CONTENTS.


PAGE
CHAPTER I.
The Gambia—Bathurst—Jolloffs—Novel Advertisements—A
Neglected Highway—False Economy—History of the Gambia—Musical
Instruments—Burial Custom—Yahassu—St. James Island
[1]
CHAPTER II.
British Combo—An interesting Conversation—Bakko—A small
Account—Sabbajee—Peculiar Governors—The Gambia
Militia—A new Field for Sportsmen
[19]
CHAPTER III.
The Slave Coast—Whydah—The Dahoman Palaver of 1876—The
Dahoman Army—An Unpleasant Bedfellow—The Snake
House—Dahoman Fetishism—Various Gods—A Curious
Ceremony—Importunate Relatives—The Dahoman Priesthood
[35]
CHAPTER IV.
The Amazons—Trying Drill—System of Espionage—The
Annual Customs—Human Sacrifices—The Dahoman Repulse
at Abbeokuta—Natural Features of Dahomey—Agriculture—The
Whydah Bunting
[54]
CHAPTER V.
Lagos—Small Change—A Ball—A Cheerful Companion—An
Anomalous Sight—History of the Settlement—The Naval Attack of 1851
[73]
CHAPTER VI.
Leeches—Ikorudu—A Blue-blood Negro—Badagry—Flying
Foxes—Fetishes—A Smuggler entrapped—Floating Islands—Porto
Novo—Thirsty Gods—Cruel Kindness
[95]
CHAPTER VII.
The Niger Delta—Gloomy Region—Cannibals—King Pepple—Bonny-town—Rival
Chiefs—Dignitaries of the Church—Missions—Curlews—ANight
Adventure—A Bonny Bonne Bouche
[111]
CHAPTER VIII.
Old Calabar—Duke Town—Capital Punishments—Moistening
the Ancestral Clay—A surgeon’s Liabilities—Man-eaters—AMongrel
Consul—Curious Judgments
[131]
CHAPTER IX.
British Sherbro—The Bargroo River Expedition—Professional
Poisoners—An African Bogey—A Secret Society—AStrange Story—A
Struggle with Sharks—Startling News from the Gold Coast
[158]
CHAPTER X.
Sierra Leone—More Civility—Cobras—A Guilty Conscience—Naval
Types—Freetown Society—A Musical Critic—TheRural
Districts—A British Atrocity
[143]
CHAPTER XI.
Ashanti Politics since 1874—The Secession of Djuabin—Diplomatic
Mistakes—The Conquest of Djuabin—The Importation
of Rifles—The Attempt on Adansi—The Salt Scare—TheMission to
Gaman and Sefwhee—Dissensions in Coomassie—The War Party
[178]
CHAPTER XII.
Cape Coast—The Panic—The Golden Axe—Preparations for
Defence—Ansah—A Divided Command—A Second Message
from the King—Native Levies—Ordered to Anamaboe
[207]
CHAPTER XIII.
A Teacher of the Gospel—Anamaboe—A Third Message from
the King—Affairs in Coomassie—Downfall of the War
Party—False Rumours—Arrival of the Governor—A Fourth
Message from the King—Further Complications
[227]
CHAPTER XIV.
Arrival of Reinforcements—Sanitary Condition of Cape
Coast—Culpable Neglect—Meeting of Chiefs—The Messengers
from Sefwhee—Expedition to the Bush—Its Effect
upon the Ashantis
[251]
CHAPTER XV.
A Trip to Prahsu—Mansu—A Fiendish Réveille—Bush
Travelling—Prahsu—The King of Adansi—Masquerading
Costumes—The Camp—Strength of the Expedition
[267]
CHAPTER XVI.
Regulating the Sun—Arrival of the Ashanti Embassy—The
Palaver—Ciceronian Eloquence—A Diplomatic Fiction—A
Beautiful Simile—Physiognomies—Unhealthiness of the Camp
[281]
CHAPTER XVII.
Another Interview—Atassi—An Importunate Investigation—A
Shocking Accident—Yancoomassie Assin—Draggled
Plumes—An Unintentional Insult—A Scientific Experiment—The
Palaver at Elmina—Our future Policy—Recent Explorations
on the River Volta
[297]

Tower Hill Barracks,
Sierra Leone,
November, 1882.


THE LAND OF FETISH.


CHAPTER I.