MONTHLY.  tx> 
Vol.  XV.] 
INDUSTRIES  OF  THE  COLO  < OAST. 
ONSIDERABIjE  attention  is 
now  being  paid  to  the  plan- 
tations of  coffee  and  cocoa  at 
the  Gold  Coast,  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  which,  but  more 
especially  the  former,  the 
natives  appear  to  have  become 
interested.  Along  the  road 
leading  from  the  botanical  station  through  the 
CDuntry  of  iVkwapin  to  the  interior,  are  large  numbers 
of  small  clearings  in  which  coffee  plants  chiefly  ob- 
tained by  purchase  from  the  botanical  station,  are 
to  be  seen  in  the  most  flourishing  condition.  The 
Liberian  coffee  plant  appears  to  thrive  best,  but 
there  are  large  quantities  also  of  the  Arabian  coffee 
plant,  the  berry  of  which,  however,  is  small  and, 
apparently,  deteriorated.  The  Colonial  Secretary,  at 
Accra,  says  in  his  last  report  that  it  will  probably 
be  necessary  for  the  Government  at  no  distant  date, 
if  the  coffee  industry  is  to  be  fostered,  to  instruct 
the  native  cultivators  in  the  proper  way  of  preparing 
the  berry  for  export.  At  present  the  most  primitive 
methods  are  employed.  The  berries  are  scraped,  by 
hand,  with  a round  stone  worked  in  the  hollow  of 
a large  stone,  and  after  this  jprocess  they  are  washed 
and  dried  in  the  sun.  It  is  obvious  that  a large 
crop  could  not  be  so  dealt  with,  and  that  the  em- 
ployment of  machinery  in  the  near  future  is  im- 
perative. The  initiative  will  have  to  be  taken  by 
the  Government  because  of  the  general  ignorance 
on  the  part  of  the  natives  of  all  machinery  even  of 
the  simplest  character,  and  because  no  single  native 
cultivator  possesses  sufficient  capital,-  enterprise,  or 
experience  to  take  the  matter  in  hand.  The  only 
manufactures  carried  on  by  the  natives  are  manu- 
factures which  the  necessaries  of  life  have  driven 
them  to  undertake.  The  most  important  is  the 
manufacture  of  earthenware  pots  of  various  sizes, 
ranging  from  a capacity  of  four  to  twelve  gallons, 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  and  storing  water  for 
drinking  aiid  household  purposes.  These  pots  are 
[No.  4. 
made  principally  in  the  country  of  Shai,  which  lies 
behind  the  trade  port  of  Pram  Pram,  where  the 
ebay  is  admirably  adapted  for  the  purpose.  The  pots, 
which  in  shape  are  exactly  similar  to  the  English 
glass  bowls  used  by  dealers  in  gold  fish,  are  moulded 
by  hand  and  shaped  by  eye.  They  are  baked  in  the 
first  instance,  and  are  then  subjected  to  a slow  wood 
fire  for  three  days,  when  if  the  latter  and  important 
process  has  been  properly  carried  out  the  pots  come 
out  black  and  hard.  Before  the  pots  have  cooled 
each  is  polished  by  hand,  and  for  this  purpose  the 
covering  of  the  palm  kernel  is  used.  This  tlu’eady 
covering  is  heated-  over  the  fire  in  which  the  pots 
have  been  baked,  and  is  then  taken  in  the  palm  of 
the  hand  and  rubbed  over  the  outside  of  the  pots. 
It  acts  as  a varnish  and  imparts  to  the  pots  a 
brilliancy  which  may  best  be  compared  to  a well 
polished  fire-grate.  The  pots  are  then  packed  longi- 
tudinally in  crates  made  especially  for  the  purpose 
and  adapted  to  conveyance  as  a head  load,  and  are 
carried  to  the  markets  where  there  is  a ready  sale 
for  them.  The  market  prices  for  these  pots  ranges 
between  one  shilling  and  sixpence  and  three  shil- 
lings and  sixpence  each,  according  to  size.  The 
drying  of  fish  is  also  a staple  industry  of  the  country. 
All  the  large  sized  sea  fish  caught  by  the  coast 
fishermen  are  split  open  and  cleaned.  They  are 
then  closed  and  kept  in  salt  water  for  three  days 
until  they  begin  to  get  putrid — which  condition 
affords  the  flavour  dear  to  the  natives' — when  they 
are  again  opened  and  covered  with  salt,  to  prevent 
the  presence  of  flies  and  other  insects.  They  are 
then  sun-dried,  and  become  ready  for  food.  The 
herring,  which  is  a common  sea  fish  on  the  West 
Coast  of  Africa,  is  treated  differently.  It  is  not 
subjected  to  the  cleaning  process,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  bigger  fish,  but  is  quickly  roasted  in  clay-made 
ovens,  and  then  smoked  over  an  open  fire,  which  is 
arranged  on  a shallow  pit,  about  one  foot  in  depth. 
Fish  are  also  salted  into  barrels.  These  especially 
prepared  fish  are  carried  to  the  markets  throughout 
the  country,  and  form  a recognised  article  of  native 
diet.  Their  presence  is  soon  made  apparent,  espe- 
cially in  the  case  of  the  stm-flried  fiah,  by  theJpuU’i^ 
COLOMBO  OCT.  ist,  1895. 
