An Account of the Gold Coast of Africa: with a brief history of the African Company

Front matter

fUbUtfad Jim* ff fhSa fa le ymoff jn_ra« tmv Ormt tkhrvmm ftutmottrr Jtim AN ACCOUNT OF THE GOLD COAST OF AFRICA: WITH A BRIEF HISTORY OFTHE AFRICAN COMPANY. BY HENRY MEREDITH, Esa. MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL, AND GOYERNOR OF WINNEBAH FORT. LONDON: PRINTED FOE LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN, PATERNOSTER ROW. 1812. J. C. BARNARD, SKINNER-STREET, LONDON. CONTENTS. Introduction ., chapter i. Situation and Extent of the Gold-coast. — Climate. — Soil. — Seasons. — Winds. — Appearances of the Country. — ■ Disposition and Character of the Natives. — Animals. — Vegetable and general Productions. — Government and Laws 1

Chapter II

Customs. — Polygamy. — Religion. — -Fetish. — General Observations. — Portuguese. — Salubrity. — Accessary Cautions for the Preservation of Health. — Fumigations. — Filtration of Water 29 CHAPTER HI. Apollonia ; Lake, Village erected in it. Customs, Manners, and Dispositions of the Apollonians. ■ History. — -Axim. — Ancobra River. — Hollandia. — Dix-cove. — Boutry. Taccorary. — Succondee. Ahantah Country. Chamah. Commendn. Elmina. 52

Chapter IV

Cape-Coast. — The Castle. — The Town. — Slave-Trade. — Abuses. — Fantee Country. — Laws, Customs, Sfc. — Improvements. — Garrison of Cape-Coast. — Mouree.. . CONTENTS.

Chapter V

Annamaboe. Origin and History of the Ashantee War. — Fantces. — Akims 129

Chapter VI

Cormantine. — Tantumquerry . — Apam. — Winnebah. — Berracoe. — Accra. Pram Pram. — Ningo. — Rio Volta. — Addah. — Quita. — Conclusion 169 ADDITIONAL PAPERS. Farther Particulars respecting Accra 216 Ashantee Campaign 229 Diseases among the Natives 283 A short History of the African Company 246 ERRATA. Page 34. Note. For Dahoney read Dahomy. 37. Lines 16, 17. For method of changing their dresses, read practice of wearing dresses. 52. Line 14, Ashanta (and wherever it occurs), or Ashantee or Ashantah, should in each place be spelt Ahanta. 87. 26. For Carmantyne read Cormantine, 98. 21 . For pynius read pynins. 120. Reference to note should he placed after practice, line 12, instead of after castle, line 21. 217. Line 12. For Papo read Popo. 220. 18. For From Ningo read Near Little Ningo. — 21.

For From read Near. 221. Note, and wherever else it occurs. .Fm- CrabboreadCrobo. The same remark is applicable to the Map ; where for Crabbo-hill should be read Crobo. 236. Line 17. For leprj gageorum read lepra Græcorum. 240. 11. Inverted commas omitted at the beginning.

Introduction

. Winnebah Fort, Nov. 1st, 1811. TO THE MEMBERS OF THE AFRICAN INSTITUTION Gentlemen ; _1 HE intention of the following1 lines is, to en deavour to introduce into public favour, a part of the Globe, which has for many years been considered undeservingof our attention, if we exclude the accommodation it afforded, of supplying our West-India colonies with slaves, and the Nation with a portion of gold and ivory, collected along its coast. From observations and enquiries, made during a residence of some years on the Gold-coast, and from various notes, the following description has been compiled ; and I trust that, as it is the only description that has been B

INTRODUCTION.

. 11 drawn ol this part of Africa, since the days of Bosnian, it will meet with public approbation. Although, at present, the Gold-coast is almost neglected by the British merchants, yet I hope it will not continue long in this state : I trust some favourable change will take place under the auspices of the African Institution, and the Legislature, to increase the trade, and to attract the attention of the public at large to it. Various, no doubt, are the opinions of those concerned in the commercial interest of the Nation respecting this country, and the changes which may ensue in the West Indies, in conse quence of the abolition of the slave-trade. It may be supposed, probably, that those luxuries, which we were accustomed to import very large ly from that country, will be gradually reduced in quantity, and consequently, so proportionably increased in price, that the middling order of the community cannot afford an ample use of them.

