ORIGIN AND GENERAL APPEARANCE OF THE ASHANTI — AN ASHANTI CAPTAIN AND HIS UNIFORM — THE GOLD COAST — GOLD WASHING — THE “TILIKISSI” WEIGHTS — INGENIOUS FRAUDS — THE CABOCEERS, OR NOBLES OF ASHANTI — PORTRAIT OF A MOUNTED CABOCEER — THE HORSE ACCOUTREMENTS — LAW OF ROYAL SUCCESSION — MARRIAGE RESTRICTIONS — THE YAM AND ADAI CUSTOMS — FETISH DRUM AND TRUMPET — RELIGIOUS SYSTEM OF ASHANTI — WORSHIP OF EARTH AND SKY — FETISHES — DERIVATION OF THE WORD — THE “KLA,” OR FAMILIAR SPIRIT.

Whence the Ashanti tribe came is not very certain, but it is probable that they formerly inhabited a more inland part of the continent, and worked their way westward, after the usual fashion of these tribes. Their traditions state that, about a hundred and fifty years ago, the Ashanti, with several other tribes, were gradually ousted from their own lands by the increasing followers of Islam, and that when they reached a land which was full of gold they took courage, made a bold stand for freedom, and at last achieved their own independence.

At this time the people were divided into a considerable number of states—between forty and fifty, according to one historian. After having driven away their oppressors, they came to quarrel among themselves, and fought as fiercely for precedence as they had formerly done for liberty, and at last the Ashanti tribe conquered the others, and so consolidated the government into a kingdom.

In general appearance, the Ashanti much resemble the Fanti, though they are not perhaps so strongly built. They are, however, quite as good-looking, and, according to Mr. Bowdich, the women are handsomer than those of the Fanti. As a rule, the higher classes are remarkable for their cleanliness, but the lower are quite as dirty as the generality of savage Africans.

As a specimen of the remarkable style of costume in which the Ashanti indulge, a description of an army captain is here introduced. On his head is a vast double plume of eagles’ feathers, surmounting a sort of helmet made of rams’ horns, gilt in a spiral pattern, and tied under his chin by a strap covered with cowries. His bow is slung at his back, and his quiver of small poisoned arrows hangs from his wrist, while in his other hand is held an ivory staff, carved in a spiral pattern. His breast is covered with a vast number of little leathern pouches gilt and painted in light colors, mostly scarlet, and from his arms hang a number of horse tails. Great boots of red hide cover his legs to mid thigh, and are fastened to his belt by iron chains.

This belt is a very curious piece of leather work. One of these articles is in my collection, and is furnished with the following implements. First comes a small dagger-knife, with a blade about four inches long, and next to it is a little circular mirror about as large as a crown piece, and enclosed in a double case like that which is now used for prismatic compasses. Then comes a razor, a singularly primitive-looking specimen of cutlery, mounted in a handle which is little more than a piece of stick, with a slit in it. Next comes a leathern pouch about four inches square and one inch in depth, having its interior lined with coarse canvas, and its exterior decorated with little round holes punched in the leather, and arranged in a simple pattern. Lastly comes the razor strop, a very ingenious implement, consisting of a tube filled with emery powder, and sliding into a sheath so as to allow the powder to adhere to it. All these articles are protected by leathern sheaths stained of different colors, and are suspended by short straps from the belt.

The country where the Ashanti tribes now live is popularly termed the Gold Coast, on account of the richness with which the precious metal is scattered over its surface. It is found almost entirely in the form of dust, and is obtained by a very rude and imperfect mode of washing. The women are the chief gold washers, and they set about their task armed with a hoe, a basin-shaped calabash, and several quills. With the hoe they scrape up a quantity of sand from the bed of some stream, and place it in the calabash. A quantity of water is then added, and, by a peculiar rotatory movement of the hand, the water and sand are shaken up, and made to fly gradually over the top of the basin.

When this movement is adroitly performed, the water and lighter sand escape from the bowl, while the gold dust sinks by its own weight to the bottom, and is thus separated, and put in the quills. Much skill is required in handling the calabash, and one woman will find a fair supply of gold where another will work all day and scarcely find a particle of the metal.

Of course, by this rude method of work the quantity of gold obtained is in very small proportion to the labor bestowed in obtaining it; and if the natives only knew the use of mercury, they would gain three or four times as much gold as they do at present. The quills, when filled with gold dust, are generally fastened to the hair, where they are supposed to be as ornamental as they are precious. The best time for gold washing is after violent rains, when the increased rush of water has brought down a fresh supply of sand from the upper regions. As one of the old voyagers quaintly remarked, “It raineth seldom, but every shower of rain is a shower of gold unto them, for with the violence of the water falling from the mountains it bringeth from them the gold.”

