Chapter Sixteen 
GOLD COAST 
T the end of 1936 I visited the Gold Coast, with my niece, 
with the idea of collecting some of the gems of the bird- 
life of the forest and savanna regions. As in the Cameroons the 
country is divided into three natural zones—forest, savanna or 
park-like country, and semi-arid. The latter was too far from a 
rail-head for collecting live specimens without entailing tremen- 
dous expense and trouble in transportation, so, much to my regret, 
I was unable to include this in the itinerary. On arrival at the 
port of Takoradi I was impressed by the entire absence of hotels— 
a state of affairs that applied to the whole of the Gold Coast. In 
many cases, however, permission could be obtained to stay at the 
Government Rest-House at Sekondi, which was very pleasantly 
situated. 
As our destination was Ashanti we remained on the coast only 
long enough to make certain arrangements, purchase stores, and 
select suitable servants for the interior. The latter we did on local 
advice as we had been informed that it was much easier to obtain 
servants on the coast. We therefore informed the Commissioner of 
Police of our requirements, and presently numbers of applicants 
arrived armed with all-important documents. 
It was a custom (or rule) that every boy should produce a 
statement by his previous employer when applying for work. 
These testimonials, if this is the correct word, made interesting 
reading. Some were couched in such flowery terms that I sus- 
pected they were written by some educated dark-skinned gentle- 
man who made this his profession. Others were very noncom- 
mittal and amounted to saying “Find out for yourself what he is 
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