84' Origin of the Ashantees,' 



Diodorushas certainly disclosed the secret of these transactions?, ' 

 the existence of which affords a curious argument. 



I have dwelt (in the chapter on the History of the Ashantees,) 

 on the distinction of the bush-cat, dog, buffalo, and tiger fa- 

 milies in Ashantee and the neighbouring states, and considered 

 the curious circumstance of individuals of different nations ar- 

 ranging themselves in the same families. Herodotus tells us, 

 that in Egypt a certain number of men and women were destined 

 to take care of particular animals, and that the son succeeded 

 to the father in that duty. Cats and dogs were sacred in 

 Egypt, and accordingly we find the relics of this curious insti- 

 tution still existing in modern Ethiopia, and that the Egyptian 

 colonists arid deserters introduced a custom, every trace of 

 which was lost, until these recent inquiries. The " Corn-stalk" 

 and " Red-earth" families were, probably, originally Ethiopian, 

 for Diodorus says, some were agriculturists, and some shep- 

 herds. I had an opportunity of petusing the researches of 

 Meinars, but I cannot help thinking, that as we prosecute our 

 acquaintance with the natives of the interior of Africa, we shall 

 find additional grounds to dissent from his opinion, — that there 

 is a greater conformity in customs and political institutions be- 

 tween the Egyptians and Hindoos, than between the Egyptians. 

 and Ethiopians. 



The parias of India have been compared with the swineherds 

 of Egypt; and the appiadee, or servant race of Ashantee, cor- 

 responds "with both. The Ashantees observe the oriental custom 

 of using the left hand only for all ignoble purposes, and of < 

 cooking and eating with the right. 



The Ashantees cherish their beards and ' swear by them' as 

 the eastern nations do, contrary to the impression of Strabo 

 and Meinars, that the neglect or want of a beard was one of 

 the few differences between the ancient and modern Ethiopians 

 and the Egyptians. The three classes of men in ancient Egypt 

 are to be recognised in Ashantee ; and Meiners' description of 

 the milites nobiliores as a rank not attainable by merit or 

 achievement but by birth alone, and as individuals sharing the 

 territory with the king, agrees precisely with the institution of 



