194 



NA TURE 



[DF.CEMlitK 29, 1898 



" The account of a palaver between two Christians 

 which is not j^iven in the Annual Report, but it is furnished 

 by the superintendent who assisted at the settlement of 

 the matter. \"endors in the market-place are for the 

 most part representatives of the gentler sex. It some- 

 times happens that two, or more, will engage in hot 

 dispute. Their angry voices may be heard above the din 

 of a thousand of their se.\ peacefully engaged in lawful 

 trade. There was an occasion when, as at I'hilippi, Sisters 

 Euodias and Syntyche were not ' of the same mind.' 

 ' Softly, softly,' said one to the other, ' we are Christians ; 

 let us go to the minister.' To the minister they went. 

 The elders of the church were summoned, and then for a 

 time superfluous steam was allowed to escape in yells, 

 shrieks, and frantic gesticulations. Care was taken that the 

 disputants were separated by at least a table or a desk, 

 so as to prevent the one doing bodily harm to the other. 

 In a few moments comparative order was restored, the 

 whole case stated, the opinions of the elders e.xpressed, 

 and the outside world knew nothing of what had 

 occurred." 



That this was a great improvement on the ordinary 

 market-place row, there is no doubt ; and the vision of 

 the active elders interposing desks and tables between the 

 ladies is very pleasing. Most cordially also do we re- 

 commend the account given by a colleague of Mr. 

 Kemp's, of his e.xperiences when taking over a district to 

 all those who think missionaries lead a life of luxurious 

 calm. 



" The house had been deserted for some time. The 

 white ants had attacked the floor, and dry rot had set in. 

 When I put my foot on the floor, it went below ; as also 

 did three of the legs of the chair in which I attempted to 

 sit. The roof served little purpose but for the study of 

 astronomy. The house swarmed w ith mosquitoes, and the 

 ' kotokrodu ' in legions had taken up their abode in the 

 missionary's bed-chamber. There were myriads of black 

 ants conveying mud from my walls to make themselves 

 a home in my room. On sweeping the floor by means 

 of a plank placed crossw ise, I removed buckets full of 

 refuse, and in doing so disturbed swarms of beetles, many 

 as big as miniature clock-weights. There were rats 

 galore, and one snake. There was a vampire, which I 

 succeeded in securing ; it measured twelve inches by two. 

 . . . Night came on, but it was made hideous by the un- 

 earthly yells of a pair of jackals. Dropping upon an old 

 bed, which had seen no linen for a long time, I gathered 

 the mosquito curtain around and essayed to sleep. But 

 I had made my calculation without reckoning with the 

 buzz of mosquitoes and the visits of rats. I had thought 

 that the bed was for my use, but a mother of the rodent 

 tribe and her family were there to dispute the point with 

 me. As, however, might and right prevailed, my visitors 

 took their revenge on my under-clothing, and left by the 

 morning little but buttons, and, as the Irishman says, a 

 bundle of holes stitched together." 



Mr. Kemp's book also contains an interesting descrip- 

 tion of the .\shantee country and of many journeys 

 made into the bush, and to the many towns of the Gold 

 Coast, and it abounds with anecdotes of personal ex- 

 perience. All these together go to give us a vivid 

 picture of life in that region, making the book at once 

 interesting to those who need not go there, and highly 

 useful to those who must. 



The main interest of the remarks Mr. Kemp makes 

 on fetish, lies in his bringing forward so prominently the 

 influence of coincidence in supporting the belief in it. 

 The series of stories and the accounts of charms given 

 in the pages 100-133 bring this point out very clearly, 

 NO. 1522, VOL. 59] 



and are well worthy of study. And although Mr. 

 Kemp's definition of fetishism is not what one could 

 call sympathetic, in the main it is exceedingly accurate. 



" Unlike the religions of other heathen countries, 

 fetishism is represented by very few idols. It is a most 

 unusual thing to see a pagan adoring a block of wood 

 or stone. No heathen temples adorn the land, no 

 elaborate ritual accompanies the ceremonies, no sacred 

 writings are found in which the traditional beliefs of the 

 ancients might be expressed. The religion, which is one 

 of the lowest forms in existence, consists mainly of 

 superstitious beliefs — largely aided by witchcraft — which 

 have been handed down from generation to generation 

 by a succession of priests, who delude the credulous 

 minds of the people by their fraudulent practices. 

 Fetishism is essentially spirit-worship, but of so debasing 

 and demoralising a type as to be hardly distinguishable 

 from devil-worship. As stated in an earlier chapter, the 

 heathens certainly acknowledge their belief in a Supreme 

 Being, the Creator of all things, with Whom, however, it 

 is quite impossible to hold any communication. They 

 live in constant dread of subordinate deities, who are 

 always prepared to visit with wrath the individual or 

 nation at large. The residences of these beings are known 

 as fetish." 



This last statement is so correct, at any rate for West 

 and South-west .-Vfrica, that the student of this great 

 nature religion called fetishism should constantly bear it 

 in mind, as it will save him from the errors that have 

 arisen from customary use of this word. 



The beautiful series of illustrations in this book also 

 add greatly to its interest and value ; and we sincerely 

 hope before long Mr. Kemp may be induced to give us 

 further information, particularly those confessions of the 

 converted fetish priests. 



We have not left sufficient space to do justice to Mr. 

 MacDonald's book. It is, with the exception of having 

 no index, a most excellent and careful arrangement 

 of material, that in its scattered state is available only 

 to those who have time and opportunity to work in 

 libraries. Mr. MacDonald has devoted much time 

 and care to placing this material at the service of 

 people, who though not having ready access to libraries 

 yet are in touch with the affairs to which authorities like 

 Ellis, Bosnian, and Reindorf refer. In addition to doing 

 this, Mr. MacDonald gives an immense amount of 

 thoroughly useful and practical local information, thereby 

 making this book of his a thing no one dealing with the 

 Gold Coast can dispense with. We wish he had given 

 us more personal comment on affairs there ; but the fact 

 of his position and long residence on the Gold Coast 

 makes us take what he chooses to quote without com- 

 ment from other writers as things proved to be true by 

 his experience. We should like to point out his state- 

 ment on p. 4, where he says the Ivory Coast is "now 

 known as French Guinea." This is not the case entirely. 

 In 1890 the French possessions in West .Africa were, for 

 administrative purposes, divided into .Senegal, the French 

 Sudan, French Guinea with Dahomey. But the term 

 French Guinea is customarily restricted to the Fouta 

 Djallon region, and the region Mr. MacDonald refers to 

 is still known as the Cote d'lvoire. Mr. .MacDonald's 

 observations on the Kru tribes are also slightly mis- 

 leading. It is a matter of regret that so many white 

 men, with so many opportunities of studying these 

 interesting tribes, do not do so ; confining themselves to 