Some persons hesitate not, perhaps, in pronoun cing, that sugar, rum, &c. cannot be imported ex cepting on terms disadvantageous to the Nation. unless the slave-trade is restored; and others.

INTRODUCTION.

. Ill who place much confidence in their commercial knowledge, and profess a large portion of politi cal sagacity, may affirm, that there is no alterna tive, but either to open the channel for supplying the plantations with slaves, or colonize part of Africa, otherwise we are likely to depend on our neighbours for a supply of sugar and rum, or dispense with the use of them altogether. Let these opinions turn out as they may, there is very little doubt, that if sugar can be procured as cheap, and as palatable, through the " exertions and alacrity of a consciousness of freedom," as through the " gloomy, sullen indolence atten dant on a consciousness of slavery," it will be more agreeable to the nation, and relished with more satisfaction. Those who are acquainted with the soil and climate of the Gold-coast, and who have an equal knowledge of the West-Indies, will, doubtless, readily agree in this opinion, that the Gold-coast has the advantage of the West-India islands, not only in soil and climate, but likewise in seasons.

The soil of this part of Africa is more uniform, and partakes of a more clayey nature ; it is not B2 INTRODUCTION, so intermixed with stone, and not so liable to be impoverished by gravelly and sandy particles, washed from the hills in the wet season : it partakes likewise of a greater variety of soil, than a country so intersected with high land as the West-India islands are. The climate of the Gold-coast will be found as temperate and salu brious as the West Indies ; and if it were cultivated, it would probably surpass the West Indies in point of salubrity. The seasons here are as regular, and as congenial to cultivation, as they are in the West Indies ; there is as much moisture throughout the year ; the sea and land breezes are as regular ; and it can boast of one most de cided advantage, — it is not infested with those tremendous storms called Hurricanes, which sometimes destroy the prosperity, and check the industry of the planter : it is true we have torna^ does, but they are mild breezes in comparison to a West-India hurricane.

If things be enquired into minutely, we shall find, that the hopes of a planter are very often frustrated, and his expectations disappointed, in the produce of his estate, from irregularities of seasons in the West.

INTRODUCTION.

. > If, therefore, the Gold-coast of Africa be en titled to be classed with the West-Indies in all those qualities, there remains no longer a doubt of its producing every article that will grow there; and as land and labour can be purchased at a lower rate, it would be strange indeed, if sugar, rum, coffee, cotton, indigo, &c. &c. could not be produced from it on terms as advantage ous as from the West. In forming these compa risons, and making these remarks, the writer is not actuated by prejudice, nor is he governed by interested or partial motives : his wish is to en deavour to extend the commercial interest and prosperity of the Empire, by exposing to view a part of Africa, which has been ever enveloped in much obscurity. It is, however, well known, that the Gold-coast, as well as other parts of the coast of Guinea, has been the source of much wealth; that it has given employment to many classes of our countrymen ; and that it has contributed to support the great bulwark and glory of the Nation ! Whether it be still capable of an extensive and profitable trade ; of renewing the speculative spirit of the

INTRODUCTION.

. VI merchant ; of employing numbers of our trades men and artisans ; of enticing the manufacturer to new designs and improvements, under circum stances more pleasing to the mind and more ho nourable to human nature, than it has yet done ; are problems which admit of easy solutions. The Gold-coast, as well as all tropical Africa, is capable of affording incalculable advantages, if the inhabitants can be excited to industry. It is enriched beyond the credibility of those unac quainted jwith it. Its hills are stored with various metals and minerals, and its valleys are blessed with a fertility, scarcely to be exceeded by any country under the same latitude. In this examination of the Gold-coast, the cha racters and dispositions of the natives will be de scribed with tolerable accuracy ; their principal customs are related, and an historical sketch of the principal states is subjoined.

I have dwelt particularly on the Fantee country, as it forms the most interesting part of the Gold-coast, in conse quence of the changes it has lately undergone. The Ashantee war has been treated with atten-

INTRODUCTION.

