenger and gave
him the book, that the governor might see what was true with his own
eyes; and say whether he wanted peace or war. But still the governor
refuses satisfaction; and yet he says the book is right.
“The king is sorry for the sake of the old men, and women, and children,
but then he cannot help it, if the governor will have war; the king has
nothing to do with white men; but if they choose to make palavers with
him, it is not his fault. He knows that they come to trade in his
country, and they have a great king of their own in the land of the
white men. This is all true; but then the king (of Ashantee) is a great
king too, for all the black countries, and the people must serve him;
and if they will not serve him, but are foolish, and do evil, they must
die. Now the governor knows that Cape Coast is very insolent, and when
the king complained to the castle, the people were told to build a wall
and fight him. Is that like good friends, as the book says? The other
towns of Fantee do what is right, and the king has no palaver with them,
and he is unwilling to make war for one town only. And now he sends to
the governor to ask, if he will settle that palaver or not? because,
otherwise, the army will certainly go down and destroy the place; for it
is a great palaver, and the king and all his captains are very angry,
because they believe that Aggry and De Graaf cheat them, and tell the
governor lies; therefore, the king says they had better look to it, and
take care what they do, for he is not a king to play the fool with.”
Here the ambassador paused, or was interrupted by Aggry, De Graaf, and
others, who felt interested in the censure. Some confusion ensued, and
when order was again restored, the linguist declared that there was
something more important “_in the budget_.” This was signified to the
ambassador, and he proceeded to say, that in consequence of the
provocation that had been given to the king by the town of Cape Coast,
he, as ambassador, was authorized to demand from the inhabitants a fine
of[14] 1600 ounces of gold. And as regarded the conduct of the governor,
he was desired to make the same demand of 1600 ounces from him—making
collectively 3200 ounces, and unless these payments were complied with,
he was instructed to say the king would grant no peace; nor would he
desist until he had taken ample satisfaction.
Confusion and discord again predominated, every tongue was put in
motion, coupled with such gesticulation and contortion of the muscles as
a subject of that interest may be supposed to have created. The anxiety
of the town chiefs was extreme in proportion to their fears.
It was some time before the tumult subsided, and in the interval Mr.
Smith collected the sentiments of Mr. Swanzy and myself.[15] It is
perhaps needless to say they were in unison upon the item relating to
the king’s demand made upon a British castle or a British governor, and
it was resolved unanimously to reject the terms with indignation, unless
that clause was rescinded which concerned the governor publicly, for in
no other character could I know him in a transaction which involved the
national dignity. This resolution being announced to the ambassador, it
was then somewhat qualified by an offer to negotiate, upon terms of
equity, the _differences that existed between the king and the natives
of the town_. To this amendment Mr. Smith did not object at the time;
but subsequently he endeavoured still to give the colouring of
consistency to what he termed his former policy, by declaring his
conviction that no good could be done by temporizing measures, even at
so critical a juncture.
Here then I will say, (and in truth it deserves recording as a solitary
instance of the kind) the councils of the Cape exhibited a moderate
share of dignity and temper, however late and unseasonable. Had this
moderation been adopted earlier, all differences would have been
adjusted many months sooner: in fact, they never would have had
existence to any serious extent.
The ambassador, in reply to our proposition that he should renounce the
demand made upon the governor, declared it was impossible for him to
abrogate what the king had decreed; upon which Mr. Smith retired from a
debate which was at first partially, and then exclusively engrossed by
the town chiefs. These men admitted, in a qualified sense, that they
were bound to the sovereign of Ashantee in bonds of _fealty_ and
_allegiance_; and when taxed by the ambassador with insubordination and
insolence, in having built up the wall, &c., they claimed certain
privileges from local situation within the precinct of a British fort,
which they affirmed had been stipulated for by the treaty of Mr.
Bowdich. Some exonerated themselves at the expence of their protectors,
by attributing every thing that had been done to the orders of the
governor, whose authority, they said, they were bound to respect.
In conclusion, it was stated they could not attempt to negotiate even on
their own accounts, while the king demanded money of the castle, but if
that edict were repealed they would pay what they were able. Here the
audience broke up in dissatisfaction. This was the 7th of January.
Having on a former occasion had reason to doubt the veracity[16] of the
linguist’s interpretation, I took the precaution, this time, to station
a linguist of my own choosing in the hall, and this man assured me that
the king’s speech did not exactly tally with what he had just heard from
the lips of the public interpreter, who had omitted certain
complimentary parts, and in particular one which regarded me, personally
or publicly. Upon making further enquiry I was fully satisfied of the
truth. My indignation may be imagined; I instantly resolved either to
proceed to Coomassy at all hazards, or to quit the coast and lay my
complaints before government. My letter to the Governor and Council of
the 8th of January, of which the following is an extract, will bear
testimony to what I affirm.
“Having learned, after leaving the hall yesterday, that the linguist had
not made a just interpretation of the message sent down by the King of
Ashantee, particularly as regarded that part of the message wherein he
sends ‘his best compliments to me,’ I was induced this morning to send
the messenger a present, coupled with a request that he would pay me a
visit, &c. What he declared was as follows:—The king desired his best
compliments, and would be very glad to see me in the capital, and
accordingly a person appointed by the king accompanied him for the
purpose of conducting me to court immediately, and without regard to
existing disputes, which he, on the part of the king, would remain here
to settle. The king says, moreover, he is very much hurt to hear I have
been so long detained at Cape Coast.
“From the impression made upon my mind by this conversation as now
stated to you, and particularly as my belief is that the demand on the
Fort will be abandoned, it is my earnest desire to lose no further time
in proceeding to the discharge of my duties at Coomassy, and as the
king’s messenger with his retinue are to remain here, you can, if you
think proper, (although it is by no means my wish) detain them as
hostages,” &c.
“Under all circumstances, and as I am firmly persuaded the king has no
hostile intention, &c. I must entreat you, in the name of his majesty,
to fix upon an early day for my departure to the Ashantee capital, being
determined to proceed thither alone, if the other gentlemen are not
disposed to accompany me.”
My letters to the Colonial Office set forth the obstacles I had so long
contended against, and the ultimate resolution I had taken, conformably
to what I have stated. In council I protested, that unless the presents
designed for the king were restored to my charge, and due preparations
made for the mission, I would leave the coast by the first
opportunity,[17] and should hold them responsible for what consequences
might ensue in the sequel. No direct reply was given. Mr. Smith and Mr.
Mollan still pertinaciously adhered to their former resolutions, and Mr.
Swanzy neither countenanced nor opposed them, for he was at this time
interested in affairs of pecuniary moment, in which the council were
called upon to enforce the resolutions of the committee against the
governor and vice-president.
Some private discussions took place the following morning in town, upon
a question between Akassy, a caboceer of Assin belonging to the
ambassador’s suite, and some of the town chiefs, who were accused of
being accessaries to the robbery of certain Assin traders and others,
who had ventured to the coast upon the faith of the treaty.
The ambassador again demanded an audience in the Hall, in the course of
which he reiterated the demand he was authorized to make upon the castle
and the town, adding it was the king’s fixed determination not to allow
the aggression of the natives to pass unpunished, and unless the most
ample satisfaction were made, nothing less than war was to be expected,
although the king wished to live in friendship with the whites.
At a meeting of the council, it was at last resolved to adopt
conciliatory measures, and accordingly this resolution was notified to
me by way of reply to my letter of the eighth, as before quoted. As a
peace offering, I presume, on the part of Mr. Smith, it was notified
also to me, that the governor and council, in consideration of the
critical situation of public affairs, had deemed it essential to
increase the present originally designed for the king, by the addition
_of one hundred kegs of gunpowder, one hundred musquets_, and one
hundred ankers of rum, over and above what I brought out from England,
and that these articles were to be selected from the best in quality.
Some cloths were moreover appropriated for distributing among the
ministers and courtiers.
Here then, after seven or eight months loss of time in England, and
upwards of a year’s forcible detention at Cape Coast Castle, the
prospect of reaching my journey’s end dawned on the horizon. Yet there
existed many preliminary points to adjust: the presents to pack; relays
of hammock men to procure; meetings of council upon the affairs of
Messrs. Smith and Mollan, upon private affairs, &c. All these matters
required time, it must be admitted, but they needed not to have taken up
so much as three weeks, viz. from the 11th or 12th of January, to the 2d
of February. But it is well known that many hopeful _humane_
expectations were raised upon driving the mission into the depth of the
rains; the policy adopted was evident, but disappointment crowned the
sequel, as every man lived to return, although death made some havoc in
after days.
The comparatively few days remaining on my hands were devoted to the
society of friends, who, as usual, on such, occasions consult nothing
but hospitality and good fellowship. The convivial character of our
tropical colonies is proverbially known; I need only observe that Cape
Coast does not lag in the rear. Good cheer greeted me in various
quarters, and a parting glass at the social board never could do harm in
the salubrious climate of the Gold Coast; so, unfortunately my friends
thought, in defiance of my own philosophy.
On the 26th of January, as I was coming from a friend’s house at a late
hour in the evening, a sudden paroxysm of fever arrested me; and for
several subsequent days it raged with violence, and as it is frequently
the case in this zone, attached itself to the liver. The best medical
advice tendered by Mr. Banks, formerly a surgeon in the service, and
then a trader in town, availed but little, although the fever
occasionally remitted. February set in, and convalescence was yet
remote.
The presents were ready at the beginning of the month, and soon after I
received documents of possession; but how shall I describe my
astonishment, when I found that these simple projectors had intruded
upon me a volume of instructions, which they chose to consider proper
for my government; adding, at the same time, by message, that unless I
would accept of the same upon the prescribed terms, they would take upon
themselves to withhold the presents, and appoint one of their own body
to attend the court. Thus decorously were my actual instructions
authorised by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury treated, and thus
respectfully was it presumed to treat a commission bearing the
signatures of His Majesty and the Colonial Minister.
My feelings may be well conceived. As the insincerity of my
opponents[18] became more evident, and as sad experience had taught me
that if I should now resign myself to their controul, they would not
hesitate attempting to pursue measures to an extreme which might arm
them with the power of effecting my political ruin, I was resolved to
anticipate the project without even consulting the honourable grounds of
resistance my commission afforded. I chose, therefore, to enter the
lists armed with precautionary language. I protested against the right
claimed by the company’s servants to intrude instructions on me. I
delivered them over to the possession of a friend, authorizing him to
send them to the castle after my departure, and I gave my reasons for so
doing in letters from which I shall select the following extracts, the
former of which I wrote instantly upon receipt of the instructions.
Cape Coast Castle, 2d February, 1820.
“As regards your instructions to me, it was my intention at first to
return them to you without a comment, conceiving, as I do, that I am not
bound in any shape to receive instructions from you. But when I reflect,
that by taking this step it might lead to an open rupture between us,
and prevent those objects for the public good proceeding in a fair
train, &c. I sacrifice my own feelings to the service in which I am
engaged, and shall only, _for the present_, enter my protest against
such instructions _for reasons which will appear in due time_.”
