848 



WESTERN AFRICA. 



a fine forest. The figure is oblong, and tlie circumference between tnree and four miles ; t'ne 

 principal streets are very long and wide. The walls of the houses are formed of stakes and 

 wattle-work, filled up and coated with clay. They have gable-ends, and thick poles support 

 a frame of bamboo, over which interwoven palm-leaves are placed for thatch. In general, 

 :hey have only one floor, and, where they have two, the lower part is divided by a wall, to 

 support the rafters for the upper room, which are usually covered with a frame-work thickly 

 stuccoed with ochre. The doors consist of an entire piece of wood, cut with great labor out 

 of the stems or buttresses of the cotton tree ; and the windows are open wood-work, carved 

 in fanciful figures and intricate patterns, and painted red. " The palace (says Mr. Bov/ditch) 

 is an immense building, of a variety of oblong courts and regular squares, the former with 

 arcades along one side, some of round arches symmetrically turned, having a skeleton of 

 bamboo ; the entablatures exuberantly adorned with bold fan and trellis work of Egyptian 

 character. They have a suite of rooms over them, with small windows of wooden lattice, of 

 intricate but regular carved work; and some have frames cased with thin gold. The squares 

 have a large apartment on eaoh side, open in front, with two supporting pillars ;" and this kind 

 of proscenium is a mark of distinction ; for none but military officers, beside the king, 

 are permitted to build in this mode. Chairs and stools embossed with gold, and beds of silk, 

 are among the articles of royal furniture. The population of the capital is about 15,000. 



The Ashantees appear to be the most powert'ul, commercial, and warlike of all the tribes 

 of Western Africa ; yet, until the beginning of the present century they were not known, even 

 by name, to the Europeans. Since that period they have been visited by travelers from the 

 coast. They have recently carried on hostilities against the British with remarkable success, 

 and in 1823, they defeated, and totally destroyed a British army under Sir Charles McCarthy, 

 the governor of the colony at Cape Coast Castle. 



The kingdom of Dahomey lies to the east of Ashantee, and is bounded south by the gulf 

 of Guinea. The soil is fertile, producing maize, millet, grain, potatoes, plantains, oranges, 

 citrons, and other tropical fruits, with indigo, cotton, sugar, tobacco, and spices. The wind 

 called harmallan, blows in this country for three months in the year ; rains and hurricanes are 

 periodical. The inhabitants have some skill in manufactures. They make good cloth, and 

 dye it of various colors. Their smith work is quite respectable ; they use a bellows formed 

 of two goat skins, with a musket-barrel for a pipe ; a stone is used for an anvil, and a round 

 iron bar, a foot in length, for a hammer. With these tools they manufacture spears, cutlasses, 

 and other weapons, carpenters' tools, bracelets, rings, &c. Cowries are used for money, and 

 the king maintains a considerable standing army. 



Loango was formerly a dependency upon that of Congo. The people are industrious, and 

 not only occupy themselves in various arts, but engage also in commercial pursuits. The 

 climate is remarkably warm, and a long, dry season regularly follows a long continuance of 

 rain. The cocoa and banana thrive beside the more common fruit-trees ; and the cotton plant 

 and sugar-cane are cultivated with success. 



Congo is bounded on the north by Loango, on the south by Angola, and on the east by the 

 territory of the Giagas. The climate is extremely hot in summer ; but the winters are as 

 mild as the finest springs of Italy. The wild animals are elephants, lions, leopards, panthers, 

 wolves, zebras, buffaloes, &c. The country is likewise infested with a variety of serpents, 

 some of which are of a monstrous length and thickness; with rattlesnakes, vipers, scorpions, 

 and venomous insects of various kinds, both flying and reptile. Among the insects the most 

 wonderful are the termites, or white ants, which construct works in the most ingenious man- 

 ner and apparently in a scientific form, and compose an orderly and well-regulated commu- 

 nity. Their earthen structures are sometimes raised to the height of seven or eight feet, and 

 appear like the huts of the natives. These litde creatures not only destroy the fruits of the 

 earth, but in the night surround beasts, and sometimes men, in prodigious swarms, and devour 

 them in a few hours, leaving only the bones. This country was discovered, in 1487, by the 

 Portuguese, who formed settlements on the coast, and endeavored, but not with effective suc- 

 cess, to convert the natives to Christianity. 



To the southward of Congo is the kingdom of Angola, which used to supply the French 

 and other dealers in slaves with multitudes of those wretched and degraded beings, and still 

 furnishes the Spaniards and Portuguese with a considerable number, as those nations continue 

 the abominable traffic, in defiance of the general voice of Europe. In Loanda, which is the 

 chief town, the Portuguese have a settlement, which is the great mart of slaves. 