. vision, which will lead the reader to an acquaintance with that warlike and trading people. Abuses committed by the natives against the service, and against trade, are touched upon, with a view that the Committee for managing the British concerns in this country, may be aided by Government to apply a remedy. A short history of the Royal African Company, and the trade to this country, is annexed ; which I expect will be gratifying to my readers. Upon the whole, much care has been taken to render this work as complete and as acceptable as possible to the publick ; but par ticularly to those who are interested in the im provement and trade of the country. It is by no means my intention to obtrude my self as an author : the following work has, doubtless, many faults, and will by no means stand the test of criticism; I have only endeavoured to describe what has struck me during many years residence in the country.

Many others might. have performed this much better, had they been pleased to have attempted it. If I have erred, it is not wilfully ; the faults are all my own ; and if my book afford any information or amusement. I claim the merit of it.

INTRODUCTION.

. vin Captain Scobell, of His Majesty's ship Thais, was kind enough to give my manuscript a pas sage, and send it to a friend in London, to get it published. I have the honour to be, with much respect, Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble Servant, Henry Meredith, Member of the Council, and Governop of Winnebah Fort. %* Mr. Meredith's MS. being written with very pale ink, many parts of it required writing over again, to make it intelligible to the printer. The gentleman to whom it was sent, has done this to the best of his ability, and believes he has preserved the sense, and generally, the words of the author. Having resided on the coast of Africa himself for fourteen years, he has taken the liberty to add a very few observations in the form of notes, but not in any way to alter the original work. THE GOLD-COAST.

Chapter I. Situation And Extent Of The Gold-coast

— CE1MATE. — SOIE. — SEASONS. — WINDS. APPEARANCES OF THE COUNTRY. — DISPO- SITION AND CHARACTER OF THE NATIVES. ANIMALS. VEGETABLE AND GENERAL PRODUCTIONS. — GOVERNMENT AND LAWS. JL HAT part of the coast of Guinea, known by the name of the Gold-coast, commences about twenty leagues westward of Cape Apollonia, and terminates at Accra. According to the most modern charts, it lies between four degrees and forty minutes, and five degrees and forty minutes of North latitude, and from the meridian, to about three degrees of West longitude : the whole ex tent of it may be computed at about two hundred and sixty miles. Climate. From the proximity of the Gold-coast to the Equinoctial, we might suppose that its climate is hotter than tlie parts of Africa situated nearer the Tropics ; but this is not the case.

It will be found, that on the Equator, and about five or six degrees on either side of it, are the most temperate parts of Tropical Africa. The Sun has less power there, than in more northerly or southerly situations, because he is more obscured throughout the year. In the month of December, when the Sun is at his greatest distance from the Tropic of Cancer, the heat at Senegal was found to be ninety-three degrees, and at Sierra-Leone ninetyeight degrees in the shade, measured by Fahrenheit's thermometer ; and Senegal is laid down in about sixteen degrees, and Sierra-Leone is about eight degrees of North latitude. At Cape-Coast Castle, which is situated in about five degrees of North latitude, the thermometer has been known, at one period, as high as ninety-three degrees ; but the usual degrees of heat, observed in the hottest months, were from eighty-five to ninety degrees, and Cape-Coast Castle is considered the hottest situation on the Gold-coast.

At Tantum querry, Winnebah, and Accra, countries situated eastward of Cape-Coast, the heat has been very seldom known to exceed eighty-seven degrees, and the quicksilver in Fahrenheit's thermometer has been observed as low as seventy-four degrees at Winnebah, in June, July, August, and the greater part of September ; and not higher than seventy-eight degrees. Hence the latitude of a place is by no means a true criterion to go by, as to the heat of its climate. Experience informs us, that the climates of Tropical countries vary, in proportion to their natural qualities, and to the extent cultivation is carried on. Open countries of a good soil have a milder climate, than coun tries which abound with forests and thick under woods." High lands likewise contribute to a temperature of air; whereas, low countries, a light sandy soil, and little wood, add to their na tural heat, as they afford but little evaporation, and the atmospheric air is therefore but seldom condensed so powerfully, as to produce heavy dews, to cool the surface of the earth; and it is only in the wet season that the inhabitants are relieved from a dry scorching air.

