A Voyage Round the World, Vol. I (of ?) by James Holman

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The Ashantees lost in this engagement the whole of their camp baggage,
including a great quantity of gold. Towards the evening a number of
prisoners were made, for our allies, tired of slaughter, contented
themselves with making as many prisoners as they could for slaves. They
were supposed altogether to have lost 5000 men, amongst whom were most
of the principal chiefs, and the King himself was wounded. One of his
wives (to whom Mr. Bannerman introduced me at Accra) and a female child
were taken prisoners. Our loss was comparatively trifling, not
amounting to more than 800 killed, and 1600 wounded. Colonel Purden
received a contusion on the higher part of his right leg, from a spent
shot, and Mr. Richter received a shot through one of his thighs.
Amongst the deaths, there were three native chiefs, who commanded in
our lines.

Soon after the battle, some of the Annamaboe people brought several
heads of Ashantees whom they had slain to Captain Hutchison, as a proof
of their personal courage, and individual prowess. Some of these heads
were recognised by Captain Hutchison as belonging to natives who had
been known to him. Amongst the spoils one head was found by the Aquapim
chief, which excited curiosity, by the care with which it was enclosed
in wrappers, and Captain Hutchison desired that the covering should be
removed. On taking off the first wrapper, they found the second to be a
fine parchment, inscribed with Arabic characters; beneath this was a
final envelope of tiger's skin, the well known emblem of royalty among
the Ashantees. The evident pains which had been taken in the
preservation of this head, satisfied all the by-standers that it was
the head of Sir Charles McCarthy, to which it was generally understood
regal honours had been paid by the natives. The gratification which
this discovery gave to our countrymen may be easily conceived, and they
lost no time in sending the head to England, together with the first
account of the battle of Dodowah. The head, however, had scarcely been
forwarded to its destination, when some prisoners who had been taken in
the action, made the disagreeable disclosure that the head belonged,
not to Sir Charles McCarthy, but to the late King, Osay Tootoo Quamina,
and that it had been taken into the battle in conformity with the
prevailing usage of the people. The effects of this information though
painful were ludicrous enough. The head of the Ashantee King had found
its way to England as an accredited relique of the lamented Sir Charles
McCarthy, and was the first remains of an Ashantee that had ever,
perhaps, received the solemn rite of Christian burial; while, on the
other hand, the head of Sir Charles McCarthy, had been deposited with
all the rude pomp of their heathen ceremonials in a Pagan cemetery.
However disappointed the friends and countrymen of Sir Charles McCarthy
must feel at the discovery of this strange interchange of reliques, the
Ashantees are still more mortified at a circumstance which has robbed
their royal catacombs of one of its mementos, and broken the line of
death's heads by which the chronology of the throne is perpetuated.
They are quite ashamed of the occurrence, and greatly annoyed whenever
it is alluded to; more particularly as the Fantees, their immediate
enemies, take every opportunity of reproaching them with a loss which
they consider to be a disgrace.

Connected with this subject is the Ashantee mode of fighting, a
description of which will serve to illustrate the previous details. In
the first place, we must suppose them to be encamped, with the
intention of advancing to attack their enemy. They commence their
operations by cutting a number of footpaths for a single person only to
make his way through the bush; these paths are cut parallel,
equi-distant, and just within hearing. By these numerous paths they all
advance in Indian file, until they arrive in front of the enemy, when
they form in line, as well as circumstances will admit. Their arms and
accoutrements consist of a musket without a bayonet, the lock of which
is covered with a piece of leopard's or some other skin to protect it
from the weather, a pouch tied round their waist containing the powder,
in about twenty or thirty small boxes of light wood, each having a
single charge; a small bag of loose powder hanging down on the left
side; and in addition to this a keg or barrel of powder is carried for
each party to replenish from when required. Their shot is langrage,
composed of pieces of iron, lead, ironstone (broken in small pieces),
&c. &c., and is carried loosely in a bag. The last of these materials
is most generally used, as it is procured with facility, being found
lying in great quantities on the surface of the earth. They load their
muskets with a large charge of both powder and shot. In their buckskin
belts they carry from six to twenty knives of various lengths, together
with a cutlass or bill-hook, the former for cutting off heads, and the
latter for clearing their way through the underwood. On arriving near
the enemy, they cut a path transversely in front of those before
mentioned, in which path they form their line, within twenty or thirty
paces of the enemy, having a little brushwood in front for their
protection. They then immediately commence firing through the
intermediate bush. So soon as one of either party observes an opponent
fall, he rushes forward and seizes him by the throat, when with great
dexterity he separates the head from the body by means of one of his
knives, and runs off with it to lay it at the feet of his captain.
After the action is over, the captain collects all the heads that he
has received, puts them into bowls, and causes them to be presented to
the chief of the army.