To the Governor and Council.
Doonqua, 11th February, 1820.
“For reasons which will recur to you, and which appear more fully in my
protest, I have thought proper to return you those instructions which
you took upon yourselves to frame for my government, not conceiving
myself justified as a government officer in recognizing any instructions
from you as the servants of a mercantile board. At the same time, and as
I before stated, I shall not object to receive any suggestions from you,
&c.”
To the Governor and Council.
But resuming the clue of the narrative, my distemper, which changed to a
fever of the intermittent order, continued obstinate, and the state of
my feelings by no means contributed to assist nature. In short, I was
unable to rise effectually from my couch for a week after the presents
had been consigned to my charge, namely, from the 1st to the 7th of
February, and even then I could but stagger.
During this suspense it was consulted in private how it would be
feasible to supersede me in my command, on the score of ill health. This
scheme I counteracted by ordering the party to hold themselves in
readiness for the march at the instant, and authorizing Mr. Hutton and
Mr. Collins to proceed as far as the village of Doonqua, there to attend
my coming, should my recovery speedily ensue. The presents, securely
packed, and covered with skins to preserve them from the wet, were thus
conveyed to the village before-named.
As I did not quit my apartment on the following morning, my opponents
sought another mode of annoyance; but now it degenerated to what was
really contemptible, for reports were circulated that my illness was
feigned. My physician, who was in some shape in the interest of the
company, had honour enough, however, to refute the calumny by letter.
On the seventh, I made an attempt to follow my charge, but failed under
it; for I could not walk ten paces without support. That night, however,
I gained repose; on the eighth, I was better, and on the ninth I left
the Cape.
[Footnote 1:
_Downing-street, 3d January_, 1818.
I have laid before Lord Bathurst your letter of the 26th ult. with its
enclosure from Mr. Joseph Dupuis, tendering his services as resident at
Coomassy in Africa; and I am directed to acquaint you, for the
information of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, that Lord
Bathurst entirely concurs in their recommendation of appointing a consul
at Ashantee, and will have much pleasure in submitting to the Prince
Regent the name of Mr. Dupuis, as qualified to fill the appointment.
Signed HENRY GOULBURN.
_To G. Harrison, Esq._
The other letter addressed to me was as follows:—
The Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury, having been pleased
to communicate to Earl Bathurst your letter of the 26th ult. offering
your services as resident at Ashantee, I have it in command from their
lordships, to transmit for your information a copy of his lordship’s
answer thereto, in order that you may make the necessary preparations
for proceeding to your destination.
Signed GEO. HARRISON.
_Treasury Chambers, 14th January_, 1818.
See also Commission, Appendix No. I.]
[Footnote 2: I am satisfied, from the result of my own experience in
Africa, that many fall victims to the climate from the adoption of a
course of training improperly termed prudential; viz. a _sudden_ change
of diet, from _ship’s fare_ to a scanty sustenance of vegetable matter,
(rejecting even a moderate proportion of wine) and seclusion in their
apartments from the sun and atmosphere. Habits of this kind have, at
least, a natural tendency to stagnate the flow of healthy juices, and
render the body unfit for exertion. Many there are, however, who fall
victims to intemperate habits.]
[Footnote 3: This is a very common symptom of the progress of disease
upon the constitution of Europeans between the tropics.]
[Footnote 4: Mr. Collins, son of the reverend gentleman of that name,
who was sent out by the late Bishop of Chichester.]
[Footnote 5: These gentlemen were presented by the king with slaves and
gold. Mr. Mollan was governor of Annamaboe, and Vice President of the
Council.]
[Footnote 6: The king denied the message to me, in terms the most
positive and convincing, and alleged that he had punished Accra Dehe in
the first of his anger, wrongfully; for De Graaf was the man who, he
believed, had perverted his words. Mr. Smith, however, understood the
native language!!!]
[Footnote 7: The fourth article was as follows:—“In order to avert the
horrors of war, it is agreed, that in any case of aggression on the part
of the natives under British protection, the king shall complain thereof
to the Governor-in-chief, to obtain redress, and that he will in no case
resort to hostility, without endeavouring as much as possible to effect
an amicable arrangement.”]
[Footnote 8: This article was worded as follows:—“The governors of the
respective forts shall at all times afford every protection in their
power to the persons and property of the people of Ashantee, who may
resort to the water-side.”]
[Footnote 9: Yes, it is a notorious fact, that the people were first
encouraged to resort to arms, then censured for having done so. My
confidence, during the erection of the wall of circumvallation, was
rooted implicitly in the honor and integrity of Mr. Smith; and so I
described my sentiments in my public letters to England. So much did I
deludedly conceive myself a partisan in the policy he had adopted, that
I daily visited the progressive advancement of the works of defence, and
often in his society, although I knew, at the same time, they were
calculated to ruin my best hopes. But these, while I felt their force, I
set in no sort of competition with what I imagined to be a national
cause,—the insult offered to the flag of my sovereign, and the indignity
offered to a man whom I looked upon as a friend.]
[Footnote 10: Mr. Adamson was governor of Tantum.]
[Footnote 11: These are his own words, extracted from letters which he
wrote to me on the subject, and which I have still in my possession. It
was clear to me, that either pride, and the anxiety of preserving a
reputation for consistency, predominated over every other feeling,
whether as regarded his own interests or those of the public; or that he
was inflexibly bent upon the original maxim of risking every thing
rather than promote a mission whose tendency he seemed to think inimical
to his own and his nephew’s interests and reputations.]
[Footnote 12: Mr. Hutchison.]
[Footnote 13: I think I have observed, elsewhere, that this description
of present is deemed courteous and highly complimentary by the negroes,
particularly when conferred by a chief or crowned head. This character,
however, was attempted to be disputed when the palaver had gained its
greatest ascendancy, and not before, for no other reason that I know of
than that government and the committee would readily credit the belief
that it might be interpreted into threatened hostility and insult. Let
us put the question fairly to the issue, by referring to what Bosman
relates of the war between “the Commanians” (Commenda itself) and the
natives of Saboe, Acany, and Cabes Terra, page 33:—
“Notwithstanding we (the garrison of Elmina castle) had been hitherto
perfectly neuter, the negro-general sent a civil message to our
governor, with several sculls of his vanquished enemies, in token _that
he had resolved to live and die in the service of the Hollanders; his
message was civilly received, and after thanks and presents to the
general, dismissed_.”]
[Footnote 14: Equivalent to £6400 currency, the two demands making
£12,800 together.]
[Footnote 15: This was the only compliment of the kind that gentleman
ever voluntarily offered to my political opinion, my rank, or interests,
in the affairs of Ashantee.]
[Footnote 16: Whether the linguist on this occasion was instructed to
deceive me, whether he acted from design or inadvertency, I cannot
say;—but I may say, I _believe_ his intention was to support Mr. Smith
in his endeavours to oppose the mission.]
[Footnote 17: I have been thus explicit only from the circumstance that
the governing faction, in lack of a more equitable charge against me,
had the effrontery to write in a clandestine manner to the committee of
African merchants, setting forth a disinclination or a dread on my part
to perform the duties for which I was sent out.]
[Footnote 18: Mr. Swanzy had publicly declared, both in council and out,
that the Board had no power to assume dictation to me, or to interfere
in the remotest degree, with those functions which His Majesty’s
Government had confided to me.]
JOURNEY TO COOMASSY.
JOURNAL
OF A
RESIDENCE IN ASHANTEE,
_&c. &c._
* * * * *
CHAPTER I.
JOURNEY TO COOMASSY.
DEPARTURE FROM CAPE COAST CASTLE — MOUREE — DUTCH CASTLE OF NASSAU —
BEETLES — ASHANTEE TRAVELLERS — RUINS OF FANTEE CROOMS — EMPEROU —
DEFEAT OF THE FANTEES AT THAT PLACE — FORMIDABLE SERPENT — SECOND PARTY
OF ASHANTEE TRADERS; TERROR OF THE FEMALES — MOSLEM FROM COOMASSY — RED
AND BLACK ANTS — DESCRIPTION OF DOONQUA — THE FORESTS — REMAINS OF
MANSUE — PROVISIONS PLUNDERED BY THE FANTEES — COURSES OF RIVERS —
ABANDOU — CROOMS OR TOWNS OF FOOSO, YANCOMADY, AND AKOMFODY — ANNOYANCE
FROM RATS — THE YOUNE, A KIND OF SLOTH — DANSANSOO — MEKAREN — PASSAGE
OF THE PRAA — PRASSO — KIKIWHARY — ENMITY OF THE INHABITANTS TOWARDS THE
FANTEES; SEDUCTIVE ARTS OF THE FEMALES — SITE OF MIASSA — DEFEAT OF THE
ASSINS UNDER CHEBOO — REMAINS OF SAPORGAH, TIBIASSAH, BEQUAMA, AND
ENSAMAH — ARRIVAL AT ANSAH.
On the 9th of February, at an early hour in the morning, I mounted my
palanquin and bade adieu to the castle. As the customary salute was
fired, a party of the town’s-people assembled, and tracked my steps
along the eastern beach as far as the outskirting houses. Here the crowd
of spectators was augmented by another group of men, women, and
children, who flocked from the different avenues. The spectacle was
indeed calculated to impose an idea of splendour upon the imagination of
a negro; and the novelty of a palanquin with four bearers was a
refinement in the _luxury_ of African travelling, that excited
additional attraction. The women, in particular, who surrounded me, and
for a time impeded my progress, were profuse in courtesy.
At the distance of a short quarter of a mile, my friendly retinue bade a
final farewell, and returned to their homes. About this time I was
compelled to alight, on approaching some rugged cliffs which intersect
the beach, jutting out into the sea. The crags which here and there
overhung the water, under the semblance of little capes, formed of
shelving pointed rock, created serious impediments.
The surface was now totally changed from a bed of sand to one of granite
rock, which at intervals stood erect in small spiral points, as if
chiseled by the hand of art into the fanciful forms it exhibited. The
jutting cliffs appeared to increase in number as we advanced; their
acclivities were also of some elevation, and sloped off in angles. In
some instances the surface exhibited solid ramparts of stone shooting
upwards into ridges little short of perpendicular elevation, and these
barriers it became necessary to scale by the combined assistance of
hands and feet.
The sun had by this time attained an elevation that rendered the effect
of his beams oppressive; the absence of the sea breeze, which seldom
sets in before ten o’clock, contributed to increase the languor I felt.
The exhaustion occasioned by premature exertion wanted but little of
producing a fit of fainting; and at last it totally prevented my
descending from the vehicle, notwithstanding the embarrassment and
detention it occasioned. In this helpless state, my attendants were
compelled to lift me over the obstructions as they occurred. At last we
emerged from our difficulties, and as we quitted the sea coast, in
approaching the Dutch fort of Mouree, the path presented a fine surface
of sand skirted by a few stunted bushes.
The road between Cape Coast Castle and Mouree, and from Mouree to
Annamaboe, is at all times disagreeable, and perhaps the most
precipitous on the line of coast, but the state of the tide during this
journey rendered it particularly so.
