diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/54400-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/54400-0.txt | 11489 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 11489 deletions
diff --git a/old/54400-0.txt b/old/54400-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9477c1f..0000000 --- a/old/54400-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,11489 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alone in West Africa, by Mary Gaunt - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Alone in West Africa - Illustrated - -Author: Mary Gaunt - -Release Date: March 21, 2017 [EBook #54400] -Last Updated: March 12, 2018 - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALONE IN WEST AFRICA *** - - - - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - - - - - - - - -ALONE IN WEST AFRICA - -By Mary Gaunt - -Author Of “The Uncounted Cost,” Etc. - -Charles Scribner's Sons London: T. Werner Laurie - -1911 - - - - -DEDICATION - -To those who have helped me I dedicate this record of my travels in West -Africa. Without their help I could have done nothing; it was always most -graciously and kindly given and I know not how to show my appreciation -of it. “Evermore thanks, the exchequer of the poor,” is all I can give -in return, unless some of them will take this book in very inadequate -payment. Sir Charles Lucas, the head of the Colonial Office, gave me -letters of introduction, Elder Dempster and Co. gave me a free passage, -their captains and their officers put themselves out to help me, Sir -George Denton welcomed me to West Africa, and after these comes a long -string of people who each and all contributed so much to my welfare that -I feel myself ungracious not to mention them all by name. I must thank -Messrs Swanzy and Co., who helped me up the Volta and across the unknown -country on the German border, and I were churl indeed if I did not -remember those men and women of another nation, who received me out of -the unknown, fed me, welcomed me, and smoothed my way for me. To each -and all then, with this dedication, I offer my most grateful thanks. - - - - - -ALONE IN WEST AFRICA - - - - -CHAPTER I--SONS OF THE SEA WIFE - -_Hereditary taste for wandering--A first adventure--“Little girls -you must not be tired”--How Carlo was captured by savages in -West Africa--Life in Ballarat--Nothing for a woman to do but -marry--Marriage--Plans for wandering twenty years hence--Life in -Warrnambool--Widowhood--May as well travel now there is nothing -left--London for an aspirant in literature--Stony streets and drizzling -rain--Scanty purse--Visit to the home of a rich African trader--Small -successes--At last, at last on board s.s. Gando bound for the Gambia._ - - “There dwells a wife by the Northern Gate, - - And a wealthy wife is she; - - She breeds a breed o' rovin' men, - - And casts them over sea.” - - -Sometimes when people ask me with wonder why I went to West Africa, why -I wanted to go, I feel as if that wife must have grown old and feeble -and will bear no more men to send across the sea. I hope not. I trust -not. More than ninety years ago she sent my mother's father into the -Honourable East India Co.'s service, and then, in later years with his -ten children to colonise Van Diemen's Land. Nearly sixty years ago she -sent my father, a slim young lad, out to the goldfields in Australia, -and she breathed her spirit over the five boys and two girls who grew -up in the new land. I cannot remember when any one of us would not have -gone anywhere in the world at a moment's notice. It would not have been -any good pointing out the dangers, because dangers at a distance are -only an incentive. There is something in the thought of danger that must -be overcome, that you yourself can help to overcome, that quickens the -blood and gives an added zest to life. - -I can remember as a small girl going with my sister to stay with an -uncle who had a station, Mannerim, behind Geelong. The house had been -built in the old days of slabs with a bark roof, very inflammable -material. I loved the place then because it spoke of the strenuous old -days of the Colony. I love the memory of it now for old times' sake, and -because there happened the first really exciting incident in my life. - -It was a January morning, the sky overcast with smoke and a furious -hot wind blowing from the north. The men of the household looked out -anxiously, but I sat and read a story-book. It was the tale of a boy -named Carlo who was wrecked on the coast of West Africa--nice vague -location; he climbed a cocoa-nut tree--I can see him now with a rope -round his waist and his legs dangling in an impossible attitude--and he -was taken by savages. His further adventures I do not know, because -a man came riding in shouting that the calf paddock was on fire and -everyone must turn out. Everyone did turn out except my aunt who stayed -behind to prepare cool drinks, and those drinks my little sister and I, -as being useless for beating out the flames, were sent to carry to the -workers in jugs and “billies.” - -“Now little girls,” said my aunt who was tenderness and kindness itself, -“remember you are not to get tired.” - -It was the first lesson I really remember in the stern realities of -life. We had hailed the bushfire as something new and exciting; now we -were to be taught that much excitement brings its strenuous hard labour. -The fire did not reach the house, and the men and women got their drink, -but it was two very weary, dirty, smoke-grimed and triumphant little -girls who bathed and went to bed that night. I never finished the -story of Carlo. Where he went to I can't imagine, but I can't think the -savages ate him else his story would never have been written; and from -that moment dated my deep interest in West Africa. - -We grew up and the boys of the family went a-roving to other lands. One -was a soldier, two were sailors, and the two youngest were going to be -lawyers, whereby they might make money and go to the other ends of the -world if they liked. When we were young we generally regarded money as a -means of locomotion. We have hardly got over the habit yet. Only for us -two girls was there no prospect. Our world was bounded by our father's -lawns and the young men who came to see us and made up picnic parties to -the wildest bush round Ballarat for our amusement. It was not bad. Even -now I acknowledge to something of delight to be found in a box-seat of a -four-in-hand, a glorious moonlight night, and four horses going at full -speed; something delightful in scrambles over the ranges and a luncheon -in the shade by a waterhole, with romantic stories for a seasoning, and -the right man with a certain admiration in his eyes to listen. It was -not bad, but it was not as good a life as the boys of the family were -having, and it was giving me no chance of visiting the land Carlo had -gone to that had been in my mind at intervals ever since the days of my -childish bushfire. - -There was really nothing for a woman but to marry, and accordingly we -both married and I forgot in my entrance into that world, which is so -old and yet always so new, my vague longings after savage lands. - -I wonder sometimes would I have been contented to lead the ordinary -woman's life, the life of the woman who looks after her husband and -children. I think so, because it grew to be the life I ardently yearned -for. The wander desire was just pushed a little into the back-ground -and was to come off twenty years hence when we had made our fortune. And -twenty years looked such a long long while then. It even looks a long -time now, for it has not passed, and I seem to have lived a hundred -years and many lives since the days in the little Victorian town of -Warrnambool when my handsome young husband and I planned out our future -life. But I was nearer to Carlo's land than I thought even then, and -if I could have peeped into the future I would only have shrunk with -unspeakable dread from the path I must walk, the path that was to lead -me to the consummation of my childish hopes. In a very few years the -home life I had entered into with such gladness was over, my husband was -dead, and I was penniless, homeless, and alone. Of course I might have -gone back to my father's house, my parents would have welcomed me, -but can any woman go back and take a subordinate position when she has -ruled? I think not; besides it would only have been putting off the evil -day. When my father died, and in the course of nature he must die before -me, there would be but a pittance, and I should have to start out once -more handicapped with the added years. Again, and I think this thought -was latent beneath all the misery and hopelessness that made me say I -did not care what became of me, was I not free, free to wander where I -pleased, to seek those adventures that had held such a glamour for me -in my girlhood. True, I had not much money with which to seek them. When -everything was settled up I found if I stayed quietly in Australia I had -exactly thirty pounds a year to call my own. Thirty pounds a year, and I -reckoned I could make perhaps fifty pounds by my pen. My mother pointed -out to me that if I lived with my parents it would not be so bad. But it -was not to be thought of for a moment. The chance had come, through -seas of trouble, but still it had come, and I would go and see the -great world for myself. I thought I had lived my life, that no sorrow -or gladness could ever touch me keenly again; but I knew, it was in my -blood, that I should like to see strange places and visit unknown lands. -But on thirty pounds a year one can do nothing, so I took a hundred -pounds out of my capital and came to London determined to make money by -my pen in the heart of the world. - -Oh, the hopes of the aspirant for literary fame, and oh, the dreariness -and the weariness of life for a woman poor and unknown in London! I -lodged in two rooms in a dull and stony street. I had no one to speak to -from morning to night, and I wrote and wrote and wrote stories that all -came back to me, and I am bound to say the editors who sent them back -were quite right. They were poor stuff, but how could anyone do good -work who was sick and miserable, cold and lonely, with all the life -crushed out of her by the grey skies and the drizzling rain? I found -London a terrible place in those days; I longed with all my heart for -my own country, my own little home in Warrnambool where the sun shone -always, the roses yellow and pink climbed over the wall, the white -pittosporum blossoms filled the air with their fragrance, and the great -trees stood up tall and straight against the dark-blue sky. I did not go -back to my father, because my pride would not allow me to own myself a -failure and because all the traditions of my family were against giving -in. But I was very near it, very near it indeed. - -Then after six months of hopelessness there came to see me from -Liverpool a friend of one of my sailor brothers, and she, good -Samaritan, suggested I should spend my Christmas with her. - -I went. She and her daughters were rich people and the husband and -father had been an African trader. So here it was again presented to me, -the land to which I had resolved to go when I was a little child, and -everything in the house spoke to me of it. In the garden under a cedar -tree was the great figurehead of an old sailing ship; in the corridor -upstairs was the model of a factory, trees, boats, people, houses all -complete; in the rooms were pictures of the rivers and swamps and the -hulks where trade was carried on. To their owners these possessions were -familiar as household words that meant nothing; to me they reopened a -new world of desire or rather an old desire in a new setting--the vague -was taking concrete form. I determined quite definitely that I would go -to West Africa. The thing that amazed me was that everybody with money -in their pockets was not equally desirous of going there. - -About this time, too, I discovered that it was simply hopeless for me to -think of writing stories about English life. The regular, conventional -life did not appeal to me; I could only write adventure stories, and the -scene of adventure stories was best laid in savage lands. West Africa -was not at all a bad place in which to set them. Its savagery called -me. There and then I started to write stories about it. Looking back, I -smile when I think of the difficulties that lay in my path. Even after -I had carefully read every book of travel I could lay my hands on, I -was still in deepest ignorance, because every traveller left so much -undescribed and told nothing of the thousand and one little trifles -that make ignorant eyes see the life that is so different from that in a -civilised land. But if you will only look for a thing it is astonishing -how you will find it often in the most unlikely places; if you set your -heart on something it is astonishing how often you will get your heart's -desire. I sought for information about West Africa and I found it, not -easily; every story I wrote cost me a world of trouble and research and -anxiety, and I fear me the friends I was beginning to make a world of -trouble too. But they were kind and long-suffering; this man gave me -a little information here, that one there, and I can laugh now when -I think of the scenes that had to be written and rewritten before a -hammock could be taken a couple of miles, before a man could sit down to -his early-morning tea in the bush. It took years to do it, but at last -it was done to some purpose; the book I had written with great effort -caught on, and I had the money for the trip I had planned many years -before when I was a small girl reading about those distant lands. I -hesitated not a moment. The day I had sufficient money to make such -a thing possible I went up to the City to see about a passage to West -Africa. - -And now a wonderful thing happened. Such a piece of good luck as I had -not in my wildest dreams contemplated. Elder Dempster, instigated by the -kind offices of Sir Charles Lucas, the permanent head of the Colonial -Office, who knew how keen was my desire, offered me a ticket along the -Coast, so that I actually had all the money I had earned to put into -land travel, and Mr Laurie, my publisher, fired by my enthusiasm, -commissioned a book about the wonderful old forts that I knew lay -neglected and crumbling to decay all along the shores of the Gold Coast. - -As I look back it seems as if surely the fairy godmother who had omitted -to take my youth in charge was now showering me with good gifts, or -maybe, most probably, the good gifts had been offered all along and I -had never recognised them. We, some of us, drive in a gorgeous coach and -never see anything but the pumpkin. - -At least I was not making that mistake now. I was wild with delight and -excitement when, on a cold November day, when London was wrapped in -fog, I started from Euston for Liverpool. One of the brothers who I had -envied in my youth, a post captain in the Navy now (how the years fly), -happened to be in London and came down to the station to see me and my -heaped impedimenta off. - -He understood my delight in the realisation of my dream. - -“Have you any directions for the disposal of your remains?” he asked -chaffingly, as we groped our way through the London fog. - -“Oh, that will all be settled,” said I, “long before you hear anything -about it”; and we both laughed. We did not think, either of us, my -adventure was going to end disastrously. It would have been against all -the traditions of the family to think any such thing. - -He told me how once he had gone into action with interest because he -wanted to see what it would be like to be under fire, and whether -he would be frightened. He didn't have much time to contemplate the -situation, for presently he was so badly wounded that it took him six -months to crawl off his bed, but it brought him a cross of honour from -Italy. “And now,” says he, with a certain satisfaction, “I know.” So -he sympathised. He felt that whatever happened I would have the -satisfaction of knowing. - -It is hardly necessary to describe to an English reader Liverpool on -a cold, grey morning in November. There is the grey sky and the grey -streets and the grey houses, and the well-to-do shivering in their -wraps, and the poor shivering in their rags, all the colourless English -world, that is not really colourless for those who know how to look at -it, but which had driven me to sunnier lands; and there was the ship -with her wet decks, her busy officers in comforters and sea-boots, her -bare-footed sailors, and her gangways crowded with cargo, baggage, and -numbers of bewildered passengers themselves. - -And I think as we crowded into the smoking-room for warmth I was the -only enthusiastic person among them. The majority of the passengers on -board s.s. _Gando_ actually didn't want to go to West Africa. - -It seems strange, but so it was; the greater part of them, if they -could have afforded to stay at home, would actually have stayed. I was -inclined to be impatient with them. Now I forgive them. They know not -what they do. It is a pity, but it can be remedied. - -The _Gando_ was not a mail boat. I had chosen her because she called -at Dakar, and I thought I would like to go if possible to the first -settlement on the Coast, and I wanted to see how the French did things. -I may say here I never got to Dakar--still it is something to be looked -forward to in the future, to be done when next I write a book that -pays--for on board the _Gando_ was Sir George Denton, the Governor of -the Gambia, surely the nicest governor ever lucky colony had, and for -such an important person the ship went a little out of her way and -called first at Bathurst, port and capital of the Gambia colony. - -Now, I had a letter of introduction to Sir George and I presented it, -and he promptly asked me to come ashore with him. I had never thought -of staying in the Gambia beyond the day or two the ship would take to -discharge her cargo--“a potty little colony,” as I had heard it called, -and it hardly seemed worth while to waste my time in a miniature Thames. -How the Governor laughed when he found out my appalling ignorance, and -how ashamed I was when I found it out! - -“The Thames,” said he; “well, we only hold the mouth of the river about -four hundred miles up, but the Gambia is at least a thousand miles in -extent, and may be longer for all I know.” - -I apologised to the Gambia. - -“But could I see the river?” - -“Why, of course; we'll send you up in the _Mansikillah_, the Government -steamer”; and I accepted his invitation with alacrity and with -gratitude. - -Truly, my fairy godmother was more than waving her wand. I hadn't left -English shores a week, and here was an invitation to go four hundred -miles into the interior of the continent of my dreams. - -We went first to the Canary Islands, the islands of the blest of -the ancients, but the Canaries were as nothing to me; they have been -civilised too long. They were only a stepping-stone to that other land, -the land of romance, that I was nearing at last. - -And now I have an apology to make, an apology which very few people -will understand, but those few will, and to them it is a matter of such -importance that I must make it. I went to see a savage land. I went to -seek material for the only sort of story I can write, and to tell of the -prowess of the men who had gone before and left their traces in great -stone forts all along three hundred miles of coast. I found a savage -land, in some parts a very wild land indeed, but I found what I had -never expected, a land of immense possibilities, a land overflowing with -wealth, a land of corn and wine and oil. I expected swamp and miasma, -heat, fever, and mosquitoes. I found these truly, but I found, too, a -lovely land, an entrancingly lovely land in places; I found gorgeous -nights and divine mornings, and I found that the great interest of West -Africa lay not in the opportunity it gave for vivid descriptions of -heroes who fought and suffered and conquered, or fought and suffered -and died, but in showing its immense value to the English crown in -describing a land where every tropical product may be grown, a land with -a teeming population and a generous soil, a land in fact that, properly -managed, should supply raw material for half the workshops in England, -a land that may be made to give some of its sunlight to keep alight the -fires on English hearths in December, a land that as yet only the wiser -heads amongst us realise the value of. - -“A man comes to West Africa,” said a Swiss to me once, “because he can -make in ten years as much as he could make in thirty in England.” - -That is the land I found, and I apologise if I have ever written or -thought of it in any other way. - -“The White Man's Grave,” say many still. But even the all-powerful white -man must have a grave in the end. Live wisely and discreetly and it is, -I think with wise old Zachary Macauley who ruled Sierra Leone at the end -of the eighteenth century, no more likely to be in West Africa than in -any other place. - -And the ship sailed on, and one morning early, before daylight, we heard -the bell buoy that marks the mouth of the Gambia before lazy eyes can -see there is a river, and knew that we had arrived at our destination. -At last, at last I was on the very threshold of the land I had dreamed -of years before. - - - - -CHAPTER II--THE GROUNDNUT COLONY - -_Rejoicing-, half-eastern and wholly tropical, on arrival of the -Governor--Colonies governed and held as the Romans held their colonies -of Britain--Great g-ulf between the black and the white--The barrier of -sex--Received as a brother but declined as a brother-in-law--Lonely -Fort St James--The strenuous lives led by the men of the past--Crinted -walls--The pilot's wife--Up the river in the Mungo Park--The river -devil's toll--“Pass friend and all's well.”_ - - -When I was a little girl the Queen held something the same place in -my mind as the Almighty. The ruler of the nation hardly had any -personality. She was there, of course, and people talked about her as -conferring great benefits upon us; but so we also talked about God in -church and when we said our prayers at night. As a family, we objected -to saying prayers in the morning. They were not supposed to be necessary -till you had arrived at mature years, say, five, and by then, I suppose, -we had imbibed the idea that we could really take care of ourselves very -well during the day-time. So the Queen, too, was in the same category as -God and Heaven, that distinctly dull place, which was to be the reward -of good works on earth, and His Excellency the Governor took her place -in the minds of all young colonials. Of course, as I grew older, I -realised that the Governor was a man like unto other men, that he could -be talked to like an ordinary man, could ask you to dinner, and even -take a polite interest in your future; but, still, some of the rags of -the childish vagueness and glory clung round him, and so I was quite -pleased to find myself on board a steamer with a real live Governor. -More, I sat next him at table; we discussed the simple commonplace -doings of ship-board life together, and as we arrived at the buoy -I shared in the little fuss and bustle which the landing of such an -exalted personage always makes. And he wasn't really such a very exalted -personage in his own opinion. There was a merry twinkle in his nice -brown eyes as he admitted that his gold-laced coat, made to be worn on -state occasions such as this, was a great deal too hot for the Tropics, -and that its donning must be left to the very last moment; and so I -stood on the flag-dressed deck by myself and watched the land of my -dreams come into view. - -A long, low shore is the Gambia--a jutting point, with palms upon it, -running out into a glassy sea, from which is reflected the glare of the -tropical sun. There was a little denser clump of greenery that marked -the site of Bathurst, the capital; and, as we drew closer, we could see -the roofs of the houses peeping out, bright specks of colour that were -the flags, and the long line of red on the wharf, the soldiers turned -out to welcome the returning Governor. - -This is the only place along that line of surf-bound coast where a ship -may come up to the wharf and land her passengers dry-shod; but, to-day, -because the captain was in a hurry, he dropped us over the side in -boats, and we landed to all the glory of a welcome that was half-eastern -and wholly and emotionally tropical. The principal street of Bathurst, -the only street worth mentioning, runs all along the river-side, with -houses on one side and the wharfs and piers on the other; and the whole -place was thronged with the black inhabitants. The men shouted and -tossed their hats and caps when they had any; and the women, the -mammies, as I learned to call them later, flung their gaily coloured -cloths from their shoulders for their dearly loved Governor to walk -over; and the handful of whites--there are twenty-five English and some -French and Swiss--came forward and solemnly shook hands. He had come -back to them, the man who had ruled over them for the last ten years, -and white and black loved him, and were glad to do him honour. - -In the midst of great rejoicing, a good omen for me, I set my foot on -African shore. I began my journeying, and I looked round to try and -realise what manner of country was this I had come to--what manner of -life I was to be part and parcel of. - -These colonies on the West-African coast are as unlike as possible to -the colony in which I first saw the light, that my people have helped to -build up. I fancy, perhaps, the Roman proconsul and the officials in -his train, who came out to rule over Britain in the first century before -Christ, must have led lives somewhat resembling those of the Britons -who nowadays go out to West Africa. One thing is certain, those Italians -must have grumbled perpetually about the inclemency and unhealthiness of -the climate of these northern isles; they probably had a great deal -to say about the fever and ague that was rife. They were accustomed to -certain luxuries that civilisation had made into necessities, and they -came to a land where all the people were traders and agriculturists of -a most primitive sort. They were exiles in a cold, grey land, and they -felt it bitterly. They came to replenish their purses, and when those -purses were fairly full they returned to their own land gladly. The -position describes three-quarters of the Englishmen in West Africa -to-day; but between the Roman and the savage Piet of Caledonia was -never the gulf, the great gulf, which is fixed between even the educated -African and the white man of whatever nationality. It is no good trying -to hide the fact; between the white man and the black lies not only the -culture and the knowledge of the west--that gulf might, and sometimes is -bridged--but that other great bar, the barrier of sex. Tall, stalwart, -handsome as is many a negro, no white woman may take a black man for -her husband and be respected by her own people; no white man may take a -black girl, though her dark eyes be soft and tender, though her skin -be as satin and her figure like that of the Venus of Milo, and hope to -introduce her among his friends as his wife. Even the missionaries who -preach that the black man is a brother decline emphatically to receive -him as a brother-in-law. And so we get, beginning here in the little -colony of the Gambia, the handful of the ruling race set among a subject -people; so the white man has always ruled the black; so, I think, he -must always rule. It will be a bad day for the white when the black man -rules. That there should be any mingling of the races is unthinkable; so -I hope that the white man will always rule Africa with a strong hand. - -The Gambia is the beginning of the English colonies on the Coast, and, -the pity of it, a very small beginning. - -In the old days, when Charles the Second was king, the English held none -of the banks of the river at all, but contented themselves with a barren -little island about seventeen miles from where Bathurst now stands. -One bank was held by the French, the other by the Portuguese; and the -English built on the island Fort St James to protect their interest in -the great trade in palm oil, slaves, and ivory that came down the river. -Even then the Gambia was rich. It is richer far to-day, but the French -hold the greater part of it. The colony of the Gambia is at the mouth -of the river, twelve miles broad by four hundred long, a narrow strip of -land bordering the mouth of a river set in the heart of the great French -colony of Senegal--a veritable Naboth's vineyard that our friends -the other side of the Channel may well envy us. It brings us in about -£80,000 annually, but to them it would be of