I cannot take leave of this subject, or of the scenes to which it
relates, without reverting to the name of Captain Hutchison, a sharer
in the dangers and the glories of the war, and one to whom I am
indebted for many valuable particulars, and for an anxious and steady
friendship, upon which I shall always look back with satisfaction and
gratitude. Very lately--indeed while these memoirs have been in
preparation for the press--the painful intelligence of his death has
reached me. I had been favoured by a visit from him since his return to
England, after an absence of seventeen years in Africa, and anticipated
shortly to have had that gratification renewed, looking forward to our
meeting with something like the anticipations of a veteran, who hopes,
in the society of some ancient and well-beloved comrade, "to fight his
battles o'er again!" But these pleasurable dreams of life are not at
our own disposal, and we must submit to the will of that Power in whose
hands are the agencies of all the elements, of which man is but a
perishable compound. My acquaintance with Captain Hutchison commenced
under circumstances which cannot easily be obliterated from my memory,
and ripened into friendship almost unconsciously. I speak of him as I
knew him, and even my partiality, heightened by my regret, cannot much
exaggerate his merits. He was a brave officer, and an intelligent
gentleman. His mind was practical, prompt, and energetic; and he united
to the qualities of a strict disciplinarian, all the kind feelings that
embellish the character of social benevolence. Peace to his ashes, and
honour to his name!

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[21] From the colour of his skin.

[22] From "Coom," to kill, and "assie," under, meaning under the large
Banian, or Indian fig-tree, that stands in the market-place, opposite
to the palace.

[23] This was a very splendid tent that had been presented to him some
years before by the Dutch Governor, General Daendals.

[24] This extraordinary woman, who displayed unexampled energy
throughout the whole of this war, was about five feet three inches
in height, and was distinguished by an almost infantine character of
face, and a voice low and soft as the tones of a flute. It was thought
that she habituated herself to that style of speaking to conceal her
really masculine nature, and to interest her audience. Her voice,
notwithstanding its sweet inflections, was broken, or "cracked," as
singers term it, a circumstance occasioned, perhaps, by the constant
use she made of it, for she was not a little remarkable for that
volubility which a rude jest attributes to her sex in general. She was
a very successful beggar, too, amongst the rest of her accomplishments,
for munition and strong drink. Just before the battle of Dodowah
commenced, she passed along the ranks, encouraging her people with an
appropriate harangue, and waving at the same time a gold-hilted sword
in one hand, and an elephant's tail (the emblem of royalty), in the
other, with a necklace, well adapted for the occasion, composed of a
string of musket halls. This heroine said to some of our countrymen,
who called on her the day before the battle, "Osay has driven me from
my country because he thought me weak, but he is mistaken; for,
although I have the form of a woman, I have the heart of a man!" an
observation which her extraordinary prowess in the fight fully
justified. She was to be seen every where in the heat of the battle,
encouraging and exciting her troops; wherever the greatest danger was,
there, too, was the energetic Queen of Akim. Her conduct reminds us of
Queen Bess at Tilbury Fort, and perhaps still more of Boadicea herself.

[25] These are the same people who murdered Governor Meredith about
fourteen years before. For that crime, the English blew up their
fort. They have always acted basely in battle, and are notorious for
gluttony, cruelty, and cowardice. The Ashantees said that if they went
to Winnebah, they could catch the people like swine.

CHAP. VIII.

