Twenty-five minutes' walking brought me to where the main road, a mere bush-path, strikes across a gully separating two crests of the Tákwá ridge. Then came a good stretch of level ground, composed of sand and gravel of stained quartz, clothed with the ordinary second-growth. When this ended I passed over the northern heads of two small buttes which lie unconformably; the direction of their main axes lies north-north-west, whereas all their neighbours trend to the north-north-east. The climb was followed by a second level, bounded on the left, or north, by the Abo Yáo Hill, the emplacement of the 'Mines d'Or d'Aboassu.' Two branch paths lead up to it from the main line of road. Near the western is a place chosen as a cemetery for Europeans; as usual it is neglected and overgrown with bush.
Presently I arrived at the village of Abosu, a walk of about two hours from the Tákwá mine. Ten months ago it contained forty to fifty head of negroes; now it may number 3,000, although the May emigration had begun, when the workmen return to their homes, being unable to labour in the flooded flats. There was the hum of a busy, buzzing crowd, sinking pits and shafts, some in the very streets and outside their own doors. This alluvial bed must be one of the richest in the country; and it is wholly native property under King Angu, of Apinto. There is little to describe in the village; every hut is a kind of store, where the most poisonous of intoxicants, the stinkingest of pomatum, and the gaudiest of pocket-handkerchiefs are offered as the prizes for striking gold. There are also a few goldsmiths' shops, where the precious metal is adulterated and converted to coarse, rude ornaments. The people are able 'fences,' and powder, fuses, and mining-tools easily melt into strong waters. Hence Abosu is a Paradise to the Fanti police and to the Haussa garrison of Tákwá.
I looked about Abosu to prospect the peculiarities of the place, where the Sierra Leonite and the Cape Coast Anglo-nigger were conspicuous for 'cheek' and general offensiveness. These ignoble beings did not spare even poor Nero; they blatantly wondered what business I had to bring such a big brute in order to frighten the people. Resuming my way along the flat by a winding path, I came upon a model bit of corduroying over a bad marsh, crossed the bridge, and suddenly sighted Mr. F. F. Crocker's coffee-mill stamping-battery. It lies at the south-western end of a butte, one of a series disposed in parallel ranges and trending in the usual direction. All have quartz-reefs buried in red clay, and are well wooded, with here and there small clearings. The names are modern—Crocker's Reef to the east, Sam's Reef, and so forth.
Then I passed an admirably appointed saw-mill. At this distance from the coast, where transport costs 24l. to 26l. a ton, carpenter's work must be done upon the spot. A wide, clean road, metalled with gravel, and in places bordered by pine-apples, led to store-houses of bamboo and thatch, built on either side of the way. After walking from Effuenta seven and a half geographical miles in three hours and forty-five minutes, I reached the establishment known as Crockerville. It dates from 1879, and in 1880 it forwarded its first remittance of 11l. 10s. to England. The village was laid out under the superintendence of Mr. Sam, the ablest native employé it has ever been my fortune to meet. He is the same who, when District-commissioner of Axim, laid out the town and planted the street-avenues. In conversation with me he bitterly derided the native association formed at Cape Coast Castle for obtaining concessions and for selling them to the benighted white man. He resolved not to put his money in a business where all would be at loggerheads within six months unless controlled by an European.
The houses are bamboo on stone platforms. One block is occupied by the owner, and a parallel building lodges Mr. Sam and his wife, the two being connected by an open dining-hall. The kitchen and offices lie to the north and east. Further west are quarters for European miners, and others again for Mr. Turner, now acting manager, and his white clerk. Furthest removed are the black quarters, the huts forming a street.