incalculable value as an -outlet for the majority of their rich trade. - -At first I hardly thought about these things. I was absorbed in the -wonder of the new life. I stayed at Government House with the Governor, -and was caught up in the little whirl of gaieties that greeted his -return. The house was tropical, with big, lofty, airy rooms and great -wide verandahs that as a rule serve also as passageways to pass from one -room to another; for Government House, Bathurst, is built as a tropical -house should be--must be--built, if the builder have any regard for the -health of its inmates. There were no rooms that the prevailing breeze -could not sweep right through. There was a drawingroom and a dining-room -on the ground floor, but I do not think either Sir George or I, or his -private secretary, ever used the drawing-room unless there were guests -to be entertained. The verandahs were so much more inviting, and my -bedroom was a delightful place. It ran right across the house. There -was no carpet, and, as was only right, only just such furniture as I -absolutely needed. The bed was enclosed in another small mosquito-proof -room of wirenetting, and it was the only thing I did not like about the -house. There, and at that season, perhaps it did not very much matter, -for a strong Harmattan wind, the cool wind of the cold, dry season, was -blowing, and it kept the air behind the stout wire-netting fresh -and clean; but I must here put on record my firm belief that no -inconsiderable number of lives in Africa must be lost owing to some -doctor's prejudice in favour of mosquito-proof netting. A mosquito-proof -netting is very stout indeed, and not only excludes the mosquito, but, -and this far more effectually, the fresh air as well. The man who has -plenty of fresh air, day and night, will be in better health, and far -more likely to resist infection if he does happen to get bitten by a -fever-bearing mosquito, than he who must perforce spend at least a third -of his time in the vitiated air of a mosquito-proof room. This I did not -realise at Government House, Bathurst, or if I did, but dimly, for -there in December the strong Harmattan would have forced its way through -anything. I spent most of my time on the verandah outside my own room, -where I had a view not only of the road that ran to to the centre of -the town but right away across the river. Here I had my breakfast and my -afternoon tea, and here I did all my writing. - -In Africa your own servant takes charge of your room, gets your bath, -and brings you your early-morning tea; and here in Bathurst in this -womanless house my servant was to get my breakfast and my afternoon tea -as well, so the first thing to be done was to look out for a boy. -He appeared in the shape of Ansumanah Grant, a Mohammedan boy of -three-and-twenty, a Vai tribesman, who had been brought up by the -Wesleyan missionaries at Cape Mount in Liberia. When I engaged him he -wore a pink pyjama coat, a pair of moleskin breeches, and red carpet -slippers; and, when this was rectified--at my expense--he appeared in a -white shirt, khaki knicker-bockers, a red cummerbund, and bare feet, and -made a very respectable member of society and a very good servant to me -during the whole of my stay in Africa. - -[Illustration: 0043] - -I always made it a practice to rise early in West Africa, because the -early morning is the most delightful time, and he who stays in bed till -halfpast seven or eight is missing one of the pure delights of life. -When I had had my early breakfast, I went to inspect the town. The -market lies but a stone's throw from Government House, and here all the -natives were to be found, and the white men's servants buying provisions -for the day. To me, before I went to Africa, a negro was a negro, and -I imagined them all of one race. My mind was speedily disabused of that -error. The negro has quite as many nationalities, is quite as distinct -as the European. Here in this little colony was a most cosmopolitan -gathering, for the south and north meet, and Yorubas from Lagos, Gas -from Accra, mongrel Creoles from Sierra Leone meet the Senegalese from -the north, the Hausas from away farther east; and the natives themselves -are the Mohammedan Jolloff, who is an expert river-man, the Mandingo, -and the heathen Jolah, who as yet is low down in the scale of -civilisation, and wears but scanty rags. And all these people were to -be found in the market in the early morning. It is enclosed with a high -wall, the interior is cemented, and gutters made to carry off moisture, -and it is all divided into stalls, and really not at all unlike the -alfresco markets you may see on Saturdays in the poorer quarters of -London. Here they sell meat, most uninviting looking, but few butchers' -shops look inviting; fish--very strange denizens come out of the sea in -the Gambia; native peppers, red and green; any amount of rice, which is -the staple food of the people, and all the tropical fruits, paws-paws, -pine-apples, and dark-green Coast oranges, which are very sweet; -bananas, yellow and pink, and great bunches of green plantains. They are -supposed to sell only on the stalls, for which they pay a small, a very -small rental; but, like true natives, they overflow on to the ground, -and as you walk you must be careful not to tread on neat little piles of -peppers, enamelled iron-ware basins full of native rice, or little heaps -of purple kola-nuts--that great sustaining stimulant of Africa. - -There were about half a dozen white women in Bathurst when I was there, -including one who had ostracised herself by marrying a black man; -but none ever came to the market, therefore my arrival created great -excitement, and one good lady, in a are held, half the houses are owned -by rich negroes, Africans they very naturally prefer to be called, but -the poorer people live all crowded together in Jolloff town, whither -my guide led me, and introduced me to her yard. A Jolloff never speaks -about his house, but about his “yard.” Even Government House he knows as -“Governor's Yard.” - -[Illustration: 0047] - -Jolloff town looks as if if were made of basket-work; they call it here -“crinting,” and all the walls of the houses and of the compounds are -made of this split bamboo neatly woven together. For Bathurst is but a -strip of sand-bank just rescued from the mangrove swamp round, and these -crinted walls serve excellently to keep it together when the strong -Harmattan threatens to blow the whole place bodily into the swamp -behind. My friend's home was a very nice specimen of its class, the -first barbaric home I had ever seen. The compound was surrounded by the -crinted walls, and inside again were two or three huts, also built of -crinting, with a thatched roof. As a rule I am afraid the Jolloff is not -clean, but my pilot's wife had a neat little home. There were no windows -in it, but the strong sunlight came through the crinted walls, and made -a subdued light and a pattern of the basket-work on the white, sanded -floor; there were three long seats of wood, neatly covered with white -napkins edged with red, a table, a looking-glass, and a basket of -bread, for it appeared she was a trader in a small way. It was all -very suitable and charming. Outside in the compound ran about chickens, -goats, a dog or two, and some small children, another woman's children, -alas, for she told me mournfully she had none. - -It is easy enough to make a friend; the difficulty is to know where to -stop. I am afraid I had soon exhausted all my interest in my Jolloff -woman, while to her I was a great source of pride, and she wanted me to -come and see her every day. At first she told me she “fear too much” - to come to “Governor's Yard,” but latterly, I regret to state, that -wholesome fear wore off, and she called to see me every day, and I found -suitable conversation a most difficult thing to provide, so that I grew -to look very anxiously indeed for the steamer that was to take me up the -river. - -[Illustration: 0049] - -The Government steamer, the _Mansikillah_, had broken down. She was -old, and it was, I was told, her chronic state, but I was bitterly -disappointed till the Governor told me he had made arrangements for me -to go in the French Company's steamer, the _Mungo Park_. She was going -up the river with general cargo; she was coming down again with some -of the groundnut crop, little nuts that grow on the root of a trefoil -plant, nuts the Americans call pea-nuts, and the English monkey-nuts. - -I had to wait a little till there came a messenger one day to say that -the steamer was ready at last, and would start that afternoon. So I went -down to the little wharf with my servant, my baggage, and the travelling -Commissioner, who was also going up the river. - -The _Mungo Park_ was a stern-wheeler of 150 tons, drawing six feet -of water, and when first I saw her you could hardly tell steamer from -wharf, so alive were they both with crowded, shrieking people, all -either wanting to get on, or to get off, which was apparently not quite -clear. After a little wait, out of chaos came a courteous French trader -and a gangway. The gangway took us on board, and the trader, whose -English was as good as mine, explained that he, too, was going up the -river to look after the houses belonging to his company along the banks. -Then he showed me my quarters, and I was initiated into the mysteries of -travelling in the interior of Africa. There was but one cabin on board -the _Mungo Park_, a place about eighteen feet square amidship; in it -were two bunks, a table, a couple of long seats, a cupboard, and washing -arrangements. The sides were all of Venetian shutters, which could -be taken away when not wanted. It was all right in a way, but I must -confess for a moment I wondered how on earth two men and a woman were to -stow away there. Then the trader explained. I should have the cabin to -sleep in, and we all three would have our meals there together, while -arrangements might be made by which we could all in turn bathe and wash. -I learned my first lesson: you accept extraordinary and unconventional -situations, if you are wise, with a smile and without a blush in Africa. -The Commissioner and the trader, I found on further inquiry, would -sleep on the top of the cabin, which was also what one might call the -promenade deck. I arranged my simple belongings, and went up on deck to -look, and I found that it was reached by way of the boiler, across which -some steps and a little, coaly hand-rail led. It would have been nice in -the Arctic regions, but on a tropical afternoon it had its drawbacks. On -the deck I was met by a vociferous black man, who was much too busy -to do more than give an obsequious welcome, for it appeared he was -the captain. I shall always regret I did not take his photograph as he -leaned over the railing, shouting and gesticulating to his men, and to -the would-be passengers, and to the men who were struggling to get the -cargo on board. He cursed them, I should think, all impartially. The -French trader said he was an excellent captain, and he remains in my -mind as the most unique specimen of the genus I have ever seen. He wore -a khaki coat and very elderly tweed trousers, split behind; his feet -were bare; he did not pander to that vitiated taste which demands -underlinen, or at least a shirt, but, seeing it was the cold weather, he -adorned his black skull with a woolly cap with ear-flaps, such as Nansen -probably took on his North-Pole expedition. - -There was a great deal of cargo--cotton goods, sugar, salt, coffee, -dates; things that the French company were taking up to supply -their factories on the river, and long before it was stowed the deck -passengers began crowding on board. Apparently there was no provision -whatever made for them; they stowed on top of the cargo, just wherever -they could find a place, and every passenger--there were over ninety of -them--had apparently something to say as to the accommodation, or the -want of accommodation, and he or she said it at the very top of his -or her voice in Jolloff or Mandingo or that bastard English which is -a _lingua franca_ all along the Coast. Not that it mattered much what -language they said it in, because no one paid the least attention; such -a babel have I never before heard. And such a crowd as they were. The -steamer provided water carriage only for the deck passengers, so that -they had their cooking apparatus, their bedding, their food, their -babies, their chickens (unfortunate wretches tied by one leg), and, if -they could evade the eagle eye of the French trader, their goats. The -scene was bedlam let loose to my unaccustomed eyes. We were to tow -six lighters as well, and each of them also had a certain number of -passengers. As we started it seemed likely we should sweep away a few -dozen who were hanging on in the most dangerous places to the frailest -supports. Possibly they wouldn't have been missed. I began to understand -why the old slaver was callous. It was impossible to feel humane in -the midst of such a shrieking, howling mob. The siren gave wild and -ear-piercing shrieks; there were yells from the wharf, more heartrending -yells from the steamer, a minor accompaniment from the lighters, -bleating of goats, cackling of protesting fowls, crying of children, and -we were off without casualty, and things began to settle down. - -I had thought my quarters cramped, but looking at the deck passengers, -crowding fore and aft over the coals and on top of the boiler, I -realised that everything goes by comparison, and that they were simply -palatial. I had eighteen feet square of room all to myself to sleep in. -It had one drawback. There was £5000 worth of silver stowed under -the seats, and therefore the trader requested me to lock the doors and -fasten the shutters lest some of the passengers should take a fancy to -it. His view was that plenty of air would come through the laths of the -shutters. I did not agree with the French trader, and watched with keen -interest those boxes of silver depart all too slowly. I would gladly -have changed places and let him and the Commissioner have my cabin if -only I might have taken their place on the deck above. But on the deck -was the wheel, presided over by the black captain, or the equally black -and more ragged mate, so it was not to be thought of. - -And that deck was something to remember. There were the large -water-bottles there and the filter, the trader's bed in a neat little -roll, the Commissioner's bed, draped with blue mosquito curtains, -the hencoops with the unhappy fowls that served us for food, the -Commissioner's washing apparatus on top of one of the coops, for he was -a young man of resource, the rest of his kit, his rifle, his bath, his -cartridge-belt, his dog, a few plates and cups and basins, a couple of -sieves for rice, two or three stools, the elderly black kettle, out of -the spout of which the skipper and the mate sucked refreshment as if -they had been a couple of snipe, and last, but not least, there was -the French company's mails for their employees up river. I was told the -correspondence always arrived safely, and so it is evident that in some -things we take too much trouble. The captain attended to the sorting of -the mails when he had time to spare from his other duties. I have seen -him with a much-troubled brow sorting letters at night by the light of a -flickering candle, and, when the mails overflowed the deal box, parcels -were stacked against the railing, newspapers leaned for support against -the wheel, and letters collogued in friendly fashion on the deck with -the black kettle. - -For the first seventeen miles the little ship, towing her lighters -behind and alongside, went up a river that was like a sea, so far away -were the mangrove swamps that are on either side. Then we reached Fort -St James, and the river narrows. Very pathetic are the ruins of Fort St -James. No one lives there now; no one has lived there for many a long -day, but you see as you pass and look at the crumbling stones of the old -fort why West Africa gained in the minds of men so evil a reputation. -The place is but a rocky islet, with but a few scanty trees upon it; -above is the brazen sky, below the baked earth, on which the tropical -sun pours down with all the added heat gathered from the glare of the -river. They must have died shut up in Fort St James in those far-away -days. Tradition, too, says that the gentlemen of the company of soldiers -who were stationed there were for ever fighting duels, and that the many -vacancies in the ranks were not always due to the climate. But the heat -and the monotony would conduce to irritability, and when a hasty word -had to be upheld at the sword's point, it is no wonder if they cursed -the Coast with a bitterness that is only given to the land of regrets. -But all honour to those dead-and-gone Englishmen. They upheld the might -of Britain, and her rights in the trade in palm oil and slaves and ivory -that even then came down the river. And if they died--now, now at -last, after many weary years, their descendants are beginning dimly to -realise, as they never did, the value of the land for which they gave -their lives. - -It is the custom to speak with contempt of a mangrove swamp, as if in it -no beauty could lie, as if it were only waste land--dreary, depressing, -ugly. Each of those epithets may be true--I cannot say--except the last, -and that is most certainly a falsehood. What my impressions would be -if I lived in the midst of it day after day I cannot say, but to a -passer-by the mangrove swamp has a beauty of its own. - -When first I saw the Gambia I was fascinated, and found no words too -strong for its beauty; and, having gone farther, I would take back not -one word of that admiration. But I am like the lover who is faithless to -his first mistress--he acknowledges her charm, but he has seen someone -else; so now, as I sit down to write, I am reminded that the Volta is -more ravishingly lovely, and that if I use up all my adjectives on the -Gambia I shall have no words to describe my new mistress. Therefore must -I modify my transports, and so it seems to me I am unfair. - -As we moved up the river we could plainly see the shore on either side, -the dense mangrove swamp, doubled by its reflection, green and beautiful -against its setting of blue sky and clear river. Crocodiles lay basking -in the golden sunshine on the mud-banks, white egrets flew slowly from -tree to tree, a brown jolah-king, an ibis debased for some sin in -the youth of the world, sailed slowly across the water, a white -fishing-eagle poised himself on high, looking for his prey, a slate-blue -crane came across our bows, a young pelican just ahead was taking -his first lesson in swimming, and closer to the bank we could see -king-fishers, bright spots of colour against the dark green of the -mangrove. - -“The wonder of the Tropics”--the river seemed to be whispering at first, -and then fairly shouted--“can you deny beauty to this river?” and I, -with the cool Harmattan blowing across the water to put the touch of -moisture in the air it needed, was constrained to answer that voice, -which none of the others seemed to hear, “Truly I cannot.” - -It would be impossible to describe in detail all the little wharves at -which we stopped; besides, they all bore a strong family resemblance to -one another, differing only when they were in the upper or lower river. -Long before I could see any signs of human habitation the steamer's -skipper was wildly agitated over the mails, wrinkling up his brows -and pawing them over with his dirty black hands--mine were dirtier, at -least, they showed more, and the way to the deck was so coaly it was -impossible to keep clean. Then he would hang on to a string, which -resulted in the most heartrending wails from the steamer's siren; a -corrugated-iron roof would show up among the surrounding greenery, and a -little wharf, or “tenda,” as they call them here, would jut out into -the stream. These tendas are frail-looking structures built of the split -poles of the rhon palm. There seem to be as many varieties of palm as -there are of eucalyptus, all much alike to the uninitiated eye. - -The tendas look as if they were only meant to be walked on by bare -feet--certainly very few of the feet rise beyond a loose slipper; and -whether it was blazing noonday or pitchy darkness only made visible by a -couple of hurricane lanterns of one candle-power, the tenda was -crowded with people come to see the arrival of the steamer, which is -a White-Star liner or a Cunarder to them--people in cast-off European -clothing and the ubiquitous tourist cap, Moslems in fez and flowing -white or blue robes, mammies with gaily coloured handkerchiefs bound -round their heads and still gayer skirts and cloths, little children -clad in one garment or no garments at all, beautiful grey donkeys that -carry the groundnuts or the trade goods, fawn-coloured country cattle, -and goats and sheep, black, white, and brown--and every living creature -upon that tenda did his little best towards the raising of a most unholy -din. And the steamer was not to be beaten. Jolloff and Man-dingo too was -shrieked; the captain took a point of vantage, shook his black fist -at intervals, and added his quota of curses in Jolloff, Mandingo, -Senegalese, and broken French and English, and the cargo was unloaded -with a clatter, clatter, punctuated by earpiercing yells that made one -wonder if the slaving days had not come back, and these lumpers were not -shrieking in agony. - -But, when I could understand, the remarks were harmless enough. What the -black man says to his friends and acquaintances when he speaks in his -own tongue I cannot say, but when he addresses them in English I can -vouch for it his conversation is banal to the last degree. In the -general din I catch some words I understand, and I listen. - -“Ah, Mr Jonsing, dat you, sah? How you do, sah?” Mr Jonsing's health is -quite satisfactory; and Mrs Jonsing, and Miss Mabel, and Miss Gladys, -and Mr Edward were all apparently in perfect health, for they were -inquired after one by one at the top of the interested friend's voice. -Then there were many wishes for the continuance of the interesting -family in this happy state, and afterwards there was an excursion into -wider realms of thought. - -“You 'member dat t'ing you deny las' mont', sah?” The question comes -tentatively. - -“I deny it dis mont', sah,” Mr Jonsing answers promptly, which is, so -far, satisfactory, as showing that Mr Jonsing has at least a mind of -his own, and is not to be bounced into lightly changing it. I might have -heard more, and so gleaned some information into the inner life of these -people, but unfortunately Mr Jonsing now got in the way of the stalwart -captain, and being assisted somewhat ungently by the collar of his -ragged shirt to the tenda, he launched out into curses that were rude, -to put it mildly, and my knowledge of his family affairs came to an -abrupt conclusion. - -In the breaks in the mangrove, Balanghar is one of them, there is, -of course, a little hard earth--the great shady _ficus elasticus_, -beautiful silk-cotton trees, and cocoa-nut palms grow; the traders' -yards have white stone posts at the four corners marking the extent of -their leaseholds, and in these enclosures are the trading-houses, the -round huts of the native helpers, and the little crinted yards, in which -are poured the groundnuts, which are the occasion of all this clatter. - -One hundred and fifty miles up we came to McCarthy Island, five miles -long by a mile wide, and markedly noticeable because here the great -river changes its character entirely, the mangrove swamps are left -behind, and open bush of mahogany, palm, and many another tree and -creeper, to me nameless, takes its place. On McCarthy Island is a busy -settlement, with the town marked into streets, lined with native shops -and trading-houses. There are great groundnut stores along the river -front, seven, or perhaps eight white people, a church, a hospital, -obsolete guns, and an old powder magazine, that shows that in days gone -by this island was only held by force of arms. - -They tell me that McCarthy Island is one of the hottest places in the -world, though that morning the river had been veiled in white mist, the -thermometer was down to between 50 deg. and 60 deg., and my boy had -brought in my early-morning tea with his head tied up in a pocket -handkerchief like an old woman; and at midday it was but little over 90 -deg., but this was December, the coolest season of the year. I discussed -the question with a negro lady with her head bound up in a red-silk -handkerchief. She was one of our passengers, and had come up trading in -kola-nuts. Kola-nuts are hard, corner-shaped nuts that grow on a very -handsome tree about the size of an oak, which means a small tree in -Africa. They are much esteemed for their stimulating and sustaining -properties. I have tried them, and I found them only bitter, so perhaps -I do not want stimulating. A tremendous trade is done in them, and all -along the coast you meet the traders, very often, as in this case, -women. I had seen it in her eye for some time that she wanted to -exchange ideas with me, and at last the opportunity came. She told me -she came from Sierra Leone. - -“You know Freetown?” That is the capital. I said I had heard it was the -hottest place in the world. - -“Pooh!” She tossed her head in scorn. “You wait two mont's; it be fool -to M'Cart'y! You gat no rest, no sleep”; and she showed her white teeth -and stretched out her black hands as if to say that no words of hers -could do justice to this island. - -Truly, I think the sun must pour down here in the hot season, judging by -my experience in the cool. The hot season is not in June, as one might -expect, for then come the rains, when no white man, and, indeed, I think -no black man foreign to the place, stays up the river, but in March and -April. I do not propose to visit McCarthy in the hot season. In the cool -the blazing sun overhead, and the reflected glare from the water, played -havoc with my complexion. I did not think about it till the District -Commissioner brought the fact forcibly home to me. He was a nice young -fellow, but the sort of man who is ruin to England as a colonising -nation, because he makes it so patent to everyone that he bitterly -resents colonising on his own account, and will allow no good in the -country wherein lies his work. - -I asked him if he did not think of bringing out his wife. - -He looked at me a moment, seeking words to show his opinion of a woman -who insisted upon going where he thought no white woman was needed. - -“My wife,” he said, with emphasis that marked his surprise; “my wife? -Why, my wife has such a delicate complexion that she has to wash her -face always in distilled water.” - -It was sufficient. I understood when I looked in the glass that night -the reproof intended to be conveyed. In all probability the lady was -not quite such a fool as her husband intimated; but one thing is quite -certain, she was buying her complexion at a very heavy cost if she were -going to allow it to deprive her of the joy of seeing new countries. - -McCarthy was very busy; dainty cutters, frail canoes, and grimy steamers -crowded the wharves, and to and fro across the great river, 500 yards -wide here, the ferry, a great canoe, went backwards and forwards the -livelong day, and I could just see gathered together herds of the pretty -cattle of the country that looked not unlike Alderneys. - -When we left the island the river was narrower, so that we seemed to -glide along between green walls, where the birds were singing and the -monkeys barking and crying and whimpering like children. Again and -again we passed trees full of them, sometimes little grey monkeys, and -sometimes great dog-faced fellows that rumour says would tear you to -pieces if you offended them and had the misfortune to fall into their -hands. Now and then a hippopotamus rose, a reminder of an age that has -gone by, and always on the mud-banks were the great crocodiles. And the -trading-stations were, I think, more solitary and more picturesque. -The little tendas were even more frail, just rickety little structures -covered with a mat of crinting, for the river rises here very high, and -these wharves are sure to be carried away in the rainy season. And then -come hills, iron-stone hills, and tall, dry grass ten and twelve feet -high. Sometimes we stopped where there was not even the frailest of -tendas, and one night, just as the swift darkness was falling, the -steamer drew up at a little muddy landing-stage, where there was a break -in the trees, and three dugouts were drawrn up. Here she became wildly -hysterical, and I began to think something would give way, until all -shrieks died down as a tall black man, draped in blue, and with a long -Dane gun across his