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At this CapeCorsoon the Gold Coast, is the principal Fort and Factory of ourEnglishCompany, to which their Ships constantly resort, and receive orders either by themselves, or with Supercargoes, where else to proceed.
TheCompanyabout this time of our Voyage had raised by Subscription 392400l.and inDecember1722, made a Call of 5per Cent.allowing the Proprietors, as had been accustomed, a Dividend of 3per Cent.InDecember1723, they exposed to Sale 200000l.Stock at 30per Cent.which shewed their Affairs had an ill Aspect, notwithstanding their late Flourishes; confirmed next Winter, when they petitioned the Government (I find in a Pamphlet printed a few Years since) that they were undone, and theAfricanTrade lost, unless they were impower’d to scheme it over again: The Projectors for the Company righteously proposed, that if the Legislature would give a Sanction, they would engage to raise the Stock-jobbing Humour, and raise a Million, whereof they would be liberal.
The Factory consists of Merchants, Factors, Writers, Miners, Artificers and Soldiers; and excepting the first Rank, who are the Council for managing Affairs, are all of them together a Company of white Negroes, who are entirely resigned to the Governour’s Commands, according to the strictest Rules of Discipline and Subjection; are punished (Garison fashion) on several Defaults, with Mulcts, Confinement, the Dungeon, Drubbing, or the Wooden Horse; and for enduring this, they have each of them a Salary sufficient to buyCanky,Palm-Oil, and a little Fish to keep them from starving: for tho’ the Salaries found tolerably inLeadenhall-Street(50 to 90l.per Ann.a Factor; 50 an Artificer) yet in the Country here, the General (for the Company’s good) pays them inCrackra, a false Money which is only current upon the spot, and disables them from taking any advantage of buying Necessaries from Ships coasting down. If the Subjects should have other, it’s against the Interest of the Company to suffer its being laid out any where from themselves, because their Stock would by that means lie dead. So that for the Support of Nature, or perhaps indulging youthful Follies, these thin Creatures are obliged to take up of the Company, and in effect by it sign over their Liberty; none being admitted to depart, ’till he has adjusted all Accounts. When the Manis too sober to run in Debt, there are Arts of Mismanagement, or loss of Goods under his Care, to be charged or wanting. Thus they are all liable to be mulcted for Drunkenness, Swearing, Neglects, and lying out of the Castle, even for not going to Church, (such is their Piety:) and thus by various arbitrary Methods, their Service is secureddurante bene placito.
The same Method he takes with the TownNegroes, who, inconsiderate Wretches, are continually scoring up for Goods or Drams, and thus becomePawnsto the Company,i. e.liable to be sold when the General thinks fit.
The Director-General is Supreme, or first Person in the Factory, at 2000l.per Ann.Two other Merchants at 300l.and a Secretary at 200l.are what compose the Council for the Company’s Affairs; send Factors to their outer Forts, and Supercargoes on board Vessels to collect the Trade, who are to transmit and make up their Accounts here. The General supports a Table for them; a[22]Chaplain and Surgeon, who have orderly Meals, without any idle Bottles.
Tho’ the General has but one Vote in Business, yet it’s tacitly consented, from his better Allowance and Power as Governour,that he shall lead the others, who sign only for their Salaries: He therefore disposes solely of Preferments to the Factors and Writers, who, as they please or displease, may be continued at, or removed to their advantage. For, as on Service from the Fort they are allowed a Commission in Trade, additional to their Pay; so, in some of the outer Forts (such asAccra, or in a Ship) they make considerable Increase; while at others again,Anamaboo, orDixcove, they find a great deal of Trouble, wet Lodging, Scarcity of Provision, and no Profit; and as these last outnumber the good, I observed most of our Factors to have dwindled much from the genteel Air they brought; wear no Cane nor Snuff-box,idle in Men of Business, have lank Bodies, a pale Visage, their Pockets sown up, or of no use, and their Tongues tied. One Cause of their Slenderness indeed, is a Scarcity of Provision; little besides Plantain, small Fish,IndianCorn, and a great deal ofCanky, to be bought at Market.[23]PoorT——dwas a Youth well recommended, and lived as long as he could. I had once some Business in his Office, when aNegroWoman came bawling about his Ears for a Plantain he had stole from her: He would feign have concealed the meaning of her Musick, but at length I understood it was the only Morsel he had eat for three days past; one night’s Debauch, and several Mulcts having run him out of Pocket. The next Occasion I had of enquiring after him, I heard, that being too narrowly watched in this illegal Traffick, he pined with a Vacuum of the Guts, and died; leaving this Advice to his Countrymen, rather to run a remote hazard of being hanged at home, than chuse a Transfretation hither.