To such or similar causes, may be ascribed the excessive heat of those sandy and almost barren regions, situated in the northern parts of Africa. Soil. There is a variety of soil to be observed along the coast, from a light sandy and gravelly kind, to a fine black mould and loamy clay : as we ad vance a little into the country, the soil assumes a more uniform, and in general a more favourable appearance ; and if we continue to advance, it will be found rich in the extreme, and in general fit for every purpose. About the distance of six or eight miles from the sea, the soil partakes of such happy variety, that it is capable of every sort of cultivation. It is very remai-kable, that Tropical Africa, on an examination, will be found to possess the richest soil on the whole continent. The northern parts of it by no means enjoy ex uberant fertility : for, excepting on the banks of the Nile, Egypt is almost destitute of cultivation; and if we were to pass from Tripoli to Morocco, we should find the soil of that extensive country as poor as it is in Egypt, and, very probably, not capable of such fertility.

The Southern parts of Africa, particularly about the Cape of Good Hope, we are informed, consist of bleak and barren mountains of granite ; and that the impedi ments towards cultivation were so great, that no thing but cool Dutch perseverance could have overcome the difficulties which appeared in the nature of the soil. From this prospect of the ex tremities of Africa, a person unacquainted with the Tropical parts of it, would hesitate not in pro nouncing it a sterile, sandy desert, unfit for the habitation of man. Seasons. The seasons on the Gold-coast, may be considered similar to the seasons of every Tropical country, and may be divided into wet and dry. It however has the advantage of two wet sea sons in the year : one commences at the end of May, or early in June; the other at the end of October, or early in November : indeed, the last does not deserve the name of a wet season, in comparison to the very heavy rains which fall in the former.

The first rains set in with a violence unknown in temperate latitudes, and continue without intermission, for two or more days. In the year 1801, rain fell for eight days with very little remission of its violence. The quantity of water that falls during the season, is inconceivably great : low lands are inundated, and rapid streams are formed with amazing celerity. After this deluge, the atmosphere brightens, and strong breezes commonly follow, and we do not expect any heavy rains to succeed. Some showers fall at the changes of the moon, which produce as much rain as would be known in England in a whole day. About the end of July, the rains are considered to be at an end ; and shortly after, the foggy season commences ; a season, if it may be so called, that is perfectly unhealthy, and the only unhealthy time of the year that is known on the coast.

It is, however, necessary to remark, that, during the rains, much depends on situation ; for in low, swampy, and woody places, the exhala tions from the earth, when the Sun appears with his full power, are not quickly dissipated, and bad air will be generated. The strong breezes that commonly blow during the rains, with a cloudy sky, which obstructs the Sun's rays, enables the inhabitants of this country to breathe tolerably pure air, in open and elevated situations, and prepares them to encounter an approaching season, highly pernicious to the animal functions. When this season of foggy vapour commences, (and which continues for two or three weeks,) it is a sure indication that the rains are over : during its continuance, the atmosphere is thick and heavy. or (to speak more correctly, perhaps), the air is light, so much so, that the clouds descend verylow, the sea-breezes do not blow with their accustomed violence, and the land-winds are almost imperceptible.

Asthmatic persons, and those whose lungs are at all diseased, feel the effects of this season considerably *. About the month of October, another rainy season prevails, but by no means so violent as the first rains. They do not prevail in that continued manner, and are not succeeded by mists or foggy weather. The dry season is considered to set-in in November, and to continue for the remainder of the year; a change however intervenes, which has a greater connexion with winds, than seasons ; and will be considered under that head. • The foggy season is considered over about the 10th of August. i Winds. The winds on the Gold-coast are as regular, and as mild, as in any part of the globe ; the land-winds, which blow from the North and N. N. W., and the sea-breeze, which blows from the S. W. and W. S. W., prevail, with very little interruption, throughout the year.

The sea-breeze commences about nine or ten in the forenoon, and declines at six in the evening ; it ceases about eight or ten, and is succeeded by the land-wind, which blows until six or eight in the morning. The sea-breeze is stronger than the land-wind, and at the full and .change of the moon, it gene rally blows with considerable force. As the Sun increases his altitude, this wind gains strength; and declines gradually as the Sun inclines to wards the horizon : it is very refreshing-, and is considered salubrious. Of the salubrity of the land-wind, much depends on the state of the country over which it blows : it is obvious, that if it blows over low uncultivated grounds, over marshes and swamps, it will acquire bad qualities ; but if the country be tolerably clear, and in a state of cultivation, it will collect little or no bad air in its progress.