shoulder, stalked out of the bush. Savage Africa -personified. We had stopped to land a passenger, a mammy with her -head tied up in a handkerchief, and a motley array of boxes, bundles, -calabashes, chairs, saucepans, and fowls that made a small boat-load. -She waved a farewell to the French trader as her friends congregated -upon the shore and examined her baggage. - -“She is an important woman,” said he; “the wife of a black trader in the -town behind there. He's a Christian.” - -“He's got a dozen wives,” said the Commissioner. - -“His official wife, then. Oh, you know the sort. I guarantee she keeps -order in the compound.” - -At Fatta Tenda, which is quite a busy centre, from which you may start -for the Niger and Timbuctoo, we gave a dinner-party, a dinner-party -under difficulties. Our cook was excellent. How he turned out such -dainties in a tiny galley three feet by six, and most of that taken -up by the stove, I do not pretend to understand, but he did, so our -difficulties lay not there, but with the lamp. What was the matter with -it I do not know, but it gave a shocking light, and the night before our -dinner-party it went out, and left us to finish our dinner in darkness. -Then, next day, word went round that the mate was going to trim the -lamp, and when we, with two men from the French factory, went -into dinner, an unwonted light shed its brilliancy over the scene. -Unfortunately, there was also a strong scent of kerosene, which is not -usually considered a very alluring fragrance. But we consoled ourselves; -the mate had trimmed the lamp. He had. He had also distributed most of -the oil over the dinner-table--the cloth was soaked in it, and, worse -than that, the salt, pepper, and mustard were full of it; and then, as -we sat down to soup, there came in through the open windows a flight, I -should say several flights, of flying ants. They died in crowds in the -soup, they filled up the glasses, they distributed themselves over the -kerosene-soaked table, till at last we gave them best and fled to the -deck. Finally the servants reduced things to a modified state of order, -but whenever I smell a strong smell of kerosene I am irresistibly -reminded of the day we tried to foregather with our kind, and be -hospitable up the Gambia. - -[Illustration: 0065] - -There were some Mandingo chiefs here. Bala, Chief of Kantora, and -Jimbermang Jowlah, the local Chief, came to call. Bala dashed up on -horseback, with a large following, to complain that there was trouble on -the Border, for the French had come in and said that his town should -pay a poll tax of 500 dollars. He ranged all his horses, with their high -cantled saddles and their heavy iron stirrups, on the steep, red bank, -and he and his chief man came on board the little steamer to talk to -the Commissioner. They made a quaint picture--the fair, good-looking -Commissioner, with his boyish face grave, as suited the occasion, -and the Chief, a warrior and a gentleman, as unlike Mr Jonsing in -his tourist cap as the Gambia is unlike the Thames at Wapping. The -Commissioner wore a blue-striped shirt and riding breeches, and the -Chief was clad all in blue of different shades; there was a sort of -underskirt to his knees of dark-blue cotton patterned in white, over -that was a pale-blue tunic, through which came his bare arms, and over -that again a voluminous dark-blue cotton garment, caught in at the -waist with a girdle, from which depended a very handsome sporran of red -leather picked out in yellow; on his bare feet were strapped spurs, a -spur with a single point to it like a nail. He had a handsome, clean-cut -face, his shaven head was bared out of courtesy, and at his feet lay his -headgear, a blue-velvet cap, with a golden star and crescent embroidered -upon it, and a great round straw hat adorned with red leather such as -the Hausas farther east make. He was a chief, every inch of him. And his -manners were those of a courtly gentleman too. He did not screech and -howl like the men on the wharf, though he was manifestly troubled and -desperately in earnest; but, sitting there on the deck of the little -steamer, with the various odds and ends of life scattered around him, -he stated his case, through an interpreter, to the young Commissioner -seated on the hen-coop and taking down every word. When it was done he -was assured that the Governor should be told all about it, and now rose -with an air of intense relief. He had thrown his burden on responsible -shoulders, and had time to think about the white woman who was looking -on. He had seen white men before, quite a number, but never had he seen -a white woman, and so he turned and looked at me gravely, with not half -the rude curiosity with which I felt I had been steadily regarding him. -I should like to have been a white woman worth looking at, instead of -which I was horribly conscious that the coal dust was in my hair, that -my hands had but recently grasped the greasy handrail of those steps -across the boiler, and that my skirts had picked up most of the -multifarious messes that were to be gathered there and on the unclean -deck. There is no doubt skirts should not come much below the knees in -the bush. - -“He wishes to make his compliments to you,” said the interpreter, and -the grave and silent Chief, with a little, low murmur, took my hand in -both his delicate, cold, black ones, held it for a moment with his -head just a little bent, and then went his way, and I felt I had been -complimented indeed. - -The chief of Kantora, having done all he came to do, swam his horses -across the river, trusting, I suppose, to the noise made by his numerous -followers to scare away the crocodiles, and we went up the river to -Kossun, which is within two miles of Yarba Tenda, where the British -river ends. At Kossun there is a French factory only, and that managed -by a black man, and here are the very beginnings of the groundnut trade. -All around was vivid green--green on the bank, green reflected in the -clear waters of the river; the sun was only just rising, the air was -cool, and grey mists like a bridal veil rent with golden beams lay -across the water; only by the factory was a patch of brown, enhancing -the greenery that was all around it. - -[Illustration: 0069] - -The groundnut grows on a vine, and behind the factory this was all -garnered into great heaps, and surrounded by crinted fences until time -should be found to comb out the nuts. In the empty fields shy women, -who dared not lift their faces to look at the strange, white woman, were -gleaning, and the little, naked children were frankly afraid, and ran -shrieking from the horrid sight. And just behind the factory were little -enclosures of neatly plaited straw, and each of these contained a man's -crop ready waiting to be valued and bought by the trader. Kossun was -the only place where I saw the nuts as they belonged to the grower. All -along the river there were heaps of them, looking like young mountains, -but all these heaps were trader's property. At Nianimaroo, on the lower -river, I saw a heap, which the pleased proprietor told me was worth -£1000. He apparently had finished his heap, and was waiting to send it -down the river, but everywhere else men, picturesque in fluttering rags -or grotesque in cast-off European garments, were bringing calabashes and -sacks of groundnuts to add to the heaps; and, since they cannot walk on -the yielding nuts, which are like so many pebbles under their bare feet, -little board ladders or steps of filled sacks were placed for them to -run up. And no sooner were the heaps piled up than they had to be dug -out again. - -At Fatta Tenda, on the way down, having got rid of her cargo and her -deck passengers, the _Mungo Park_ began to load again with groundnuts; -and men were busy through all the burning hot midday digging into the -groundnut heap, filling up sacks, and as the sacks were filled stalwart, -half-naked black men, like a line of ants, tramped laden down the steep -bank and poured their loads into the steamer's hold in a cloud of gritty -dust that penetrated everywhere. The trader told me that when he wanted -labourers he appealed to one of the principal men who live in the town -a mile or so behind the wharf, and he sent in his “family,” who are paid -at the rate of a shilling a day. It is very, very doubtful whether much -of that shilling ever reaches the man who actually does the hard work. -Things move slowly in the Gambia as in all Africa, and “family” is -probably a euphonious term for household slave. After all, it is -possibly only like the system of serfdom that existed in Europe in days -gone by and will not exist very long here, for knowledge is coming, -though it comes slowly, and with wealth pouring into the country and -a Commissioner to appeal to in cases of oppression the black man -will presently free himself. Even the women are already beginning to -understand the difference. The morals of the country, be it remembered, -are the primitive morals of a primitive people. A man may have four -legal wives by Mohammedan law. He may have ever so many concubines, who -add to his dignity; and then, if he is a big man--this was vouched -for by the official native interpreter, who joined his Commissioner at -M'Carthy--he has ever so many more women in his household, and these he -expects to have children. - -It is their business and he sees that they do it, and the children -belong to him no matter who is the father. Children, it will be seen, -are an asset, and the woman is now beginning to understand that the -children are hers alone, and again and again a troubled woman, angry and -tearful, walks miles to appeal to the travelling Commissioner, such and -such a man, her master has taken away her children and she has heard -that the great white master will restore them to her. And in most cases -the great white master, who has probably a laughing, round, boyish -face, fancies he has not a desire above good shooting, and speaks of -the country as “poisonous,” does all that is expected of him and often a -good deal more also. - -[Illustration: 0073] - -And yet, only ten years ago, they were very doubtful still about the -white man's protectorate in the Gambia, as graves in the Bathurst -cemetery testify. Then was the last rising, when the district of -San-nian Kunta was very disaffected, and two Commissioners, Mr Sitwell -and Mr Silva, were sent with twelve native police to put matters -straight. After the wont of the English, they despised their enemy and -marched into a hostile village with the ammunition boxes screwed down, -sat themselves down under a tree, and called on the Chief and village -elders to come up before them. But the chief and elders did no such -thing. Hidden in the surrounding bush, they replied with a volley -from their long Danes, killing both the Commissioners and most of the -policemen, but one escaping got away to the next Commissioner, a young -fellow named Price. Now, Mr Price had only four policemen, but he was by -no means sure of the death of his comrades, so promptly he sent off to -headquarters for help, and without delay marched back to the disaffected -village. The white men were dead and shockingly mutilated, but with his -four faithful policemen he brought their remains back for decent burial. -He did not know what moment he might not be attacked. He had before him -as object lessons in savage warfare the dead bodies of his comrades. He -had to march through thick bush, and they say at the end of that day's -work young Mr Price's hair turned white. Punishment came, of course. -Six months later the new Governor, Sir George Denton, with a company -of W.A.F.F.'s--West African Field Force--marched to that disaffected -village; the chief was deposed and exiled, and peace has reigned ever -since. - -And now much farther away from Bathurst a woman may go through the -country by herself in perfect safety. All the towns are still from one -to four miles back from the tenda, away in the bush, from the old-time -notion I suppose that there was danger to be dreaded by the great -waterway, and early in the morning I used to take the narrow track -through the long grass which was many feet above my head, and go and see -primitive native life. - -Up at the head of the river our steamer filled rapidly. When our holds -were full the groundnuts were put in sacks and piled on the decks fore -and aft, half-way up the masts, almost to the tops of the funnels, and -the only place that was not groundnuts was the little cabin and the deck -on top. There were £600 worth of groundnuts on board the _Mungo Park_, -and we stowed on top of them passengers, men and women, and all their -multifarious belongings, and then proceeded to pick up lighters also -laden with groundnuts bound down the river. - -Towards the evening of the second day of our homeward journey we came to -a big creek down which was being poled by six men a red lighter, deep in -the water and laden to the very brim with groundnuts. This the steamer -was to tow behind. But it was not as simple as it sounds. The heavily -laden lighter drifted first to one side and then to the other and -threatened to fill, and the Commissioner's interpreter, sitting on deck, -told me a long story of how here in the river there is a devil that will -not allow a steamer or a cutter to go past unless the owner dances to -placate him. If he do not care to dance himself he must pay someone else -to dance for him. Unless someone dances, the engines may work, the sails -may fill, but that vessel will not go ahead till the river devil has -his toll. No one danced on board the _Mungo Park_, unless the black -captain's prancing about and shaking his fist and shouting what sounded -like blood-curdling threats at the skipper of the lighter might be -construed into dancing. If so, it had not the desired effect, for the -heavy lighter wouldn't steer, and presently the captain decided to tow -it alongside. The darkness fell; all around us was the wide, weird, dark -river, with the green starboard light just falling upon the mast of the -lighter alongside, and for a few brief moments there was silence and -peace, for the lighter was towing all right at last. Then the mast bent -forward suddenly, there was a stifled, strangled cry, the captain gave a -wild yell, the engines were stopped, and there was no more lighter, only -the smooth dark water was rough with floating groundnuts and the river -devil had taken his toll. Five of the crew had jumped for the _Mungo -Park_ and reached her, but the sixth, a tall Man-dingo, wrapped in a -blue cloth, had gone down a prey for the wicked crocodiles or the cruel, -strong undercurrents. They launched a boat and we felt our impotence and -the vastness of the river, for they only had a hurricane lantern and it -looked but a tiny speck on the waste of dark waters. The boat went up -and down flashing its feeble light. Here was a patch of groundnuts, -here a floating calabash, here a cloth, but the lighter and the man were -gone, and we went on our way, easily enough now, because, of course, the -steamer had paid toll. - -There are the beginnings, it seems to me, in the groundnut trade of the -Gambia, of what may be in the future a very great industry. True, the -value of the groundnut is regulated by the price of cotton-seed oil, -for which the oil pressed from the groundnut makes a very excellent -substitute. Last year the Gambia's groundnuts, the harvest of the -simplest, most ignorant peasants but one remove from savagery, was worth -between £500,000 and £600,000, and not one-twentieth of the soil was -cultivated, but the colony's existence was fairly justified. The greater -part of this crop goes into French hands and is exported to Marseilles, -where it is made into the finer sorts of soap. What wonder then if the -French cast longing eyes upon the mighty river, for not only is the land -around it rich, but they have spent large sums upon railways for their -great colony of Senegal, and had they the Gambia as well they would -have water carriage for both their imports and exports even in the dry -season, and in the rains they could bring their heavy goods far far -inland. - -I realised all this as I came back to Bathurst with the dust from the -groundnuts in my hair and eyes and nostrils, and dresses that had not -been worn an hour before they were shrieking for the washtub. But what -did a little discomfort matter? - -I returned in time for the Christmas and New-Year festivities. On -Christmas night all the English in the colony dined at Government House -to celebrate the festival. Exiles all, they would have said. I have been -told that I judge the English in West Africa a little hardly, and of -course I realise all the bitterness of divided homes, especially at this -season that should be one of family reunions. But after all the English -make their life in West Africa far harder than they need. Dimly I saw -this on my visit to the Gambia; slowly the feeling grew upon me till, -when I left the Coast eight months later, I was fully convinced that if -England is to hold her pride of place as a colonising nation with the -French and Germans, she must make less of this exile theory and more of -a home in these outlands. The doctors tell me this is impossible, and -of course I must bow to the doctors' opinion, but it is saying in -effect--which I will not allow for a moment--that the French and -Germans--and especially the French and German women--are far better than -the English. - -Here in the Gambia I began to think it, and the fact was driven in more -emphatically as I went down the Coast. The Englishman makes great moan, -but after all he holds a position in West Africa the like of which he -could not dream of in England. He is the superior, the ruler; men bow -down before him and rush to do his bidding--he who would have a suburban -house and two maid-servants in the old country, lives in barbaric -splendour. Of course it is quite possible he prefers the suburban house -and two maid-servants and his wife. And there, of course, the crux of -the matter lies. Why, I know not, but English women are regarded as -heroines and martyrs who go out to West Africa with their husbands. -Possibly it is because I am an Australian and have had a harder -bringing-up that I resent very much the supposition that a woman cannot -go where a man can. From the time I was a little girl I have seen women -go as a matter of course to the back-blocks with their husbands, and if, -barring a few exceptions, they did not stay there, we all supposed not -that it was the country that did not agree with them, but the husband. -We all know there are husbands and wives who do not agree. And I can -assure you, for I know both, life in the back-blocks in Australia, -life in many of the towns of Australia, with its heat and its want of -service, is far harder for a woman than it is in West Africa. Yet here -in the Gambia and all along the Coast was the same eternal cry wherever -there was a woman, “How long can she stay?” - -The difference between the French and the English views on this vexed -question was exemplified by the Commissioner's view and the French -trader's. I have already given the former. Said the latter, “Of course -my wife will come out. Why should she not. She is just waiting till -the baby is a month old. What is the good of a wife to me in Paris? The -rains? Of course she will stay the rains. It is only the English who are -afraid of the rainy season.” And I was sorry for the little contempt -he put into his voice when he spoke of the English fear. I know this -opinion of mine will bring down upon my devoted head a storm of wrath -from West-Coast officials, but whether the Coast is healthy or not there -is no denying the fact that the nation who takes its women is far more -likely to hold a country, and in that the French and Germans are beating -us hands down. - -But this I only realised dimly during my stay in the Gambia. I was -to leave on New Year's Day and on New Year's Eve we all went to the -barracks of the W.A.F.F.'s to see the New Year in. And then in the soft, -warm night the Governor and I went back to Government House. The stars -were like points of gold, the sky was like dark-blue velvet, and against -it the graceful palms stood out like splashes of ink, the water washed -softly against the shore, there was the ceaseless hum of insects in the -air, and from the native town behind came a beating of tom-toms subdued -by the distance. The sentry started out of the shadow at the gate as the -rickshaws arrived, and there came his guttural hail, “Who goes dere?” - -“Friend,” said the Governor's voice. It was commonplace, everyday to -him. - -“Pass friend and all's well,” came the answer, and we went in and up the -steps; but surely, I thought, it was a very good omen, a very good omen -indeed. “Pass friend and all's well.” I was leaving that day that had -not yet dawned; I was going down the Coast and all should be well. - - - - -CHAPTER III--THE WHITE MAN'S GRAVE? - -_The origin of Sierra Leone--The difficulties of disposing of freed -slaves--One of the beauty-spots of the earth--Is it possible that in -the future, like Jamaica, it may be a health-resort?--Zachary Macauley's -views--Few women in Freetown--Sanitary matters taken out of the hands of -the Town Council and vested in a sanitary officer--Marked improvement -in cleanliness and health of the town--A remarkable man of -colour--Extraordinary language of the Creole--Want of taste in dress -when they ape the European--Mrs Abraham Freeman at home._ - -I had no intention of going to Sierra Leone, but in West Africa as yet -you make your way from one place to another along the sea-board, and -not only did Sierra Leone lie directly on my way, but the steamer, the -_Zaria_, in which I was travelling, stayed there for four days. - -In the old days, a little over one hundred years ago, England, -successfully policing the world, was putting down the iniquitous -slave-trade all along the coasts of Africa, and found herself with -numbers of black and helpless men, women, and children upon her hands. -They had been collected from all parts of the Coast; they themselves -often did not know where their homes lay, and the problem--quite -a difficult one--was to know what to do with them. To land them -promiscuously on the Coast was to seal their fate; either they would be -killed or at the very best they would at once relapse into the condition -from which they had been rescued. In this dilemma England did perhaps -the only thing she could do. She bought from the chiefs a strip of land -round the mouth of a river and landed there her somewhat troublesome -charges to make for themselves, if they could, a home. Of course she -did not leave them to their own devices; to do that would have been to -insure their destruction at the hands of the Mendi and Timini war-boys, -but she planted there a Governor and some soldiers, and made such -provision as she could for the future of these forlorn people. Then the -colony was but a little strip of land. It is but a small place still, -but the British Protectorate now takes in those warlike Timinis and -Mendis, and extends some hundreds of miles inland and as far south as -the negro republic of Liberia, which I was on my way to visit. - -[Illustration: 0083] - -I don't know who chose Sierra Leone, but whoever he was the choice does -him infinite credit. It is the most beautiful spot on all the west coast -of Africa. I have seen many of the beautiful harbours of the world, -Sydney, and Dunedin, and Hobart, which to my mind is the most beautiful -of them all, Cape Town, and Naples, and Vigo, Genoa, Palermo, Messina, -and lovely Taormina, which after all is not a harbour. I know them -intimately, and with any of these Sierra Leone can hold her own. We -entered the mouth of the river, passed the lighthouse, a tall, white -building nestling among the palms, and all along the shore were -entrancing little green bays, with green lawns. They looked like lawns -from the ship, shaded by over-hanging trees. The blue sea met softly the -golden sands, and the hills behind were veiled in a most alluring mist. -It lifted and closed down and lifted again, like a bride longing yet -fearing to disclose her loveliness to her lord. Here it seemed to me -that a man might, when the feverish heat of youth is passed, build -himself a home and pass the evening of his days resting from his -labours; but I am bound to say I was the only person on board who did -think so. One and all were determined to impress upon me the fact that -Sierra Leone was known as the White Man's Grave, and that it deserved -the name. And yet Zachary Macauley, who ruled over it in the end of the -eighteenth century, staunchly upheld its advantages. I do not know that -he exactly recommends it as a health-resort, but something very near -to it, and he is very angry when anyone reviles the country. Zachary -Macauley was probably right. If a man is not prepared to stand a certain -amount of heat he must not go to the Coast at all; and if he does go he -must be prepared so to guide his life that it is possible to conform -to the rules of health demanded of the white man in the Tropics. If -he looks for the pleasures and delights of England and her temperate -climate, he will find himself bitterly disappointed, but if he seeks for -what Africa can give, and give with lavish hand, he will probably find -that the country will treat him well. - -We cast anchor opposite the town appropriately named Freetown, and I -landed, presented my letter, and was asked by the kindly Governor to -stay for a few days at Government House. - -The majority of the Europeans, with the exception of the Governor, do -not live in Freetown. They have wisely built their bungalows on the -healthier hillsides, and I suppose as the colony increases in importance -the Governor will go too; but I am glad when I was there he was still at -Fort Thornton. - -[Illustration: 0087] - -Of the history of the fort I know nothing. The bungalow is raised on -thick stone walls, and you go up steps to the dwelling-house, past great -rooms that are railed off with iron bars. There are ornamental plants -there now, but there is no disguising the fact these are evidently -relics of old slave days; I presume the barracoons of the slaves. But -behind the one-time courtyard is filled up and sown with Bahama grass -kept close-cropped and green, so that croquet and bowls may be played -upon it. The bastions are now embowered in all manner of tropical -greenery, and the great guns, the guns that Zachary Macauley used -against the French privateers, peep out from a tangle of purple -bougainvillea, scarlet hibiscus, fragrant frangipanni, and glorious -white moon flowers. - -There are white women in Freetown, not very many, but still fifteen or -sixteen--the wives of the soldiers, of the political officers, medical -officers, and the traders, and their number is growing, so that when the -Governor gives a garden-party, the lawn that was once the courtyard of -the fort is gay with bright muslin dresses, ribbons, and flowers. They -seemed to like it too, those to whom I spoke, and there is no doubt that -the place is improving from a health point of view. Until within the -last two or three years the management of sanitary affairs was in the -hands of the Town Council, of whom a large number were negroes, and the -average negro is extremely careless about things sanitary; at last, so -evil a reputation did the most beautiful town on the Coast get that -it was found necessary to vest all power in the hands of a strong and -capable medical officer, and make him responsible for the cleanliness -of the town. The result, I believe, has more than justified all hopes. -Perhaps some day the town may be as healthy as it is beautiful. - -But I really know very little about Sierra Leone. I intended to come -back and go up the railway that goes a couple of hundred miles up -country, but as yet I have not had time, and all I can speak about -with authority is its exceeding beauty. The streets are wide and rather -grass-grown, for it is difficult to keep down vegetation in a moist and -tropical climate, and I am glad to say there are, though the town is by -no means well-planted, some beautiful trees to be seen. Government House -is embowered in verdure, and the first station on the railway that runs -up to the hill-top is “Cotton-tree.” - -And the dwellers in this earthly paradise? Knowing their pathetic and -curious history I was anxious to see this people sprung from men and -women gathered from all corners of Africa, unfortunate and unhappy. - -Frankly, I share with the majority of Coasters a certain dislike to the -educated negro. But many of the men I like best, the men whose opinion -I have found well worth taking about things West-African, tell me I am -wrong. You cannot expect to come up from savagery in a few decades, and -the thing I dislike so in the negro clerk is but a phase that will