Embarkation--Departure for Accra--Land Route--Accra Roads-Visit to
Danish Accra--Dilapidations of the Fortresses at Dutch and English
Accra--Captive Queen--Mr. Thomas Park--Cause of his Death unknown--
Departure for Fernando Po--First view of the Island--Anchor in
Maidstone Bay--Early History of the Settlement--Captain Owen's
Expedition--Visited by the Inhabitants--Site for the Settlement
determined--Author's Mission to the King of Baracouta--Visit of
the King--Native Costume--Ecstacy of the Natives--Distribution
of Presents--Second Visit to the King--His Majesty's evasive
Conduct--Renewed Interviews--A Native Thief--Intended Punishment--
Cut-throat, a Native Chief--Visit to King-Cove--Purchase of land

_Friday, Oct. 19_.--When on the point of embarking with Mr. Galler,
the purser of the Eden, we took some refreshment at Mr. Castle's, a
commissariat officer, whom I had the pleasure of unexpectedly meeting
again at New South Wales, and who is one of the few survivors, after
serving some years at Sierra Leone and Cape Coast. Embarking, as well
as landing, at this place, is a matter of some moment, the passengers
and a part of the crew being obliged to get into the boat before they
launch her from the beach; for the surf is occasionally so heavy as to
become exceedingly perilous. Canoes are frequently upset in the attempt
to get off in bad weather, and the purser of a man-of-war was drowned
in this manner a few years before; but the natives, who are like fish
in the water, are indifferent to the danger; all they care about is to
keep the boat from being stove, and to save her appointments. There was
a small lodge of rocks about one hundred yards from the shore, that
would answer for the foundation of a breakwater, which it is calculated
might be effected at the cost of from three to five hundred pounds, and
which certainly would be most desirable for affording protection, and
facility to boats, both on landing and leaving the shore.

_Saturday, Oct. 20th_.--At eight this morning we left Cape Coast Roads
with a fine breeze, for Accra, a distance of sixty miles by sea, and
eighty-five by land. A sketch, of the land route may not be
uninteresting. Four miles eastward of Cape Coast is Moree, and the
Dutch Fort Nassau; six miles from Moree is Annamaboc, the most complete
fortification in the country; five miles from thence Cormantine, the
first fort possessed by the English, and built by them about the middle
of the seventeenth century. It was taken afterwards by the Dutch, and
being stormed, was almost destroyed by the Ashantee army, before it
attacked Annamaboe; the position is very commanding. Tantumquerry, a
small English fort, is about eighteen English miles from Cormantine
(crossing the small river Amissa, an hour's walk inland from which is
Mankasim, the capital of the Braffoe district of Fantee), the natives
call the town Tuam; eight miles from Tantumquerry is the town of Afram,
where there is a Dutch fort, and a small river; eight miles from Afram
is Simpah or Winnebah. The people of Simpah are Fantees, but their
language is called Affoottoo. They are in the district of Agoona. About
nine miles from Simpah is the Dutch fort Berracoe; the natives call the
town Leniah. Attah, of Akim, laid a contribution on this fort in March
1811. About twenty-seven miles from Berracoe is Accra or Inkran, once
subject to Aquamboo, which people, according to Isert, formerly drove
them to Popo.

We had only the Horatio schooner in company, the African steam-vessel,
and Diadem transport, having sailed the preceding evening for Fernando
Po.

_Sunday, 21st_.--At eleven o'clock this forenoon, we anchored in Accra
Roads, where we found His Majesty's ship Esk, Captain Purchass, who
came on board to wait on Captain Owen. I had the pleasure of
accompanying this gentleman on his return, first to his ship and then
to the shore, in a very fine canoe of the country, belonging to Mr.
Bannerman, who is the only English merchant at Accra. This canoe was
fifty feet in length, pulling seventeen paddles, and Mr. B. has had it
raised two feet in the fore part (where the passengers were seated on
chairs), expressly to protect him from the sea in his occasional
voyages to and from Cape Coast Castle.

We found the beach equally bad for landing as at Cape Coast. Some of
the officers of the Eden and Esk, as well as myself, dined with Mr.
Bannerman, and I slept at the house of Captain Fry, who was commandant
of the English fort here, which is in a most ruinous state, and instead
of being _fort_, I should say it was _foible_.

_Monday, 22nd_.--After breakfast, a party of us in two gigs, drawn by
four blacks each, went to Danish Accra, a distance of two miles, and a
very good road. The Danish Governor and all the officers received us
very politely, and invited us to remain and pass the day with them. The
fortress was very clean, and every way apparently in good order. What
is called Danish Accra is merely the fortress, which is the case with
Dutch and English Accra,[26] for there are no Europeans living in
private houses, except Captain Fry and Mr. Bannerman. The fortress of
Dutch Accra is even in a more ruinous state than that of the English,
and is entirely deserted. There is a native town, of course, and in it
are to be found jewellers, who make ornaments of every fashion, out of
the purest gold, brought from the interior. The gold is four pounds per
ounce, and they charge an additional pound for converting it into
necklaces, bracelets, or any other ornaments, of whatever pattern you
may fancy.