On entering the town the Dutch colours were hoisted in compliment to my
arrival, by the corporal who had charge of the fort; for it is at
present ungarrisoned, although not considered as abandoned by his
Majesty of the Netherlands.
When I alighted, I felt a degree of exhaustion and indisposition,
occasioned by a slight attack of fever, that rendered it extremely
dubious if I could proceed further that day. The crowd which had
assembled obstructed the current of air, small as it was, and increased
the languid symptoms until, for a few seconds, the heat was
insupportable; but a draught of the cold infusion of bark, added to the
refreshing application of vinegar, quickly restored me. The Caboceer of
the town and the Dutch corporal shortly after waited upon me to exchange
compliments.
Some trivial disputes ensued among the Fantees on the distribution of
equal loads, and before the misunderstanding could be enquired into, it
appeared that the good sense of those, to whom the least cumbersome and
weighty burthens were assigned, had suggested the propriety of decamping
during the confusion. To appease these discontents it was requisite to
supply the deficiency, by taking on a few more carriers; and as nothing
more remained to do, but prosecute the journey, I embraced this
opportunity to disencumber myself from the burthen of military
accoutrements. The travelling dress which I now substituted for my
former apparel, consisted of a jacket and trousers of linen; it was
commodious and light, and contributed, in no small degree, to alleviate
the oppression from intense heat. The hour of ten flattered us with
expectation of a sea-breeze, and a zephyr, announcing its approach, soon
afterwards agitated the torpid atmosphere.
The Dutch castle at Mouree is called Nassau; and, when the slave trade
was in its vigour, was deemed a station of great importance. The
edifice, although small, is compact, and regularly flanked with bastions
at each angle; this, added to its elevated situation, would entitle the
place to some respect as a fortification, provided it still maintained a
garrison. The landing-place is tolerably commodious for canoes, and
differs little from that of Cape Coast. The town of Mouree, like all the
towns in the vicinity of European forts, is built immediately under the
walls, and is a compact mass of stone and clay-constructed houses,
without any other order than a division of the whole into irregular
openings or avenues, forming narrow lanes, of intricate, and in some
places, from the obstructions of dirt and rubbish, of difficult access.
The whole population is supposed not to exceed eight thousand souls. Its
distance from Cape Coast is nearly four miles.
Our route from Mouree was rather to the eastward of north. The path in
the vicinity of the town was open for the distance of more than half a
mile, except at intervals, where a few projecting boughs of the loftier
kinds of shrubs intersected each other; but as we proceeded the road
gradually contracted, and the bushes which were stunted before, now
exhibited a more mature and luxurious growth; added to which, a number
of lofty trees grew spontaneously over the surface of the country.
The soil on the line of march was a reddish clay, covered with a scanty
surface of white sand, interspersed with broken pieces of quartz: the
sand, however, appeared attached exclusively to the path, and was
probably the effect of constant friction upon the quartz pebble, which,
from its brittle quality, pulverized to a glittering dust.
The discordant voices of the larger species of birds now vibrated
through the woods; but the luxuriancy of the foliage obstructed the
view. The notes of parrots, crown birds, and toucans, were, however,
easily recognized amidst a vociferous medley of warblers, who, as we
advanced, retreated, sportively singing and hopping from spray to spray.
Various large beetles, but more particularly one of the cricket kind,
swelled out a lengthened note of an indescribable sound, exceedingly
shrill and inharmonious. These little inhabitants of the forest climb
the loftiest boughs, where they sustain life by perforating the bark,
and sucking out the glutinous sap of the ganian and other mucilaginous
trees; they are extremely numerous, and as their notes commence with the
rising sun, and last throughout the day, they keep up an uninterrupted
uniform dizzy chirping.
At three miles and a half from Mouree, we passed the site where a small
Fantee croom was said to have existed, but of which not a vestige
remained. The plantations of cassada, banana, guava, &c. nevertheless
still flourished in unnurtured growth, blended with the wild productions
of the forest. The path suddenly contracted as we ascended an acclivity,
and the foot-way, which appeared to have been formed by the passage of a
current of water, was scarcely wider than the breadth of a foot. The
impediment occasioned by this gully was increased by the fall of several
large trees, which intersected the path at right angles, forming, as it
were, a breast work which it was necessary to scale or to scramble
under.
The distant tinkling of an iron castanet now attracted our notice, as it
announced the approach of strangers; another instant presented to our
view a party of five Ashantees, who informed us that they were
journeying to Elmina for gunpowder. They had left Coomassy, they said,
twenty-one days before. One of these travellers was decorated with a
very large necklace of human teeth, interwoven with charms. The teeth
had the appearance of recent extraction, an opinion that was afterwards
strengthened by the sight of a little ivory blowing horn, to which he
was then in the operation of fastening a human jawbone. To my inquiries
how he became possessed of these trophies I could not obtain a
satisfactory answer; a smile of brutal insensibility, however, convinced
me the question was of a gratifying nature, inasmuch as it was
interpreted into a compliment to his military prowess. This feeling was
displayed by various contortions of mockery and exultation, as he
directed a sort of conversation to the relic, in a chaunting tone.
A little beyond this, we entered another plantation in a kind of valley,
containing the site where also a Fantee croom had stood in former times.
We passed two other spots of this description, before we entered an
opening covered with palms, plantains, and papas. Here I sought the
shelter of a tree, under which I alighted to obtain a little rest, and
allow my attendants leisure for refreshment. On descending from my
hammock (for the palanquin I had already been compelled to lay aside)
the sensation of languor was so oppressive, that I could not preserve my
footing without grasping the boughs for support.
The surface beyond this was every where covered with the same dwarf
shrubs and forest trees, blended together. The stems of some were
concealed by a species of parasitical plants, covering in some places
the loftiest boughs. This produced a lively and novel contrast to the
barren stems of others by which they were surrounded. Detached patches
of bamboo and dwarf palm became also more frequent, and added to the
variety of the landscape.
The next opening exhibited some relics that denoted a field of battle;
it is now remarkable for a few straggling hovels built among the ruins
of an extensive village, and inhabited by a remnant of Fantees, who had
the good fortune to escape during the invasion of their country by the
Ashantees.
This croom is called Yanbrassa: the number of its inhabitants did not
appear to exceed two hundred; notwithstanding the numerous plantations
by which it was surrounded afforded invitation to settlers. No corn was
seen, but yams, bananas, plantains and papas flourished without culture.
At a little distance to the North and East, on the slope of a hill,
stands another village, called by the natives Tom Coffee, after the name
of a particular kind of cloth, of which the Fantees are very fond. Here
also the plantations were in a state of high natural perfection.
At the distance of half a mile, we passed the ruins of a small croom,
called Berim: another spot of desolation bore the name of Eydro. We then
entered a plantation that covered a greater extent of ground than any we
had before passed. The diameter of this space probably exceeded a
furlong, and in the midst of a jungle stood a few hovels squeezed within
a mass of crumbling walls. The name of this croom was Emperou. Its
inhabitants during the first invasion of Fantee by the King of Ashantee,
had observed an unfortunate neutrality, until the great battle which
preceded the destruction of Abrah, and the extermination of the Braffo
chieftains. To this unhappy policy they had been inclined from jealousy
of the Braffo influence. Convinced of their error when it was too late,
and smarting under the recent blow their country had sustained by the
loss of its capital, they rashly formed the resolution of defending
themselves against a sovereign already flushed with conquest. A Caboceer
named Quassy Beni, who had escaped from the general slaughter at Abrah,
presented himself before Emperou with the shattered remnant of his
division, and invited the inhabitants to form a junction with his forces
for the defence of their town. The proposal was embraced by the Emperous
who had already collected another body of auxiliaries. This little army
was, besides, augmented by the junction of some straggling parties who
were necessarily falling back as the enemy advanced. The king, however,
was acquainted with what was transacting; his object, after the
destruction of the Fantee government, was, perhaps, confined to the
temporary occupation of Fantee, and the imposition of contributions; but
the obstinacy of the people, it is said, forced that monarch to secure
his conquests by the exterminating use of fire and sword, until he drove
his enemies into the sea. Be this as it may, it was admitted by Fantees
as well as Ashantees, that before another blow was struck, after the
affair at Abrah, the king sent messengers to several of the Fantee
towns, calling the people to submission, upon the promise of protection
in life and property: thus pacifically inclined, he sent two of his
sword-bearers to Emperou, to proclaim his sentiments to the chiefs; but,
whether from distrust, or a too implicit reliance upon their own
strength, these proposals were not only treated with contempt, but the
royal messengers were used with indignity, and then put to death. When
this impolitic step became known to the king, it naturally rekindled his
wrath, and he then vowed the overthrow of Cheboo’s government.
The order was now given to exterminate the population of every town, and
raze the houses to their foundations; and in conformity with this
resolution a body of troops was detached against Emperou, with orders
not to spare an inhabitant of either sex. In the meantime the Fantee
troops, assisted by the inhabitants and their auxiliaries, assembled to
the number of many thousands, and by vigilance succeeded in cutting off
some reconnoitring parties of the enemy. Too much elated by this
success, they at length determined upon the plan of endeavouring to
intercept the communication between the detachment and the king’s head
quarters. They separated their men into two bodies, one of which being
left to guard the town, the other made a circuitous march to the
westward, and fell unexpectedly upon the flank and rear of their
adversaries. No happy consequences attended the action; it would appear,
from accounts of the survivors, that neither party was prepared for the
rencontre. The Ashantees, however, lost no time in sounding the alarm,
rallying their forces, and recalling the advanced guard to their
assistance, while the Fantees, even before the onset, were appalled. In
this state of eventful inactivity, it is said, the main body of the
Fantees remained passive spectators during a distant skirmish between
their own vanguard and a detachment of the enemy. At last the Ashantees
advanced with a shout, which struck a decided panic in their favour; the
Fantees soon fled outright, and, with some loss, rejoined their comrades
at Emperou. Notwithstanding this check, the inhabitants, as the
Ashantees approached, suffered themselves to be led out to battle. The
united force of the Fantees is stated to have greatly outnumbered their
enemies, and a battle of the most sanguinary complexion ensued, at the
distance of a mile from the town. The first charge of the Ashantees was
severely checked, and they were driven back upon the main body with
slaughter. The enemy, however, was too well disciplined to allow the
Fantees to improve upon their advantage, and a murderous firing
succeeded the onset, in which the Ashantees, from superior celerity, had
the advantage. Still, however, the Fantees maintained their ground, with
a degree of intrepidity not undeserving of record, as it is perhaps a
solitary instance during this war of their valour and resolution. On a
sudden, vollies of musquetry announced an attack on their flank and
rear, supported by the king in person. This unexpected charge decided
the fortune of the day, for the Fantees now retreated with
precipitation, while their enemies rushed on, and strewed the forest
with indiscriminate carnage. Before the retreating army could regain the
town, it was doomed to cut a passage through an opposing body of the
enemy, who were at that critical period in possession of many of the
houses; despair assisted their efforts, and their enemies were either
cut to pieces or trampled under foot. The town itself, which was already
in flames, afforded no protection against the murderous assaults of
their pursuers. In this hopeless state, several of the Caboceers, after
destroying their property, their wives, and children, put an end to
their own existence; whilst the people, endeavouring to fly from the
scene of carnage, were intercepted and butchered, or cast headlong
amidst the burning houses. To sum up the horrors of this barbarous
scene, every house was entered with fire and sword, and the inhabitants
of both sexes destroyed. It is said that, with the exception only of
about one hundred people, who fled before the town was assaulted, not a
soul escaped from the calamity. These particulars were narrated by my
two guides who were in that conflict.
