Akkrah and Adampe, Gold Coast, Africa. 127 



The week consists of seven days, which are separately distinguish- 

 ed by appropriate cognomens, apparently corresponding to the num- 

 ber of days comprehended in the European calendars, and which 

 may also be rendered as follows : — 



Sunday 



Haughbah 



Monday 



Dim. 



Tuesday 



Dhu-foh. 



Wednesday 



Shau. 



Thursday 



So. 



Friday 



So-ah. 



Saturday 



Hau. 



Two of these days may be considered as sacred, viz. : — Dhu-foh, 

 dedicated to the propitiation of Ni and the River Sakkoom, the 

 great national fetish of Akkrah ; and Haughbah, devoted to the mys- 

 terious rites of Oeyardo, the dreaded patroness of all married women. 

 It is a remarkable fact, when taken in connection with their reli- 

 gious duties, that, on the first of these days (Dhu-foh), no fisherman 

 dare venture to launch his canoe upon the ocean's surface to gain his 

 precarious livelihood, but guardedly abstains from those piscatory pur- 

 suits which might betray him or his family into the infringement of 

 the superstitious mandates so solemnly enunciated by the priests and 

 fetishmen. Similar stringent precautions are equally enjoined on the 

 second (Haughbah) ; and though of a somewhat different character, 

 are made compulsory on all ranks and sexes, but more exclusively to 

 that of the female. Under the supposition that some malign potency 

 pervades the surrounding country on this day, more particularly directed 

 against the pregnant women, their daily avocations are restricted within 

 the walls of their domiciles, no egress being tolerated either for the 

 purposes of travelling or other exterior occupations. Not many people 

 therefore presume to violate these injunctions by issuing forth early in 

 the forenoon, and none resort to their familiar haunts in the markets 

 or public thoroughfares, until the prohibition has been withdrawn by 

 the well-known sign of a declining sun. In some respects So-ah may 

 likewise be appended to the two previous days, owing to its being con- 

 secrated to Kaule or the salt-pond fetish, which is one held in much 

 less estimation, and therefore, is not entitled to the same amount of 

 deference or veneration awarded to the others. The celebration of 

 these religious obligations differ more or less as to their day of ful- 

 filment in the various towns where such traditional forms of worship 

 are systematically maintained. 



Currency, fyc. — The currency of the Gold Coast is represented by 

 the Indian cowrie {Cyprcea moneta) a small shell originally exported 

 and carried from the east, and now diffused in vast quantities through- 

 out the contiguous inland kingdoms and other central regions of 



