[ [19] ] This is a small bag filled with air, for the purpose of floating nippers that are attached to it, through which the line passes, being intended to fasten itself to the line on the surface of the water the moment you check it on perceiving the lead strike the bottom, by which means more correct soundings are obtained.
[ [20] ] Nine miles to the westward of the mouth of this river, is the rock Cestus, where there is a settlement of about seventy Fishmen, who have run away from their own country, to avoid the penalty of the law. They are principally from Niffon, Baddon, and Pickaninny Cess.
[ [21] ] From the colour of his skin.
[ [22] ] From "Coom," to kill, and "assie," under, meaning under the large Banian, or Indian fig-tree, that stands in the market-place, opposite to the palace.
[ [23] ] This was a very splendid tent that had been presented to him some years before by the Dutch Governor, General Daendals.
[ [24] ] This extraordinary woman, who displayed unexampled energy throughout the whole of this war, was about five feet three inches in height, and was distinguished by an almost infantine character of face, and a voice low and soft as the tones of a flute. It was thought that she habituated herself to that style of speaking to conceal her really masculine nature, and to interest her audience. Her voice, notwithstanding its sweet inflections, was broken, or "cracked," as singers term it, a circumstance occasioned, perhaps, by the constant use she made of it, for she was not a little remarkable for that volubility which a rude jest attributes to her sex in general. She was a very successful beggar, too, amongst the rest of her accomplishments, for munition and strong drink. Just before the battle of Dodowah commenced, she passed along the ranks, encouraging her people with an appropriate harangue, and waving at the same time a gold-hilted sword in one hand, and an elephant's tail (the emblem of royalty), in the other, with a necklace, well adapted for the occasion, composed of a string of musket halls. This heroine said to some of our countrymen, who called on her the day before the battle, "Osay has driven me from my country because he thought me weak, but he is mistaken; for, although I have the form of a woman, I have the heart of a man!" an observation which her extraordinary prowess in the fight fully justified. She was to be seen every where in the heat of the battle, encouraging and exciting her troops; wherever the greatest danger was, there, too, was the energetic Queen of Akim. Her conduct reminds us of Queen Bess at Tilbury Fort, and perhaps still more of Boadicea herself.
[ [25] ] These are the same people who murdered Governor Meredith about fourteen years before. For that crime, the English blew up their fort. They have always acted basely in battle, and are notorious for gluttony, cruelty, and cowardice. The Ashantees said that if they went to Winnebah, they could catch the people like swine.
[ [26] ] Accra is a European corruption of the word Inkran which means an ant.
[ [27] ] The word Fetish is derived, I believe, from the Portuguese word Fatisa, or Phatisa, which means "a charm." It is used on all occasions by the natives, when they are asked any question which they do not understand, or which they do not wish to understand, particularly if it relate to their religion. Thus the sacrifice, the rocks, and the sacred groves where they imagine their deities dwell, are all called Fetish: also, their priests, or priestesses, when they are going through any antic ceremonies, are said to be making Fetish, and are consequently called Fetish men or Fetish women. Some have regarded the Fetish as an object of worship to the natives of Africa; it ought, however, more properly to be considered only as a charm, to which a superstitious and reverential feeling is paid; in which an implicit confidence is reposed. Whether it be intended to exercise a public or a private function, it consists of some body, either animate or inanimate, selected according to fancy, as a dog, cat, tiger, snake, an egg, the bone of a bird, a piece of wood, a feather, or any other substance: this is rendered sacred or endowed with its supposed virtues by peculiar ceremonies, and afterwards honoured with a species of worship, vows of abstinence from particular or occasional pleasures, and other services; in return, the party to which it belongs looks up to it for protection and assistance on all occasions—if successful, he attributes it to its intervention; if unlucky, to its displeasure.
[ [28] ] In my opinion, no man under thirty years of age, should think of travelling in an unhealthy country; before that age, the constitution is more liable to the infection of the endemic diseases of a hot climate than afterwards. Perhaps, between forty and fifty would be the best age—"ceteris paribus."