The walls stood in many places erect, exhibiting the action of fire
which, by vitrifying the clayey composition, had preserved the ruins
from dissolution. The surface of the earth was whitened, in particular
spots, with ashes, and bleached human bones and sculls, forming a
distressing portrait of African warfare. In crossing the opening, some
of the Fantees, by way of diversion, pointed to the relics, saying
jocosely, they were Ashantee trophies: the Ashantees retorted the jest
upon their fellow travellers with equal good-humour, and all parties
were indifferent at a retrospection so paralyzing to humanity.
A small brook crossed the path at a little distance from Emperou,
tracking a course south-east to the Amissa River, which flows into the
sea at the back of Tantum. During the operation of filling some water
bottles, a discovery was accidentally made of a large snake coiled upon
a pile of stones. The reptile appeared to be in a state of torpor, or
sleep; and judging from the mass of folds, could scarcely be less than
fourteen feet in length, by nine inches diameter, in the thickest part
of the body. The scales on its back were large, and beautifully
variegated with red and bright yellow. I was anxious to obtain the skin,
but it was not deemed prudent by my guides to make the attack, as they
affirmed that its bite was mortally venomous. In this particular it may
therefore be supposed to differ from the boa-constrictor.
We met, shortly afterwards, with a large party of Assins and Ashantees,
who stationed themselves on each side of the road, and saluted me with
many courteous bows. They were armed in the fashion of their country
with musquets and knives, and were conveying some bulky loads of ivory,
and a valuable kind of grease used by the natives for anointing their
bodies. A number of women and girls, whose employment consisted in
attending upon their husbands, or masters, closed the order of the
march, which from the nature of the path was necessarily in Indian file.
The elderly females were under some consternation as I approached, yet
they were not behind the men in good manners; but the young women, who
perhaps had never seen a white man before, were wholly unable to
controul their fears. The panic was excited by a very interesting girl
who, at first sight, plunged screaming amidst the bushes, after
resigning her hold of a bundle which she was carrying on her head. This
movement was instantaneously adopted by the rest of her companions, to
the great diversion of the men, who added to the general amusement by
raising a shout, which increased the apprehensions of the _fair_
fugitives.
We had not proceeded twenty paces from the spot, before we again fell in
company with a party consisting of three men, two of whom were slaves,
carrying a few elephant’s teeth to the coast. The dress of the
proprietor, which consisted of a long shirt, a pair of ragged trousers,
and a loose cap resembling a turban, convinced me that he was a Moslem.
He saluted me with the customary inclination of the body, which I
acknowledged with the Salam. For some moments he appeared in doubt, but
recovering from his surprise he pursued my steps, and taking me by the
hand, repeated with great emphasis, “Alikà Salam yà khâi,” “Peace be
upon you brother.” I endeavoured to converse with the man; but we were
wholy unintelligible to each other, except in the few scripture phrases
which comprised his stock of Arabic knowledge. By means of an
interpreter, I found he was from Coomassy, where he had left the King in
anxious expectation of my arrival. He had just quitted Doonqua, he said,
where all the white men were well.
Pursuing the journey, we came to an opening where a few huts stood
detached from the ruins of another large croom, whose fragments were
half concealed in high Guinea grass, and jungle, interspersed with
plantain, guava and papa trees. I was by this time so extremely
exhausted with fatigue and indisposition, that it was doubtful if I
could even reach my destination that night. Somewhat refreshed, however,
by a short repose I indulged in at this place, and by another
application to my restorative draught, I again resumed the march, and
before four o’clock was gratified with the prospect of Doonqua. The day
had been excessively warm, and the thermometer in town stood at 90
degrees in the shade.
The horizontal distance from Mouree to Doonqua, I estimate at fourteen
miles and a half, although from the sinuosities of the path there can be
no doubt that the whole journey exceeds twenty. The average course from
Cape Coast is N. NE. The surface of this space is covered with a mixture
of tall tress, stunted shrubs and bushes. The species which I
recognised, amidst a vast amphitheatre of unknown productions, were
bombax or silk cotton, tamarind, low palm, ganyan, wild orange, wild
cedar, monkey apple, doom trees, a sort of wild fig, erasma, mahogany,
and a lofty tree that yielded a light apple like the coloquintida. Among
the dwarf trees were several kinds of dying woods, of which I saw
samples varying in tint from a deep to a bright yellow and orange, and
others of a crimson red. Besides these, were numerous trees of lignum
vitæ, iron wood, guava bush and laurel. I discovered also, several
species of fine cane, of which the rattan and small Bamboo were the most
conspicuous, growing in clumps or patches. The anana, or pine apple
plant, flourished along the sides of the path, and even under the more
sheltered parts of the forest, exhibiting, equal luxuriance in spots
where it was not possible for the rays of the sun to penetrate. Several
sorts of aloes were seen embedded with creeping shrubs: that called
_aloe succotrina_ was distinguished by its thorny leaves and spiral
growth; but others of this class towered into trees of a beautiful
appearance, the _aloe arborescens Africana_. Chains of fibrous stems
shooting forward in longitudinal projections, completed the wild
beauties of the surrounding scenery. Many of the fibrous species varied
in dimensions, from the size of ordinary packthread, to the thickness of
a large cable rope, which in some instances they represented by a
natural twist. These vegetable chains, wholly destitute of leaves,
appeared to bind the entire forest in solid concatenation. In some spots
they rose to an elevation of fifty feet perpendicular height, sustaining
their weight by an endless variety of folds and embraces, amidst the
thickest boughs, and descending again in an opposite direction only to
seek another commodious supporter.
The soil between Mouree and Doonqua, is a rich brown mould, occasionally
encrusted by white sand and quartz pebble. The mould, however, did not
appear to be of sufficient depth to afford much nourishment to the
larger growth of the vegetable kingdom. On examining several fallen
trees, I particularly noticed that the roots grew almost exclusively in
horizontal shoots. This may be attributed as much to the sterility of
the strata below the mould, as to nature itself, because this remarkable
character was not confined to a particular class of vegetation. In the
ravines and gullies were large pieces of quartz scattered over deep
sandy beds. One remarkable patch of solid granite rose in pyramidal
masses to the altitude of twenty or more feet; these blocks of stone
were at a short distance from the ruins of Emperou. No smooth pebbles
were seen.
The habitations of the red ants form a striking feature, as they convey
the idea of little towns established in the wilderness by another order
of the creation. These erections are spiral, and of the elevation of ten
or more feet. Another class of these insects, the small black ant, build
nests on the boughs of trees, which in appearance resemble a globular or
cylindrical mass of black clay, unlike that of the red ant, which is of
a gravelly yellow tint. The weight of these masses of earth, and the
glutinous matter which cements the parts, causes the boughs to droop and
bend, in some cases, till they sweep the ground; and in others these
nests are cemented to the ramifications of several trees, which encrust
the whole in a solid mass of dripping mucilaginous matter. The most
voracious and formidable insect of this genus is the large black ant,
which burrows under the roots of trees, and erects a sort of nest upon
the surface, resembling in form the mushroom.
The village of Doonqua is indebted for the importance it now enjoys, to
the invasion of Fantee, and the desolation of its towns and cities,
particularly that of Abrah. Formerly the spot on which it stands
exhibited only a few humble sheds, the residence of foresters, and
people whose occupations, as wood-cutters, and canoe builders, induced
them to settle there. The ground on which it stands has been evidently
gained from the forest. The inhabitants are said to exceed two thousand,
and out of that number, in cases of emergency, they can equip 300 men
for war.
The plantations that surround the croom are extensive, and yield more
than sufficient for internal consumption. The houses of the inhabitants
are built in the style of those of the Ashantees. A piece of ground is
first cleared, and a frame-work, according to the plan and dimensions of
the intended edifice, is erected, with some regard to regularity. This
frame consists of long poles, sunk below the surface at each angle. To
these poles they attach hurdles by means of a strong lashing of fibrous
twigs collected from the forest, the interstices being afterwards
closely filled up with clay, which is smoothed over with rubbing stones;
this gives it solidity and uniformity. Bamboo and palm boughs are
employed for the thatch, which from its regular structure has a much
more pleasing effect than the rude boughs and grass used by the natives
on the coast.
The house of the Caboceer consisted of an assemblage of apartments
quadrangularly enclosed in the form of three squares; linked together by
avenues, barely sufficient in width to admit free ingress. Upon
enquiring the reason of this singular style I was satisfied with the
reply, that it was advantageous for defence or escape, in case of an
attack. I could not avoid remarking that the plan upon which the more
wealthy part of the community built their houses, resembled, although
rudely, that of the Moors of Barbary; the only striking difference was
between the thatched roofs of the former, and the terraced covering of
the latter.
A small stream of running water, in the vicinity of the croom, supplies
the inhabitants with that element in a state of purity, and thereby
exempts them from that excruciating malady the Guinea-worm, a disorder
with which the natives of the sea coast, who use the stagnant water of
pools, are cruelly afflicted.
The Caboceer who governs Doonqua under the king is called Paintry, and
the village is also known as Paintry’s croom. The course of policy
pursued by this chieftain during the invasion, entitled him to the
clemency of the conquerors. After the destruction of the Fantee armies,
he was permitted to retire from Abrah with all his property, and this
was the spot he selected for his residence, to which he invited other
settlers to establish themselves under his protection. The king
afterwards conferred upon him the dignity of Caboceer; although the only
benefit he reaps from that title is an honourable seclusion from the
court, whose policy interdicts all confidence in the Fantees.
Towards the close of the day, the Ashantees, headed by their two
captains, Ado and Quako, assembled to wish me joy on my arrival, and to
learn my intentions regarding the morrow. As the fatigue I had undergone
suggested the propriety of rest, I retired at an early hour, but passed
a sleepless night, for I was attacked with a smart paroxysm of fever,
attended with acute pains in the side.
