GOLD. 



Tlip countries be vifitcd duiing his fiiort excurfion in the they are temperate, but very profufe in drinking. Their 

 Interior, arc rejirclcnted as very beautiful, fertile, and po- marriages are encumbered with few ceremonies, and without 

 pu'ons ; they aiv, in general, >voudy, but, neverthelels. 



more htalthy than the ihores ; they are agreeably inter 

 minsiled with mountains, vallies, and hills. Trefti Arater, 

 which is fcarce and bad on the ccall, ia here cxcellint and 

 abundant. About live miles from Cliriftiaubiir;^- lu-rt ob- 

 lerved a chain of mountains covered with tall trees, and 

 compofjd of large grained graiiite, of gueifs, and of 

 quartz 



anv previous courtfhip ; and they are as cafily diflblved as 

 contracted. Polygamy is allowed among them; and tiio 

 women are generally doomed to the moft laborious ofnces; 

 they are obliged to cultivate the ground, fow millet, plant 

 yams, and provide fubliftence for the hufband, who is idly 

 fpcnding his time in gofilping, drinking, and fmonking. 

 Tiie rich, however, have two wives, who are exempted from 

 labo\ir and all fervile employments; and to them tlie 



rhe native negroes of the Gold Coail are in general tall, management of the houfe is intruded, and a fort of autho 



ftraight, and well-proportioned, v.ith oval faces, fparkling 

 eves, regular, wliite teeth, mouths of a moderate iize, and 

 lips tinged with a better colour and thinner than thofe of the 

 Hegroes of Angola. As to the qualities of the mind, they 

 have a quick apprehenlion and ready memorj', accompanied 

 with an allonilhing prei'ence of mind, and equanimity ; but they 

 are generally fo indolent that mere ueceffity puts them upon 

 exerting the faculties they polfefs. In general, they are 

 crafty, fraudulent, and treacherous ; thieves, gluttons, and 

 drunkards, and equally incontinent and covetous. When 



rity over all the other women is committed. It is laid to 

 be no uncommon expedient among Negroes to marry, iu 

 order to obtain a livelihood by the proftitution of their 

 wives. As the wealth of the Negroes confills chiefly in 

 the number of their family, they are anxious for multiply- 

 ing their children ; and a pregnant woman is treated with 

 great tendernefs and refpeit. A child, as foon as it fees 

 the hght, is confecrated by the prieft, and has three names 

 given to it Circumcifion, it is faid, though praftifed in 

 other parts of Africa, is hardly known on the Gold Coaft, 



they obtain a vifiory over their enemies, they return home except at Acra, where it is performed at the time of bap 



dancing and iinging, and when defeated do the fame round 

 the crraves of their friends and fc-Uow-foldiers. Alike inlen- 

 iible of grief or jov, they ling till they die, and dance into 

 ihe grave. The women are proportionably handfomer than 

 the men, ftr&ight, (lender, and well-limbed; their chefts 

 high, their mouths fmall, and their eyes indicating vivacity except at Acra. 

 afld fpirit. They are quick, cheerful, and loquacious ; gay cobar, Anta, and 

 in their difpofition, and loofe in their principles as to gal- 

 lantry, but temperate in their diet. When the men and 

 women overcome their natural indolence, they are laborious, 

 induftrious,' and ingenious; and apply with aftivity and 



tifm or confecration. Befides their lawful wives, the Ne- 

 groes often keep concubines, who are preferred to their wives, 

 and more tenderly treated; neverthekfs their children are 

 reckoned illegitimate. But legitimate children never inhe- 

 rit any paternal fortune, in any kingdom on the GoldCoall, 



In the countries of Eguira, Axim, An. 



Adorn, there are certain women who 

 never marry, but are dedicated by profeffion to the publiv; 

 ufe, and initiated in their vocation in a formal manner. 