pass. -Here in Sierra Leone I met one man who made me feel that it would -pass, that the time will come when the colour of the skin will make no -difference, and that is the African known to all the world as Dr Blyden. -He is an old man now and he was ill, so I went to see him; and as I sat -and talked to him one still, hot evening, looking down the busy street -where men and women in all stages of dress and undress were passing to -and fro, carrying burdens on their heads, shrieking and shouting at one -another in the unintelligible jargon they call English, had I not looked -and seen for myself that his complexion was the shadowed livery of the -burnished sun, I should have thought I was talking to some professor of -one of the older Universities of England. His speech was measured and -cultivated and there was no trace in it of that indescribable pompous -intonation which seems peculiar to the educated black man. He gave me -good advice, too. - -[Illustration: 0091] - -“What shall I write about?” I asked, and halfexpected him to enter into -a long dissertation upon the possibilities that lay latent in his race. -But I might have known this man, who had conquered more difficulties on -his way upwards than ever I had dreamed about, better than that. - -“Write about what you see,” said he. “And if you do not understand what -you see then ask until you do.” - -So I have taken his advice and I write about what I have seen, and -though afterwards I found reason to like much the peasant peoples of -West Africa, I did not like the Creoles, as these descendants of freed -slaves call themselves. Do I judge them hardly, I wonder? If so, I -judge only as all the West Coast judges. They are a singularly arrogant -people, blatant and self-satisfied, and much disliked along the Coast -from the Gambia to San Paul de Loando. But they have taken advantage of -the peace which England has ensured to them, and are prosperous. Traders -and town-dwellers are they if they can manage it, and they pursue their -avocations up and down the Coast. A curious thing about them is their -language. If you ask them they would tell you it is English, and they -would tell you they know no other; and English it is, as to the words, -but such an extraordinary jargon it is quite as difficult to understand -as any unknown tongue. Yet it is the peculiar bastard tongue that -is spoken all over the Coast. Many who speak it as the only means of -communication between them and their boys must have wondered how such a -jargon ever came into existence, and it was not till Mr Migeod wrote his -book on the languages of West Africa that anyone in fact ever thought -of classing it as a separate language. But once pointed out, the fact -is undoubted. Sierra Leonese is simply English spoken with a negro -construction. - -Listening very carefully, it took a great deal of persuasion to make -me believe the words were English. When I bought bananas from a woman -sitting under the shade of a spreading cotton tree and the man behind -her came forward and held out his hand, saying: “Make you gi'e me heen -ooman coppa all,” I grasped the fact that he intended to have the money -long before I understood that he had said, in the only English, the only -tongue he knew: “Give me her money,” even though I did know that “coppa” - stood for money. Some of the words, of course, become commonplaces of -everyday life, and I am sure the next time I call on a friend, who is -rich enough to have a man-servant, association of ideas will take me -back, and I shall ask quite naturally, “Massa lib?” instead of the -customary “Is Mrs Jones at home?” Of course, in the case of Mrs Jones it -would be “Missus,” but it was generally a master I was inquiring for in -Africa. - -Sunday or some high holiday is the day to see Freetown in its best -clothes. Then the black gentleman appears in all the glory of a tall, -black-silk hat, a frock coat, a highly starched waistcoat, the gayest -of ties, scarlet or pink, the palest of dove-coloured trousers, and -bright-yellow kid gloves; and the negro woman hides her fine figure with -ill-fitting corsets, over which she wears an open-work muslin blouse, -through which her dark skin shows a dull purple. Of all the places in -Africa to transgress the laws of beauty and art Freetown is the very -worst, and if ever a people tried their best to hide their own charms -it is the Creoles of Sierra Leone. It would be comic if it were not -pathetic. And yet, that these clothes are not part and parcel of the -lives of these children near bred to the sun is promptly seen if a -shower of rain comes on. In a lightning flash I saw a damsel, who might -have come out of Fulham Road, or, at the very least, Edgeware Road, -strip off the most perishable of her precious finery, do them up in a -neat parcel that would carry easily under her umbrella, and serenely and -unembarrassed march home in her white chemise and red petticoat. And she -seemed to think as she passed me smiling she was doing the only right -and proper thing to be done; as indeed she was. - -I was a seeker after knowledge while I was in Freetown, and was always -anxious to go anywhere and everywhere if a reason could be possibly -contrived, so it happened that on one occasion I went to Lumley in -search of fish. Lumley is a little village in the environ of Freetown, -and the fish was to be bought from one Abraham Freeman, who dwelt at the -side of the lagoon there. I went in a hammock, of course, and the way -was lovely, up hill and down dale, through country that looked like a -gigantic greenhouse run wild. The village was mostly built of mud with -thatched roofs, but sometimes the houses were of wood, and the upper -parts very wisely of trellis-work so as to insure a free current of air. -When I arrived I looked round and told my hammock-boys to set me down at -a cottage where a negro clad in a white shirt and trousers was lolling -in a hammock. He did not scream at the scenery. He was rather suitably -clad, I thought. It seemed he was the schoolmaster and a person of -authority in the place. - -“Can you tell me where Abraham Freeman lives?” I asked. - -He corrected me gently but decidedly in his pompous English. - -“Mr Freeman's abode is a little farther on by the lagoon. I believe -Mr Freeman is absent in his boat, but Mrs Freeman is at home and will -receive you.” - -So we went on a little farther through the tangle of greenery till the -waters of the lagoon showed up. A dried mud-shack, thatched with palm -leaves, stood between the row of cocoa-nut palms that fringed the lagoon -and the roadway, and there my hammock-boys set me down. - -“Dis Abraham Freeman's?” They were Timini and did not waste their breath -on titles for a Creole, whom they would have eaten up save for the -presence of the white man. - -I got out and a tall, skinny black woman clad in a narrow strip of blue -cloth round her hips came forward to meet me. Nothing was left to the -imagination, and all her charms had long since departed. She hadn't even -a handkerchief round her head, and the negro woman has lost all sense -of vanity when she leaves her wool uncovered. Mrs Abraham Freeman was -at home! My boys found a box for me to sit upon, and I contemplated -Mrs Freeman and her family. Rebecca Freeman, about fifteen, was like a -bronze statue so beautifully moulded was she; she really did not need -anything beyond the narrow cloth at her hips, and being very justifiably -vain she wore a gaily coloured silk turban. Elkanah Freeman, when he -took off his coat to shin up a cocoa-nut palm, wore no shirt, was built -like a Greek god; and “my little gran'-darter, Deborah,” stark but for -a string of green beads round her middle, was a delightful little -cuddlesome thing, but “my sistah Esther an' Mistah Freeman's sistah -Elizabeth” were hideous, skinny, and withered old hags, and the little -strips of cloth they wore did not hide much. Each had a stone between -her bony knees, and on it was breaking up some small sort of shell-fish -like periwinkles. I got Mrs Freeman to show me the inside of her house. -It was just four windowless rooms with openings under the eaves for -air, with walls of dried clay, and for all furniture two wooden couches -heaped up with rags. Outside on three stones a pot was boiling, and -I asked her what was in it and could not make out her answer till she -pointed out three skinny pigs rooting among the unsavoury refuse of the -yard, then I grasped she was saying “hog,” and I was thankful I was not -going to have any of that dinner. She begged from me on the score of -her poverty, and in pity I gave her a shilling, and then the little -grand-daughter was so winsome, she had to have a penny, and then the two -poor old souls, cracking shell-fish and apparently done with all that -makes life good for a woman, begged so piteously that they had to have -something; so, on the whole, it was rather an expensive visit, but it -was well worth it to see Mrs Freeman “at home.” - -But I don't know Sierra Leone. I speak of all the West Coast as a -passer-by speaks of it; but I know less of Sierra Leone than any other -place I visited. Only it charmed me--I am going back some day soon if I -can afford it--and I went on with regret to the negro republic. - - - - -CHAPTER IV--WHERE THE BLACK MAN RULES - -_America's experiment in the way of nation-making--Exiles in -their mothers' land--The forlorn little company on Providence -Island--Difficulties of landing and finding accommodation--British -Consul to the rescue--The path to the British Consulate and the Liberian -College--An outrageously ill-kept town--“Lovely little homes up the -river”--A stickler for propriety--Dress and want of dress--The little -ignorant missionary girl--At prayer in Lower Buchanan--The failure of a -race._ - -No one on board the _Zaria_ really believed I would land in Liberia. -When I heard them talk I hardly believed it myself, and yet being there -it seemed a pity not to see all I could see. The captain and officers -were strongly of opinion there was absolutely nothing to see whatever. -If it was madness for a woman to come alone to the Coast, it -was stark-staring madness that almost needed restraining in a -strait-waistcoat to think of landing in Liberia, for Liberia of all -the countries along the Guinea Coast is the one most disliked by the -sailors, most despised, and since I have been there I am inclined to say -not without reason. For of course I did land; I should have been ashamed -of myself if I had not, and I spent the best part of a fortnight there, -and thanks to the kindness of His Britannic Majesty's Consul spent it -very comfortably indeed. - -Liberia is America's experiment in the way of nation-making even as -Sierra Leone is Great Britain's, and if I cannot praise the Creole of -Sierra Leone I have still less admiration for his American cousin. - -In the second decade of the last century philanthropists began to -consider the future of the freed slave in the United States, and it was -decided that it would be wisdom to transport him back to the continent -from which his forefathers came, and let him try there to put into -practice the lessons he had learned in the art of civilisation. Bitter -is the slur of black blood in the States; bitter, bitter was it ninety -years ago when the forlorn little company who were to found a civilised -negro state first set foot on their mothers' land. America was but young -among the nations in 1822, so she took no responsibility, made no effort -to launch these forlorn people in their new venture, or to help them -once they were launched. Their leader was a quadroon with a fine face -if one may judge from the picture in Executive Mansion, Monrovia, and he -dreamed I suppose of wiping away the slur, the unmerited slur which lay -across him and all like him with dark blood in their veins. With the -chain and with the lash had America enforced the stern law that by -the sweat of his brow shall man live, and she had seen to it that the -personal toil of the negro and all with negro blood in their veins -profited them only after their taskmasters had been satisfied. They -belonged to a degraded subject race; no wonder they came back gladly, -hopefully to the land from which certainly all their mothers had sprung. -But it was no easy task they had before them. For a strong, hopeful, -virile people it would have been difficult; to a people burdened with -the degradation of centuries of servitude it has proved a task well-nigh -beyond their capabilities. And before we condemn as do all the men along -the Coast, as very often I do myself, it is only fair to remember the -past. - -[Illustration: 0101] - -It must have been a very forlorn little company of people who landed on -a small island at the mouth of that unknown river in 1822. They called -the island Providence Island, and there they were cooped up for some -weeks, for the people on the shore, warlike savages who brooked no -master, objected to the newcomers, and it was some little time before -they could set foot on the mainland and found their principal town of -Monrovia. That was nearly ninety years ago, but very far inland they -have never been able to go, for though Liberia takes up quite a large -space on the map it is only Liberia in name. The hinterland is held by -fighting tribes who resent any interference with their vested rights, -and make the fact particularly clear. - -The outlines of the history of Liberia I had known vaguely for many a -long day even to the name of Monrovia their capital, so called after -President Munro, and it seemed to give point to the story to sit on the -deck of the ship that swung at her anchors just beyond the surf of the -river mouth. At least they had chosen a very beautiful place. Blue sky, -blue sea, snow-white surf breaking on the bar, and a hillside clothed in -dense greenery with palms cutting the sky line and the roofs of houses -peeping out from among the verdure, that is what I saw, and the captain -was emphatic I had seen the best of it. I did not doubt his word then, -and having been ashore I am bound to confess he was right. - -But the difficulty was to get ashore. I had a letter to the British -Consul, but I had not sampled the kindliness of British Consuls as I had -that of the Governors, and I did not know exactly what he would say. “I -wonder if there is an hotel,” I said doubtfully to the captain, and he -sniffed. - -“You couldn't stay in a negro hotel.” - -I sent off my letter to the Consul and waited, and a little cloud came -up out of the sea and spread over all the sky, and it rained, and it -rained, and it rained, and it rained. The sky was dark and forbidding, -the sea was leaden-coloured, the waves just tipped with angry, white -foam, and the green hills were blotted out, the decks were awash, the -awnings were sopping and wept coaly tears, and the captain said as if -that settled it, “There, you can't possibly go ashore.” But I was by no -means sure. Still there was no letter from His Majesty's Consul. Morning -passed on to afternoon, and afternoon waned towards evening and still -there was no letter. A ship on a pouring wet day is just about as -uncomfortable a place as one can be in, but still I was inclined to -accept the captain's opinion that Monrovia without someone to act as -guide, philosopher, and friend would be a worse place. - -No letter, and the captain came along. - -“I must get away before dark.” He spoke as if that settled it, and he -was right, but not the way he expected. - -I felt I simply could not go without seeing this place, and I decided. -“Then I'll go ashore.” - -“You can't possibly.” - -“Oh yes, I can. They won't eat me.” - -I don't know though that I was quite comfortable as I was dropped over -the side in a mammy chair into a surf boat that was half-full of water. -The rain had stopped at last but everything in that boat was wet, and my -gear made a splash as it was dropped down. - -My soldier brother had lent me his camp-kit for the expedition. - -“Can't possibly hurt it,” said he good-naturedly. “It's been through two -campaigns. If you spoil it, it shall be my contribution; but you won't.” - -I accepted, but I thought as I sat on the bedding-roll at the bottom of -that very wet boat, with my head not coming above the gunwale, that he -did not know Africa. I hoped I should not have to sleep on that bed that -night, because it was borne in on me it would be more than damp. - -Luckily I didn't. We crossed the bar, and the ragged, half-naked Kroo -boys, than whom there are surely no better boatmen in the world, begged -a dash, “because we no splash you,” as if a bucket or two of salt water -would have made much difference, and I gave it and was so absorbed in -the wonder as to what was to become of me that I gave hardly any heed to -the shore that was approaching. When I did it was to notice that all -the beauty I had seen from the deck was vanishing. Man's handiwork was -tumble-down, dirty, dilapidated, unfinished. I stepped from the boat to -a narrow causeway of stone; it is difficult to get out of a boat five -feet deep with grace, more especially when your skirts are sopping, and -I stepped from the causeway, it was not above a foot wide, into yellow -mud, and saw I was surrounded by dilapidated buildings such as one might -see in any poor, penniless little port. There were negroes in all stages -of rags round me, and then out from amongst them stepped a white man, a -neat and spick-and-span white man with soldier written all over him, the -soldier of the new type, learned, thoughtful, well-read. - -“Mrs Gaunt?” - -I said “Yes” with a little gasp, because his immaculate spruceness made -me feel I was too much in keeping with the buildings and the people -around us. - -“Did you get my note? I am sorry I only got yours a couple of hours -ago.” - -Oh, I understood by now that in Africa it is impossible for a note to -reach its destination quickly, and I said so, and he went on to arrange -for my accommodation. - -“If you will stay at the Consulate I will be delighted, but it is a -mile and a half from the town, and I have no wife; or there is a -boarding-house in the town, not too uncomfortable I am told.” - -There could be but one answer to that. Of course I accepted his -invitation; there are but few conventions and no Mrs Grundy in -out-of-the-way spots, thank heaven, and in the growing darkness we set -off for the Consulate. It was broken to me regretfully that I would have -to walk; there is no other means of progression in the negro republic. - -Such a walk as it was. Never have I met such a road. It was steep, and -it was rough, and it was stony as a mountain torrent; now after the -rain it was wet and slippery and the branches of the overhanging trees -showered us with water as we passed. It was lonely as a forest path in -Ashanti, and the jungle was thick on either hand, the night birds cried, -the birds that loved the sun made sleepy noises, the ceaseless insects -roused to activity by the rain made the darkness shrill with their -clamour, and there were mysterious rustlings as small animals forced -their way through the bush or fled before us. My host offered me -his stick to pull me over the steepest rocks, and also supplied the -interesting information that round the Consulate the deer came down to -lick the salt from the rocks, and the panthers, tigers they called them -there, came down and killed the deer. I made a mental note not to walk -in that path by night; indeed I made a note not to walk in it ever -again, as drenched and dripping with perspiration we emerged into a -clearing and saw looming up before us a tropical bungalow and beyond the -sea. It is an exquisite situation but is desperately lonely. - -[Illustration: 0108] - -My gear came on men's heads and the Consul's note was delivered to me -in the bush. Neither he nor I understood why it had come by such -a roundabout path. One of his servants also met us half-way with a -lantern, and since I had heard by then about the “tigers” I confess to -thinking it was a wise precaution. - -The Consulate is a fine two-storied building with wide verandahs and a -large hall where we generally sat, and that hall was very inadequately -lighted by some excellent lamps. The Consul didn't understand them and -the negro servants didn't understand them, and darkness was just visible -and I determined as soon as I knew my host well enough to ask him to let -me have a turn at his lamps. Such is the power of a little knowledge; -when I left the Consulate it was lighted as it should be, but that first -night we spent in a dim, religious light, and I felt I was going to -enjoy myself hugely, for here at last was something new. The Gambia and -Sierra Leone had been too much regulation Tropics; all that I had seen -and done I had at least read of before, but this was something quite -different. This had all the glamour of the unknown and the unexpected. I -am bound to say that His Majesty's Consul did not look at things with -the same eyes. He didn't like Liberia, and he said frankly that things -might be unexpected in a measure but he always knew they would be -unpleasant. But I went to bed that night with the feeling I was really -entering into the land of romance. - -Next morning I told my host I would go and see the town. - -“But I shan't go by the short cut,” I added emphatically. - -“What short cut?” - -“The way we came last night.” - -“That's not a short cut,” said he, and he smiled pitifully at my -ignorance of what was before me. “That's the main road.” - -And so it was. Afterwards I tried to photograph it, but in addition to -the difficulty of getting an accurate picture of a steep slope, I had -the misfortune to shake the camera, and so my most remarkable picture -was spoiled. I give a picture of the road, but I always felt when I -came to that part the worst was left behind. And yet on this road is -the Liberian College where the youth of Liberia, male and female, are -educated. It is a big building built of brick and corrugated iron, in a -style that seems wholly unsuited to the Liberian climate, though viewed -from a distance it looks imposing in its setting of greenery. They -teach the children algebra and euclid, or profess to do so--evil-tongued -rumour has it that the majority of the Liberian women can neither read -nor write--but to attain that, to them a useless edge, they have to -scramble over without exception the very worst road I have ever met. - -But the road only matches the rest of the place. Monrovia is not only an -ill-kept town, it is an outrageously ill-kept town. - -[Illustration: 0112] - -Many towns have I seen in the world, many, many towns along this west -coast of Africa, so I am in a position to compare, and never have I -seen such hopelessly miserable places as Monrovia and the other smaller -Liberian towns along the Coast. The streets look pretty enough in a -photograph; they are pretty enough in reality because of the kindly -hand of Nature and the tropical climate which makes vegetation grow up -everywhere. There is no wheeled traffic, no possibility of getting about -except on your own feet, and in consequence the roadways are generally -knee-deep in weeds, with just a track meandering through them here and -there, and between the roadway and the side walk is a rough gutter, or -at least waterway, about two feet deep, and of uncertain width, usually -hidden by the veiling weeds. Occasionally they have little gimcrack -bridges apparently built of gin cases across these chasms, but, as a -rule, if I could not jump as the wandering goats did, I had to make my -way round, even though it involved a detour of at least a quarter of a -mile. - -And the houses in the streets were unlike the houses to be seen anywhere -else on the West Coast, and, to my mind at least, are quite unsuited to -a tropical climate. They are built of wood, brick, or, and this is the -most common, of corrugated iron, are three or four stories high, steep -and narrow, with high-pitched roofs, and narrow balconies, and many -windows which are made with sashes after the fashion of more temperate -climes. The Executive Mansion, as they call the official residence of -the President, is perhaps as good a specimen as any and is in as good -repair, though even it is woefully shabby, and the day I called there, -for of course I paid my respects, clothes were drying on the weeds -and grass of the roadway just in front of the main entrance. Two doors -farther down was a tall, rather pretentious redbrick house which must -have cost money to build, but the windows were broken and boarded up, -and one end of the balcony was just a ragged fringe of torn and rotting -wood. So desolate was the place I thought it must be deserted, but -no. On looking up I saw that on the other end of the balcony were -contentedly lolling a couple of half-dressed women and a man, naked to -the waist, who were watching with curiosity the white woman strolling -down the street. - -A great deal of the Liberian's life must be spent on his balcony, for -the houses must be very stuffy in such a climate, and they are by no -means furnished suitably; of course it is entirely a matter of taste, -but for West Africa I infinitely preferred the sanded, earthen floor of -my friend the Jolloff pilot's wife to the blue Brussels-carpet on -the drawing-room floor of the wife of the President of the Liberian -republic. But, as I have said, this is a matter of taste, and I may be -wrong. I know many houses in London, the furniture of which appears to -me anything but suitable. - -It was quaint to me, me an Australian with strong feelings on the -question of colour, to be entertained by the President's wife, a kindly -black lady in a purple dress and with a strong American accent. She had -never been out of Africa, she told me, and she had great faith in the -future of Liberia. The President had been to England twice. And the -President's sad eyes seemed to say, though he hinted no such thing, that -he did not share his wife's optimism. - -[Illustration: 0116] - -“We have lovely little homes up the river,” she said as she shifted -the array of bibles and hymn-books that covered the centre-table in the -drawingroom to make room for the tray on which was ginger-beer for my -refreshment, “and if you will go up, we will make you very welcome.” - -She would not let me take her photograph as I desired to do; possibly -she had met the amateur photographer before and distrusted the species. -I could not convince her I could produce a nice picture. - -I never saw those “lovely little homes” either. They certainly were not -to be found in my meaning of the words in Monrovia or any of the Coast -towns, and up country I did not go; there was no way of doing so, save -on my own feet, and I felt then I could not walk in such a hot climate. -There may be such homes, I do not know, for between this good, kindly -woman and me was the great unbridgeable gulf fixed, and our modes of -thought were not the same. In judging things Liberian I try to remember -that. Every day it was brought home to me. - -The civilised black man, for instance, is often a great stickler for -propriety, and I have known one who felt himself obliged to board up -his front verandah because the white man who lived opposite was wont to -stroll on _his_ balcony in the early morning clad only in his pyjamas, -and yet often passing along the street and looking up I saw men and -women in the scantiest of attire lounging on their balconies doing -nothing, unless they were thinking, which is doubtful. - -Dress or want of dress, I find, strikes one curiously. I have times -without number seen a black man working in a loin cloth or bathing as -Nature made him, and not been conscious of anything wrong. He seemed -fitly and suitably clad; he lacked nothing. But looking on those men in -the balconies in only a pair of trousers, or women in a skirt pure -and simple, among surroundings that to a certain extent spoke of -civilisation, there was a wrong note struck. They were not so -much barbaric as indecent. It was as if a corner of the veil of -respectability had been lifted, the thin veneer of civilisation torn -off, and you saw if you dared to look the possibilities that lie behind. -I believed all the horrible stories of Vaudooism of America and the West -Indies when I saw the naked chest and shoulders of a black man -leaning over a balcony in Monrovia, and yet I have been only moved to -friendliness when the fetish man of an Ashanti village, with greasy -curls flying, with all his weird ornaments jingling, tom-toms beating, -and excited people shouting, came dancing towards me and pranced round -me with pointing fingers that I hope and believe meant a blessing. Can -anyone tell me why this was? Was it because the fetish man was giving -of his very best, while the half-civilised man was sinking back into -barbarism and looking at the white woman gave her thoughts she would -deeply have resented? Was it just an example of the thought-reading -we are subconsciously doing