The tenth of February was spent in quarters. Mr. Collins, during the
day, had an attack of ague, and was confined to his bed; the other
officers, however, enjoyed good health. The thermometer at twelve
o’clock stood again at ninety degrees in my apartment; but as the
evening approached it fell, and during a tornado, which ushered in a
heavy fall of rain, the quicksilver was for a few seconds considerably
agitated: it afterwards sunk gradually during the storm to eighty-one
degrees. Towards evening it fell as low as seventy-six degrees, and the
transition from heat to cold was acutely felt. My health still continued
below mediocrity until the evening of this day, when I was overpowered
for the first time with a soothing sleep; from this period my bodily
ailments subsided with a rapidity that has ever since made the
retrospection wonderful. At the dawn of day I arose much refreshed, and
already I enjoyed the certain criterion of returning health, a wholesome
craving for food. From this period, the eleventh day of the month,
symptoms of convalescence advanced rapidly. Mr. Collins was also
improving; and as circumstances were thus propitious, I gave orders for
the march on the following day. Unfortunately at this crisis the chief
linguist was severely afflicted with Guinea-worms; and without giving
notice of his intention, he returned to the Cape.
At eight o’clock in the morning of the 12th, we left Doonqua. After
penetrating through a thicket of five or six hundred paces, we suddenly
found ourselves in a forest as magnificent as it was dense and
intricate. Numerous plants and creepers of all dimensions chained tree
to tree, and branch to branch, clustering the whole in entanglement, so
that it sometimes became necessary to cut an opening as we proceeded. In
this operation we were considerably retarded, and our clothing suffered
much from the rude assaults we sustained from the trunks of trees, and
impending boughs. Nor was this the only inconvenience; for
notwithstanding we were continually on the alert in watching these
formidable obstructions, we could not avoid receiving some slight
contusions, and scratches. The opacity of this forest communicated to
the atmosphere and the surrounding scenery a semblance of twilight; no
ray of sunshine penetrated the cheerless gloom, and we were in idea
entombed in foliage of a character novel and fanciful. The death-like
stillness that prevailed was soon interrupted by the occasional shouting
of the negroes, to put to flight, as they termed it, the evil spirits of
the forest. Now and then a flight of parrots and other gregarious birds
interrupted the intervals of silence; but the richness of this vegetable
canopy prevented the possibility of gaining even the most imperfect view
of these feathered screechers, or indeed of anything but those objects
by which we were immediately surrounded. Even on the line of path, so
frequent were the turnings, and so greatly did the angles incline to the
eastward and westward of north, that I have no hesitation in affirming
that the precision with which Mr. Bowdich has described his route by
compass, from what he has termed a calculation of its numerous angles,
is, at best, but a conjectural estimate.
In some spots the land was elevated in slopes and ridges, yet it was not
upon the whole deserving the name of hilly. On descending one of these
slopes, a partial opening in the forest afforded a limited prospect, and
the blaze of light that burst through this gap animated the scene with
some tints of lively green. Clumps of plantain trees were seen sprouting
out of a rich bed of grass and cane, and the whole plat was studded with
low palm and patches of jungle. We were now in the enjoyment of what was
comparatively a distant prospect; it was the summit of a little hill, at
a short musket-shot distance from the path, covered with vegetation. A
few wretched hovels stood in the midst of silence and desolation. In
former days, however, this gap contained a very populous town.
Again we plunged into the recesses of a forest whose obstructions were
as formidable as the preceding, and we shortly after came to a piece of
swampy land, on the margin of which we alighted for refreshment. Having
expeditiously satisfied the cravings of hunger, we resumed the journey
over two small water courses flowing to the south-east, but they were
nameless. After crossing another little stream, we were consoled with
intelligence that our resting-place for the night was close at hand. An
opening that admitted the fading rays of daylight, now presented a
capacious surface, fledged with exuberant patches of grass and jungle,
in the midst of which stood some tattered sheds. This was Mansue, where
formerly stood a large opulent town called by the same name, and
considered the frontier of the kingdom of Fantee. Mansue originally owed
all its importance to the traffic in slaves. When Fantee and Assin were
two distinct sovereignties, it was customary to permit the latter to
bring slaves and merchandize to this mart, where they were regularly met
by the Coast traders. In those days I was assured the whole space was
occasionally surcharged by assembled crowds, whose interests were
connected with the traffic in slaves.
The Ashantees had arrived before us, and already were their fires
blazing in all directions; it therefore became necessary to use
precautions against any accident that might endanger a communication
with the gunpowder, which the careless insensibility of these people
would have consigned to one of the sheds. A small chasm resembling a
cave, which stood at the distance of about a hundred paces to the
westward, was pointed out as a secure receptacle, and thither it was
conveyed.
The path over which we this day travelled differed materially from the
preceding journey. The forest between Doonqua and Mouree, however
imposing, is not to be classed with the one that now falls under
description; for, indeed, every advancing pace seems to confirm the
knowledge that the traveller is no longer on the confines, but in the
heart of a great continental wilderness, where nature governs on a scale
of proportionate magnitude. The bamboo and dwarf palm occupied intervals
where they covered the space of many acres, presenting thorny
impenetrable barriers; and where they bordered the path were amongst our
most formidable enemies. A tree of the mimosa species also, of large
dimensions, was occasionally discovered by an aromatic fragrance emitted
from its pods. These pods, which exhibited a firm woody texture, were
eagerly sought after by the Fantees, for the purpose of extracting their
odour. The Ashantees named the tree cotamma. Wild fig trees were
numerous, and the fruit lay thickly spread upon the ground. The leaf of
this tree bore, however, no resemblance to the true fig leaf; but rather
resembled the maple, in its formation and glossy surface. The fruit
itself, notwithstanding it could not visibly be distinguished from the
fig, resembled it neither in smell nor taste, for it was exceedingly
offensive, whilst its external construction promised all the delicacy of
that luscious fruit in a state of culture. The Bauhinea Scandens, or
Patagonian tamarind, every where abounded. This is a majestic tree, yet
it by no means deserves to be ranked with the first class of African
growth. The pod, as its name indicates, is a tamarind externally and
internally, but its dimensions are from one to two feet in length, and
in breadth about four inches, yielding a number of stones proportionate
to the size of the outer rind.[19] Besides these, the forest was strewed
with several kinds of fruit resembling the pomegranate, and a very large
growth of guava; but the odour they diffused was most repugnant to the
smell, notwithstanding their inviting looks. Bombax and wild tamarind
were the most conspicuous objects, as well from numbers, as their
remarkable forms and bulk. In certain spots some monstrous trees had
fallen to the earth from decay, exhibiting in that state, every stage
between maturity and decomposition. Here and there were scattered solid
mahogany logs, as if torn from their roots by tempests. Others under
rapid stages of decay, showed a gangrenous disease at the root. Many
also, which had the semblance of having fallen long since, yielded to
external pressure, and occasionally the foot would sink through
moistened dust to the depth of several inches. A few were cankered
through the centre, leaving an open passage between the separated stem
over huge heaps of rotten wood-dust. Some of the fibrous kinds were
covered with knots and sharp-pointed thorns of a fearful growth, the
punctures of which were considered by the Ashantees as painful and
poisonous; they were on this account avoided with caution.
Some hollows and slopes, where the rain had collected, exhibited sheets
of clay-coloured water through which we waded at uncertain depths; but
generally between the knee and ancle. The sides and bottoms of these
cavities were of a spongy slime, which absorbed the feet with the
slightest pressure, and rendered the passage exceedingly laborious.
We were seldom disturbed by the howling or appearance of wild beasts,
yet the spots which were supposed to have been visited by hyenas, were,
on approaching them, easily recognised by the emission of a fetid
effluvia which, it would seem, the earth had imbibed from the
exhalations of the hide of that animal. Indeed these rancid smells were
frequent on the route, although we never could discover their authors.
As the night closed in, we endeavoured, by means of the luggage, to form
a fence round our tattered habitation; and having erected a sort of
breast work, we retired to rest as composedly as our limited comforts
would permit: for at Mansue we could procure nothing, save two or three
unripe plantains. These privations had been anticipated at Doonqua by a
stock of provision, more than reasonably enough to last two or three
days; but our good friends the Fantees, imagining they could carry the
burthen in a more commodious manner than on their heads, had thought it
advisable to distribute the weight internally. Besides committing so
great a depredation on our suppers, they had made a serious attack upon
the rum kegs and wine bottles. The excessive fatigue of the march, had
indeed overpowered the acute sensation of hunger; but I awoke at an
early hour in the morning, indifferently refreshed, and exceedingly
stiff from the bruises and excoriations of the preceding day. The route
to Mansue is about N. half E. distance seventeen miles horizontal,
twenty-two by the path, which is one of the most tortuous on the
journey.
At seven o’clock in the morning of the thirteenth we left Mansue, and
with it the prospect of the heavens, as we entered a forest exactly
similar to the former. The limits of the foot-way could scarcely be said
to exceed the width of twelve inches, over which the shrubbery projected
on all sides. Another fall of rain during the night, had soddened the
earth, and all the vegetable world was dripping with a moisture which
showered upon our bodies in plentiful discharges, while the foliage
nearer to the surface, with equal liberality, shed its moisture on our
clothes, to a degree that very speedily drenched us through to the skin.
The etiquette of Africa, which imposed on me the head of the file, was
little to be envied in this place, as it naturally exposed me to more
than a single share of soaking.
A little running stream, such as might be termed a brook, flowed with a
sluggish motion rather to the eastward of south. The Ashantees called it
Sanary. The gap it occasioned was equal to twelve or fourteen feet, yet
the junction of the boughs above the stream, entirely excluded the sun’s
rays. The water was limpid, although sensibly impregnated with
decomposed vegetable matter, and when disturbed by pressure, the soil
raised a turbid cloud from its bed, like the grounds of coffee.
About eleven A.M. we arrived at the Okee; a little river that holds its
course here to the S.SE. over a bed of granite rock and white sand, with
a gentle rippling current. This stream was the most important of any we
had yet seen, although its surface at the ford did not exceed four
fathoms. The depth was indeed too inconsiderable to deserve notice,
except in certain spots, where the water had collected in pools, formed
by the embankment and some stony obstructions. Here alone, the sun had a
partial action upon the shrubbery. The Okee empties itself into the sea
near Tantum, and is there known as the Amissa river. On leaving its
embankments, we again left behind us the cheerful light of day.
A party of Ashantees who were journeying south, suddenly approached, and
saluted by a respectful inclination of the body. They were from
Coomassy, they said, and had been deputed by Agampong to sell their
loads of ivory at El Mina, whither they were going. The information
obtained from these people corroborated former accounts of the anxiety
of the king to see me in his capital.
We arrived next at an extensive cluster of ground palms, where a little
stream called Ibani flowed to the west of south, and was said to unite
with a larger branch, in its track to the Okee. The river named Agoya or
Gaya, next arrested the attention, its course was south. The width of
this stream in the broadest part might have equalled eighteen feet, its
bed, however, was compact, and the embankment steep; but at the ford the
water scarcely covered the ancle. This is a stream tributary to the
Okee. About half a mile beyond the Agoya we fell in with a small clear
watercourse that terminated in an extensive swamp, spreading around as
far as our limited prospect afforded observation; in the midst stood
many of the largest forest trees.
