IVORY TRUMPETS.
(See [page 577].)
The right hand trumpet has a crucified figure on it.
WAR DRUM.
(See [page 572].)
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.