Such being the impression made on a civilized being by the dead body of a gorilla lying in a canoe, the natives may well be excused for entertaining a superstitious awe of it as it roams the forest in freedom, and for thinking that its skull is a fit adornment for the temple of their chief idol.

To a party of native hunters unprovided with fire-arms, the chase of the animal is a service of real difficulty and danger. They are obliged to seek it in the recesses of its own haunts, and to come to close quarters with it. (See the [illustration] on page 457). The spear is necessarily the principal weapon employed, as the arrow, even though poisoned, does not kill at once, and the gorilla is only incited by the pain of a wound to attack the man who inflicted it. Their fear of the animal is also increased by the superstition which has already been mentioned, that a man is sometimes transformed into a gorilla, and becomes thereby a sort of sylvan demon, who cannot be killed—at all events, by a black man—and who is possessed with a thirst for killing every human being that he meets.

Any specially large gorilla is sure to be credited with the reputation of being a transformed man; and as the adult male sometimes measures five feet six inches or so in height, there is really some excuse for the native belief that some supernatural power lies hidden in this monstrous ape.

After a careful investigation, Mr. Reade has come to the conclusion that, except in point of size, there is no essential difference in the gorilla and the chimpanzee, both animals going usually on all-fours, and both building slight houses or platforms in the trees, both changing their dwelling in search of food and to avoid the neighborhood of man, and both, without being gregarious, sometimes assembling together in considerable numbers.

CHAPTER LIII.
THE KRUMEN AND FANTI.

LOCALITY OF THE KRUMEN — THEIR FINE DEVELOPMENT AND WONDERFUL ENDURANCE — THEIR SKILL IN BOATING — COLOR OF THE KRUMEN — THEIR VERY SIMPLE DRESS — DOUBLE NOMENCLATURE — THEIR USE TO TRAVELLERS — GOVERNMENT OF THE KRUMEN — THEIR LIVELY AND CHEERFUL CHARACTER — DOMESTIC LIFE OF THE KRUMEN — EARNING WIVES — RELIGION OF THE KRUMEN — THE DEITY “SUFFIN” — KRUMAN FUNERAL — THE GRAIN COAST — THE FANTI TRIBE — THEIR NATIVE INDOLENCE — FANTI BOATS AND THEIR MANAGEMENT — THE KRA-KRA DISEASE — A WILD LEGEND — DRESS OF THE FANTI — IDEAS OF A FUTURE STATE.

Along the Grain Coast of Western Africa there is a race of men who come too prominently before European eyes to be omitted from this work. They have, in a degree, lost the habits of their original savage life, but they illustrate so well the peculiar negro character that a small space must be devoted to them.

The name Kru, or Croo, and sometimes Carew, or Crew—so diversified is the orthography of native names—is a corruption of the Grebo word “Kráo.” The tribe inhabits a district about twenty-five or thirty miles along the coast, and extending for a considerable, but uncertain, distance inland. A good many smaller tribes have been gradually absorbed into them, and, as they have adopted the language, manners, and customs, as well as the name of Kráo, we will treat of them all under the same title.

In the “Wanderings of a F. R. G. S.” there is a curious account of the derivation of the word Grebo, one of the absorbed tribes. According to their own tradition, they originally inhabited the interior, and, finding that their district was too thickly populated, a large number of them determined to emigrate westward, and secretly prepared for departure, the majority being averse to the scheme. As they embarked in a hurry, a number of the canoes were upset, but the remainder succeeded in bounding over the waves. The people who were capsized, and were left behind, were therefore called “Waibo,” or the Capsized, while the others took the name of Grebo, from the bounding gray monkey, called Gré.

The Krumen are a fine race, and present a great contrast to the usual slim-limbed and almost effeminate savages of the interior. They are extremely powerful, and are able to paddle for some forty miles at a stretch, without seeming to be the least fatigued at the end of their labors. They are the recognized seamen of the coast, and have made themselves necessary to the traders, and even to Government vessels, as they can stand a wonderful amount of work, and are not affected by the climate like the white sailors.