Another Instance how well they live, was the Captain of their Soldiers, in my time stealing away from the Castle in the night, to make his Escape on board a Brigantine going off the Coast; but, unlucky Gentleman, was chased and brought back by theWeymouthnext day: The General, byCanon Law, fined the Master of the Vessel, 70 Ounces for this Misdemeanor, besides corporal Punishment.
The General does not feel this Want, for altho’ here be a Scarcity of neat Cattle, Kid, or Fowl, (no body having any besides himself) he supplies this Want from other Parts, by their own trading Vessels, andDasheesfrom Masters of Ships, and neighbouring Nations; and for Vegetables, he has a large Garden without the Castle, first planted by SirDalbyThomas, a former Governour, abounding not only with their’s, but Fruits ofEnglishGrowth,and entirely for his own use. OfTaggys, a sweet Nut, they make Emulsions, and boil to a Custard.
Cromersgrow in Pods like Peas, but larger, rounder, and full of little Seed; this, andTantarraboys, a Fruit red and yellow, that grows wild, they put into theirblack Soupee, made here in the best and cleanest manner, washing the Palm-nuts with warm water, to bring away the Strings.
The General has taken aConsa, which by theNegroesis understood a temporary Wife, because she is not obliged to leave the Country, which is looked on as Slavery: She is aMulattoWoman, begot by aDutchSoldier atDes Minas, by whom he has four Children, of fair, flaxen Hair and Complexion. HerNegroFriends and Relations add Interest and Power to him, and he again can back their Injustice in thePawnsirregularly procured to the Garrison. He dotes on this Woman, whom he persuades now and then to our Chappel-Service, and she complies without Devotion, being a strict Adherer to theNegrishCustoms. I attended the Illness of one of her Children; and afterwards on the General himself, who on both Occasions, I found, was so weak or so wise, as to give the preference ofFetishingto any Physical Directions of mine, wearing them on hisWrists and Neck. He was a Gentleman of good Sense, yet could not help yielding to the silly Customs created by our Fears, and shews the Sway it bears in the Choice or Alteration of our Religion.
He cannot persuade this Woman to leave the Country, tho’ he has stole or forced her Consent for all the Children, in regard to their Education; she still conforming to the Dress of her Country, being always barefoot andfetishedwith Chains and Gobbets of Gold, at her Ancles, her Wrists, and her Hair; to alter which inEngland, she thinks would sit awkard, and together with her Ignorance how to comport her self with new and strange Conversation, would in all likelihood alienate her Husband’s Affections.
The General, besides being a kind Husband and Father, is a good Servant to the Company; assiduous and diligent, maintaining his Authority against theDutchatDes Minas: Mr.Butler, theDutchDirector-General there, and he, having frequent Controversies and Demands upon one another; sometimes on account of pretended ill-usage to the Relations of hisConsa, oftner upon Trade. Yet the Dignity he is to preserve in this petty Sovereignty, and the accustomed fawning Submission of theNegroesto it, has made his Carriage haughty towards all under him. He resides for ever within his Battlements; his Subjects and he resemblingthe Giant and enchanted Castle. He is seen no oftner than is necessary; and when he vouchsafes an Invitation to his Table, you must keep a good Look-out, or lose your Dinner; he never descending so much fromStateas to ask after you, tho’ he knows there is no Victuals any where else. A Project indeed is lately set on foot, for theCompany’simportingIrishBeef and Pork, to be issued at 19 and 12lib.anAccy, wished for by those who love their Meat without Sauce. I was six Weeks attending the Trials of the Pyrates at this Castle, and treated very civilly.