Mr. Bannerman invited us to visit one of the King of Ashantee's
favourite wives, who had been made prisoner during the war, with her
daughter and grand-daughter, whom Mr. B. had accommodated with part of
his house, where his own two sisters were living, distant about a
quarter of a mile from the house of business where he resided. They
were apprized of our visit, and were dressed accordingly to receive us.
Mr. Bannerman is himself a gentleman of colour, and a man of education;
he resided a long time in England, and is a sensible, mild, and
gentlemanlike man. He supplies all our men of war, on the African
station, when they call at Accra, with bullocks, vegetables, &c. &c.

Mr. Thomas Park, who left England, as one of the Midshipmen of the
Sybille, but with three years leave of absence from his ship so soon as
she arrived on the coast, ordered by the Admiralty for the express
purpose of travelling in Africa, with the avowed intention of
endeavouring to discover the course, and source of the Niger, was
landed at Accra some time since from that ship, and passed a short time
there in studying some of the languages of the countries through which
he meant to travel. He left Accra to proceed on his journey into the
interior on the 29th of September, 1827, and arrived at Mampong in
Aquapim on the 2nd of October; this he left on the 5th for Acropong,
the chief town of Aquapim, and on the 10th left Acropong, for Aquambo,
a town at the head of the Volta river, where he arrived on the 16th of
October. I heard that he had been kindly treated, so far as he had
penetrated, but at the last mentioned place, he took a fancy to climb a
particular tree, which the natives entreated him to desist from, saying
that it was Fetished,[27] however, he persisted and accomplished his
wish. A few days after this he was taken ill, and as every one knows,
he did not survive to tell his own story: perhaps the precise cause of
his death will ever remain in doubt. This gentleman was a son of the
celebrated Mungo Park, than whom no man was better calculated for such
an enterprise, and whose loss is perhaps more to be regretted than that
of any other African traveller; but I lament to say that from the
moment I heard of his son, an inexperienced young man, undertaking an
enterprise of such magnitude, as that of penetrating alone into the
interior of an unknown country, to solve a problem in the pursuit of
which so many distinguished travellers had failed and fallen, I confess
I never supposed he would live to return: in fact, the project appeared
to me, what is emphatically expressed in the old proverb, "a wild-goose
chase." For where men of maturer judgment and greater experience found
that they could not contend against the superstitions, prejudices, and
artifices of those cunning savages, how was it to be expected that a
youth of nineteen could possibly succeed?

I have heard, that his desire for travelling in Africa, arose from a
romantic notion, that had entered his head when a boy, of seeking for
his father in the interior of that country, to ascertain whether he was
alive and in slavery, or had lost his life by sickness, or violence.
This filial enthusiasm continued to haunt him until a short time before
he left England, when he abandoned the fond hope of recovering his
father, whose death was confirmed by a variety of coincident
circumstances, but still he resolved to persevere in his long-cherished
scheme of visiting the interior of Africa. Impelled, perhaps, by the
name he inherited, and a latent passion to emulate the deeds of his
father, on the same field of action, he embarked in this hazardous and
unfortunate enterprise. But mark the difference of character and
qualifications. The father, a man of mature judgment, whose experience
in the world gave him considerable advantages; was also of an age and
temperament that rendered him less liable to the endemic diseases of
such a climate,[28] while his patience, perseverance, and medical
skill, enabled him to surmount difficulties which a younger man, by his
rashness, would only increase. The son, a young sailor, just entering
life, full of enthusiastic ardour, and, perhaps, of confidence, from
the information he had collected from books, little thinking that
theoretical knowledge is of no avail in comparison with the practical
study of human nature, particularly amongst savage tribes, which time
and experience alone can give, was, of all persons, the worst qualified
for such an undertaking. He possessed no knowledge whatever of the
country, or the people, and had not a single individual to hold council
with, amongst a variety of savage nations, where he would,
occasionally, meet with some of the most cunning and intriguing people
in the world. I, of course, allude to the Arabs; who alone possess any
influence, or can be supposed to be secure amongst the Africans of the
interior, cut off, as they are, from all European nations on the
coast:--the Mahommedan religion is the only one that is generally
known, and the only written one amongst these people, the rest being
mere superstitious forms and customs: which, however, do not vary, in
any great degree, in the whole country. The Arabs are very jealous of
the ascendancy they possess over the various nations of the continent
of Africa, and studiously endeavour to prevent strangers from
traversing the interior, from the fear of losing the influence they
have acquired over this poor, ignorant, and superstitious people.