every day and all day long without exactly -realising it ourselves? - -The people of Monrovia, there are over 4000 of them, seem always -lounging and idling, and the place looks as if it were no one's business -to knock in a nail or replace a board. It is falling into decay. It is -not deserted, for the people are there, and presumably they live. They -exist waiting for their houses to tumble about their ears. There is a -market-place down in Waterside, the poorest, most miserable -market-place on all the African coast. The road here, just close to the -landing-place, is not made, but just trodden hard by the passing of many -feet. Here and there the native rocks crop up, and no effort has been -made to smooth them down. Above all, the stench is sickening, for the -Coast negro, without the kindly, sometimes the stern guidance of the -white man, is often intolerably dirty, and if my eyes did not recognise -it, my nose would. In all the town, city they call it, there is not one -garden or attempt at a garden. The houses are set wide enough apart; any -fences that have been put up are as a rule broken-down, invariably in -need of repair, and in between those houses is much wild growth. The -scarlet hibiscus covers a broken fence; an oleander grows bushy and -covered with pink roselike flowers; stately cocoa-nut palms, shapely -mangoes are to be seen, and all over the streets and roadway in the -month of January, I was there, as if it would veil man's neglect as far -as possible, grew a creeping convolvulus with masses of pink cup-shaped -flowers--in the morning hopeful and fresh and full of dew, in the -evening wilted and shut up tightly as if they had given up the effort -in hopeless despair. Never have I seen such a dreary, neglected town. -It would be pitiful anywhere in the world. It is ten times more so here, -where one feels that it marks the failure of a race, that it almost -justifies the infamous traffic of our forefathers. It was all shoddy -from the very beginning. It is now shoddy come to its inevitable end. - -For all the great mark on the map, as I have said, the settlements at -Monrovia do not extend more than thirty miles up the river; elsewhere -the civilised negroes barely hold the sea-board. They are eternally at -war with the tribesmen behind, and here in Monrovia I met half a dozen -of the prisoners, dressed in rags, chained two and two with iron collars -round their necks, and their guard, a blatant, self-satisfied person, -was just about as ragged a scarecrow as they were. Not that the victory -is by any means always to the Liberians, for a trader, an Englishman, -who had been seeking fresh openings in the hinterland where no Liberian -would dare to go, told me that though the tribes are not as a rule -cannibals, they do make a practice of eating their best-hated enemies, -and he had come across the hands and feet of not a few of the Liberian -Mendi soldiery in pickle for future use. - -To keep these tribesmen in check, the Liberian, who is essentially a man -of peace--a slave--has been obliged to raise an army from the Mendis who -inhabit the British protectorate to the west, and so he has laid upon -himself a great burden. For, unfortunately, there is not always money in -the treasury to satisfy this army of mercenaries when they get tired of -taking out their pay in trade gin or tobacco. Poor Liberians, threatened -with a double danger. If they have no soldiers the tribesmen within -their borders eat them up, and if they have soldiers, war they must -have, to provide an outlet for energies that otherwise might be -misdirected. - -I left my kind host with many regrets and Monrovia without any, and -I went on board the _Chama_ which was to call at Grand Bassa and Cape -Palmas, and if I did not intend to view them entirely from the ship's -deck, at least I felt after my visit to Monrovia it would hardly be -necessary for me to stay in either of these towns. - -[Illustration: 0122] - -They bear a strong family resemblance to the capital, only they -are “more so.” The tribes see to it, I believe, that there is no -communication with the capital except by sea, and the little communities -with their pretensions to civilisation are far less ininteresting than -the people of an Ashanti village who have seldom or never seen a white -man. - -I landed at Lower Buchanan, Grand Bassa, early one morning. The beach -simply reeked of human occupancy. They do not trouble about sanitation -in Liberia, and the town itself looked as if the houses had been set -down promiscuously in the primeval bush. Perhaps there were more signs -of wealth than in Monrovia, for I did see three cows and at least half -a dozen hairy, razor-backed pigs on the track that was by courtesy -the principal street, and it must require something to support all the -churches. - -I suppose it is the emotional character of the negro that makes him take -so largely to religion, or rather, I think I may say, the observances of -religion. The question of the missionaries is a vexed one, and on board -the _Chama_ was a missionary who made me think. She was a pretty young -girl who had left home and father and mother and sisters and brothers -and lover--ah, the lover was evidently hard where all had been hard--to -minister to the spiritual needs of the people who dwelt behind Cape -Palmas. She was sweetly ignorant of the world, of everything that did -not apply to the little home in Canada that she had left with such -reluctance, and was evidently immensely surprised to find the captain -and officers of the ship kindly, honest gentlemen who treated her as -tenderly and deferentially as they might have treated one of their own -young sisters. - -“I thought all sailors were bad men,” she said wonderingly. “I have -always been led to believe they were bad.” - -Now, what could such a nice, ignorant little girl as that teach the -negro? And yet she had curiously hard ideas on some subjects. She talked -about the missionary and his wife to whom she was going for five long -years and to whom she was bringing out clothes for their baby. - -“If it is alive,” she added naively. - -“Oh, I hope it will live,” said I, the heathen who doubted the use of -missionaries and all their works. - -“Well, I don't know”--and the cynicism sat curiously on the sweet, young -face--“poor little kiddie, perhaps it is better dead. What sort of a -life could it have out there, and what sort of an upbringing? Its mother -has other work to do.” - -And I tried to show her that one white child was worth a thousand -problematical souls of negroes, and I tried in vain. - -But if ever I saw the wrong side of Christianity I saw it here in -Liberia. Monrovia had many churches, all more or less unfinished, all -more or less in decay, and here in Lower Buchanan three corrugated-iron -churches within a stone's throw of one another constituted one of the -chief features of the town. It was early on a Tuesday morning, the best -time for work in a tropical climate, if work is going to be done at all. -On the beach the Kroo boys were bringing from surf boats the piassava, -the fibre that grows in the swamps and constitutes a large part of the -Liberian export, but in Lower Buchanan itself the greater part of the -inhabitants that I saw were in church. I entered that church. - -[Illustration: 0126] - -Such a tatterdemalion crew! God forbid that I should scoff at any man's -faith, but here cleanliness is practically divorced from godliness, and -I can honestly say that never in my life have I seen dirtier bundles of -rags than that congregation. A woman in a costume a scarecrow would have -despised, her head adorned with a baby's hat, the dirty white ribbons -fluttering down behind, was praying aloud with much unction, shouting -that she was a miserable sinner, and calling upon the Lord to forgive -her. The negro loves the sound of his own voice, and again I must claim -that I do not scorn any man's sincere faith, but that negro lady was -thoroughly enjoying herself, absolutely sure of her own importance. -The ragged scarecrows who listened punctuated the prayer with groans of -delight, and the only decent one amongst them was a small girl, whose -nakedness was hidden by a simple blue-and-white cloth, and she was -probably a household slave. For these descendants of a slave people make -slaves in their turn, perhaps not men slaves, but women are saleable -commodities among a savage nation, and for a trifling consideration, -a bottle of trade gin or a few sticks of trade tobacco, they will hand -over a girl-child who, taken into the household without pay, holds the -position of a servant and is therefore to all intents and purposes a -slave. This is really not as bad as it sounds; her position is probably -quite as good as it would be in her own tribe, and as she grows older -she either marries or forms some sort of alliance with a Liberian. Loose -connections and divorce are both so common that she is no worse off than -the ordinary Liberian woman, and the admixture of good, strong virile -blood may possibly help the future race. At least that is what I thought -as I watched the congregation at prayer. They sang hymn choruses so -beautifully as to bring tears to my eyes, and then they came outside and -abused me because I wanted to photograph them. Had I been they, I should -have objected to going out to the world as specimens of their people, -but they need not have reviled me in the blatant, coarse manner of the -negro who has just seen enough of civilisation to think he rules -the universe. I did not press the matter, because I felt it would be -ungracious to make a picture of them against their will. But clearly the -lovely little homes were not in Lower Buchanan. Nor were they in Cape -Palmas. - -Far be it from me to say that plantations of some useful description do -not exist. They may; I can only say I have seen no evidences of them in -three of their towns or near those towns. I will put it on record that -I did see some cabbage stalks behind some broken railings opposite the -President's house in Monrovia, but that was absolutely the only thing -in the shape of a garden, vegetable, fruit, or flower, that I did see -in the environs of the towns. You can buy no fruit in Monrovia, no -chickens, no eggs. Bananas and limes have to be imported. Meat is only -to be had at rare intervals, and living is so frightfully dear that -when the British Consul had, during my stay, to provide for a distressed -British subject who had been unfortunate enough to get adrift in the -land, he had to pay six shillings and sixpence a day for his board and -lodging--a bare room, not over-clean, with a rough bed in it, and board -that did not include meat, but consisted chiefly of manioc or cassava -which is what the majority of the Liberians live on themselves. - -The country as a matter of fact lives on the Custom's dues which reach -about £70,000 a year and are levied not only on the goods that they -themselves use but on those the unfortunate natives of the hinterland -require. No Liberian is a craftsman even of the humblest sort. The Kroo -men are fishermen and boatmen; men from Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, -and Lagos, with an occasional Vai tribesman thrown in, are painters, -smiths, and carpenters. The Liberian, the descendant of the freed slave, -despises these things; he aspires to be a gentleman of leisure, to serve -in the Government Service, or in the Church, to walk about in a black -suit with a high collar and a silver-mounted cane. Then apparently he -is happy even if he come out of the most dilapidated house in -Monrovia. There are, I believe, exceptions. I wonder, considering their -antecedents and the conditions under which they have had to exist, -whether one could expect more. Possibly it should be counted to them -for great righteousness if any good men be found among them at all. -But taken as a whole the Liberians after close on ninety years of -self-government must strike the stranger as an effete race, blatant -and arrogant of speech, an arrogance that is only equalled by their -appalling ignorance, a race that compares shockingly with the Mandingo -or Jolloff of the Gambia, the stately Ashanti, a warrior with reserve -power, or the busy agricultural Yoruba. These men are gentlemen in their -own simple, untutored way, courteous and dignified. The Liberian is only -a travesty of the European, arrogant without proper dignity, boastful -with absolutely nothing in the world to boast about unless it be the -amazing wealth of the country he mismanages so shamefully. For Liberia -is a rich country; it has a soil of surpassing fertility, and it seems -to me that almost anything in the way of tropical products might be -produced there. That nothing is produced is due to the ignorance and -idleness of these descendants of slaves who rule or misrule the land. -Since the days of the iniquitous trade, that first brought her into -touch with civilisation, West Africa has been exploited for the sake of -the nations of the western world. No one till this present generation -seems to have recognised that she had any rights. Now we realise that -the black man must be considered at least as much as the white man, who -has made himself his master. Now most settlements along the Coast -are busy, prosperous, and, above all, sanitary. Only in Liberia, the -civilised black man's own country, does a different state of things -prevail; only here has the movement been retrograde. - -An end must come, but who can say what this end will be. - -The missionary girl who had given up all she held most dear, who had -joined the noble band of martyrs and heroes for Africa, said she had -done so because she had seen a letter from a black man just mentioning -a chapter and verse of the New Testament. She had looked it up and read -the prayer of the Macedonians. Strange, strange are the workings of -the Unseen, cruel sometimes the penalties poor human nature takes upon -itself. Who shall say that a Guiding Hand had not made that girl choose -wisely for the development of her own character, and who shall say -that some ultimate good may not yet come for beautiful, wealthy, -poverty-stricken Liberia. That the civilised nations, sinking their own -jealousies, may step in and save her despite herself, I think, is the -only hope. But it must be as Paul would have saved, not as the pitiful -Christ. For the pendulum has swung too far back; the fathers have eaten -sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. She does not know -it herself, she will resent bitterly the imputation, but to me Liberia -seems to be stretching out her hands crying dumbly to the white man -the cry that came across the water of old, the cry the missionary girl -listened to, the cry of Macedonia, “Come over and help us.” - -But I was one who only heard the cry in passing, who felt that I at -least could not help. I went on in the _Chama_ to Axim, interested with -what I had seen, but forgetting much in what I thought was to be my -first hammock-trip alone. For I wanted to go to Half Assinie, and -since no one may be sure of landing all their gear in safety on that -surf-bound coast, I had to land at Axim and go back overland the fifty -miles to the French border, and I thought I should have to do it alone. - - - - -CHAPTER V--THE GUINEA COAST - -_Every man's duty--“Three deaths in two days”--An old Portuguese -settlement--A troubled District Commissioner--What to do with a -wandering white woman--The Judge's quarters--The kindly medical officer -and his wife--A West-African town--“My outside wife”--Dangers -ahead--The man who was never afterwards heard of--The Forestry officer's -carriers--“Good man, bad man, fool man”--First night in the wilds--Hair -in the soup._ - -A great German philosopher has remarked that you very seldom get a -human being who has all the qualities of his own sex without a trace -of the characteristics of the other. Such a being would be hardly -attractive. At least I consoled myself with that reflection when I found -stirring within me a very masculine desire to be out of leading strings -and to be allowed to take care of myself. It is pleasant to be taken -care of, but it is decidedly uncomfortable to feel that you are a burden -upon men upon whom you have no claim whatever. They were looking after -me because they were emphatically sure that the Coast is no place for -a lone woman. At the bottom of my heart, grateful as I was to the -individuals, I didn't like it. I thought my freedom was coming at Axim, -but it didn't. - -Every man felt it his duty to impress upon me the unhealthiness of the -Coast, and every man did his duty manfully, forgetting that I have -a very excellent pair of eyes and an inquiring mind. The hot, still -morning we arrived at Axim the captain, having discussed matters with -the Custom officer, came to me solemnly shaking his head. - -“A terrible place, Mrs Gaunt, a terrible place. Three deaths in Axim in -the last two days.” - -It was quite a correct Coast speech, and for the moment I was shocked, -though not afraid, because naturally it never occurs to me that I will -die, at least not just yet, and not because the people round me are -dying. The captain was gloomily happy as having vindicated the evil -reputation of the country, and I looked ashore and wondered what was -wrong with so attractive a place. - -The Portuguese, those mariners of long ago, chose the site and, as they -always did, chose wisely. A promontory, on which is the white fort, -juts out into the sea, and behind is all the luxuriant greenery of the -Tropics, for the land rises just sufficiently to give beauty to the -scene. I wondered why those three people had died, and I inquired. The -whole incident is so characteristic of the loose talk that builds up -an evil reputation for a country. Those deaths were held up to me as -a warning. It would have been quite as much to the point if they had -warned me against getting frost-bitten or falling into a cauldron of -boiling sugar. One man died of a disease he had contracted twenty years -before, and was exceedingly lucky to have lived so long, another had -died of drink, and the third was a woman. She, poor thing, was the wife -of a missionary from Sierra Leone, and had not been in a cooler climate -for two years. There was a baby coming, and instead of going home she -had come to Axim, had a bad go of blackwater, and when the baby came, -her constitution could not stand the double strain, and she died. Only -her death was directly attributable to the climate, and the exercise of -a little common sense would have saved her. - -So I landed and was not afraid. - -But my arrival was a cause of tribulation to the District Commissioner. -There was no hotel, so I appealed to him for quarters. It really was -a little hard on him. He sighed and did his best, and the only time I -really saw him look happy was about three weeks later when he saw -me safely in a surf boat bound for the out-going steamer. But when I -landed, the need for shelter was pressing, and he gave me a room in the -Judge's quarters where it seems they bestow all homeless white -strangers in Axim. Already the Forestry officer was there, and he had -a sitting-room and a bedroom, so that I could only have a bedroom and a -bathroom. Now, with a verandah and such a large room at my disposal, I -could make myself more than comfortable; then, because I did not know -African ways, I accepted the very kind invitation of the medical officer -and his wife, the only white woman in Axim, to “chop” with them. - -African ways are very convenient when you come to think of it. Here was -a big empty room with a wardrobe and a little cane furniture in it. I -went in with my brother's kit and set up my camp-bed, my bath, laid down -my ground sheet and put up my table and chair, and I had all that was -really necessary. Outside was the ragged garden, haunted they said, -though I never saw the ghost, and because it was usually empty the big -rats scrambled up the stairs, and the birds sat in the oleander bushes -and called “Be quick, be quick” continually. - -I couldn't take their advice because it is impossible to hurry things on -the Coast and I must wait for the carriers. - -The first night I had dinner--chop--with the medical officer and his -wife and went to bed reflecting a little regretfully I had made no -preparations for my early-morning tea. However, I concluded it might -be good discipline to do without it. But it is a great thing to have -a capable boy. Just as it began to get light Grant appeared outside my -mosquito curtains as usual with a cup of tea and some fruit. The cup and -teapot were my own; he had stolen all the materials from the Forestry -officer next door, and I was much beholden to that young man when, on -apologising, he smiled and said it was all right, he was glad I liked -his tea. - -Axim is a pretty little town with the usual handful of whites and the -negroes semi-civilised with that curious civilisation which has probably -persisted for centuries, which is not what we would call civilisation -and yet is not savagery. It is hardly even barbarism. These Coast towns -are not crowded with naked savages as many a stay-at-home Briton seems -to imagine; they are peopled with artisans, clerks, traders, labourers, -people like in many ways to those in the same social scale in other -countries, and differing only when the marked characteristics of the -negro come in. All along in these Coast towns the negroes are much -the same. To their own place they are suitable; only when they try to -conform too much to the European lines of thought do they strike one as -_outré_ or objectionable. I suppose that is what jars in the Christian -negro. It is not the Christianity, it is the striving after something -eminently unsuited to him. Left to himself though, he naturally goes -back to the mode of life that was his forefathers', and sometimes he -has the courage to own it. I remember a man who called in the medical -officer about his wife. The ordinary negro has as many wives as he can -afford, but the Christian is by way of only having one, and as this -man was clothed in the ordinary garb of the European, unnecessary coat, -shirt, and hat, I naturally set him down as a Christian. - -“I Christian,” he told me. “Mission-teacher once.” - -“Not now?” - -“No, Swanzy's agent now. You savey my wife; she get well?” - -I said I had no doubt she would, and I rejoiced in this sign of marital -affection, when he dashed it all to the ground. - -“She not my real wife; she my outside wife,” said he as one who would -explain their exact relations. - -My views on negro homes received a shock, but after all if the women -don't object, what matter? It is the custom of the country. - -I looked round the town and took photographs, wasted many plates trying -to develop in too hot a place, and declared my intention of going west -just as soon as ever I could get carriers. I didn't quite know how I -should manage, but I concluded I should learn by experience. - -Even now, though I have travelled since then close on 700 miles in a -hammock, I cannot make up my mind whether it would have been safe for -me to go alone. Undoubtedly I should have made many mistakes, and in -a country where the white man holds his position by his prestige it -is perhaps just as well that a woman of his colour should not make -mistakes. - -“Not suitable,” said one who objected strongly to the presence of any -white women on the Coast. - -“Hardly safe,” said another. - -“Not safe,” said a third emphatically, and then they told a story. Axim -has been settled and civilised many years, and yet only last year a man -disappeared. He was one of a party dining with his friends. After dinner -they started a game of cards, and up the verandah steps came this man's -house-steward. His master was wanted. The company protested, but he left -declaring he would return immediately. He did not return and from that -day to this neither he nor his house-boy have been seen by mortal eyes. -The story sounds fearsome enough. It sounded worse to me preparing to -go along the Coast by myself, but now, thinking it over calmly, I see -flaws. Investigated, I wonder if it would turn out like the story of the -three people dead in two days; true, but admitting of quite a different -construction being put upon it than that presented for my edification. -One thing I do know and that is that I would feel very much safer in an -Ashanti village that has only been conquered in the last ten years -than I would alone in any of those little towns along the Guinea Coast, -between Axim and Half Assinie, that have been in contact with the white -man for the last three hundred years. - -Anyhow, Axim decided for me I should not go alone, and the Forestry -officer, like the chivalrous, gracious gentleman he was, came forward -and pretended he had business at Half Assinie and that it would be a -great pleasure to have a companion on the road. And so well did he play -his part that it was not till we were bound back from the Border that I -discovered he had simply come to look after me. - -Then I was initiated into the difficulties of carriers. The Omahin, that -is to say the Chief of Beyin, had sent me twenty men and women, and -the Forestry officer had two separate lots of Kroo boys and Mendis, and -early one morning in January we made preparations for a start. We didn't -start early. It seems to me how ever carefully you lay your plans, -you never do. First no carriers turned up; then some of the Forestry -officer's men condescended to appear. Then the orderly, a man from the -north with his face cut with a knife into a permanent sardonic grin, -strolled up. He was sent out to seek carriers, and presently drove -before him two or three women, one with a baby on her back, and these it -appeared were the advance contingent of my gang. A Beyin woman-carrier -or indeed any woman along the Coast generally wears a printed-cotton -cloth of a dark colour round her by way of a skirt, and one of the -little loose blouses that the missionaries introduced on to the Coast -over a hundred years ago because they regarded it as indecent for a -woman to have her bosom uncovered. Now her shoulders are often covered -by the blouse, but that many a time is of such skimpy proportions that -it does not reach very far, the skirt invariably slips, and there is -a gap, in which case--well, shall we say the result is not all the -originators desired. A woman can carry anything but a hammock, but these -carriers of mine were not very good specimens of the class. They -looked at the loads, they went away, they came back, they altered, they -grumbled, and at last about two hours late we started, I going ahead, -the Forestry officer fetching up the rear to round in all stragglers, -and in between came our motley array of goods. There is a family -resemblance among all travellers on the Gold Coast. They all try to -reduce their loads to a minimum and they all find that there are certain -necessaries of life which they must have, and certain other things which -may be luxuries but which they cannot do without, and certain other -little things which it would be a sin not to take as it makes all the -difference between comfort and savagery. So the procession comes along, -a roll of bedding, a chop box, a kitchen box with pots and pans, a bath, -a chair, a table, the servant's box, a load of water, a certain amount -of drink, whisky, gin, and if the traveller is very luxurious (I wasn't) -some claret, a uniform case with clothes, a smaller one containing the -heavier things such as boots and the various goods that pertain to the -European's presence there. Before the Commissioner goes his orderly, -carrying his silver-topped stick, the insignia of his rank. I had a -camera and a lot of heavy plates but I don't think the Forestry officer -had anything special except a tent which took three men to carry and -which we could never set up because we found on the first night that the -ridge poles had been left behind. It is not supposed to be well to sleep -in native houses, but it did us no harm. - -The carrier divides the masters he serves into three divisions. “He be -good man,” “he be bad man,” and “he be fool man.” My carriers decided -I was a fool man and they were not far wrong. Less than an hour after -leaving Axim, distance as yet is always counted by time in Africa, we -came to the Ancobra River and my first difficulty arose. My hammock had -not yet been brought across and I, walking on a little way, came to a -swampy bit which it was difficult to negotiate without wetting my feet -above the ankles. My headman stooped and offered a brawny, bare back -for my acceptance. I hesitated. My clothes were not built for riding -pick-a-back. I looked back; there was no hammock, neither, thank heaven, -was there any sign of the Forestry officer. I tried to show them how to -cross their hands and carry me as in a chair, but no, they would have -none of my methods, and then I gave in