On leaving the swamp, we caught the distant tinkling of the castanet,
and at the turning of an angle fell in with six Ashantees who had left
Abandou, as they asserted, within the compass of an easy run. We had not
long separated from these people, before we met two others in company
with many women and slaves, among whom was a girl about fourteen years
old, of the most jetty blackness, and in features more than ordinarily
interesting. Whether these travellers belonged to the preceding party or
not I had no opportunity of inquiring, for they fled abruptly into the
recesses of the forest.
Exactly at night-fall a little opening which discovered a mass of jungle
and cane, denoted our arrival at Abandou; the croom at which it was
proposed to rest that night. A few bamboo huts thatched with palm, and
lined with cane matting, marked the spot where formerly a more extensive
town existed. In the vicinity of the houses was a small plantation which
barely sufficed for the refreshment of travellers; for we were again
constrained to resort to our fragments.
The occupiers of two or three of these huts, were by the orders of the
Ashantees turned out of their habitations, for our accommodation; much
against their will indeed, for the weather indicated rain. The fissures
were therefore carefully closed, by which the apartments were rendered
tolerably comfortable.
The horizontal distance from Mansue to this place is eighteen and a half
miles, and by the path about twenty-three. The average of the courses
gave N. half E.
During the reign of King Cheboo, who governed in Assin prior to the
Ashantee invasion, Abandou was a populous village; but it now gives
shelter to a few foresters only.
The features of the country between Mansue and Abandou are almost the
same as on the preceding march. Many of the climbing plants, and some of
a migratory character, were observed to strike across the rivulets, from
bank to bank, by twisting their stems for support amidst the lower limbs
of lofty trees, and adhering in their progress to whatever object stood
in the way, until the opposite shore again afforded a permanent resting
place. The large parasitical plants were more frequently seen as we
advanced to the north. The mimosa classes were numerous, as also
clusters of the ground palm, and wild aloe; ebony, various species of
mahogany, iron-wood, wild tamarind, &c. were among the most conspicuous,
and may be added to those already described as inhabitants of this
forest.
The banks of several streams exhibited strata of red and dark grey
coloured clays, surmounted with light and sandy mould. Decaying wood and
vegetable matter presented solid masses of corruption in all its various
stages. The thermometer in the woods at eight o’clock A.M. stood at
eighty degrees, and at noon at eighty-two.
Notwithstanding the combination of evils such as have been described,
and which are unavoidable in travelling through the forests of this
kingdom, the fatigue they occasion is perhaps more than counterbalanced
by the friendly shade they afford the European traveller. The contrast
in temperature, when we emerged to one of those insulated spots where
the sun has a partial action, was equal to an increase of eight or nine
degrees on Fahrenheit’s scale.
A light rustling breeze from the east, shortly after our arrival at
Abandou, indicated an approaching tornado. The thunder was heard in the
distance, but no rain fell near our quarters. As the heavens were now
partially open to observation, we were for some time amused with the
flight of parrots, crown birds, toucans, cranes, vultures, hawks, and a
variety of smaller birds, retreating before the expected blast, and
seeking security from the torrents of rain which accompany this species
of storm. Some of the latter were clothed in plumage beyond conception
beautiful; about the same time, a troop of monkeys of the marmozet and
large black species, were sportingly skipping from tree to tree, with
astonishing dexterity.
The fatigue we had endured, and the limited rest we enjoyed in our
quarters at Mansue, induced an early retirement to repose. For my own
part, I revelled until morning, in what then seemed to me the most
luxurious repose I had ever enjoyed.
On the 14th, at eight o’clock in the morning, we left Abandou: the path
for the first two miles was particularly intricate, and the ground more
than usually covered by entangled thickets of bamboo, palm, briars, and
other thorny ligaments.
At three miles distance from Abandou, we fell in with a pretty little
rivulet called Katoa, its course was to the south-east, over a bed of
rock and sand. This also is tributary to the Amissa. At half a mile
beyond this, we crossed another stream of less magnitude, running to the
southward of west, into the Katoa: it was called by the Ashantees
Abonou. In half an hour more, we fell in with the Okee, its computed
distance from Abandou being short of five miles and a half. The course
of the river this time, was westward, inclining a little to the south,
which was the reverse of its course on the south side of Abandou. The
ford at this place was intersected by a chain of rocks forming a sort of
bridge. We shortly after crossed the Adanso running south-west into the
Okee, at no great distance from the ford. Here we perceived a number of
Assin women and children, who were washing in the stream.
Lions and panthers were said to be found here occasionally only, for
they usually occupy the thickets in the vicinity of villages, where they
enjoy more opportunities of satisfying the cravings of hunger on the
cattle of the inhabitants than in the solitary regions of the
wilderness: an observation which appeared to me of a reasonable texture,
as it coincided with the opinion I had previously formed on the nature
of those voracious quadrupeds. The lion, the tyger, the panther, the
leopard, say the Ashantees as well as the Arabs, are delicate in the
selection of their victims. They must destroy the carcase themselves, or
they loathe the food; and the blood alone suffices their wants, unless
indeed the rage of hunger be very great, in which case they will devour
a small portion of the flesh, leaving the remains of their prey to the
hyenas and other carnivorous animals. The reason they alledge why
hyenas, jackalls, &c. make more extensive excursions, is that these
animals will take up with any kind of food, whether in a state of
putrefaction or not. The superior beasts of prey seldom remove to any
great distance from the place which gave them birth, provided there be
opportunities of sustaining life, even at any risk from the wiles of
mankind. Throughout the whole extent of land from Doonqua to the banks
of the Praa river there are neither towns nor hamlets, consequently
there is no cattle for the sustenance of these animals, except the
chance range of a few deer.
We next arrived at a small stream that flowed to the south-west, but its
insignificance was such that it had no name. A mile beyond this stream
is the Atonsou, a little rivulet flowing S.SW. into the Praa. Here an
opening presented itself to our view, in which the scene was animated by
the reflection of the sun upon a rich foliage that surrounded a sort of
dam, where a body of water had stagnated. Having left the Atonsou a mile
in the rear, we came to a few bamboo huts like those at Abandou. The
area, which was free from forest trees, was about three hundred paces in
diameter. The sugar-cane, and a few banana and plantain trees, grew
hereabouts in luxuriant clusters, besides which there were both high and
low palm, bamboo, cocoa trees, and erasma. The name of this place is
Fooso. Prior to the invasion it was a town of some little consequence,
chiefly from its central position: it was then well inhabited, whereas
at present it exhibits no better aspect than Abandou, and neither place
admits of more than a temporary sojournment. During the retreat of
Cheebo, when he fell back upon Fantee, a skirmish took place between the
Ashantees and Assins in the neighbourhood of these huts; the former
gained the advantage, and the destruction of the town was the natural
consequence of that action. The Ashantee army then pursued the fugitive
monarch southward. The distance from Abandou to Fooso is eleven miles.
Our route still lay through forest, but to the north of Fooso the ground
was clear of thicket, and the eye was permitted to wander amidst its
recesses to the distance occasionally of forty or fifty yards. An
horizontal glance exhibited pillars of wood of mighty dimensions,
rivetted as it were to pedestals, such as Mr. Bowdich has not
inappropriately termed flying buttresses; trees proportionately smaller
filled up the interstices of this woody landscape. The prospect above
displayed all the verdure cemented in a rich entangled web, impervious
to a single ray of the noonday sun. This grand awning was still
enwreathed in folds by various plants of a migratory kind, and
particularly by that sort of fibrous stem which resembles cable ropes.
Ground palm, bamboo, and rattan, were now become very common.
A morass intersected the path at no great distance from Fooso, in which
mud predominated more than water, and beyond this, at an hour’s march,
we crossed a little current of water flowing westward, and entered
Yancomady. All that now remains of this village is a few Bamboo huts,
the abodes of foresters; some palm and plantain trees choked up with the
rank growth of cane and jungle were the only relics left of its
plantations, or rather, in despite of the exterminating hand of war,
they had again reared their heads above a surface of utter devastation.
Some spots appeared in the neighbourhood where clusters of the largest
trees had been subverted by the violence of tempests, thereby dragging
in their descent a whole army of surrounding objects, or crushing into
splinters those limbs which were incapable of sustaining the accumulated
pressure until a sufficient bearing was gained on the barren wrecks of
many trunks. Not unfrequently these threatening avalanches were
suspended in various angular positions, supported only by numerous bands
and links of forest cordage, entwined in friendly embraces amidst the
branches, and round the trunks. The thermometer here stood at eighty-
eight degrees in the shade.
Our path lay amidst clusters of ground palm, which grew on the brink of
a romantic slope terminating on our right in a deep chasm. A few hundred
paces from this we alighted at the Potessin, a rivulet whose current
flowed to the W.NW. in a stream of ten or twelve feet broad, and united
with the Soubin, tracking their course jointly to the Praa. In half an
hour more we arrived on the margin of a little rivulet called Ambama,
and from this stream we came to the Soubin, flowing to the northward of
west. As the evening approached we crossed a little brook called Aniya,
and from thence travelled by an agreeable path to Akomfody, where I had
resolved to pass the night.
This also was a long journey, for the march was of nine hours duration
in the whole; and in the course of that time, we traversed twenty-three
miles of ground, although the true distance is no more than seventeen.
The average course about N.NE.
The surface between Abandou and Akomfody is level, with the exception of
a few slopes, and the chasm between Yancomady and the Potessin. A rich
black loam frequently bordered the streams, and was occasionally found
in a few marshy spots. Sometimes a fat unctuous marl was met with in
extensive sheets: sand however predominated; and in place of the quartz,
which abounds so greatly in the southern districts, nothing in the shape
of a stone was discovered except a few small angular pieces of mica and
granite. Certain spots emitted a corrupt effluvia blended more or less
with the odour of decomposed vegetation and aromatic shrubs.
The hillocks formed by red ants were now rarely discovered; but the
black ants were numerous and troublesome, the bite they inflicted
occasioned a sharp burning heat. Nor are they less dreaded in the
cultivated parts and even in the towns. The voracity with which they
surprise their prey and assail him at all vulnerable points exceeds that
of locusts, when they alight in a field of corn; for when once the
attack is commenced, no bodily effort of the victim will avail him.
Flight is generally impotent, unless it should lead him to a pool, when
a natural instinct occasioned by the burning pain, induces him to plunge
into the water. This kind of ant, say the Ashantees, is not only the
plague of all other animals, but also of every class of their own
species, and of the red ant in particular. If I may be indulged in a
whimsical comparison, I will suggest a resemblance between these
diminutive freebooters and the Arabs, who alike migratory, rove over the
surface of the country, and establish a temporary residence where it
meets their views, often to the terror and in defiance of neighbouring
towns. Thus the black ants in myriads will trace a particular course,
and pursue that track in exact and thick embodied file, over an extent,
perhaps of miles, until they fix upon a spot to their liking, where they
erect little conical habitations, which may be said figuratively to bear
a similitude to the Arabian tent, both in colour and form. The red ants,
on the contrary, raise solid mounds of clay, which are cemented with a
mucilaginous substance that binds the parts together in an indissoluble
encrustation, and bids defiance to any violence short of the pick axe.