A good gold washer will procure in the course of a year a quantity of the dust which will purchase two slaves. The average price of a slave is ten “minkali,” each minkali being worth about 12£. 6s.; and being valued in goods at one musket, eighteen gun flints, twenty charges of powder, one cutlass, and forty-eight leaves of tobacco. The reader may judge what must be the quality of the musket and cutlass. Gold is weighed by the little familiar red and black seeds, called in Western Africa “tilikissi,” and each purchaser always has his own balances and his own weights. As might be supposed, both vendor and purchaser try to cheat each other. The gold finder mixes with the real gold dust inferior sand, made by melting copper and silver together, or by rubbing together copper filings and red coral powder. If larger pieces of gold were to be imitated, the usual plan was to make little nuggets of copper, and surround them with a mere shell of gold. This, of course, was the most dangerous imposition of the three, because the gold coating defied the test, and the fraud would not be discovered unless the nugget were cut in two—rather a tedious process when a great number were offered for sale.

As to the buyers, there was mostly something wrong about their balances; while as to the weights, they soaked the tilikissi seeds in melted butter to make them heavier, and sometimes made sham tilikissis of pebbles neatly ground down and colored.

In spite of all the drawbacks, the quantity of gold annually found in Ashanti-land is very great, and it is used by the richer natives in barbaric profusion. They know or care little about art. Their usual way of making the bracelets or armlets is this. The smith melts the gold in a little crucible of red clay, and then draws in the sand a little furrow into which he runs the gold, so as to make a rude and irregular bar or stick of metal. When cold, it is hammered along the sides so as to square them, and is then twisted into the spiral shape which seems to have instinctively impressed itself on gold workers of all ages and in all countries.

The collars, earrings, and other ornaments are made in this simple manner, and the wife of a chief would scarcely think herself dressed if she had not gold ornaments worth some eighty pounds. The great nobles, or Caboceers, wear on state occasions bracelets of such weight that they are obliged to rest their arms on the heads of little slave boys, who stand in front of them.

The Caboceers are very important personages, and in point of fact were on the eve of becoming to the Ashanti kingdom what the barons were to the English kingdom in the time of John. Indeed, they were gradually becoming so powerful and so numerous, that for many years the king of Ashanti has steadily pursued a policy of repression, and, when one of the Caboceers died, has refused to acknowledge a successor. The result of this wise policy is, that the Caboceers are now comparatively few in number, and even if they were all to combine against the king he could easily repress them.

An umbrella is the distinctive mark of the Caboceers, who, in the present day, exhibit an odd mixture of original savagery and partially acquired civilization. The Caboceers have the great privilege of sitting on stools when in the presence of the king. Moreover, “these men,” says Mr. W. Reade, “would be surrounded by their household suites, like the feudal lords of ancient days; their garments of costly foreign silks unravelled and woven anew into elaborate patterns, and thrown over the shoulder like the Roman toga, leaving the right arm bare; a silk fillet encircling the temples; Moorish charms, enclosed in small cases of gold and silver, suspended on their breasts, with necklaces made of ‘aggry beads,’ a peculiar stone found in the country, and resembling the ‘glein-ndyr’ of the ancient Britons; lumps of gold hanging from their wrists; while handsome girls would stand behind holding silver basins in their hands.”

An illustration on page 564 represents a Caboceer at the head of his wild soldiery, and well indicates the strange mixture of barbarity and culture which distinguishes this as well as other West African tribes. It will be seen from his seat that he is no very great horseman, and, indeed, the Caboceers are mostly held on their horses by two men, one on each side. When Mr. Duncan visited Western Africa, and mounted his horse to show the king how the English dragoons rode and fought, two of the retainers ran to his side, and passed their arms round him. It was not without some difficulty that he could make them understand that Englishmen rode without such assistance. The Caboceer’s dress consists of an ornamental turban, a jacket, and a loin cloth, mostly of white, and so disposed as to leave the middle of the body bare. On his feet he wears a remarkable sort of spur, the part which answers to the rowel being flat, squared, and rather deeply notched. It is used by striking or scoring the horse with the sharp angles, and not by the slight pricking movement with which an English jockey uses his spurs. The rowels, to use the analogous term, pass through a slit in an oval piece of leather, which aids in binding the spur on the heel. A pair of these curious spurs are now in my collection, and were presented by Dr. R. Irvine, R. N.

