288 
THE WESTERN COAST. 
superintended the infant colony till his arrival, 
founded another at the foot of the mountains, 
nearer Acra, where the soil was extremely fertile, 
but where the wet and dry seasons were not so 
distinct as at Aquapim. The sister of this gentle- 
man, with that humanity which distinguishes the 
softer sex, accompanied her brother to Aquapim, 
for the purpose of instructing the natives in needle- 
work, cotton-spinning, and other branches of fe- 
male industry. 
The district of Acra, which contains Aquapim, 
is subject to the king of Aquamboe, whose mari- 
time territory is very inconsiderable, though one 
of the most powerful princes on the coast of Gui- 
nea. The Aquamboans are a bold martial race of 
men, and, like the other Coromantyn negroes, as 
the natives of the Gold Coast are denominated, 
extremely addicted to war, in which, from the fluc- 
tuating nature of their government, they are con- 
tinually engaged. Their chief exercises unlimited 
despotism, and hence the proverbial saying on the 
coast, that at Aquamboe, there are only two classes 
of men, the royal family and the slaves. The 
Aquamboans are formidable to all their neigh- 
bours, though frequently engaged in intestine dis- 
sensions. The Acranese formerly composed an in- 
dependent state, but were conquered by the Aquam- 
boans in 1680, when the greater part of the na- 
tion, with their king, emigrated to Little Popo. 