The intrusion of the black ants is thus effectually prevented; but
whenever their entrenched prey venture abroad, or are observed in
repairing and augmenting their habitations, which they frequently do, a
chase ensues, and thousands become the victims of their opponents, who
sometimes force an entrance even into the nest itself. I was present
once when a hillock was perforated in order to obtain what is commonly
termed the queen, or mother ant, which is an unwieldy insect, two inches
in length and one in circumference, formed in head and shoulders like
the common ant, with a white body like that of a maggot. This insect
resides in a separate cell, at the very foundation of the hillock, and
is said to be gifted with such inexhaustible fecundity as to bring forth
its myriads in daily and unceasing repetition. The act of cutting
through the surface was laborious; but that effected, the earth crumbled
as it usually does. The cells resembled those of the hornet, and were
generally in diagonal rows, but without order or regularity. The labour
was ultimately attended with success, in the discovery of the “queen
mother.” During the process the red ants fled in all directions, and
vainly endeavoured to recover their cells, while they were assaulted by
a troop of black ants, who in despite of a vigorous resistance devoured
their prey on the spot, or carried it off between their nippers. The
black ant, it is said, will fearlessly attack any animal, not exempting
mankind; but particularly infants, whom they frequently destroy and
devour. The panther is not too strong for them to cope with, the rat is
not too subtile, nor is the squirrel too active; vigilance and force are
equally unavailing. They will even, as the Ashantees report, seek the
abodes of serpents, and entering their holes, allow the reptile no
chance of escaping. The hanging nests of small black ants were also very
numerous in the trees, where, it would appear, they choose their abode
as a security against attacks of the universal enemy.
Acomfody, formerly a village of moderate dimensions, now lies desolate
like the rest, and is only remarkable for the few huts it contains. Its
plantations are equally insignificant, so that all the refreshments we
were able to procure amounted to a few unripe plantains. The huts were
already occupied by a party of travellers; but this, as usual, produced
no inconvenience to us, for they were speedily dislodged.
The fatigue of these marches had jaded even the negroes, several of whom
were lame; and notwithstanding the general anxiety to keep pace with the
mission, there were fifteen absentees as late in the evening as ten
o’clock. That we suffered in an equal proportion may safely be
concluded. We therefore sought our apartments, anticipating the benefit
of repose; but in vain; for after I had retired to rest, and had just
fallen into a profound slumber, I was roused by a confused noise, and a
sensation resembling that of the pressure of a man’s hand upon my face,
and on the bed-clothes, as though some persons were about to attack me
in that defenceless posture. Thus prepossessed I started out of bed, and
immediately recognised screechings resembling those of the rat. This
indeed confused, but did not satisfy me, so strongly did I imagine that
an intruder had gained access in the dark. By the aid of lights which my
attendants procured, I searched, but to no purpose, and while I was
prevailed upon to discredit the suspicion I had formed, I took the round
of the quarters, where all was confusion and uproar, from the same
cause. Mr. Collins was employed in defending himself with a stick
against these vermin; and at Mr. Salmon’s hut it was the same.
Satisfied, now, of the reality of the nuisance, I again retired to seek
repose, but in so doing was compelled to resort to the same weapon in
defence of my person against hundreds of rats, who, if I attempted to
lie down, ran indiscriminately over my face and body, in their nocturnal
gambols. Thus finding it impossible to sleep, I at last relinquished the
attempt. Even the Fantees were distressed in this _rat croom_.
Towards the dawn of morning I heard the cries of some wild animals,
which the Ashantees described under the name of _youne_. They said it
climbed the trees, and continued those cries throughout the night. From
this description, I could not clearly discover to what genus it
belonged; but subsequently I was shewn one at Coomassy, which was of the
sloth family.
We left Akomfody at the hour of nine, and at the distance of a short
mile, crossed a little rivulet running west of the Praa, whose name was
Shambany; and, in two miles more, alighted near a little brook called
Baraco, a branch, it is said, of the former. For three miles more, we
travelled over an entangled thicket, that led to half-a-dozen deserted
huts, surrounded by a moderate sized plantation: the name of this place
is Dansansoo. Not a soul inhabited the spot, and except when
occasionally tenanted by travellers and foresters, it is as desolate as
the wilderness itself. The summits of some old vitrified walls were here
and there perceptible, amidst a plat of withered jungle and cane. This
village was also demolished by the Ashantees during the retreat of
Cheebo and Apoutay.
From Dansansoo our route lay over the same mazy thicket. Many limbs and
branches of trees lay scattered about, exhibiting another scene of
recent violence, as if a current of wind had passed over this tract; an
opinion that was strengthened by the numerous little swamps, and the
quantity of moisture hereabouts.
Short of one mile and a half from Dansansoo we arrived at Mekaren. This,
likewise, was a wretched spot, consisting only of two or three hovels,
encompassed by a little plantation; yet this, too, had been a populous
place. A little distance beyond this, was a ravine that had the
appearance of a water course; but its sandy bed was now dry. The surface
was swampy, and overgrown with ground-palm, thicket, and small trees.
We were now in the neighbourhood of the Praa river. Hereabouts we fell
in with a party of traders, and one of the king’s sword-bearers. The
slaves, to the number of twelve or fourteen, were loaded with many
valuable teeth of ivory, also for the Dutch market. After a march of two
miles and a half more we gained a glimpse of the water between the
trees. A serpentine path, formed by a chasm, where the ridge was about
forty feet perpendicular height, led down to the margin of the river,
and here, after our guides had tried the depth of the stream, we crossed
in a slanting course, under the lee-side of a bed of shelving rock,
which stood near the centre. The water, at the ford, came up as high as
the arm-pits; and on gaining the opposite shore, we climbed up a steep
embankment, retracing the steps we had deviated from our true course. A
little fetische house, which overlooks the river, invited our steps to
the grateful shade of a cachou tree. Indeed, it is usual for the
northern travellers to visit this spot, and make oblations to the river
God, to whom the house is consecrated, before they presume to plunge
into his stream. The house was built with upright poles, and wattled
hurdles, lashed with twigs, and cemented together with clay; the roof
was of palm.
The prospect of the landscape from this commanding point was really
magnificent, but it was nevertheless a wilderness, and the knowledge of
this limited the pleasures of imagination, in despite of its superb
scenery, the fecundity of nature, and the fair bosom of a sheet of water
that gave animation to the prospect. The gloomy forest to which we had
been so long confined, presented itself to our view in a section, on the
side from whence we came, whose northern limits were laved by this
beautiful stream meandering in a serpentine course from NE. to SW.,
until both extremes were lost in forest. The margin of the water was
overgrown with a line of rank grass and flags, while the slope of the
embankment was thickly covered by shrubbery, such as ground-palm,
bamboo, rattan, sugar, and ground-cane, various species of the dwarf
mimosas, besides a variety of unknown plants. The rays of a sun, now in
his zenith, acting upon this mass of verdure, produced an animated tint
in the different shades of green upon every shrub, and almost upon every
leaf. The forest itself, frowning in awful majesty to the very verge of
the embankment, formed a romantic back-ground, while the surface beneath
was buried in darkness. To enumerate half the different species of
vegetation is not in my power, for the greater part by far were unknown
to me. Those which I recognised of the larger growth, were such as have
been already mentioned. Ganyan, however, was a very conspicuous object
on the opposite embankment. It is characteristic for this tree to shoot
out fibrous tendrils from its branches, and these are prolongated in the
growth, until they strike into the earth in various postures, although
generally perpendicular.
The smaller trees and shrubs, besides bamboo, rattan, and common cane,
were Guava bush, in limited quantity, indigo, umbrella trees, dying
woods, erasma, cocoa, male and female, migratory and stationary vines,
wild fig, aloe, tamarind, &c.
The surface here was a rich clay, free from pebble, and covered in the
line of the ford with a bed of light sand. This river enters the sea at
Chamah. It was at this time about the breadth of the Thames at Richmond,
and the current, which varies, on account of the freshes that
occasionally augment the stream, ran about four knots. The annexed plate
is engraved from a sketch I took on the spot. Mr. Bowdich, in
acknowledging his failure in an attempt at copying the natural beauties
of the scene, perhaps with reason declares, that it would baffle the
skill of any artist to depict “the life of its beauty,” except a Claude,
or a Wilson. Without questioning the truth of this, I hope my
presumption may meet with indulgence, as I trust it will, when I declare
that with a limited knowledge of the art, I attempted the sketch from
private and not public motives. It may be considered, therefore, as the
outlines of a landscape where the objects are represented as nature has
stationed them, rather than as an attempt at pourtraying the _animation
of vegetable life_.
[Illustration: A South prospect of the River Praa and the Forest of
Assin.]
Having indulged a sufficient time in the contemplation of these rural
beauties, we resumed the journey over what now appeared to us a
delightful path, and which, indeed, was open, and wide enough in some
places to allow six or seven men to walk abreast. The barbarism of the
southern forest appeared every where to be softened into features of a
milder aspect, and it seemed as though our toils were comparatively at
an end.
At a short half mile from the river, we entered the town of Prassoo
through a clean broad avenue, which separated the houses into two nearly
equal sections. Decency now required me to conceal my tattered apparel
(for deplorably torn it was) from public gaze. I therefore wrapped
myself in a cloak, and walked to the house of the Caboceer. This chief,
a little emaciated old man, whose name was Awado, received me with much
ceremony; but, as I then thought, little civility. In retiring I was,
however, better satisfied with the good-natured countenances of a few
scores of spectators, who were waiting to obtain a glimpse of white men.
From the Praa southward, the progress of the sword down to the very
margin of the sea may be traced by mouldering ruins, desolated
plantations, and osseous relics: such are the traits of negro ferocity.
The inhabitants, whether Assins or Fantees, whose youth and beauty
exempted them from slaughter on the spot, were only reserved to grace a
triumph in the metropolis of their conquerors, where they were again
subject to a scrutiny which finally awarded the destiny of sacrifice or
bondage; few or none were left behind to mourn over their slaughtered
friends, or the catastrophe of their unhappy country.
Prassoo, or Praa Assou, is a name derived from the proximity of this
town to the river Praa. In magnitude it cannot be compared with the
superior class of towns, yet it covers a great extent of ground; its
main street being about two furlongs in length, broad, clean, and
regularly formed. This street cuts through the village at right angles,
and intersects a number of little lanes and passages formed by rows of
houses, which are closely erected, although generally detached from each
other by a space of several feet. Many of these vacancies were enclosed
by hurdles and fences of bamboo, of an unsightly construction. The
generality of houses were rather superior to those we had seen at
Doonqua. The habitations of some were washed on the outsides with a
bluish clay, which, from exposure to the sun and atmosphere, had faded
to a dirty white, recalling by an effort of the imagination what had
been reported by Mr. Bowdich, of Ashantee, “architecture.” But the far
greater proportion of the houses were formed simply with hurdles,
plastered over with clay, the common soil of the country, and some of
hurdles and thatch only.