The Factory have every now and then a large Demand for Salt, made and brought hither fromAccra. The Sale appears like a Fair in the Castle, and many of thoseNegroeswhose Ivory or Gold would not purchase half a Bushel, I was told had travelled some hundred Miles; they chusing to go in Bodies when Seed-time is over, as a better Protection from wild Beasts, and their wilder Countrymen, who frequently make Incursions from several parts of the Coast, and sieze them for Slaves, when few and defenceless.
The Castle is a large Quadrangle, built by thePortuguese; for tho’ theFrenchfirst discovered this Part, their Civil Wars hindred Settlements first made by them; who erected Forts, from whom theDutchseized their’s, and we from them again. Vice-AdmiralHolmesin 1664, after reducingNew-YorkandLong Islandfrom theDutch, coming here by order of the Duke ofYork, then Lord-Admiral, and dispossessing them of most Places; it certainly being as reasonable on our side as it was on their’s; or more, because they would have excluded all others from the Trade, making Prize of our Ships, and imprisoning the Men. AdmiralRuyterseized them from us again the next Year, without Declaration of War, which engaged us to a Reprizal on theirBourdeauxFleet. These Transactions, and the pressing Instances of the Parliament, who voted, the King should be addressed to redress the Wrongs and Injuries of theDutchon our Trade inAfricaandIndiato a vast Value, occasioned a War, which concluded withour Right ofPrivilege.
The Height ofthe Walls is the Strength of this Fort; sufficient against anyNegroPower, as they lately experienced in an Attack theFantinsmade upon the Castle’s Dependants, who found their Security under the Walls; for here are some potent Neighbours, such as the Emperor ofFantin, the Kings ofSantie,Akim, andAquemboe, between whom and the Company’sNegroes, happen frequent Occasions of Quarrel, from unwarrantable Practices in Trade. The common way to evade the Stroke, or push it in the Company’s favour, is giving aDasheeof 5 or 600lib.in Goods to one of them,to fall on the Adversary; a Trick used alternately by theDutch, and us also, to counterplot one another’s Interests.
In the Area of this Quadrangle, are large Vaults, with an iron Grate at the Surface to let in Light and Air on those poor Wretches, the Slaves, who are chained and confined there till a Demand comes. They are all marked with a burning Iron upon the right Breast,D. Y.Duke ofYork.
Tanks(Reservatories of Water) are in the Castle, vaulted and terrassed, capable of holding 100 Tuns or more: The Pavement leans from all parts towards them, to drain off the Rain; Water being scarce in dry[24]Seasons, and great quantities wanted. There is only one, nasty, muddy Pond, of ill Taste, in the Neighbourhood, from whence Ships are supplied, swum off to the Boats with a great deal of trouble by theNegroes.
Within the Castle is a Smith’s Shop, a Cooperage, Store-houses, a Chappel, and Houses for the Officers and Servants. The General’s Lodging communicates with the Chappel, a capacious Hall, which serves to preach and dine in, pray or drink, serve God or debate on Trade; hence they can over-look what the Company’s Servants aredoing, and how comply with their respective Duties. A Bastion runs out from it that has a very pleasant Prospect to the Sea, discerning with a Glass the Ships coming down the Coast, and very distinctly all those in the Road atDes Minas.
Having done with the Factory and Castle at present, I come now to the Natives, who from a long Acquaintance withEuropeans, are much the bestNegroesof the whole Continent.
Their Houses are built of Mud, kept clean, many of them with Chairs or Stools, good Matts to lie down upon, earthen Pots and Pans, and several Changes ofTomees(Arse-Clouts.) They give Names to their Children, mostly by the days of the Week born on,Quashee,Yeday,Cuujo, that is,Sunday,Monday,Tuesday, &c. and at Manhood, change it to something expressive of their Disposition;Aquerro Occu,Yocatee,[25]Tittwee, like aParrot,Lion,Wolf, &c.The same they do by white Men, imposing a Name of their own chusing.