hastily lest my travelling -companion should appear, accepted the back, rode across most -ungracefully, and was set down triumphantly on the other side. And then -they, began to take advantage of me. - -“Missus,” explained one, “you walk small. If man tote hammock, plenty -broken bottle cut feet.” - -And so I walked all through the outskirts of that little river-side -village. It was the hottest part of a very hot day, the sand made the -going heavy, and the sun poured down mercilessly out of a cloudless -sky. I was soon exceedingly tired, but I was filled with pity for the -unfortunates who had to carry me. They walked beside me happily enough -or dawdled behind scorning the fool woman who employed them. I may say -when I came back my men carried me over every foot of the path, but they -set me down a dozen times that day, and when my companion came up and -found me sitting under a cocoa-nut palm, as he did pretty frequently, he -remonstrated with me and remonstrated with my men, but the thing rested -with me. It took me all day long to learn that the men must do the work -they had undertaken to do, and until I was convinced of it in my own -mind they certainly were not. We had luncheon in the house of the -headman of a fishing village; at afternoon tea-time we were sitting on -the sand waiting for the tide to run out so that we might cross the Twin -Rivers, and we waited nearly two hours, and at last as the darkness was -falling we arrived at a village where we must stop the night. My first -night in the wilds. - -It was a small fishing village on the sands of the seashore, built of -the stalks of the raffia palm which here the people call bamboo. The -Chief had a compound cleared out for us, and I do not know now whether -that compound was clean. In my mind it remains as clean, because till -then I had always expected a native house to be most uninhabitable, and -was surprised to find any simple comforts at all. The floors were of -sand, the walls of the stalks of the raffia, and the thatch of the -fronds. I prefer palm to mud for a wall; for one thing, it is nice and -airy, the wind can blow right through it and you might almost be in the -open air, but then again, you must make your toilet and have your bath -in the dark, for if you have a light everything is as clearly visible to -the outside world as if you had been placed in a cage for their special -benefit. However, my bed was put up, my bath and toilet things set out, -and I managed to dress and come outside for dinner which we had in -the open. The grey sand was our carpet, the blue-black sky dotted with -twinkling diamonds our canopy, and the flickering, chimneyless -Hinkson lamp lighted our dinner-table. I was more than content. It was -delightful, and then the serpent entered into our paradise. - -“Kwesi,” said the Forestry officer angrily, “there's a hair in the -soup.” - -Kwesi had only brought the soup from the kitchen to the table, so it -was hardly fair to blame him, but the average man, if his wife is not -present, is apt to consider the nearest servant is always responsible -for his little discomforts, and he does not change his character in -Africa I find. Kwesi accepted the situation. - -“It not ploper hair, sah,” he protested as apologetically as if he had -sought diligently for a hair without success and been obliged to do the -best he could with negro wool. - -I, not being a wife and therefore not responsible, was equal to -suggesting that it probably came off the flour bag and he might as well -have his dinner in peace, but he was not easily soothed. - -That first night, absolutely in the open, everything took on a glamour -which comes back to me whenever I think of it. A glorious night out -in the open in the Tropics is one of the pure delights of life. A fire -flickered in the centre of the compound; to the right in a palm-thatched -hut we could see the cook at work, and we had _hors d'oeuvre_, which -here they call small chop, and the soup which my companion complained -of, and fish and chicken and sweets and fruit as good as if we had been -in a London restaurant. Better, for the day's hammocking on the beach -with the salt spray wetting our faces and the roar of the turbulent -West-Coast surf in our ears had given us an appetite that required no -tempting. The hair was but an incident; the sort of contrast that always -marks West Africa. We dined luxuriously. - -Around us were strewn our camp outfit, all the thousand and one things -that are required to make two people comfortable. It had taken -sixteen men to carry us twenty miles in our hammocks; it had taken -five-and-twenty more to minister to our comfort. The headman of the -village regarded us as honoured guests. He provided a house, or rather -several houses in a compound, he told the carriers where they could -get wood and water, he sold us chickens at exorbitant prices, but still -chickens, and plantains and kenky and groundnuts for the men. And so we -dined in comfort and talked over the incidents of the day. - - - - -CHAPTER VI--THE KING'S HIGHWAY - -_The burying of the village dead--For Ju-ju--The glory of the -morning--The catastrophes by the way--The cook is condemned to -death--Redeemed for two shillings--The thunderous surf--The charm of the -shore--Traces of white blood--A great negro town--Our quarters--Water -that would induce a virulent typhus in any but a negro community--The -lonely German trader--Difficulties of entertaining a negro -potentate--The lair of the hunted._ - -The King's Highway is along the shore here easy enough going when the -tide is out and the golden sand is hard; very heavy indeed when the -roaring waves break almost at the foot of the cocoa-nut palms that stand -in phalanxes tall and stately, or bending somewhat towards the sea that -is their life, all the way from Axim to Half Assinie, and beyond again -to the French border. There is no other way than this way along the -shore. Occasionally, if the “sea be too full,” as the carriers say, they -may go up to a rough path among the cocoa-nut palms, but it is a very -rough path. Husks of the cocoa-nuts lie there, palm fronds drying and -withering in the sun, a great creeping bean flings its wandering -stalks across the path as a trap to the unwary, and when there is other -greenery it stands up and stretches out thorny branches to clutch at -the passer-by. Besides, the villagers--and there are many villages--bury -their dead here, and they consider two feet a deep enough grave, so that -the odour of decay rises on the hot air. All along the shore, which -is the highway, just under the cocoa-nut palms, I saw tiny miniature -sloping thatches over some pots--a sign that someone has been buried -there. At first I was touched to think so many of the living mourned the -dead; but my sentimental feelings are always receiving rude shocks, and -I found that these thatches had not been raised in tender remembrance, -but to placate the ghosts of the dead and to prevent them from haunting -the living. They must be rather foolish ghosts, too, and easily taken -in; for I observed that a bunch of cock's feathers evidently simulated -a chicken, and the pots were nearly always rather elderly and often -broken. There were more gruesome signs of Ju-ju too; a crow suspended -with outspread wings, a kid with drooping head and hanging legs. I hope -these things were not put up while they were alive and left to suffer -in the tropical sunshine, but I fear, I fear. The negro is diabolically -cruel. - -When we were children we always ate the things we liked least first, -bread and butter, and then cake; and there is much to be said for the -plan. Afterwards I found it was much easier and nicer travelling in the -bush, but on that first journey travelling along the shore had great -charms for me. In the early morning a whitish mist hangs over the sea -and veils the cocoa-nut palms, and there is a little chill in the air -which makes travelling pleasant. We always got up before dawn. At the -first streak of light we were having our breakfast, porridge and -eggs and marmalade and fruit, bananas, pines, or oranges, quite as -comfortably as if we were in civilised lands, though the servants were -waiting to pack our breakfast equipage, and we watched our beds and -boxes and baths borne away on men's heads as we drank our coffee. There -were catastrophes sometimes, of course. - -There was the morning when the coffee had been made on top of the -early-morning tea, and the evening when the peaches were agreeably -flavoured with household soap; the day when some unknown hand had -conveyed native peppers, which are the hottest things in creation -outside the infernal regions, into the sparklet bottle; and the day when -the drinking water gave out altogether, and was replaced by the village -water, black and greasy, and sufficient to induce in any but a negro -community a virulent typhus. But all disasters paled before the day when -neither the dinner nor the cook were forthcoming at Beyin. - -The Forestry officer, in the kindness and hospitality of his heart, had -asked me to be his guest, so that we always had chop together, and I -gained experience without any trouble to myself. - -I was sorry there was no dinner, because it seemed a long time since we -had had tea, but otherwise I was not troubled. - -“Where be cook, Kwesi?” asked the Forestry officer of his immediate -attendant. - -Kwesi spluttered and stammered; he was so full of news. Round at a -little distance stood the people of the town of Beyin--men in cloths; -women, some with a handkerchief round their heads, but some with a -coiffure that suggested the wearer had been permanently surprised, -and her hair had stood up on end and stayed there ever since; little -children, who shyly poked their heads round their mothers' legs to look -at the strange white woman. The truth was hardly to be told in Kwesi's -agitated pigeon English. It was awful. The cook had marched into the -town on business bent and demanded chickens for the white master and -the white missus, and the inhabitants, with a view to raising the market -price, had declared there was not a chicken within miles of the place, -and they had not seen such a thing for years. Cook was aggravated, -for the chickens were walking about under his very eyes, not perhaps -well-bred Dorkings or Buff Orpingtons, but the miserable little runt -about the size of a self-respecting pigeon that is known as a chicken -all over West Africa, and the sight was too much for him. He seized one -of those chickens and proceeded to pluck and dress it, and before he -was half-through the Omahin's men had come down and hauled him off to -durance vile, for he had committed the iniquitous offence of stealing -one of the Omahin's guard's chickens, and public opinion was almost -agreed that only death could expiate so grievous a crime. Of course, -there was the white woman to be considered, an unknown quantity, for -many of them had never seen a white woman before; and there was the -Forestry officer, by no means an unknown quantity, for it was pretty -certain he would resent any harm to his cook. Finally, with much yelling -and shouting and tremendous gesticulation, the case was laid before him -and the demand made that his cook should be handed over to the powers -he had offended. I am bound to say that young man held the scales of -justice with a niceness that is only to be properly appreciated when we -remember that it was his dinner that was not forthcoming and his cook -whose life was threatened. He listened to both sides, and then decreed -that the cook was to be redeemed by the payment of two shillings, that -the crowd was to disperse, and dinner to come up forthwith. - -“Two shillings,” said the next white man we met, the preventive officer -at Half Assinie, close to the Border, “two shillings! I should think so -indeed. The price of a chicken is sixpence, and it's dear at that.” - -They are such arrant savages, these people of the King's Highway; often -enough they are stark save for a loin cloth, and I have seen men without -even the proverbial fig leaf. The very decencies of life seem unknown to -them, and yet they calculate in sixpences and shillings, even as the man -in the streets in England does. - -They have touched the fringe of civilisation for so many hundred years; -for this is the Coast of the great days of the slave trade, and -along this seashore, by this roaring surf, beneath the shade of these -cocoa-nut palms, have marched those weary companies of slaves, whose -descendants make the problem of America nowadays. It must have been the -same shore, the very same. Here is the golden sand and the thunderous -surf that only the men of the Coast will dare, and between Axim and the -French Ivory Coast not always they. The white scallop shells are tossed -aside by the feet of the carriers; the jellyfish that twinkle like lumps -of glass in the strong sunshine must be avoided, for they sting; plover -and little wading birds like snipe dart into the receding wave, or race -back from its oncoming; and the little crabs, like brown pincushions on -stilts, run to hide themselves in the water. Here are crows, too, with -neat black coats and immaculate white waistcoats and white collars, -who fly cawing round the villages. We saw an occasional vulture, like a -ragged and very dissipated turkey, tearing at the carcass of a goat -or sheep. Such is the shore now. So was it four hundred years ago. The -people must have changed a little, but very, very little in this western -portion of the Gold Coast, which is given over to the mahogany cutters, -the gold-seekers, and the men who seek mineral oil. And the people are -born, and live, and die, and know very, very little more than their -forefathers, who lived in fear of the trader who would one day tear them -from their homes, and force civilisation upon them with the cat and with -the branding iron. In the old days they got much of their sustenance -from the sea, and so do they get it still; and when the surf was not too -bad we saw the dark men launching their great surf boats, struggling -to get them into the surf, struggling to keep them afloat till they got -beyond it, when they were things of life. And when the surf was too -bad, as it was on many days, they contented themselves with throwing in -hand-nets, racing back as the sea washed over them, racing forward as it -receded; and the women and children gathered shell-fish just where sand -and surf met, carrying in their hands calabashes, or cocoa-nut shells, -or those enamelled iron-ware basins which are as common now on the Coast -as they are in London town. It seems to me that enamelled iron ware is -one of the great differences between now and the days when the English -and Dutch and Portuguese adventurers came first to this coast trading -for gold and ivory and slaves. - -There are other traces of them, too, though they only built forts and -dared hardly go beyond the shelter of their walls. Not infrequently the -skin of the man who bore me was lightened to copper colour; every now -and then I saw straight features and thin lips, though the skin was -black, and I remembered, I must perforce remember, that these traders -of old time made the dark women minister to their passions, and that the -dark women bore them children with pride, even as they do to-day. - -Beyin is one of the biggest purely negro towns along the Coast. It is -close on the shore, a mass of negro compounds huddled close together; -the walls of the compounds and of houses are alike made of raffia palm, -and the roofs are thatched with the fronds, looking not unlike peasant -cottages in Somerset or Brittany. - -And the people who live in them are simple savages. They chatter and -shriek, talking at the top of their voices about--God knows what; for it -seems as if nothing in the nature of news could have happened since the -long-ago slave-raiding days. In the street they pressed me close; only -when I noticed any particular one, especially a woman or a child, that -one fled shrieking to hide behind its neighbour. We sent our orderly -forward to tell the Omahin we proposed to honour them with our -presence for two days, and to ask for a house to live in. The house was -forthcoming, a great two-storied house, built of swish, and whitewashed. -It was right in the centre of the town, so closely surrounded by the -smaller houses that, standing on the balcony, I could drop things easily -on to the roofs below; but it had this advantage, that unless the people -climbed on their roofs--they did as a matter of fact--we could not be -overlooked. We had three rooms: an enormous centre room that someone -had begun to paint blue, got tired, and finished off with splashes -of whitewash, the council chamber of the town; and two side-rooms for -bedrooms. And words fail me to describe those bedrooms. There were iron -beds with mattresses, mattresses that looked as if they had been rescued -from the refuse heap specially to accommodate us, and tables covered -with dirt and the most wonderful collection of odds and ends it has ever -been my fortune to come across. They were mostly the cheapest glass and -china ornaments, broken-down lamps that in their palmy days must have -been useless, and one of those big gaily painted china sitting hens that -humble households sometimes serve up their breakfast eggs under. The -first thing was to issue strict orders that not even the ground sheet -was to touch that bed; the next was to clear away the ornaments, wipe -down the table, cover it with clean paper and a towel, sweep the floor, -lay down the ground sheet, put up the bed, and decide whether I would -wash in sea water or in the black and greasy liquid which comes from a -mile away across the swamp, and which was the only alternative. I -may say I tried them both, and found them both unsatisfactory; and I -finished with the sea water because I knew that, however uncomfortable, -it was at least clean. - -Here we used the last of our drinking water and had to beg a little -from the only white trader in the town, who gave generously of his -small store, as white men do help each other beyond civilisation. He -was German, and somewhat difficult to understand at times when he grew -excited; but he stood on the same side of the gulf as we other two, -while the black people, those who served us, and those who stared at us, -were apart on the other side. A weary, dreary life is the trader's. He -had a house just on the edge of the surf. His “factory” was below it. -His only companions were a beautiful green-crested clock-bird and a -little old-man monkey with a white beard. The ghastly loneliness of it! -Nothing to do but to sell cotton stuffs and enamel ware and gin to the -native, and count the days till it was time to tramp to Axim and take -the steamer that should bear him back to the Fatherland and all the joys -of wife and children. - -“I saw the homeward-bound steamer to-day,” he said pathetically, though -he did not know he was pathetic. “I always look for it.” - -“The steamer! I did not know it came close enough in.” - -“It doesn't. Of course it was only the smoke on the horizon.” - -Surely, surely, the tragedy of the exile's life lay in those words. - -We had sent our orderly forward to say we were going to visit the -Omahin, and soon after our arrival we called upon him. His palace is a -collection of swish huts with palm-thatched roofs, built round a sanded -compound; and we were ushered into a cramped, whitewashed room--his -court. The population packed themselves into the body of the court to -stare at the white people and native royalty; and the Omahin and his -councillors were crowded up in the corner, whence, I presume, justice -is dispensed. The exalted personage was clad in a dark robe of -many-coloured silks, with a band of the same material round his -black head. Round his neck was a great, heavy gold chain, on his arms -bracelets of the same metal, and on his fingers heavy gold rings. Some -of his councillors were also dressed in native robes, and they carried -great horns of gold and the sticks that mark his rank with gold devices -on top of them. The incongruity was provided by the “scholars” among -his following--the linguists, the registrar, and other minor officials. -These functionaries were clad in the most elderly of cast-off European -garments, frock coats green with age, shirts that simply shrieked for -the washtub, and trousers that a London unemployed would have disdained. -However, they interpreted for us, and we explained to the Chief how -pleased the white lady was with his country and how much she wished to -visit the lake village, which was three hours away on the trade route -to the back-country. He expressed his willingness to give us a guide -through the swamp that lay behind the town, and then with a great deal -of solemnity we took our leave and retired to our own somewhat delayed -afternoon tea. - -We were mistaken if we thought we were going to be allowed to have it -in peace. We had not sat down a moment, the Forestry officer, the German -trader, and I, when the ragged travesty of a Gold Coast policeman, who -was the Omahin's messenger, came dawdling upstairs to announce that the -Omahin was coming to return our call; and he and his councillors and -linguists followed close on his heels. The linguist explained that it -was the custom to return a ceremonial call at once, and custom rules the -roost in West Africa. That might be, but our conversational powers had -been exhausted a quarter of an hour before, and not the most energetic -ransacking of our brains could find anything to say to this negro -potentate, who sat stolidly in a chair surrounded by an ever increasing -group of attendants. I asked him if he would have tea. No. Cake, -suggested the Forestry officer frantically. No. Toast and butter we -both offered in a breath. No; he had no use for toast and butter, or -for biscuits or oranges, which exhausted our tea-table. And then -the Forestry officer had a brilliant idea: “You offer him a -whisky-and-soda.” I did, and the dusky monarch weighed the matter a -moment. Then he agreed, and a glass of whisky-and-soda was given him. -We did not offer any refreshment to his followers. It would have left us -bankrupt, and then not supplied them all. For a moment the Omahin looked -at his whisky-and-sparklet, then he held out the glass, and aman stepped -forward, and, bending low, took a sip; again he held out the glass, -choosing his man apparently quite promiscuously from among the crowd, -and again the man bent low and sipped. It was done over and over again. -I did not realise that a glass could have held so much liquid as -one after another, the chosen of the company, among whom was my most -troublesome hammock-boy, sipped. At last there was but a teaspoonful -left, and the Omahin put it to his own lips and drank with gusto, handed -it to one of his attendants, took it back, and, tipping it up, drained -the very last dregs; then, solemnly holding out a very hard and horny -hand, shook hands with us and departed. - -The next day we visited Lake Nuba. Beyin stands upon a narrow neck -of land between the sea and a swamp that in the rainy season is only -passable in canoes, but when I was there in the middle of the dry season -a winding path took us through the dense swamp grasses to the place that -is neither land nor water, and it is difficult to say whether a hammock -or a canoe is the least dangerous mode of progression. Be it understood -that this is a trade route. Rotting canoes lay among the grasses; and -there passed to and fro quite an array of people laden with all manner -of goods, plantains, and cassava, stink-fish (which certainly does -not belie its name), piles of cotton goods for the interior, and great -enamelled-ware basins piled with loam to make swish houses in Beyin. -Most often these heavily laden folks are women who stalk along with a -child up on their backs, or suckling it under their arms. They stared -with wonder at the white woman in the hammock and moved into the swamp -to let her pass, but I should think they no more envied me than I -envy the Queen of England driving in the Park. Presently the way was -ankle-deep in water, knee-deep in mud. Raffia palm, creepers, and all -manner of swamp grasses grew so close that the hammock could barely -be forced through, and only two men could carry it. We went up perhaps -twenty feet in squelching, slippery mud. We came down again, and -the greenery opened out into an expanse of water, where starry-white -water-lilies opened cups to the sky above, and the great leaves looked -like green rafts on the surface of the water. There were holes hidden by -that water, but it is the trade route north all the same; and has been -the trade route for hundreds of years since the Omahins of Beyin raided -that way, and brought down their strings of slaves, carrying the tiny -children lest they should be drowned, to the Dutch and Portuguese -and English traders on the Coast. Presently we came to a more marked -waterway, and here were canoes waiting for us. I draw a veil over the -disembarking out of a hammock into an extremely crank and wet canoe. I -was up to my knees in water, but the Forestry officer expressed himself -as delighted. I held up a dripping skirt, and he made his men paddle -over, and inspected. It was, of course, as we might have expected; the -natives had seen that the most important person in their eyes, the man, -got the only fairly dry canoe, and my kindly guardian was shocked, and -insisted on an immediate change being made. And if it is necessary -to draw a veil over the disembarking from a hammock to a canoe it is -certainly necessary to draw one over the changing from one crank canoe -to another. I can assure you it cannot be done gracefully. Even a -mermaid who had no fear of being drowned could hardly accomplish that -with elegance. But it was done at last, and we set off up the long and -picturesque waterway fringed with lilies and palms and swamp grasses -that led to Lake Nuba. And sometimes the waterway was deep, sometimes -shallow. The canoe was aground, and every man had to jump overboard to -help push it over the obstruction, but more than one man went over his -head in slime and water. At each accident the lucky ones who had escaped -roared and yelled with laughter as if it were the best of jokes. Perhaps -it was. It was so hot that it could have been no hardship to have a -bath, and they had nothing on to spoil. But at last we got out on the -lake. It looked a huge sheet of water from the little canoe, and it took -a good hour's paddling till we came to the lake village. - -This is the lair of the hunted, though it does lie on the trade route. -Behind it lies the swamp which is neither land nor water in the dry -season, and it looks just a tangle of raffia palm and swamp grass, and -all manner of tropical greenery. The huts, like the huts of Beyin are, -are built of raffia palm, but they go one better than Beyin and the -fishing villages, even the flooring is of the stems; and the whole -village is raised on stakes, so that it hangs over the water, and the -houses can only be reached by a framework of poles. - -“If you _will_ go exploring,” said the Forestry officer, as I gathered -up my skirts and essayed the frail ladder. - -I here put it on record that I think savage life can by no manner of -means be recommended, save and except for its airiness. There is plenty -of air. It is easy enough to see through those lightly built walls of -raffia palm, and the doings of the occupants must be fairly open to -the public. Also, except in one room, where a hearth had been laid down -about six feet by three in extent, the flooring is so frail that in -trying to walk on it I slipped through, and was nipped tightly by the -ankles. I couldn't rescue myself. I was held as in a vice till the -grinning King's messenger and a Kroo-boy carrier got me out, wherefore I -conclude the inhabitants of those villages must spend the most of their -time on their backs. In the dry season there is a little bit of hard -earth underneath the huts. In the wet season there is nothing but water -and the raffia palm flooring or a crank canoe for a resting-place. No -wonder even the tiny children seem as much at home in a canoe as I am in -an easy chair. And yet the village is growing, so there must be a charm -about it as a dwelling-place. We had “chop” on the verandah of the -Chiefs house. The Chief had apparently quite recently buried one of -his household, for at the end of the platform close against the -dwelling-chambers was erected one of the miniature sloping roofs with -offerings of cock's feathers, shells, and pots to placate the ghost. It -was quite a new erection, too, for the palm-leaf thatch was still green; -but where the dead body was I do not know, probably sunk in the swamp -underneath, and why so close I do not know either, since the people -evidently feared his ghost. However, even if we were lunching over a -grave, it did not