His weapons consist of the spear, bow, and arrows—the latter being mostly poisoned, and furnished with nasty-looking barbs extending for several inches below the head. The horse is almost hidden by its accoutrements, which are wonderfully like those of the knights of chivalry, save that instead of the brilliant emblazonings with which the housings of the chargers were covered, sentences from the Koran are substituted, and are scattered over the entire cloth. The headstall of the horse is made of leather, and, following the usual African fashion, is cut into a vast number of thongs.

One of these headstalls and the hat of the rider are in my collection. They are both made of leather, most carefully and elaborately worked. The hat or helmet is covered with flat, quadrangular ornaments also made of leather, folded and beaten until it is nearly as hard as wood, and from each of them depend six or seven leather thongs, so that, when the cap is placed on the head, the thongs descend as far as the mouth, and answer as a veil. The headstall of the horse is a most elaborate piece of workmanship, the leather being stamped out in bold and rather artistic patterns, and decorated with three circular leathern ornaments, in which a star-shaped pattern has been neatly worked in red, black, and white. Five tassels of leathern thongs hang from it, and are probably used as a means of keeping off the flies.

The common soldiers are, as may be seen, quite destitute of uniform, and almost of clothing. They wear several knives and daggers attached to a necklace, and they carry any weapons that they may be able to procure—guns if possible; and, in default of fire-arms, using bows and spears. Two of the petty officers are seen blowing their huge trumpets, which are simply elephant tusks hollowed and polished, and sometimes carved with various patterns. They are blown from the side, as is the case with African wind instruments generally.

In Ashanti, as in other parts of Africa, the royal succession never lies in the direct line, but passes to the brother or nephew of the deceased monarch, the nephew in question being the son of the king’s sister, and not his brother. The reason for this arrangement is, that the people are sure that their future king has some royal blood in his veins, whereas, according to their ideas, no one can be quite certain that the son of the queen is also the son of the king, and, as the king’s wives are never of royal blood, they might have a mere plebeian claimant to the throne. Therefore the son of the king’s sister is always chosen; and it is a curious fact that the sister in question need not be married, provided that the father of her child be strong, good-looking, and of tolerable position in life.

In Ashanti the king is restricted in the number of his wives. But, as the prohibition fixes the magic number of three thousand three hundred and thirty-three, he has not much to complain of with regard to the stringency of the law. Of course, with the exception of a chosen few, these wives are practically servants, and do all the work about the fields and houses.

The natives have their legend about gold. They say that when the Great Spirit first created man, he made one black man and one white one, and gave them their choice of two gifts. One contained all the treasures of the tropics—the fruitful trees, the fertile soil, the warm sun, and a calabash of gold dust. The other gift was simply a quantity of white paper, ink, and pens. The former gift, of course, denoted material advantages, and the latter knowledge. The black man chose the former as being the most obvious, and the white man the latter. Hence the superiority of the white over the black.

Conceding to the white man all the advantages which he gains from his wisdom, they are very jealous of their own advantages, and resent all attempts of foreigners to work their mines; if mines they can be called, where scarcely any subterraneous work is needed. They will rather allow the precious metal to be wasted than permit the white man to procure it. As to the mulatto, they have the most intense contempt for him, who is a “white-black man, silver and copper, and not gold.”

It has already been mentioned that more stress will be laid upon Dahome than Ashanti, and that in cases where manners and customs are common to both kingdoms, they will be described in connection with the latter. In both kingdoms, for example, we find the terrible “Customs,” or sacrifice of human life, and in Ashanti these may be reduced to two, namely, the Yam and the Adai.

The former, which is the greater of the two, occurs in the beginning of September, when the yams are ripe. Before the yams are allowed to be used for general consumption, the “Custom” is celebrated; i. e. a number of human beings are sacrificed with sundry rites and ceremonies. There are lesser sacrifices on the Adai Custom, which take place every three weeks, and the destruction of human life is terrible. The sacrifices are attended with the horrible music which in all countries where human sacrifices have been permitted has been its accompaniment.

On page 558, a Fetish drum and trumpet, both of which are in my collection, are illustrated, two of the instruments which are used as accompaniments to the sacrifice of human beings. The drum is carved with enormous perseverance out of a solid block of wood, and in its general form presents a most singular resemblance to the bicephalous or two-headed gems of the Gnostics. The attentive reader will notice the remarkable ingenuity with which the head of a man is combined with that of a bird, the latter being kept subservient to the former, and yet having a bold and distinct individuality of its own.

