I will now borrow freely from the diary kept during our five days' inspection of the Izrah diggings. Cameron worked hard at a rough survey of the ground which Mr. Walker had attempted with considerable success, seeing that he carried only a pedometer and a small pocket-compass. My proceedings were necessarily limited, as I had no authority to disburse money.
February 3.—The night had been somewhat noisy with the hyena-like screams which startled our soldiers en route to Kumasi. They are said to proceed from a kind of hyrax (?) about the size of a rabbit; the Krumen call it a 'bush-dog', and, as will appear, Cameron holds it to be a lemur. The morning was cool, but not clear, and the country so far like the 'Garden of Eden' that there went up a mist from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground. But the mist was a Scotch mist, which, in less humid lands, might easily pass for fine rain; and the drip, drip, drip of heavy dew-drops from the broad banana-leaves sounded like a sharp shower. At this hour the birds are wide awake and hungry; a hundred unknown songsters warble their native wood-notes wild. The bush resounds with the shriek of the parrot and the cooing of the ringdove, which reminds me of the Ku-ku-ku (Where, oh, where?) of Umar-i-Khayyám. Its rival is the tsil-fui-fui-fui, or 'hair grown,' meaning that his locks are too long and there is no one to cut or shave them. Upon the nearest tall tree, making a spiteful noise to frighten away all specimens, sits the 'watch-bird,' or apateplu, so called from his cry; he is wary and cunning, but we bagged two. The 'clock-bird,' supposed to toll every hour, has a voice which unites the bark of a dog, the caw of a crow, and the croak of a frog: he is rarely seen and even cleverer than 'hair grown.' More familiar sounds are the roucoulement of the pigeon and the tapping of the woodpecker. The only fourfooted beast we saw was the small bush-antelope with black robe, of which a specimen was brought home, and the only accident was the stinging of a Kruboy by a spider more spiteful than a scorpion.
Reaching the ground after a ten minutes' walk, we examined the principal reef as carefully as we could. The strike is nearly north-south, the dip easterly, and the thickness unknown. The trial-shaft, sunk by Mr. Walker in the centre of the southern line, was of considerable size, eight by twelve feet; and the depth measured thirty, of which four held water based upon clay-mud. The original native shafts to the south are of two kinds, the indigenous chimney-pit and the parallelogram-shaped well borrowed from Europeans. The latter varied in dimensions from mere holes to oblongs six by seven feet; and all the more important were roofed and thatched with pent-houses of palm-leaf, to keep out the rain. The shaft-timbering, also a loan from foreigners, consisted of perpendicular bamboo-fronds tied with bush-rope to a frame of poles cut from small trees; they corresponded with our sets and laths. There were rude ladders, but useful enough, two bamboos connected by rungs of 'tie-tie.' The 'sollars' were shaky platforms of branches, but there was no sign of a winch.
We set Krumen and porters to clear and lay out the southern boundary, and to open a path leading direct to the beach. One would fancy that nothing is easier than to cut bush in a straight line from pole to pole, especially when these were marked by strips of red calico. Yet the moment our backs were turned the wrong direction was taken. It pains one's heart to see the shirking of work, the slipping away into the bush for a sleep, and the roasting of maize and palm-nuts—'ground-pigs' fare,' they call the latter—whenever an opportunity occurs. The dawdling walk and the dragging of one leg after the other, with intervals to stand and scratch, are a caution. Even the villagers appear incapable of protracted labour unless it leads immediately to their benefit, and the future never claims a thought.
February 4.—After the south-eastern corner had been marked with a tall cross, we opened a path from Arábokasu to the trial-shaft. We threw a bridge of the felled trunks cumbering the clearing over the Fía rivulet, and again examined its bed. Gold had been found in it by the women, and this, as usual, gave rise to the discovery of its subtending reef. The whole of the little river-valley extending to the sea should be bought and worked; there is no doubt that it will turn out rich. In the channel we found an outcrop of slates, both crumbling and compact; this is always a welcome sign. To the east of the water there is a second quartz-reef, running parallel with the upper ridge, and apparently untouched by the pick.
The next two days were spent in finishing the southern line and in planting a post at the south-western extremity. Here we found that our workmen had gone entirely wrong, and we were forced to repeat the work. I had exposed myself over-freely to the sun, and could do little for the next week: fortunately my energetic companion was in better condition.
February 7.—Cameron took bearings from the south of the concession, which he placed, with Mr. Walker, four geographical miles from the sea. Other informants had exaggerated it to him, and M. Dahse writes six. After 1,000 to 1,200 yards he struck the 'false coast,' crossed a deep and fetid swamp, and, after a short rise, came upon the miry borders of the Ebumesu. He canoed 800 yards down-stream without difficulty; and, finding the water brackish while the ebb-tide ran strong, he considered that this part was rather a lagoon than a river. The people also assured us that it runs along the coast, ending near and north of the Béin Fort-village.
In the evening my companion and Mr. Grant walked to the north-west of the concession; the place is called by Mr. Walker Iziá-bookah (Izíá Hill), but the natives ignore the term. Here, at a distance of 900 yards north and by west (true) of the Arábokasu village, they found and collected specimens of a fine reef of hard white quartz. 'Women's washings' were numerous, showing the proper way to begin working the ground. The right of prospecting the whole of the section to the N.E. had been secured by Mr. Walker for Mr. Irvine, and presently the 'Apollonian concession' appeared in the mining journals.
We had now done all we could; the circumstances of the case compelled us to study the geology and topography of the property rather than its geology and mineralogy. Nothing now remained save to rebrousser chemin. Good King Blay, who had formally made over to me possession of the 'Izrah' mine, left us for his own village, in order to cure an inflamed foot. He attributed it to the 'fetish' of some unfriend; but it turned out to be Guinea-worm, a malady from which many are suffering this season. We parted upon the most friendly terms and arranged to meet again.
Both of us came to the conviction that the 'Izrah Concession' will pay, and pay well. But instead of the routine shafting and tunnelling it must be treated by hydraulicking and washing away the thirty feet of auriferous soil, whose depth covers the reef. The bed of the Fía will supply the water, and a force-pump, worked by men, or preferably by steam-power. Thus we shall keep the mine dry: otherwise it will be constantly flooded. Moreover, the land seems to be built for ditching and sluicing, and the trenches will want only a plank-box with a metal grating at the head. I can only hope that the operations will be conducted by an expert hand who knows something of the Californian or the Australian diggings.