trouble us half so much as the fate of the toast which -was being brought across from another hut in a particularly crank canoe, -and was naturally an object of much curiosity. - -[Illustration: 0160] - -The people were very courteous. It seems to me that the farther you get -from civilisation the more courteous the population. Village children -eager to see the lions in a circus could not have been more keen than -the people of this lake village to see the white woman, but they did not -even come and look till our linguist went forth and announced that the -white people had had their chop, and were ready to receive the headman. -He came, bringing his little daughter--a rough-looking, bearded old man, -who squatted down in front of me and rammed the tail of his cloth into -his mouth; and immediately there followed in his train, I should think, -the entire village, men, women, and children, and ranged themselves in -rows on the bamboo flooring, and looked their fill. Rows of eyes staring -at one are embarrassing; I don't care whether they be those of a -cultured people or of savages clad in scanty garments. If you stand up -before an audience in a civilised land you know what you are there for, -and you either succeed or fail, so the thing marches and comes to an -end. But sitting before a subdued crowd clad in Manchester cotton or -simply a smile, with all eyes centred on you, I at least feel that my -rôle is somewhat more difficult. What on earth am I to do? If I move -they chatter; if I single one out to be touched, he moves away, and -substitutes a neighbour, who is equally anxious to substitute someone -else, and the production of a camera causes a stampede. Looking back, I -cannot consider that my behaviour at the lake village reflected any -particular credit upon me. I felt I ought really to have produced more -impression upon a people who had, many of them, never in their lives set -eyes on a white woman before. They tell me, those who know, that for -these people, whose lives move on in the same groove from the cradle to -the grave, the coming of the Forestry officer and the white woman was a -great event, and that all things will bear date from the day when the -white missus and the white master had chop on the Chief's verandah. - -Before we left Beyin, I promised to take the Omahin's photograph. Early -in the morning, when we had sent on our carriers, we wended our way to -his house, where an eager crowd awaited us. They kept us waiting, of -course; I do not suppose it would be consistent with an African chief's -dignity to show himself in any hurry. When I grew tired of waiting and -was turning away, the linguist came out to know if I would promise a -picture when it was taken. I agreed. Certainly. More waiting, and then -out came the linguist with a dirty scrap of paper and a lead pencil in -his hand, and demanded of the Forestry officer his name and address. - -“Why?” asked the astonished young man. - -“So we can write to you when pictures no come.” It was lucky I was -pretty sure of my own powers, but it was a little rough to make the -Forestry officer responsible for any accident that might happen. It -was a great relief to my mind when there came back to me from Messrs -Sinclair a perfect picture of the Omahin and his following and his -little son. I sent them the picture enlarged, but I never heard from -that respectable linguist what they thought of it. - -[Illustration: 0164] - - - - -CHAPTER VII--ON THE FRENCH BORDER - -_Very heavy going---Half Assinie--The preventive service station--The -energetic officer--Dislike of Africa--The Tano River--The enterprising -crocodiles--The mahogany logs--Wicked waste--Gentlemen adventurers--A -primitive dinner-party--Forced labour--The lost carrier--“Make die and -chopped”--A negro Good Samaritan--A matrimonial squabble--The wife who -would earn her own living--Dissatisfied carriers._ - -We were bound to Half Assinie and the French border and the way was -all along the shore, which is a narrow strip of land between the roaring -surf and a mangrove-fringed lagoon, and on this strip are the palm-built -fishing villages and the cocoa-nut groves that are so typical of the -Coast. The last day out from Half Assinie the way was very heavy going -indeed. We had our midday meal in the street of a village with the eyes -of the villagers upon us, and by the afternoon the “sea was too full,” - the sun was scorching, and the loose sand was cruel heavy going for -the carriers and the hammock-boys. The sun went down, the cool of the -evening came, but the bearers were staggering like drunken men before a -shout went up. We had reached Half Assinie, the last important town in -the Gold Coast Colony. - -Half Assinie is just like any other Western Province Gold Coast town, -built close down to the roaring, almost impassable surf, because -the people draw much of their livelihood from the sea, and built of -raffia-palm bamboo, because there is nothing else to build it of. Only -there is this difference, that here is a preventive station, with a -white man in command. There is a great cleared square, which is all sand -and cocoa-nut palms, men in neat dark-blue uniforms pass to and fro, and -bugle calls are heard the livelong day. We arrived long before the rest -of our following, and we marched straight up to the preventive officer's -house only to find that he was down with fever. But he was hospitable. -All white men are in West Africa. The house was ours. It consisted of -a square of sun-dried, white-washed mud, divided into three rooms with -square openings for windows, mud floor and no ceiling, but high above -the walls the palm-thatched roof is raised and carried far out beyond -them to form a verandah where we could sit and eat and entertain -visitors. It was big enough, never less than twelve and often quite -eighteen feet wide, and could be made quite a comfortable living-room -were a woman there, but Englishmen and the English Government do not -encourage wives. The rooms assigned to the guests were of necessity -empty, for men cannot carry furniture about in West Africa, and our host -being sick and our gear not yet arrived, the Forestry officer and I, -comforted with whisky-and-soda, took two chairs and sat out in the -compound under the stars and watched for the coming of our carriers. The -going had been so hard they straggled in one by one, bath and bed and -chairs and tables and boxes, and it was nine o'clock before we were -washed and dressed and in our right minds, and waiting “chop” at a -table on the big verandah that the faithful Kwesi, who had been properly -instructed, had decorated with yellow cannas from the garden. - -There is something about Half Assinie that gives the impression of being -at the end of the world. Of course I have been in places much farther -from civilisation, but nowhere has the tragedy of the Englishman's life -in West Africa so struck me as it did here, and again I must say I think -it is the conditions of the life and not the climate that is responsible -for that tragedy. The young man who ran that preventive station was -cheerful enough; he got up from his bed of fever when he could hardly -stagger across the room to entertain his visitors. When he could barely -crawl, he was organising a game of cricket between some white men who -had unexpectedly landed and the “scholars” among the black inhabitants; -and he was energetic and good-tempered and proud of his men, but he -hated the country and had no hesitation in saying so. He had no use for -West Africa; he counted the days till he should go home. He would not -have dreamt of bringing his wife out even if she had wished to come. He -was, in fact, a perfect specimen of the nice, pleasant Englishman who -is going the way that allows France and Germany to beat us in colonising -all along the line. It was his strong convictions, many of them -unspoken, that impressed me, his realisation of his own discontent and -discomfort and hopelessness that have tinged my recollections of the -place. - -It should be a place of great importance, for it is but a short distance -from the Tano River, and down the Tano River, far from the interior, -come the great mahogany logs that rival the logs of Honduras and Belize -and all Central America in value. They are cut far away in the forests -of the interior; they are floated down the Tano River, paying toll to -the natives who guide them over the falls and rapids; they come between -tall, silk-cotton trees and fan palms and raffia palms, where the -chimpanzee hides himself and the dog-faced monkeys whimper and cry, the -crocodile suns himself on the mud-banks, and great, bell-shaped, yellow -flowers lighten the greenery. They come past the French preventive -station, that the natives call France, a station thriftily decorated -with a tiny flag that might have come out of a cracker, past the English -station built of raffia palm like the lake village, for this ground is -flooded in the rains, through a saving canal, for the Tano River enters -the sea in French territory, into a lagoon behind Half Assinie. The -lagoon is surrounded by swamp, and the crocodiles, they say, abound, and -are so fierce and fearless they have been known to take the paddler's -arm as he stoops to his stroke. I did not know of their evil reputation -as I sat on a box in the frail canoe, that seemed to place me in -the midst of a waste of waters, rising up to the greenery in the far -distance, and the blue-white sky above shut down on us like a lid. I was -even inclined to be vexed with the men's reluctance to jump out and push -when we ran ashore on a sand-bank. They should be able to grow rice in -these swamps at the mouth of the Tano River and behind Beyin, and so -raise up a new industry that shall save Half Assinie when the mahogany -trade is a thing of the past. - -[Illustration: 0170] - -From the lagoon to Half Assinie, a couple of miles away, the logs are -brought on a tramway line, and where they land the men are squaring -them, cutting off the butts where the journey down the river has split -and marred them, and making them ready to be moved down to the beach by -the toilsome application of many hands. It reminded me of the way they -must have built the pyramids as I watched the half-naked men toil and -sweat and push and shriek, and apparently accomplish so little. Yet all -in good time the beach is strewn with the logs, great square-cut baulks -of red timber with their owners' marks upon their butts and covered -generally with a thatch of cocoa-nut palm fronds to keep them from the -all-powerful sun. The steamer will call for them some day, but it is -no easy thing to get them through the surf, and steamer after steamer -calls, whistles, decides that the surf is too heavy to embark such -timber, and passes on. And where they have been cut and trimmed, the -mammies come with baskets to gather pieces of the priceless wood to -build their fires. It seems to me that the trimming is done wastefully. -The average savage and the ignorant white is always wasteful where there -is plenty, and it is nothing to them that the mahogany tree does not -come to maturity for something like two hundred and fifty years, and -that the cutters have denuded the country far, far beyond the sea coast. - -There are other phases of life in Half Assinie. Usually there is but one -white man there, the preventive officer, but when I visited it actually -ten white people sat down one night to dinner. For there had landed some -white people bound on some errand which, as has been the custom from -time immemorial in Africa, was veiled in mystery. They were seeking -gold; they hoped to find diamonds; their ultimate aim was to trade with -the natives, and cut out every other trading-house along the Coast. -Frankly, I do not know what they had landed for--their leader talked of -his wealth and how he grew bananas and pines and coffee, and created a -tropical paradise in Devonshire, and meanwhile in Africa conferred the -inimitable benefits of innumerable gramophones and plenty of work upon -the guileless savage--but I only gathered he was there for the purpose -of filling his pockets, how, I have not the faintest idea. His dinner -suggested Africa in the primitive days of the first adventurers and -rough plenty. Soup in a large bowl, from which we helped ourselves, a -dozen tins of sardines flung on a plate, a huge tongue from a Gargantuan -ox, and dishes piled with slices of pine-apple. The table decorations -consisted of beer bottles, distributed at intervals down the table -between the kerosene lamps; the boys who waited yelled and shrieked and -shouted, like the untamed savages they were, and some of the white men -were unshaven and in their shirt sleeves, and the shirts, to put it -mildly, needed washing. - -“Gentlemen adventurers,” said I to my companion under my breath, -thinking of the days of old and the men who had landed on these shores. - -“Would you say gentlemen?” said he. - -And I decided that one epithet would be sufficient. - -How the bugles called. Every hour almost a man clad in the dark-blue -preventive service uniform stood out in the square with his bugle and -called to the surf and the sky and the sand and the cocoa-nut palms and -the natives beyond, saying to them that here was the representative of -His Britannic Majesty, here was the white man powerful above all -others who kept the Borders, who was come as the forerunner of law and -cleanliness and order. For these things do not come naturally to the -native. He clears the land when he needs it and then he leaves it to -itself and the quickly encroaching bush. The mosquito troubles him not. -Dirt and filth and evil smells are not worth counting weighed in the -balance against a comfortable afternoon's sleep, and so it came that -when I commented on the neatness of Half Assinie, the preventive officer -laughed. - -[Illustration: 0174] - -“Forced labour,” said he. “The place was in a frightful state a month -ago and I couldn't get anybody to do anything, so I just turned out my -men, put a cordon round, and forced everyone to do an hour's labour, -men, mammies, and half-grown children, till we got the place clear. It -wasn't hard on anyone, and you see.” He was right. Sometimes in Africa, -nay, as a rule, the powers of a dictator are needed by the white man. -If he is a wise and clever dictator so much the better, but one thing -is certain, he must not be a man who splits hairs. Justice, yes, rough -crude justice he must give--must have the sort of mind that sees black -and white and does not trouble about the varying shades in between. - -We came back from the Border by the road that we had gone, the road that -is the King's Highway, and an incident happened that shows how very, -very easily a wrong impression of a people may be gathered. - -When we were in Beyin on our way out, the two headmen who were eternally -at war with each other suddenly appeared in accord leading between them -a man by the hands. - -“This man be very sick.” - -This man certainly was very sick, and it seemed to the Forestry officer -that the simplest thing would be to leave him behind at Beyin and pick -him up on our return journey. He thought his decision would be received -with gratitude. Not at all. The sick carrier protested that all he -wanted was to be relieved of his load and allowed to go on. The men of -Beyin were bad people; if he stayed they would kill him and chop him. -The Forestry officer was inclined to laugh. Murder of an unoffending -stranger and cannibalism on a coast that had been in touch with -civilisation for the last four hundred years; the idea was not to be -thought of. But the frightened sick man stuck to his point and his -brother flung down his load and declared if he were left behind he -should stay with him. There was nothing for it then but to agree to -their wishes. He was relieved of his load and he started, and he and his -brother arrived at Half Assinie long after all the other carriers had -got in. The gentlemen adventurers numbered among them a doctor, and he -was called in and prescribed for the sick man. After the little rest -there he was better, and started back for Axim, his brother, who was -carrying the Forestry officer's bath, in close attendance. By and by -we passed the bath abandoned on the beach, and its owner perforce put -another man on to carry it. - -That night there were no signs of the missing men, but next morning the -brother, the man who ought to have carried the bath, turned up. His face -was sodden with crying. A negro is intensely emotional, but this man had -some cause for his grief. He had missed his brother, abandoned the bath, -and gone right back to Half Assinie to look for him. The way was by the -seashore, there is no way to wander from it; on one side is the roaring -surf that no man alone may dare, and on the other, just beyond the line -of cocoa-nut palms, a mangrove-fringed lagoon, and beyond that a bush, -containing perhaps a few native farms to be reached by narrow tracks, -but a bush that no stranger would lightly dare. But no trace of his -brother could this man find. What had become of the sick carrier? That -was the question we asked ourselves, and to that no answer could we find -except the sinister verdict pronounced by his fellows, “Make die and -chopped.” And that I believed for many months, till just before I left -the Coast the Forestry officer and I met again and he told me the end of -the story. He had made every inquiry, telegraphed up and down the Coast, -and given the man up for lost, and then after four or five weeks a -miserable skeleton came crawling into Axim. The lost carrier. He had -felt faint by the wayside, crawled into the shade of a bush and become -insensible, and there had been found by some man, a native of the -country and a total stranger to him. And this Good Samaritan instead of -falling upon him and making him die as he fully expected, took him to -his own house, fed and succoured him, and when he was well enough set -him on his way. So he and I and all his fellows had wronged these men of -the shore. Greater kindness he could not have found in a Christian land, -and in all probability he might easily have found much less. - -But Beyin too furnished another lesson for me, not quite so pleasant. -All my carriers had come from here, and on our way back they struck. In -plain words they wanted to see the colour of my money. Said the Forestry -officer, “Don't pay them, else they'll all run away and you will have -no one to carry your things into Axim.” That was a contingency not to be -thought of, so the ultimatum went forth--no pay until they had completed -their contract. That night I regret to state there was a row in the -house, a matrimonial quarrel carried on in the approved matrimonial -style all the world over, with the mother-in-law for chorus and general -backer-up. There was a tremendous racket and the principal people -concerned seemed to be one of my women-carriers and the Omahin's -registrar in whose house we were lodged. Then because Fanti is one of -the Twi languages, and an Ashanti can understand it quite well, Kwesi -interpreted for me. This woman, it appeared, was one of the registrar's -wives, and he disapproved of her going on the road as a common carrier. -It was not consistent with his dignity as an official of the court, he -said at the top of his voice; he had given her a good home and she had -no need to demean herself. She shrilly declared he had done no such -thing, and if he had, had shamefully neglected her for that last hussy -he had married, and her mother backed her and several other female -friends joined in, and whether they settled the dispute or not to their -own satisfaction I do not know, but the gentleman cuffed the lady and -the lady had the extreme satisfaction of scattering several handfuls of -his wool to the winds. - -Next morning none of my carriers turned up; there lay the loads under -a tree in front of the house with the orderly looking at them with his -sardonic grin, but never a carrier. It was cool with the coolness of -early morning. We had our breakfast in the great room, we discussed the -disturbance of the night before, the things were all washed up, still -no carriers; at last, just as it was getting hot and our tempers were -giving out, came a message. The carriers would not go unless they were -paid. - -“And it's a foregone conclusion they won't go if they are paid,” sighed -the Forestry officer as he set off to interview the Omahin and tell him -our decision. If the carriers did not come in at once, it ran, we would -leave all the loads, making him, the Omahin, responsible for their -safety, and we would push on with the Mendi and Kroo-boy carriers in -the Forestry officer's employ. Those left behind not having carried out -their contract of course would then get no pay at all, and this would -happen unless they returned to work within a quarter of an hour. -The effect was marvellous. The Omahin, of course, did not grasp how -exceedingly uncomfortable it would have been for us to leave our gear -behind us, and as we had sixteen Kroo boys and Mendi boys the feat was -quite feasible, and promptly those Beyin people returned to work and -were as eager to get their loads as they had before been to leave them. -So I learned another lesson in the management of carriers, and we made -our way without further incident back to Axim. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII--ALONE IN WEST AFRICA - -_Cinderella--A troubled Commissioner--Few people along the Coast--No -hotels--Nursing Sister to the rescue--Sekondi--A little log-rolling--A -harassed hedge--Carriers--Difficulties of the way--A funeral -palaver--No dinner and no ligjit--First night alone--Unruly carriers--No -breakfast--Crossing the Prah--A drink from a marmalade pot--“We no be -fit, Ma”--The evolution of Grant--Along the Coast in the dark--Elmina at -last--A sympathetic medical officer--“I have kicked your policeman.”_ - -West Africa is Cinderella among the colonies. No one goes there for -pleasure, and of those who gain their livelihood from the country -three-fourths regard themselves as martyrs and heroes, counting the days -till the steamer shall take them home again for that long leave that -makes a position there so desirable. The other quarter perhaps, some I -know for certain, find much good in the country, many possibilities, but -as yet their voice is not heard by the general public above that chorus -that drowns its protest. That any man should come to the Gold Coast for -pleasure would be surprising; that a woman should come when she had no -husband there, and that she should want to go overland all along the -sea-board, passed belief. “Why? why?” asked everyone. “A tourist on -the Coast,” a surprised ship's captain called me, and I disclaimed it -promptly. My publisher had commissioned a book and I was there to -write it. And then they could not make up their minds whether I or my -publisher were the greater fool, for but very few among that little -company saw anything to write about in the country. - -In Axim the troubled Commissioner set his foot down. I had been to Half -Assinie and he felt that ought to satisfy the most exacting woman; but -since I was anxious to do more he stretched a point and took me as far -as Prince's, an abandoned Branden-burgher fort that is tumbling into -ruins, with a native farm in the courtyard, but no farther could I go. -Carriers he could not get me, and for the first time I saw a smile on -his face, a real relieved smile, when he saw me into the boat that took -me to the steamer bound for Sekondi. - -No one goes along the Coast except an occasional Public Works Department -man or a School Inspector; nobody wants to, and it is not easy of -accomplishment. - -Even in the towns it is difficult for the stranger. I do not know -what would happen if that stranger had not friends and letters of -introduction, for though there are one or two hotels, as yet no one -who is not absolutely driven to it by stern necessity stays in a -West-African hotel. In Sekondi it is almost impossible, for at this town -is the Coast terminus of the railway that runs to the mines at Tarkwa -and Kumasi, and the miner both coming and returning seems to require -so much liquid refreshment that he is anything but a desirable -fellow-housemate, wherefore was I deeply grateful when Miss Oram, -the nursing Sister at the Sekondi Hospital, asked me to stay in her -quarters. - -Sekondi straggles up and down many hills, and by and by if some definite -plan of beautifying be followed may be made rather a pretty place. -Even now at night, from some of the bungalows on the hillsides when the -darkness gently veils the ugly scars that man's handiwork leaves behind, -with its great sweep of beach, its sloping hillsides dotted with lights, -the stars above and the lights in the craft on the water that lie just -outside the surf, it has a wonderful charm and beauty that there is no -denying. And yet there is no doubt Sekondi should not be there. Who -is responsible for it I do not know, but there must have been some -atrocious piece of log-rolling before Elmina and Cape Coast were -deprived of the benefit of the railway to the north. At Sekondi is no -harbour. It is but an open roadstead where in days gone past both the -Dutch and English held small forts for the benefit of their trade. -At Sekondi was no town. At the end of the last century the two little -fishing villages marked the Dutch and English forts. Now the English -fort is gone, Fort Orange is used as a prison, and a town has sprung -into existence that has taken the trade from Cape Coast and Elmina. It -is a town that looks like all the English towns, as if no one cared -for it and as if everyone lives there because perforce he must. In the -European town the roads are made, and down their sides are huge gutters -to carry off the storm waters; the Englishman, let it be counted to -him for grace, is great on making great cemented gutters that look like -young rivers when it rains, and one enterprising Commissioner planted an -avenue or two of trees which promise well, only here and there someone -has seen fit to cut a tree or two down, and the gap has never been -replaced. Some of the bungalows are fairly comfortable, but though -purple bougainvillia, flame-coloured flamboyant trees, and dainty -pink corrallitis will grow like weeds, decent gardens are few and far -between. Instead of giving an impression of tropical verdure as it -easily might, Sekondi looks somewhat hot and barren. This, it is -only fair to say, I did not notice so much till I had visited German -territory and seen what really could be done with the most unpromising -material in a tropical climate. But German territory is the beloved -child, planned and cared for and thought much of; English territory is -the foster-child, received into the household because of the profit it -will bring, and most of the towns of the Gold Coast shore bear these -marks plain for everyone to read. They suffer, and suffer severely from -the iniquitous system that is for ever changing those in authority over -them in almost every department. - -Sekondi Hospital for instance is rather a nice-looking building but it -is horribly bare-looking and lacks sadly a garden and greenery. There -is, of course, a large reserve all round it where are the houses of the -medical officers and nursing Sisters, and in this reserve many things -are growing, but the general impression is of something just beginning. -This I hardly understood, since the place has been in existence for the -last ten years, till I found out that in the last eight months there -had been four different doctors head of that hospital, and each of those -doctors had had different views as to how the grounds should be laid -out. So round the medical officer's bungalow the hedge had been three -times planted and three times dug up. Just as I left, the fourth -unfortunate hedge was being put in. That, as I write, is nearly six -weeks ago, so in all probability they are now considering some new plan. -If only someone with knowledge would take in hand the beautifying of -these West-African towns and insist on the plans being adhered to! In -one of the principal streets of Sekondi is a tamarind tree standing -alone, a pleasant green spot in the general glare and heat, a reminder -of how well the old Dutch did, a reproach that we who are a great people -do not do better. It seems to me it would want so little to make these -towns beautiful places, the moral effect would be so great if they were. - -But I had come to go along the Coast, and the question was carriers; -I appealed to the transport. My friend, Mr Migeod, the head of the -transport, was on leave, and his second in command shook his head -doubtfully. The troops in the north were out on manoeuvres and they had -taken almost very carrier he could lay his hands on; but he would see -what he could do. How few could I do with? Seventeen, I decided, with -two