From the top of the united heads rises the drum itself, which is hollowed out of the same block of wood. The parchment head of the drum is secured to the instrument by a number of wooden pegs, and it is probable that the heat of the meridian sun was quite sufficient to tighten the head of the drum whenever it became relaxed. Of course, the plan of tightening it by means of a movable head is not known in Western Africa, and, even if it were known, it would not be practised. The natives never modify a custom. They exchange it for another, or they abolish it, but the reforming spirit never existed in the negro mind.

On the side of the drum may be seen the air-hole, which is usually found in African drums, and which is closed with a piece of spider web when the instrument is used. Sometimes the drums are of enormous size, the entire trunk of a tree being hollowed out for the purpose. The skin which forms the head is mostly that of an antelope, but when the Ashanti wants a drum to be very powerful against strange fetishes, he makes the head of snake or crocodile skin.

The former material holds a high place in the second instrument, which is a fetish trumpet. As is the case with all African trumpets, it is blown, flute-fashion, from the side, and not, like an European trumpet, from the end. It is made from the tusk of an elephant, carefully hollowed out, and furnished with a curious apparatus, much like the vibrator in a modern harmonium or accordion. As the instrument has sustained rather rough treatment, and the ivory has been cracked here and there, it is impossible to produce a sound from it; and at the best the notes must have been of a very insignificant character, deadened as they must be by the snake-skin covering. The skin in question is that of a boa or python, which is a very powerful fetish among all Africans among whom the boa lives, and it covers almost the whole of the instrument.

A most weird and uncanny sort of look is communicated to the trumpet by the horrid trophy which is tied to it. This is the upper jaw of a human being, evidently a negro, by its peculiar development, the jaw being of the prognathous character, and the projecting teeth in the finest possible order. From the mere existence of these sacrifices it is evident that the religious system of the Ashanti must be of a very low character. They are not utter atheists, as is the case with some of the tribes which have already been mentioned; but they cannot be said even to have risen to deism, and barely to idolatry, their ideas of the Supreme Deity being exceedingly vague, and mixed up with a host of superstitious notions about demons, both good and evil, to whom they give the name of Wodsi, and which certainly absorb the greater part of their devotions and the whole of their reverence, the latter quality being with them the mere outbirth of fear.

Their name for God is “Nyonmo,” evidently a modification of Nyamye, the title which is given to the Supreme Spirit by the Cammas and other tribes of the Rembo. But Nyonmo also means the sky, or the rain, or the thunder, probably because they proceed from the sky, and they explain thunder by the phrase that Nyonmo is knocking. As the sky is venerated as one deity, so the earth is considered as another though inferior deity, which is worshipped under the name of “Sikpois.”

As to the Wodsi, they seem to be divided into various ranks. For example, the earth, the air, and the sea are Wodsi which exercise their influence over all men; whereas other Wodsi, which are visible in the forms of trees or rivers, have a restricted power over towns, districts, or individuals.

The scrap of rag, leopards’ claws, sacred chains, peculiar beads, bits of bone, bird-beaks, &c., which are worn by the Wontse, or fetish men, have a rather curious use, which is well explained by the “F.R.G.S.”:—“The West Africans, like their brethren in the East, have evil ghosts and haunting evastra, which work themselves into the position of demons. Their various rites are intended to avert the harm which may be done to them by their Pepos or Mulungos, and perhaps to shift it upon their enemies. When the critical moment has arrived, the ghost is adjured by the fetish man to come forth from the possessed, and an article is named—a leopard’s claw, peculiar beads, or a rag from the sick man’s body nailed to what Europeans call the ‘Devil’s tree’—in which, if worn about the person, the haunter will reside. It is technically called Kehi, or Keti, i. e. a chair or a stool. The word ‘fetish,’ by the way, is a corruption of the Portuguese Fei-tiço, i. e. witchcraft, or conjuring.”

Their belief respecting the Kra, or Kla, or soul of a man, is very peculiar. They believe that the Kla exists before the body, and that it is transmitted from one to another. Thus, if a child dies, the next is supposed to be the same child born again into the world; and so thoroughly do they believe this, that when a woman finds that she is about to become a mother, she goes to the fetish man, and requests him to ask the Kla of her future child respecting its ancestry and intended career. But the Kla has another office; for it is supposed to be in some sort distinct from the man, and, like the demon of Socrates, to give him advice, and is a kind of small Wodsi, capable of receiving offerings. The Kla is also dual, male and female; the former urging the man to evil, and the latter to good.