In the dry season the coast is visited by two remarkable winds, called Tornadoes and Harmattans : the latter is the most extraordinary, and deserves a previous de scription. A Harmattan is so fully described by Mr •5 Norris, a gentleman who had frequent opportuni ties of observing its singular properties and effects, that it would not be acknowledging the merit due to him for his accurate description, were it not given in his own words. " On that part of the coast of Africa," says he, " which lies between Cape Verd and Cape Lopez, an easterly wind prevails in the months of December, January, and February, which, by the Fantees, a nation on the Gold-coast, is called a Harmattan*. Cape Verd is in fifteen degrees of North latitude, and Cape Lopez in one degree South latitude; and the coast between the two capes runs in an oblique direction, nearly from W. S. W. to E. S. E., forming a range of up wards of two thousand one hundred miles.

At the Isles de Los, which are a little to the north ward of Sierra Leone, and to the southward of Cape Verd, it blows from E. S. E. on the Gold coast from the N. E. ; and at Cape Lopez and the river Gaboan, from the N. N. E. This wind is, by the French and Portuguese who frequent the Gold-coast, called simply the North-east wind; the quarter from Which it blows. The English, who sometimes borrow words and phrases from the * The Fantees pronounce it Harmanta ; and we are at a loss to state as satisfactory a meaning of the word, as we would wish : they call it a cold dry wind ; but the writei doubts whether this is its true signification. Fantee language, adopt the Fantee word Har manta. The Harmattan comes on indiscrimi nately at any hour of the day, at any time of the tide, or at any period of the moon ; and continues sometimes only a day or two, sometimes five or six days, and has been known to last fifteen or sixteen.

There are generally three or four returns of it every season : it blows with a moderate force, not so strongly as the sea-breeze, but. somewhat more so than the land-wind. A fog or haze is one of the peculiarities which always accompany a Harmattan ; the gloom occasioned by this wind, is so great, as sometimes to render even near objects obscure. The English fort at Whydah, stands about the midway between the French and Portuguese forts, and not quite a quarter of a mile from either; yet, very often, neither of the other forts can thence be discovered. The Sun, concealed the greatest part of the day, appears only a few hours about noon, and then of a mild red, exciting no painful sensation in the eye. Extreme dryness makes another ex traordinary property of the Harmattan : no dew falls during the continuance of this wind ; nor is there the least appearance of moisture in the at mosphere; vegetables of every kind are very much injured ; all tender plants, and most of the productions of the garden are destroyed ; the grass withers, and becomes dry like hay ; the vi gorous ever-greens, likewise, feel its pernicious c influence; the branches of the lemon, orange, and lime-trees, droop ; the leaves become flaccid, wither, and, if the Harmattan continue to blow for ten or twelve days, are so parched, as to be easily rubbed to dust between the fingers.

The fruit of these trees, deprived of its nourishment, and stinted in its growth, only appears to ripen, for it becomes yellow and dry, without acquiring half the usual size. The natives take this oppor tunity, of the extreme dryness of the grass and young trees, to set fire to them, especially near their roads ; not only to keep the road open to travellers, but to destroy the shelter which long grass and thickets of young trees would afford to skulking parties of their enemies. A fire, then lighted, flies with such rapidity as to endanger those who travel : in that situation, a common method of escape is, on discovering a fire to windward, to set the grass on fire to leeward, and then follow your own fire. The parching effects of this wind are likewise evident on the external parts of the body.

The eyes, nostrils, lips, and palate, are rendered dry and uneasy ; and drink is often required, not so much to quench thirst, as to remove a painful aridity in the fauces : the lips and nose become sore, and even chapped, and al though the air be cool, yet there is a troublesome sensation of prickly heat on the skin. If the Harmattan continue for four or five days, the scarf skin peels off, first from the hands and face, and afterwards from the other parts of the body, if it continue a day or two longer *. Salubrity forms a third peculiarity of the Harmattan. Though this wind is so prejudicial to vegetable life, and occasions such a disagreeable parching effect on the human species, yet it is highly con ducive to health : those labouring under fluxes and intermitting fevers, generally recover in a Harmattan ; those weakened by fevers, and sink ing under evacuations for the cure of them, (par ticularly bleeding, which is often injudiciously repeated,) have their lives saved, and vigour restored in spite of the doctor.