Their Town is a little without the Castle-Gate, where the Women keep a Market with theirCanky, Papais, Soap and Fish, such as Cavalloes, Bream, Cat-fish,&c.all small, but in tolerable plenty; there being out in the Road fishing, from 40 and 50, to 100 Canoos, when fine Weather.
These Market-Women have Scales, and weigh everyToccuof Gold-dust. A dozen Sticks of Wax, a couple Pounds of Loaf-Sugar, or two or three pieces of salt Beef, will be worth anAccy; our Crown anAccyand a half.
Such as are imployed with theSmith, or theCooper, make presently good Workmen, and theNegroGoldsmith, with very little Instruction, has arrived to a good Skill in making Spoons, Buckles, Buttons, heading Canes, or tipping the Deers Feet.
CaptainTom, an honest fellow among them (our Gold-taker) who, understanding a littleEnglishby being imployed in our Service, was a great Acquaintance of mine, and would, in the best manner he was able, always satisfy my Curiosity about theFetish: He believes it able to protect from Dangers, or recover from Sickness; so that, in Travail, or any Ailment, they never are without theFetishabout them, whom they constantlyDasheefor Health and Safety.Tomworehis about the Leg, and at Sea, as constantly as he had a Dram, a Glass of Wine, or any Victuals, he dipped his Finger and gave theFetisha Taste. It’s the general Belief that it both speaks and sees; wherefore on any Action that ought not to be done, theFetishis hid within theirTomee, or wrapped in a Rag to prevent Tales. This Persuasion obtains by the Cunning of theFetish-Man (or Priest) who is consulted with a Present always (a Bottle of Rum, a Goat, a Fowl, a Papa, according to the Importance of the Business, and Ability of the Person) on any Sickness, Business or Undertaking; and his Answers sway them to the Pursuance or Omission: If he says the thing shall succeed so and so, it commonly does, their natural Sagacity measuring out Consequences; and in Medicines or Charms, Experience pronounces tolerably on the Operation. The last Refuge of theFetish-Man is, to charge the Person with some Crime that diverted the good Influence of theFetish; and so fond are they of these Tutelar Deities, and credulous of the Intercourse between them and theFetish-Man, that they are glad to accuse one another of Faults that made them unlucky; and if no Friend was Witness, do it themselves, to prevent the Displeasure might fall on them by any Contempt.
Every Man has two, three, or moreFetishesto his fancy; one worn about him, or inhis Canoo; the rest at home, bequeathing them, as they prove serviceable, from Father to Son. There is also atCabo Corso, a publickFetish, the Guardian of them all; and that is the RockTabra, a bluff peninsular Prominence that juts out from the Bottom of the Clift the Castle stands on, making a sort of Cover for Landing, but so unsafe, as frequently to expose the Boats and People to Danger, the Sea breaking over with great force. This was most remarkably felt by them about forty or fifty years ago, when all their Fishing Canoos, from some want of Devoir, were by a Southerly Wind split against RockTabra, and the Misfortune happening on aTuesday, has ever since been set apart for Idleness, Dancing, and Diversion.
To this Rock, theFetish-Man sacrifices annually a Goat and some Rum, eating and drinking a little himself, and throwing the rest into the Sea with odd Gestures and Invocations, he tells the Company, and they believe that he receives a verbal Answer fromTabra, what Seasons and Times will be propitious; and for this Knowledge every Fisherman finds it worth his while toDasheehim with some Acknowledgment.
They not only seem to think there is an Intelligence in those material Things that are of immediate Good or Hurt to them, but also theFetish-Men to have Conversation, and by it to be acquainted with theirmost private Affairs at any distance, which preserves Awe and Regard.