 Among the Negroes there is a variety of mechanical arts, 

 in which thev are expert ; fucli as the making of wooden and 



diligence to agriculture or lilhing , fo far as they are excited earthen vclfels anci plates, chair-mat ting", copper ointir.ent 



by poverty or avarice. Their drefs is various according to boxes, bracelets, necklaces, rings, and ear-rings of gold, 



their rank and circumftanccs ; but the rage of drefs is chiefly filver, or ivorN" ; and alio all forts of weapons and inftrun ents 



prevalent among the women, who are fond of adorning all of war. Their tool.', which are rude and fnnple, conliil only 



parts of their bodies with gold, coral, and ivory trinkets ; of a flone for an anvil, a pair of tongs, a pair of bcUiiWS, a 



and this rage they derived from the Portugueie and Dutch, file, a faw, and a hammer. They can linifli with extraordinary 



as before their arrival men and women went na!:ed to the age exaitnefs ileel-wirc. and materials of gold, brafs, and cop- 



.of maturity. They are fond of frequent ablutions, and per. In building canoes, which are of various fizes, from 



being accuftomed to the ufe of water, they are excellent 30 to 14 feet in Icngih, and three or four feet in brcadl)i» 



fwimmers and divers from their youth. Befide the natural the Negroes are very ingenious, and they are no leis dex- 



inhabitants of the Gold Coa'i, there is a great number of trous in the ufe of them. Vvith regard to the bufbandry of 



Mulattoes, a mixed -progeny, ariliiig from the commerce of 

 Europeans- with the black women. This fpurious race forms 

 gangs of thieves and plunderers, void of decency, honour, 

 honelly, or principle in their dealings with each other, with 

 ihe Negroes, or the Euro])eans. Thefe call thcmfelves 



the Negroes, they fow in the rainy feafon, the foil at other 

 times being unmanageably hard: and they luiapt their 

 ground to the nature of the grain ; fowing maize, in elevated 

 and dry fituations, and rice or millet in low marlhy lands, 

 fubjeft to inundations. The natives of the coaif, tinding it 

 Chriftians, although they are the groITeft of all idolaters, eafy to difpofe of all their grain, have eftabliflitd corn mar- 

 and moft of their women proftitute their bodies publicly to kets in every village, and the price of grain, in gold-duil:, 

 Europeans, and privately to the Negroes. The towns and cowries, &c. is rated by certain officers of police, appointed by 



villages of this coail confift of a multitude of little huts or 

 cabins, difperfed in groups, without order or defign, and 

 communicating with each other by narrow crooked roads, 

 which terminate in the centre of the town or market place. 

 It is obfervable that the further you remove from the fca- 

 coail, the more civilized do the natives appear, at leafl fo 

 far as relates to their mode of building and of living. The 

 common food of the Negroes, in this part of Africa, is a 

 pot of millet boiled to the conliftence of bread, yams, and 



the king. Hither the men and women meet from conlidcruble 

 diftances, bearing heavy burdens ; and the women efpecially 

 fubmit to great labour and fatigue in this way, that they 

 may exchange their heavy loads for European commodities, 

 fuch as looking-glaiTes, bracelets, ear-rings, glafs-beads, and 

 other female trinkets, fuited to their taile for dreis and 

 finery. The markets are exempted from all duties and 

 impoits. Befides thefe frequent markets, they have alio 

 fairs twice a year for European wares. All the diver- 



potatoes, over vviuch they pour fome palm-oil, and garnifh lions among the Negroes coniift of dances, to which they 



the (lifti with herbs and putrid filTi. This is their mei's on are exceffively addifted, mufic, and mock combats, which 



common days ; and on holidays they feafl upon beef, nnit- often terminate tragically. The principal mufical initru- 



ton, and'fowls. They begin the day with drinki:ig brandy, ments among the Negroes are horns, made of ivory, trum- 



and conclude the ea-ening with palm-wine, mirth, riot, and pets, drums of different fizes, and a kind of harp, with lis 



"tobacco, of .whicK they are extravagantly fond. In eating or eight ftrings. 



7 The 



