WE LAND AT ACCKA 15 



this country covers an area of 80,000 square miles; in 

 other words, it is about the size of Great Britain. 

 Seccondee is in the Colony, and from here a railway 

 runs to Coomassie, the capital of Ashanti, a distance 

 of 168 miles. The only other main railway line in 

 the country links up the port of Accra with Tafo 

 sixty- five miles in the interior. There are several 

 ports, but no good harbour ; everybody and everything 

 coming to this country, everybody and everything 

 leaving it, have to be transported two or three miles 

 between coast-town and steamer in a surf-boat. It is 

 very entertaining for us, as visitors, to watch numerous 

 surf-boats coming and going, or tied up in bunches 

 round our steamer. Leisurely strolling along the deck, 

 or standing at ease looking over the side, we are de- 

 lighted by the variety show that springs to life the 

 moment a ship drops anchor, and ceaselessly continues 

 until she again gets under way the rhythmic move- 

 ments oi surf -boat crews, the flash of paddles, the din 

 of weird chants to which the paddles keep time, the 

 antics of small craft on heaving waters that are chal- 

 lenging the skill of the boat-boys, the rainbow-hued 

 costumes of the natives, with here and there an out- 

 standing patch of bright scarlet, navy, or white, con- 

 tributed by the jerseys of the boat-boys in the service 

 of the Post Office, Medical Department, Customs, or 

 special transport firm these are but a few of the 

 fascinating sights and scenes amidst which the 

 winches do their work of putting off and taking on 

 passengers, mails, and cargo. But suppose we were 

 in the shoes of the Gold Coast business man; say, for 

 instance, we were buyers and shippers of cocoa, which 

 is the principal work of nearly every important 

 business man over here should we not look on surf- 



