The native laws are not severe. Theft is punished by fine, imprisonment, or flogging, according to the magnitude of the offence. Adultery is punished by compelling the adulterer to pay the original price for which the adulteress was purchased by her husband, and the culprit then takes the woman to himself. But female virtue is held in so little esteem, that opportunities of infidelity are often afforded by husbands to some of his less favourite wives for the purpose of extorting money and getting rid of her. The common price of a wife here and at Cape Coast is sixteen dollars. A wife is very seldom purchased when more than twenty years old; but generally when five or six years younger, so that very old men have frequently ten or a dozen wives much younger than their own daughters. Not even the appearance of affection exists between husband and wife, or between parents and children. So little do they care for their offspring, that many offered to sell me any of their sons or daughters as slaves. They are, to speak the truth, in point of parental affection inferior to brutes.
The caboceer is judge and chief magistrate at Winnebah, his captains forming his council or jury; but a white man who has been robbed seldom obtains any redress, since the natives consider him as fair game, and the caboceer, doubtless, receives part of the plunder. Whenever, therefore, I detected the offenders, I gave the thieves a good sound flogging myself. There are here, as all along the coast, fetish-houses in many different parts of the town; and the image worshipped by them is a rude figure made of clay, in a sitting posture, and as nearly like a human being as the artist can make it. On certain days they prostrate themselves and kiss the ground, when they come near any of their sacred places. Nothing offends them more than showing contempt for their fetish. This is resented more especially by their fetish-men, or priests; there are also many fetish-women on this part of the coast.
The natives vary much in colour, owing to the mixture of the different tribes; those of the purest race have what is called a good black hue, woolly hair, high forehead, with the upper part narrow and round. The average height of the men is five feet nine inches; of the women, about five feet six inches: they are well made. They usually wear only a cloth round their loins, but the younger of both sexes generally go entirely naked. They most commonly wash themselves once in twenty-four hours, but lie on the ground huddled together like pigs. Their food is chiefly yams, plantains, kankie, fish, and palm-oil. The caboceer and his captains generally get drunk with palm-wine, peto, and rum, twice in the twenty-four hours.
Much neglect seems to prevail at the time of the birth of male children, respecting the separation of the umbilical cord. Many boys, and even men, may be seen with protruding navels as large as a duck’s egg, sometimes turned down at the end. They have many different fashions in shaving their heads: some leave only a small tuft on the crown; others, a tuft on one side just above the ear; others, narrow strips from the middle of the forehead to the top of the head; others, again, from ear to ear, thus dividing the head into four parts. Some shave their heads only from the forehead to the suture, which is very observable in the skulls kept in their fetish-houses. Of letters or cyphers they are wholly ignorant. Their tally is kept in grains of Indian corn, so many being put in one small bag as an account against the debtor, and in another as the number due to the creditor. Surnames are not in use in any part of the Western Coast,[6] except among the few who have been educated, whose number is very small, considering the time that missionaries and schools have been established among them. The town of Winnebah contains about four thousand inhabitants.
February 5th, 1845.—We set sail from Winnebah and landed at Accra. On the morning of the 6th I went on shore and visited Mr. Bannerman, whose hospitality and kindness are well known to Europeans. After breakfasting with him, I went to see some more of my friends in this place; and with Mr. Gedge, a British merchant established here, I remained during my stay. He drove me over the Danish Accra, where we visited the Governor, a very kind and gentlemanly man.
Two days previous to my arrival at Accra, he had been under the necessity of destroying part of the town, as the inhabitants of the demolished houses had received and harboured a party of miscreants who had come down from the Woodlands with the intention of murdering him. The party, amounting to fifty armed men, had stationed themselves on the beach to waylay his Excellency when he landed from a Danish vessel anchored in the roads, on board of which he had gone to visit the commander; but before the boat came within gunshot of the beach, a signal from the fort warned them to keep off. His Excellency, thereupon, returned to the ship, and brought a few marines in another boat, who soon put these would-be assassins to flight. When he had ascertained where they had been secreted, his Excellency ordered that part of the town to be cannonaded. I visited the ruins, and it was certainly a wretched spectacle to see so many houses in ashes, and their inhabitants encamped on the outskirts of the town, with such articles of furniture as they were able to save from destruction. Fortunately, this being the dry season, they were not so much exposed as otherwise they might have been.
These people feel the destruction of their abodes the more as their dwellings are their family sepulchres; every member of the family being invariably buried under the floor. What rendered their case still more wretched, was, knowing that they would not be allowed to rebuild their houses, as the Governor intends to build barracks upon the site of the ruins.
It may be well to give some information respecting the origin of this untoward event. The chief of the Aquapim country had a rival in his own brother, who established his claim upon the grounds, that, although not the lawful heir, he had been chosen, as was the custom, by the people; the decision of the matter was therefore referred to the arbitration of the Governor of the Danish fort at Accra. The rival chiefs, as is usual in such cases, repaired to Accra, and waited in the market-place until their arrival was announced to the Governor. During this interval, one of the parties commenced their palaver; but the lawful chief declared his determination not to enter into any palaver, except in the Governor’s presence. High words ensued, and the usurping party withdrew to the houses where they had deposited their arms, with which they immediately returned; and, without ceremony, fired upon their opponents, killing and wounding several of them, as well as several individuals no way concerned in the affair. This enraged not only the opposing party, but also the people of Danish Accra, who instantly attacked and pursued their assailants, who immediately fled. They were, however, speedily overtaken, and compelled to fight, and several, on both sides, were killed. Six of the chiefs of the usurping party were beheaded, with their chief Owoosoo, and their heads were carried back to Accra, and placed close by the gate of the fort. When the Danish Governor was informed of this, he ordered the heads to be buried, and, as soon as he conveniently could, went himself to the Aquapim country, in order to settle, if possible, their palaver. However, this could not be done with satisfaction to both parties, consequently the usurping party (whose chief was killed) determined to kill the Danish Governor. This, as we have mentioned, was happily prevented. The name of the rival chiefs were Ahdoom and Owoosoo.
English Accra is well situated on the sea-coast, in 5° 31′ 9″ N. latitude, and 11′ 5″ W. longitude—Dutch Accra joining it. This place carries on a considerable trade in gold, palm-oil, and ivory; but the English trade is now much reduced, on account of the number of American vessels which visit the whole coast, with goods of a very inferior description, and, of course, at a very low price. Moreover, the American captains generally, for a trifle of extra pay, act as supercargoes, hawking their goods in all seaport towns, as our pedlars do in England; and as the natives cannot distinguish a good from an inferior article, the fair trader, or resident merchant (whose expenses are very great), is much injured. Dollars and cowries are the proper currency; but oil and ivory, as well as gold, are generally exchanged for goods suitable for the country, such as cotton, cloths, gun, gunpowder, and flints.
There are several old-established merchants in Accra, both native and English. Of the former, several have been educated in England, and are very respectable men, who have done much for the improvement and appearance of Accra. Their houses, as far as is consistent with the climate, where the thermometer ranges from 82° to 87° in the shade, are built on the English plan, with large gardens and pleasure-grounds, laid out at an enormous expense, though not very productive, as the soil in the immediate neighbourhood is chiefly sand or gravel, and very dry and barren.