Peter Anchicove, another Gold-taker of CapeCorso, assured me that being once atSucconda, aFetish-Man met him, and demanded threeAccys, which was given immediately on threatning: (the Gift on ordinary Occasions is less; a piece of Perpet, a Cap, a Fowl, or from a Market-Woman a Loaf ofCanky.) And then he bidPeterleave the Voyage he was upon, and return home, for his Wife had in this Absence kept a scandalous Correspondence with several Men. Accordingly when he came home, he found it as theFetish-Man had said, and aPalaaverbeing called,Peterrecovered two Ounces of Gold Damage (the Punishment of Adultery) against one of the Offenders; an Ounce and a half of it to himself, the other half Ounce to the Court. The Penalty goes no farther, if the Woman be Daughter to a Freeman; for if the Cuckold is not contented, the Father takes her home on the acknowledgment of a Goat, or the like small Present, because it is his Loss: But if a purchased Slave is false, she is sold. When Proof is wanting, but the Suspicion strong, he brings an edibleFetish, which if she refuse to eat, she is adjudged guilty, and the dread of its poisonous Quality, makes them often confess, to their Accusers Satisfaction; the certain Punishmentbeing preferable to the doubtful Lethality of theFetish.
The Men likewise, in this or notorious Crimes, go thro’ such a Tryal, or compound rather by a Mulct, which better answers the Aim, and shews he is not stubborn and refractory[26].
AtAccrathey haveFetish-Women also, so by Descent, who pretend Divination, give Answers to all Questions, and, like our Fortune-tellers, are continually bubbling the weaker.
Fetishesare sold, from an experienced Goodness in them, from twoAccysto twoBendeesa-piece, or as they are warranted to protect from this or that sort of Evil, or better than another can do it. They use Circumcision, Prayers, and Washings, andseem to have an obscure Notion of Futurity; for when I used to charge my acquaintance with any thing of Dishonesty, they would reply, That after Death the honest goodee Man go to Godee, livee very well, have a goodee Wife, goodee Victuals,&c.but if aRogueandCheatee, he must be tossed here and there, never still. To this agrees the vulgar Notion of some, returning after Death to their own Country.
At a Death, the Relations and Neighbours keep a noise and howling till the day of Interrment, always at their own Houses, where the Corpse being put in a Trunk, and carried a small Circuit on Men’s Heads, the Town’s-Folks attend with wild Noise and firing of Guns, till finding the Deceased does not wake, they drink and make merry, and bury with the Corpse a Portion of Liquor, Pipes,&c.This done, a little Victuals is supplied by the Relations every day to the Grave, for a considerable time.
The superiour Genius of these Gold-CoastNegroes, is owing much to the Settlement ofEuropeanFactories among them: Their greater Honesty toward us, first from Forts that awe them; secondly, from their unwarrantable Practices with their Neighbours, who byPanyarrsand cheating for our good, are become perpetual Enemies, and fixed them by Interest and Necessity ours; where the greater part of them find they can livebetter by Honesty than by being Thieves, they are under less Fear, and could not conceal any attempts of Fraud long. Honesty in all trading places is bottom’d upon this in the lower, and upon Interest in the higher Ranks of Men; if the former can provide themselves as well, or better, that is, with quieter Sleeps and less Anguish by being honest than Robbers; it is egregious Folly, abating the Crime, to forsake it: and when prosperous Events give Increase to Riches, it is Interest to allure others, a general Security lying in it. And they may, by the Influence of Example, and an open Behaviour, make particular Men so, that were not first in the Design. Few, I surmise, under the same Circumstances with the Wretches that at last go to the Gallows, but would have been there too, if Fortune had reversed their Scituation; those that can rob under no Necessity, we may be sure would.
Thirdly, altho’ Christianity is not concerned in the Question with theseNegroes, I am apt to think,EuropeanConversation has given them the Intimation of the WordGodee, (for so they express the tremendous Name) and another State, which, if beyond their Comprehension, and the Instruction hitherto had, may yet have advantaged the Reverence toFetishes; which, if it answers in the cultivating Virtue, and mending their Morals, is no silly thing.