It appears singular, that there should have been no rain at Accra,
where their crops were failing for the want of it, although it rained
every day at Cape Coast. There were several heaps of shells on the
beach at Accra, principally consisting of the common cowrie, and the
large muscle. They had been collected for the purpose of undergoing the
process of calcination. In the absence of limestone, they are used as a
substitute, and are considered to produce a finer and stronger lime.

About sun-set we embarked in the same large canoe from which I landed,
and immediately after our arrival on board, the Eden got under weigh,
when we shaped our course for our ultimate destination, the Island of
Fernando Po, a distance of 530 miles, bearing about E. by S. 1/4 S.
while H.M.S. Esk, left Accra roads for Cape Coast.

_Friday, 26th_.--After a four days' passage across the Gulf of Guinea,
at seven o'clock this morning, we saw the island of Fernando Po,
bearing S.E. This island can be seen from a considerable distance,
being distinguished by some very high peaks. At four in the afternoon,
the wind fell away nearly to a calm, when we found ourselves close in
with the land, and a current carrying us still closer; however,
fortunately, a light breeze sprung up, when we were glad to stand off
for the night. On the following morning (_Saturday, 27th_) we made
towards the land, sailing along the coast, which presented the most
picturesque, scenery that could well be imagined, until we anchored in
Maidstone Bay, at half past three in the afternoon, 12 fathoms
water--black mud.

[Illustration: ISLAND OF FERNANDO PO]

The island of Fernando Po, situated off the western coast of Africa, in
the Gulf or Bight of Biafra, between 3 deg. and 4 deg. N. latitude, and
8 deg. and 9 deg. E. longitude, is about one hundred and twenty miles
in circumference. It is generally believed to have been discovered in
the year 1471, by a Portuguese navigator, who gave it the name of Ilha
Formosa, or the Beautiful Isle, afterwards changed for that of its
discoverer, which it now retains. The Portuguese first established a
settlement upon it which they, however, abandoned, and subsequently
transferred the right of possession to Spain, receiving in exchange the
Island of Trinidad, off the coast of Brazil.

In the year 1764, a new settlement was founded by Spain, which, after a
lapse of eighteen years, was also abandoned, for causes which have not
been satisfactorily explained, although it is generally believed that a
series of misunderstandings with the natives took place, which
principally produced that result.[29]

Since this period the island has been left to its native inhabitants,
excepting that various European, and particularly English vessels, have
occasionally touched at it for the purpose of procuring water and yams;
the latter of which it grows the finest in the world, and which the
natives were accustomed to barter for pieces of iron.

At length, a variety of considerations determined the British
Government to attempt a new settlement on this island; these it may be
proper briefly to state.

In the first place, the convenient situation of the island, at the
distance of only twenty miles from the main-land of Africa, and in the
immediate neighbourhood of the mouths of the many large rivers which
pour their waters into the Gulf of Biafra, appeared to afford a most
eligible point for checking the slave-trade, of which this position may
be considered the very centre.

Secondly, it, was imagined,--and the consideration reflects the highest
honour on the humanity of our Government,--that the adoption of the
measure would tend materially to diminish the sufferings of the
miserable objects of human traffic--the unfortunate slaves--who too
frequently sank under the confinement and disease incidental to a
protracted voyage to Sierra Leone, before their liberation could be
legally accomplished.

In the third place, it was hoped that the greater salubrity of the new
colony would lead to the eventual abandonment of the settlements of
Sierra Leone and Cape Coast Castle, the direful effects of whose
climates upon European life have long been proverbial. The Insular
position of Fernando Po, and the nature of its climate and localities,
appeared to offer an earnest that it would not abound with those,
destructive malaria which have proved, on the neighbouring continent,
so fatal to our brave countrymen.

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