The population of Prassoo is stated to be about nine thousand souls. The
town does not lay claim to any very great antiquity, and may be said
still to enjoy the infancy of its growth. It is surrounded by luxurious
plantations of plantain trees, and some detached spots for the
cultivation of maize.
Leaving Prassoo, we entered an open path which we pursued for another
short half mile, and entered Kikiwhary long before the sun had run his
course. Our reception by the spectators was courteous and gratifying,
for every countenance testified joy. I dispatched a complimentary
message to the _deputy_ Caboceer, and, as it was my intention to pass
the night in the town, I alighted under a spreading tree, while the
captain of the escort selected appropriate quarters. After a short
absence, he returned and conducted us to a neat little house, containing
four apartments of convenient size. Our first calls, it may be well
supposed, were for food, particularly flesh, which we had been so long
deprived of. In the interim, I received a very acceptable present of a
sheep, some bread, and plantains, from the Caboceer of Prassoo. The
deputy Caboceer and some of the town’s-people waited upon me with
congratulations.
In the cool of the evening I walked over the town, and was every where
greeted with the most cordial and respectful welcome. A number of
children of both sexes, and some adults followed me at a reserved
distance, gratifying their curiosity without intrusion, and flying, as I
approached, when occasion required to retrace my steps. To me the scene
conveyed infinite pleasure from a retrospective contrast with the more
northern regions of this vast continent, where I have travelled among
strangers, from whom I have, on similar occasions, experienced insult
and hostility. The natives, however, were observed to scowl at the
Fantees, with a malignancy, which, at first, I could not satisfactorily
account for.
The town of Kikiwhary is considerably larger than that of Prassoo, and
its inhabitants proportionately numerous. The population of the place is
said to exceed fourteen thousand. The etymology of the word Kikiwhary
is, _take heart_, or resolution, a name which is not uncommon to other
towns of the kingdom. It is said, that the present town stands on the
scite of a very extensive city, which was destroyed some ages back by an
irruption of the tribes of Dagomba. Like Prassoo, it is characterised by
one main street, separating the houses into two sections, and
intersecting at right angles a number of avenues. The houses, which
resemble in construction those of Prassoo, consist of various classes,
from the quadrangular building down to the common bamboo hut. The white
clay washed walls generally distinguish the habitations of the wealthy;
but they are not numerous. As the apartments are all either upon the
ground floor, or elevated only two or three feet above the natural
surface, the roofs are necessarily the most conspicuous features in the
_coup d’œil_ of an African town. The interior compartments of the best
houses are furnished in a style corresponding with the simplicity of
African wants; two or three wooden stools, some earthen pots for
culinary purposes, cane mats, a water jar, and a lamp, constructed of
brass or clay, comprize all the utensils of the far greater portion of
the inhabitants; while many of the houses of officers high in rank, are
adorned with large wooden drums, and horns decorated with sculls and jaw
bones.
The government of Kikiwhary, like that of other towns, is vested in a
Caboceer and Council of Elders. This chief, whose name is Akassy, was at
this time absent. He was formerly a captain of that part of Assin,
governed by Amoo, and had, at the early part of the contest with
Ashantee, espoused the politics of the king. Akassy was deputed to
accompany the embassy to Cape Coast, as representative of Assin, to
discuss individual claims and private losses.
The complaints of the inhabitants of this town were, indeed, serious;
for it appeared that some of their people, to the number of about sixty,
had been _panyard_; or, in other words, seized, together with their
trading property, and sold by the Fantees at different stations on the
coast to slaving ships, while the king was absent in Gaman. Report
conveyed to me the murmurings of several families, who alleged their
participation in the injury; and the execrations which were lavished
upon the Fantees taught them, betimes, to limit their rambles.
This day’s journey was nine miles and a half, horizontal distance, and
the average of a long list of courses gave NW. and by N. On the banks of
the Praa, the thermometer, at one o’clock, P.M. gave eighty-seven
degrees in the shade, and again at three o’clock, it was as high as
ninety degrees in my apartment, at Kikiwhary.
The quarters were continually surrounded by spectators, chiefly women
and children, whose anxiety to gain a glimpse of our persons was
occasionally checked by an impulse of terror when we approached them.
The smiling countenances which graced these beauties, convinced me that
their destiny was a happier one than the generality of their sex enjoy
in Fantee. Their lascivious glances, accompanied by signs, which could
not be misconstrued, convinced me also that these ladies, however
superior to the Fantees, participated with them in a certain failing. I
was, besides, assured that many of the wives and daughters of men in
power, were employed in the way of traffic, to practise the seductive
charms of beauty, to inveigle the impassioned and unwary of the other
sex, in order to create a palaver, which commonly terminated in fines or
slavery. When the slave trade was legalized on the coast, it was a usual
mode of entrapping youth, and those who were incapable of redeeming
their persons from bondage, suffered the severity of this pernicious
law, and were in most cases sold in the public markets for exportation
to the West Indies.
About ten o’clock on the seventeenth, I bade farewell to Kikiwhary,
pursuing a path, which for the first two or three miles, inclined very
much to the westward of north; now and then it was rugged, and overgrown
with briers and underwood. The Ading rivulet, an inconsiderable stream,
whose current ran to the S.SE. at this distance, held on a course to the
Praa, where it united near the ford. The water did not exceed a foot in
depth, and twelve feet would have measured the breadth of the stream;
yet during the rains its tributary waters were said to inundate large
forest tracts hereabouts. Another stream called Ano, of less importance,
flowed easterly, and is said to connect itself with the Ading, from
which it is separated by a small tract only. Hereabouts is also a clear
open space of several acres in extent, surrounded by jungle and plantain
trees. The name of this spot is Miassa, (not Animiaso, as Mr. Bowdich
has spelt it, and which is an amalgamation of both river and town) it
was distinguished formerly for its great population, and when Assin was
a tributary sovereignty it belonged to the first rank of towns. A few
miserable inhabitants now occupy the land, where they have erected some
habitations of bamboo and thatch. Their existence chiefly depends upon
the traffic with Kikiwhary. Miassa was at one time deemed the capital
city of Assin, but it owed its importance more to the seat of
government, which was established here by Cheboo, than to any local
influence of its own. During the wars between Amoo and Cheboo, when the
latter had suffered two defeats from his adversary; a third sanguinary
conflict took place near this spot, which terminated in favour of the
latter, and the utter destruction of Amoo’s army followed the action.
Amoo, however, escaped, and again fled to Coomassy to lay his complaint
before the sovereign king. That monarch had employed many months in a
fruitless negociation prior to the engagement, and having about this
time received a cruel indignity in the person of an ambassador, he first
formed the design of compelling the Assins to a state of unlimited
submission.[20] Cheboo and Apoutay, however, assembled their forces in
the vicinity of Miassa, with the resolution of giving battle to the
Ashantees; but some disaffection among the Assin chiefs dispirited the
troops, and treachery was supposed to have stirred up a powerful
interest in favour of the enemy. The crisis approached which admitted
the choice of only two alternatives, either to risk a battle on the
spot, or resign that extensive tract of country north of the Praa, and
retire to the left bank of the river. In this dilemma Cheboo chose the
former, but in the hour of trial his courage was not competent to the
task of meeting an enemy so proverbially terrific as the king of
Ashantee. A few shots were exchanged at the onset, while Cheboo and a
party of followers fled to the river. This decisive panic in the chief
is said to have been occasioned by the desertion of several Caboceers,
on the field of battle. Be this as it may, it is admitted on all hands,
that here the Assins fled before an army which numerically did not
amount to half its own force; although it was confessedly superior in
organization, equipment, and resources. Slaughter followed in the rear,
down to the margin of the river, where Cheboo and his friends learning
the extent of their misfortunes, fled across the stream, and whither the
Ashantees had no inclination to pursue them, at that time. Miassa was
razed to the foundation, thousands were put to the sword, and thousands
sent into slavery in the more northern provinces of the empire. This
event is celebrated by the Ashantee bards in an appropriate song,
wherein it is recorded that a river of _perjured blood flowed from
Miassa to the Praa, and propitiated the wrath of the river god_.
Thousands of human victims were afterwards sacrificed in daily and
nightly troops, at the little fetische house were we alighted; and the
carcasses were cast into the river, in order, as the Ashantees affirm,
that the glory and military prowess of their sovereign might be known
throughout the land, as the current swept the bodies to the sea. Akassy,
the Caboceer who now governs Kikiwhary, and a man named Quamina Abindou,
both incurred the stigma of treachery; the latter was subsequently put
to death for some embezzlement of the spoil.
The forest beyond Miassa relapses into its usual solitude, exhibiting
also most of those stern beauties which are characteristic of the land
south of the Praa. At a little distance beyond Miassa to the eastward,
are several ruined villages, in particular one named Soubel between the
Ano and Ading; other desolate spots of the same kind are scattered over
the surrounding country, between the points of north and east, of which
Oncro, Intoba, and Injany are the principal.
The paths leading to the plantations were still open, and occasionally
frequented. Two miles more brought us to another open space, the relic
of a large Assin croom called Saporgah; which is little better than a
heap of ruins. Some solitary sheds occupied by foresters and palm wine
collectors were the only objects that could interest the eye. The path
was exceedingly obstructed by thicket and decayed logs, from this place
until we arrived at the ruins of Tibiassa, another habitation, as the
Ashantees affirmed, of the spirits who roam at night. Nothing but a few
straggling ruins, embedded in jungle, remained; yet it was said to have
been a place of importance. The little stream called Prensa crossed the
path, at a very inconsiderable distance from Tibiassa, as it traced an
easterly course to the Ano. The next opening at the distance of a mile
and a half more, was a moderate sized space occupied by some detached
ruins, the relics of a town called Bequama, and near this spot the
little rivulet called Prapong (or arm of the Praa) about seven yards in
width and two or three feet in depth, pursued its southerly course to
the Praa. We shaped a course along the bed of this stream to the
distance of a hundred yards or more, and then quitted it at an angle
formed by its westerly inclination. The path as we advanced rather
improved, although the natural obstructions were still so great as to
create delay. Four miles beyond the Prapong are the ruins of a town
called Eshamah. A little village of modern construction, bearing the
same name, stands on a slope which commands the ruins. The inhabitants,
probably about fifty in number, obtain a precarious subsistence from
their labours in the forest. These poor people were at this time absent,
at their respective occupations, in hewing timber, and tapping palm
trees for wine, with which they trade to Ansah. A few traders from
Ashantee were reposing under the shade of some trees, in what might be
called the market place.
Eshamah formerly enjoyed a moderate rank in Assin, and its population is
said to have rivalled in numbers the inhabitants of Prassoo. It is
remarkable for a sanguinary battle fought in its vicinity between
Cheeboo and Amoo. Leaving the ruins of this place, we again penetrated
the forest, and in the lapse of an hour entered Ansah about four P.M.
[Illustration: A Woman & Youth of Banna. A Marowa Slave.]
[Footnote 19: Some of the seed I brought to England and consigned to Mr.
Lee, of Kensington, in whose Nursery it was sown.]
[Footnote 20: Vide also Meredith’s History of the Gold Coast.]