Crockerville at present is decidedly short of hands. The number on the books, all told, black and white, is only sixty-two: when the whole property comes to be worked, divided and sub-divided, it will require between a thousand and fifteen hundred. The hands are mostly country people, including a few gangs employed to sink shafts. One gang lately deserted, for the following reason. Two men were below charging the shots from a heap of loose powder, whilst their friends overhead were quietly smoking their pipes. A 'fire-'tick,' thrown across the shaft, burnt a fellow's fingers, and he at once dropped it upon his brethren underground; they were badly scorched, and none of the gang has been seen since. I mention this accident as proving how difficult it is to manage the black miner. The strictest regulations are issued to prevent the fatuous nigger killing himself, but all in vain: he is worse, if possible, than his white confrère. If I had the direction all the powder-work should be done by responsible Europeans. I would fire by electricity, the battery remaining in the manager's hands, and no native should be trusted with explosives.
Here I fell amongst old acquaintances, and was only too glad to remain with them between Friday and Thursday. Mr. Turner gave me one of his bed-rooms, and Mr. Crocker's sitting-room was always open by day. We messed together, clerks, mechanics, and all, in the open dining-hall: this is Mr. Crocker's plan, and I think it by far the best. The master's eye preserves decorum, and his presence prevents unreasonable complaints about rations. The French allow each European employé 4s. 9d. a day for food and hire of servants, and attempt most unfairly to profit by the sale of provisions and wines. The consequence is that everything is disjointed and uncomfortable: some starve themselves to save money; others overdrink themselves because meat is scarce; and all complain that the sum which would suffice for many is insufficient for one.
The Swanzy establishment has set up an exceptionally light battery of twelve stamps, made in sections for easier transport. Neither here nor in any of the mines have stone-breakers or automatic feeders yet been introduced: the stuff is all hand-spalled. One small 'Belleville' drives the stamps, another works the Tangye pump, and a third turns the saw-mills. I will notice a few differences between the Swanzy system and that of Effuenta. The wooden framework of the stamp-mill is better than iron. The cam-shaft here carries only single, not double cams, a decided disadvantage: in order to strike the same number of blows per minute it has to make double the number of revolutions. Moreover, by some unhappy mistake, it is too far from its work, and the result is a succession of sharp blows on the tappets, with injury to all the gear. On the other hand proper fingers are fitted to the stamps: this is far better than supporting them by a rough chock of wood. At Crockerville, as at Effuenta, only six of the twelve stamps were working: there the pump was at fault; here the blanket-tables had not been made wide enough. I could hardly estimate the total amount of ore brought to grass, or its average yield: specimens of white quartz, with threads, strings, and lobs of gold, have been sent to England from Crocker's Reef. The best tailings are reserved either for treatment on the spot or for reduction in England. The mine, as regards present condition, is in the stage of prospecting upon a large and liberal scale. The stamps are chiefly used to run through samples of from 50 to 100 tons taken from the various parts of the property: in this way the most exact results can be obtained. During my visit they were preparing to work a hundred tons from Aji Bipa, the fourth and furthest butte to the north-west.
I visited this mound in company with Mr. Sam, who interpreted the name to be that of the gambogefruit. We descended, as we had ascended, by the stamping-battery, crossed the bridge, and then struck northwards, over the third hillock, to No. 4. Unlike Crocker's Reef, Aji Bipa does not show visible gold; its other peculiarities will best be explained by the report I wrote on the spot.
This property is situated near Crockerville and can always be easily reached from that place. In fact, the southern boundary marches with the northern limit of the Crockerville estate. The rich gold-bearing lode is situated on the western slope of the hill, and can be seen in all the three shafts which have been sunk. The formation of the hill seems in many respects to correspond with the Lingula flags at and near Clogau, Dolgelli, and Gogafau. This formation is practically the same as that of the range of hills on which the concessions of the Gold Coast Mining Company, of the African Gold Coast Mining Company, of the Effuenta Company, of the Mines d'Or d'Aboassu (Abosu), and the Tamsu concessions are situated, and also as that of Tebribi Hill; but each of the three areas has its own marked features. In all the rocks are talcose and show a sort of conglomerate of quartz pebbles, in some cases water-worn and in others angular, bedded in a mixture of quartz and granite detritus. This has in the three areas undergone varying degrees of pressure, and has been upheaved at different angles. In some cases the pressure and heat have been so great that the rock assumes a distinctly gneissic character.