It stops the pro gress of epidemics ; the small-pox, remitting fe vers, &c. not only disappear, but those labouring under such diseases, when a Harmattan comes on, are almost certain of a speedy recovery. In fection appears then not easily communicable even by art. " In the year 1770, there were, on-board the Unity, at Whydah, three hundred slaves ; the small-pox broke out among them ; and it was de termined to inoculate. Those who were inocu- * To a European it give9 the sensation of a very slight frost. The air is probably filled with minute particle* of sand, such having bee collected in the sails of a ship running up the coast in a Harmattan. It appears to be the same wind as is called in Egypt, the Sammel, or dry wind, and ic the Mediterranean the Sirocco. C lated before the Harmattan came on, got very well through the disease.- About seventy were inoculated a day or two after the Harmattan set in; but no one of them had either sickness or eruption.

It was imagined, the infection was ef fectually dispersed, and the ship clear of the disease ; but in a very few weeks, it began to appear among those seventy : about fifty of them were inoculated the second time ; the others had the disease in the natural way : a Harmattan came on, and they all recovered, excepting one girl, who had an ugly ulcer in the inoculated part, and died some time afterwards, of a locked-jaw." Doctor Lintl, in his excellent " Treatise on Diseases incidental to Europeans in Hot Cli mates," speaks differently as to the salubrity of a Harmattan. He calls it a malignant and fatal wind. Very probably the Doctor's knowledge of it was derived from persons who were not long enough in the country to form a true judgment of its effects, as he had drawn his observations from the effects it might have produced in situations contiguous to deserts, swamps, and woods.

To give every merit to such a respectable authority, I will suppose, that the salubrious effects of a . Harmattan will vary in proportion to the nature* of the country over which it blows. Mr. Norris deduced his observations of its sa lubrity at Whydah ; a country perfectly open and clear, and, excepting a few rivers near the sea, it is covered, for a great extent inland, with ver dure, open plains of grass beautifully decorated with clumps of trees, and some woods of no con siderable extent : as to the soil, the surface is sandy, and below that, a rich clay of a reddish colour. We cannot expect, that a wind blowing over a country like this, will abound with much noxious matter. On the Gold-coast, a Harmat tan does not produce any fatal effects, although it blows over a country, in some places widely different from that of Whydah.

At Cape-Coast, which lies in the vicinity of hills and woods, no ill effect has been known to accompany this wind ; on the contrary, the writer has known a sailor, in the worst stage of dysentery, to recover very ra pidly, during the continuance of a Harmattan. The officers and gentlemen of the garrison have borne evident appearance of health and vigour during a Harmattan. I must therefore candidly pronounce this wind as salubrious: the effect it has on furniture that is not solid, is very extraordinary ; it exposes the deceptions of the cabinet maker in a most singular manner ; it contracts the flooring of chambers so much, that light is admitted ; and whatever is said above or beneath, may be understood. The process of evaporation during this wind, proceeds with astonishing rapi dity ; and from its constringing powers, we may reasonably admit that it contracts the fibres of the human body, consequently promotes vigour, and a full exercise of the animal functions.

The effect it produces on metallic substances, in course, is not so visible, as on bodies less durable ; but that they do undergo some change, is by no means improbable; and the philosophic mind would doubtless be able to trace extraordinary properties in this way. Tornadoes most commonly commence in March, and cease when the rains set in. They sometimes blow before or after the second rains, and sometimes precede a Harmattan ; they, how ever, blow with greater violence before the first rains. Tornadoes invariably blow from the eastward, that is, from the S. E. to the N. E. : when they incline to the southward of S. E. they have more the appearance of steady gales of wind than Tornadoes. Tornado is a corruption of the Portuguese word trevado, a thunder-storm *. It may be expected a day or two subsequent to the full and change of the moon, and gives sufficient notice of its approach, so that ships at sea and at anchor, have time to prepare for their safety.