servants, was the very fewest I could move with, and he said he -would do his best. I wanted to start on the following Monday, and I -chose the hour of ten; also because this was my first essay entirely -alone I decided I would not go farther than Chama, nine miles along the -Coast to the east. - -So, on a Monday morning early in March, behold me with all my goods and -chattels, neatly done up into loads not weighing over 60 lbs., laid out -in a row in the Sister's compound, and waiting for the carriers. I had -begged a policeman for dignity, or protection, I hardly know which, and -he came first and ensconced himself under the house, and I sat on the -verandah and waited. Presently the carriers came and began gingerly -turning over the loads and looking at me doubtfully. They were Mendis -and Timinis, not the regular Government carriers, but a scratch lot -picked up to fill up gaps in the ranks. I didn't like the looks of them -much, but there was nothing else to be done so I prepared to accept -them. But it always takes two to make a bargain, and apparently those -carriers liked me less than I liked them, for presently they one and all -departed, and I began a somewhat heated discussion across the telephone -with the head of the transport. Looking back, I don't see what he could -have done more than he did. It is impossible to evolve carriers out -of nothing, but then I didn't see it quite in that light. I wanted -carriers; I was looking to him to produce them, and I hadn't got them. -He gave me to understand he thought I was unreasonable, and we weren't -quite as nice to each other as we might have been. The men, he said, -were frightened, and I thought that was unreasonable, for there was -nothing really terrifying about me. - -At three o'clock another gang arrived with a note from the transport -officer. They were subsisted for sixteen days, and I might start there -and then for Accra. - -I should have preferred to have subsisted my men myself; that is, given -them each threepence daily, as I had on the way to the French border, -seeing that they were not regular Government men; but as the thing was -done there was nothing for it but to make the best of it, and I went -down, hunted up my policeman, and saw the loads on to the men's heads. -I saw them start out in a long string, and then the thing that always -happens in Africa happened. Both my servants were missing. - -Zacco, a boy with a scarred face from the north, did not much matter, -but Grant knew my ways and I could trust him. Clearly, out in the wilds -by myself with strange carriers and without even a servant, I should be -very badly off, and I hesitated. Not for long though. If I were going to -let little things connected with personal comfort stand in my way I knew -I should never get to Accra, so I decided to start; my servants might -catch me up, and if they did not, I would rely on the ministrations of -the hammock-boys. If the worst came to the worst, I supposed I could -put my dignity in my pocket and cook myself something, or live on tinned -meat and biscuits; and so, leaving directions with my hostess that those -boys were to be severely reprimanded when they turned up, I got into my -hammock and started. - -The road to Accra from Sekondi is along the seashore, and so, to be -very Irish, there is no road. Of a truth, very few people there are who -choose to go by land, as it is so much easier to go by steamer, and the -way, generally speaking, is along the sand. Just outside Sekondi the -beach is broken by huge rocks that run out into the sea, apparently -barring the way effectually, and those rocks had to be negotiated. My -hammock-boys stopped, and I got out and watched my men with the loads -scrambling over the rocks, and one thing I was sure of, on my own feet -I could not go that way. I mentioned that to my demurring men, and -insisted that over those rocks they had to get me somehow, if it took -the eight hammock-boys to do it. And over those rocks I was got without -setting foot out of my hammock, and I fairly purred with pride, most -unjustly setting it down to my own prowess and feeling it marked a -distinct stage on my journey eastwards. We were, all of us, pleased -as we went on again in all the glare of a tropical afternoon, and I -mentally sniffed at the men who had hinted I was not able to manage -carriers. There was not a more uplifted woman in all Africa than I -was for about the space of half an hour. It is trite to say pride goes -before a fall. We have all heard it from our cradles and I ought to have -remembered it, but I didn't. Presently we came to a village, or rather -two villages, with a stream dividing them, and there was a tremendous -tom-toming going on, and the monotonous sound of natives chanting. -The place was surrounded by thick greenery, only there was a broad way -between the houses, a brown road with great waterways and holes in it, -and the occasional shade-tree, under which the village rests in the heat -of the day, and holds its little markets and its little councils and -even does a stray job of cooking. The tom-toming went on, and men -appeared blowing horns. They were evidently very excited, and I remember -still, with a shudder, the staring, bloodshot eyes of two who passed my -hammock braying on horns. Most of my men could speak a little English, -so I asked not without some little anxiety, “What is the matter?” - -“It be funeral palaver, Ma.” - -Oh, well, a funeral palaver was no great matter, surely. I had never -heard of these Coast natives doing anything more than drink palm wine -to celebrate the occasion. Some of those we passed had evidently drunk -copiously already, and I was thankful we were passing. We came to the -little river, we crossed the ford, and then we stopped. - -“We go drink water, Ma,” said my men. - -I ought to have said “No,” but it was a very hot afternoon, and the -request was not unreasonable. They had had to work hard carrying me -over those rocks so I got out and let them go. And then, as I might have -known, I waited. I grew cross, but it is no good losing your temper when -there is no one to be made uneasy by it, and then I grew frightened; -but, if it is foolish to lose one's temper, it is the height of folly to -be afraid when there is no help possible. I was standing on the bank of -the little river that we had just forded, my hammock was at my feet, -all around was greenery, tropical greenery of palm and creeper, not very -dense compared to other bush I have seen, but dense enough to prevent -one's stepping off the road; before me was the village, with its mud -walls and its thatched roofs, and behind me were the groves of trees on -the other side of the water that hid the village, from which came the -sound of savage revelry. Never have I felt more alone, and yet Sekondi -was a bare five miles away. I comforted myself with the reflection that -nothing would be likely to happen, but the thought of those half-naked -men with the bloodshot, staring eyes was most unpleasantly prominent -in my mind. Some little naked boys came and bathed and stared at me; -I didn't know whether to welcome them as companions or not. They -understood no English, and when asked where were my men only stared the -harder. I tried to take a photograph, but the policeman, who carried my -stand, was also absent at the funeral, and I fear my hand shook, for -I have never seen that picture. Then, at last, when I was absolutely -despairing, a hammock-boy turned up. He was a most ragged ruffian, with -a printed cloth by way of trousers, a very openwork singlet, all torn -away at one arm, a billycock hat in the last stages of dilapidation, and -a large red woollen comforter with a border of black, blue, and yellow. -That comforter fascinated me, and I looked at it as I talked to him, and -wondered where it had been made. It had been knitted, and many of the -stitches had been dropped, and I pictured to myself the sewing-party -sitting round the fire doing useful work, while someone read aloud one -of Father Benson's books. My hammock-boy looked at me as if he wondered -how I was taking it, and wiped his mouth with the tail of the comforter, -where they had used up the odd bits of wool. He flung it across his -shoulder and a long, dropped red stitch caught over his ear. - -“Where be the men?” I was very angry indeed, which was very rough on -the only one of the crowd who had turned up. He was very humble, and I -suggested he should go and look for them, and tell them that if “they -no come quick, they get no pay.” He departed on his errand, and I waited -with a sinking heart. Even if there was no danger, and I was by no means -sure of that, with that tom-toming and that chant in my ears, I could -not afford to go back and announce that I had failed. All my outlay had -been for nothing. Another long wait, and more little boys to look at me. -The evening was coming; here in the hollow, down among the trees, the -gloom was already gathering, and I began to think that neither Chama -nor Sekondi would see me that night. I wondered what it would be like to -spend the night under the trees, and whether there were any beasts that -might molest me. - -“Toom, toom, toom,” went the village drum, as if to remind me there -might be worse things than spending the night under the trees, and -then my friend with the comforter appeared, leading two of the other -hammock-boys; one wore a crocheted, red tam-o'-shanter that fell over -his face--probably made at the same sewing-party. It was the same wool. - -I talked to those three men. Considering they were the best behaved -of the lot, it comes back to me now that I was rather hard on them. I -pointed out the dire pains and penalties that befell hammock-boys who -did not pay proper attention to their duties, and I trusted that the -fact that I was utterly incapable of inflicting those penalties was not -as patent to them as it was to me, and then I decreed that my friend -with the comforter should go back and try and retrieve a fourth man -while the other two stayed with me. After another long wait he got that -fourth man and we started off, I dignifiedly wrathful--at least I hope -I was dignified; there was no doubt about the wrath--and they bearing -evident marks of having consumed a certain quantity of the funeral palm -wine. - -It was dark when we reached Chama, at least as dark as it ever is on a -bright, starlight night in the Tropics, and we came out of the gloom -of the trees to find a dark bungalow raised high on stilts on a cement -platform, looming up against the star-spangled sky, and then another -surprise, a comforting surprise, awaited me: on that cement platform -were two white spots, and those white spots rose up to greet me, -shamefaced, humble, contrite, my servants. They had evidently slunk past -me without being seen, and I was immensely relieved. But naturally I -did not say so. I mentioned that I was very angry with them, and that it -would take a long course of faithful service to make up for so serious -a lapse, and they received my reproof very humbly, and apparently never -realised that I was just about as lonely a woman as there was in -the world at that moment, and would gladly have bartered all my wild -aspirations after fame and fortune for the comfortable certainty that I -was going to spend a safe night. It certainly does not jump with my firm -faith in thought transference that none of those men apparently ever -discovered I was afraid. I should have thought it was written all over -me, but also, afraid as I was, it never occurred to me to turn back; so, -if the one thought impressed them, perhaps the other did too. - -Then I waited on that dark verandah. There was some scanty Government -furniture in the rest-house, and my repentant servant fetched me out a -chair, and I sat and waited. I looked out; there was the clearing round -the house, the gloom of the dense greenery that grew up between the -house and the seashore, while east ran the road to the town of Chama, -about a ten minutes' walk distant, and on the west a narrow track hardly -discernible in the gloom came out of the greenery. Up that I had come -and up that I expected my men. And it seemed I might expect them. No one -was going to deny me that privilege. Still, I began to feel distinctly -better. At least I had arrived at Chama, and four hammock-boys and two -servants were very humbly at my service. I wasn't going to spend the -night in the open at the mercy of the trees and the unknown beasts, and -I laughed at the idea of being afraid of the trees, though to my mind -African trees have a distinct personality of their own. Well, there -was nothing to be done but wait, and I waited in the dark, for as no -carriers had come in there was no possibility of a light, or of dinner -either for that matter. Grant was extremely sympathetic and most -properly shocked at the behaviour of the carriers. No punishment could -be too great for men who could treat his missus in such an outrageous -manner. In the excitement and bustle of getting off I had eaten very -little that day, so I was very hungry now; it added to my woes and -decreased my fear. Nothing surely could be going to happen to a woman -who was so very commonplacely hungry. At last, about ten o'clock, I saw -my loads come straggling out of the gloom of the trees on to the little -path up to the platform, and then, before I quite realised what was -happening, the verandah was full of carriers, drunk and hilarious, and -not at all inclined to recognise the enormity of their crime. Something -had to be done, I knew. It would be the very worst of policies to allow -my verandah to be turned into pandemonium. The headman had lighted a -lantern, that I made Grant take, and by its flickering light I singled -out my policeman, cheerfully happy, but still, thank goodness, holding -on to the sticks of my camera. Him I tackled angrily. How dared he -allow drunken carriers on my verandah, or anywhere near me? Everyone, on -putting down his load, was to go downstairs immediately. How we cleared -that verandah I'm sure I don't know. The four virtuous haminock-boys -and Grant and Zacco, I suppose, all took a hand, backed by their stern -missus, and presently I and my servants had it to ourselves with a -humble and repentant policeman sitting on the top of the steps, and -Grant set about getting my dinner. It was too late, I decided, to cook -anything beyond a little coffee, so I had tinned tongues and tinned -apricots this my first night alone in Africa. Then came the question -of going to bed. There were several rooms in the rest-house, but the -verandah seemed to me a pleasanter place where to sleep on a hot night. -Of course, I was alone, and would it be safer inside? The doors and -windows were frail enough, besides it would be impossible to sleep -with them shut, so I, to my boy's intense astonishment, decided for the -verandah, and there I set up my bed, just an ordinary camp-bed, with -mosquito curtains over it, and I went to bed and wondered if I could -sleep. - -First I found myself listening, listening intently, and I heard a -thousand noises, the night birds calling, the skirl of the untiring -insects, a faint tom-toming and sounds of revelry from the village, -which gave things an unpleasant air of savagery, the crash of the -ceaseless surf on the beach. I decided I was too frightened to sleep and -I heartily wished myself back in England, writing mystery stories for a -livelihood, and then I began to think that I was most desperately -tired, that the mosquito curtains were a great protection, and before -I realised I was sleepy was sound asleep and remembered no more till I -awakened wondering where I was, and saw the first streaks of light in -the east. Before the first faint streaks of light and sunrise is but a -short time in the Tropics, and now I knew that everything depended upon -me, so I flew out of bed and dressed with great promptitude, and there -was Grant with early-morning tea and then breakfast. But no carriers; -and I had given orders we were to start at half-past five. It was long -past that; six o'clock, no carriers, half-past. I sent Zacco for the -headman and he like the raven from the ark was no more seen. I sent -Grant and he returned, not with an olive branch but with the policeman. - -“Where are the carriers?” I demanded. - -“They chop,” said he nonchalantly, as if it were no affair of his. - -“Chop! At this hour in the morning?” It was close on seven. - -He signified that they did. - -“Bring the headman.” And I was a very angry white missus indeed. Since -I had got through the night all right I felt I was bound to do somthing -today and I was not nearly so afraid as I had been. - -The headman wept palm-wine tears. “They chop,” he said and he sobbed and -gulped and wiped his face with the back of his hand like a discomfited -Somersetshire laburer. His condition immensely improved my courage. I -was the white woman all over dealing with the inferior race, and I had -not a doubt as to what should be done. - -“Policeman, you follow me.” - -He did not like it much, my little Fanti policeman, because he feared -these Mendis and Timinis who could have eaten him alive, but he followed -me however reluctantly. I wanted him as representing law and order. The -thinking I intended to do myself. - -We walked down to the village and there in the middle of the road were -my carriers in two parties, each seated round a large enamelled-iron -basin full of fish and rice. They did chop. They looked up at me with a -grin, but I had quite made up my mind. - -“Policeman,” I said, “no man chops so late. Throw away the chop.” - -He hesitated. He could not make up his mind which he was most afraid of, -me or the men. Finally he decided that I was the most terrifying person -and he gingerly picked up one of those basins and carefully put it down -under a shrub. - -“Policeman,” I said, and I was emphatic, “that's not the way to throw -away chop. Scatter it round,” and with one glance at me to see if I -meant what I said, he scattered it on the ground. What surprised me was -that the men let him. Certainly those round the second dish seized it -and fled up towards the rest-house, and we came after them. When we -arrived the men were still eating, but there was still some rice in -the dish, and I made the policeman seize it and fling it away, and then -every one of those men came back meekly to work, picked up their loads -or waited round the hammock for me. - -I saw the loads off with the headman, and told him to get across the -Prah River if he could and on to Kommenda, where I proposed to have my -luncheon, and then I stayed behind to take some photographs of the old -fort. It took me some time to take my pictures. The heat was intense, -and beyond the fort, which is quaintly old-world, there is not much to -see. The town is the usual Coast village built of clay, which they call -swish, with thatched roofs; the streets between the houses are hot and -dry and bare, and little naked children disport themselves there with -the goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens. There are the holes from which -the earth has been taken to make the swish--man-traps in the night, -mosquitobreeding places at all times--and there are men and women -standing gossiping in the street, wondering at the unusual sight of a -white woman, just for all the world as they might do in a remote Cornish -village if a particularly smart motor passed by. They are fishing -villages, these villages along the Coast, living by the fishing, -and growing just a little maize and plantains and yams for their own -immediate needs; and it is a curious thing to say, but they give one the -same sleepy, out-of-the-world feeling that a small village in Cornwall -does. There is not in them the go and the promise there is in an Ashanti -village, the dormant wealth waiting to be awakened one feels there is -along the Volta. No, these places were exploited hundreds of years ago -by the men who built the fort that frowns over them still, and they are -content to live on from day to day with just enough to keep them going, -with the certain knowledge that no man can die of starvation, and when a -young man wants distraction I suppose he goes to the bigger towns. So -I found nothing of particular interest in Chama, and I went on till I -reached the Prah River, just where it breaks out across the sands and -rushes to meet the ocean. - -I wondered in that journey to Accra many times whether my face was set -hard, whether my lips were not one firm, stern line that could never -unbend and look kindly again. My small camp mirror that I consulted was -exceedingly unflattering, but if I had not before been certain that no -half-measures were of any use I should have been certain of it when -I reached the river. There lay my loads, and sitting down solemnly -watching them like so many crows, rather dissipated crows, were my men. -They rose up as my hammock came into view. - -“Missus, men want drink water. It be hot.” - -It was hot, very hot, and the river it seemed was salt; moreover, the -only house in sight, and that was a good way off, was the hut apparently -belonging to the ferryman. I looked at them, and my spirits rose; it was -borne in on me that I had them well in hand, for there was no reason why -they should not have gone off in a body to get that much-needed water. - -But I gave the order, “One man go fetch water.” - -Why they obeyed me I don't know now, and why they didn't take the -bucket I don't know now. I ought to have sent one man with a bucket; -but experience always has to be bought, and I only realised that I was -master of the situation, and must not spoil it by undue haste. So I -solemnly stood there under my sun umbrella and watched those men have a -drink one by one out of an empty marmalade pot. Whenever, in the future, -I see one of those golden tins, it will call up to my memory a blazing -hot day, a waste of sand and coarse grass, a wide river flowing through -it, and a row of loads with a ragged company of black men sitting -solemnly beside them waiting while one of their number brought them -a drink. That drink was a tremendous piece of business, but we were -through with it at last, and though I was rather weary and very hot I -was inclined to be triumphant. I felt I had the men fairly well in hand. - -Still, they weren't all that I could have desired. The road was very, -very bad indeed, sometimes it was down on the heavy sand, sometimes the -rocks were too rough--the hammock had to be engineered up and down the -bank by devious and uncomfortable ways, sometimes we stopped to buy -fruit in a village, and sometimes the men stopped and declared: “Missus, -oder hammock-boy, he no come.” - -Then I was hard. I knew it was no good being anything else. - -“If hammock-boy no come you go on. I no stop.” - -And they went, very slowly and reluctantly, but they went. It seemed -cruel, but I soon grasped the fact that if I once allowed them to wait -for the relief men who lingered there always would be lingerers, and we -should crawl to Accra at the rate of five miles a day. - -They sang songs as they went, and this my first day out the song took a -most personal turn. - -“If man no get chop,” they intoned in monotonous recitative, “he go die. -Missus frow away our chop-----” - -The deduction was obvious and I answered it at once. “All right, you go -die. I no care. If men no come to work they may die.” - -But they went very badly indeed, and it was after two o'clock in the -afternoon before we arrived at Kommenda on the seashore, where there is -a village and a couple of old forts falling into decay. Here, inside the -courtyard of one of them, which is Ju-ju, I had my table and chair put -out and my luncheon served. The feeling of triumph was still upon me. -Already I was nearer Elmina than Sekondi and I felt in all probability, -bad as they were, the men would go on. But, before I had finished my -luncheon, my serenity received another shock. Of course no one dared -disturb so terrible a person at her chop, but, after I had finished, -while I was endeavouring to instruct Zacco in the way in which a kettle -might be induced to boil without letting all the smoke go down the -spout--I wanted some coffee--Grant came up with a perturbed countenance -and said the headman wanted to speak to me. I sent for him. - -“Missus,” he began propitiatingly, “man be tired too much. You stop here -to-night; we take you Cape Coast to-morrow.” - -[Illustration: 0200] - -For the moment I was very properly wrathful. Then I reflected--the white -men did not understand, the majority of them, my desire to see Elmina, -the most important castle on the Coast, how then should these black men -understand. There was a tiny rest-house built on the bastion of the fort -here, and looking at it I decided it was just the last place I should -like to spend the night in. I did not expect to meet a white man at -Elmina, but at least it must be far nearer civilisation than this. - -I looked at my headman more in sorrow than in anger. He was a -much-troubled person, and evidently looked upon me as a specimen of the -genus “Massa.” I said: - -“That is a very beautiful idea, headman, and does you credit. The -only drawback I see to it is that I do not want to go to Cape Coast -to-morrow, and I do want to go to Elmina to-night.” - -He scratched his head in a bewildered fashion, transferring a very -elderly tourist cap from one hand to the other in order that he might -give both sides a proper chance. - -“Man no be fit,” he got out at last. - -“Oh, they no be fit. Send for the Chief,” and I turned away and went on -with Zacco's instructions in the art of making coffee. Still, in my -own mind, I was very troubled. That rest-house on the bastion was -a horrid-looking hole, and I had heard it whispered that the men of -Kommenda were very truculent. If I had been far from a white man at -Chama, I was certainly farther still now at Kommenda. Still, my common -sense told me I must not allow I was dismayed. - -Presently I was told the Chief had arrived, and I went outside and -interviewed him. He wasn't a very big chief, and his stick of office -only had a silver top to it with the name of the village written on it -in large letters. He could speak no English, but with my headman and -his linguist he soon grasped the fact that I wanted more carriers, and -agreed to supply them. Then I went back inside the fort and he joined -the group outside who had come to look at the white woman, and who, I -am glad to say, all kept respectfully outside. I seated myself again and -sent for the headman. - -“Headman, you bring in man who no be fit.” - -The headman went outside and presently returned with the downcast, -ragged scarecrow who had been carrying my bed. - -“You no be fit?” - -“No, Ma.” - -I pointed out a place against the wall. - -“You go sit there. You go back to Sekondi. I get 'nother man. Headman, -fetch in other man who no be fit.” - -The culprit sat himself down most reluctantly, afraid, whether of me or -the Ju-ju that was supposed to reign over the place, I know not, and the -headman brought in another man. - -“You no be fit?” - -“No, Ma”; but it was a very reluctant no. - -“Sit down over there. Another man, headman,” but somehow I did not think -there would be many more. And for once my intuitions were right. The -headman came back reporting the rest were fit. I felt triumphant. -Then the unfortunate scare-crows against the wall rose up humbly and -protested eagerly: “we be fit.” - -But I was brutally stern. It cost me dear in the end, but it might have -cost me dearer if I had taken them on. However, I had no intention of -doing any such thing. They had declared themselves of their own free -will “no fit.” I was determined they should remain “no fit” whatever -it cost me to fill their places. I must rule this caravan, and I must -decide where we should halt. I engaged two Kommenda men to carry the -loads, and when I had taken photographs of the fort--how thankful I was -that they turned out well, for Kommenda is one of the most unget-at-able -places I know, and before a decent photographer gets there again I don't -suppose there will be one stone left on another--I started after my men -to Elmina. - -The carriers who were “no fit” came with us. Why, I hardly know, but -they were very, very repentant. - -It was four o'clock before we left Kommenda, and since we had twelve -miles to go I hardly expected to arrive before dark, but I did think we -might arrive about seven. I reckoned without my host, or rather without -my carriers. There was more than a modicum of truth in the statement -that they were no fit. The dissipation of the day before, and the -lack of chop to-day--carriers always make a big meal early in the -morning--were beginning to tell; besides they were very bad specimens -of their class, and they lingered and halted and crawled till I began -to think we should be very lucky indeed if we got into Elmina before -midnight. The darkness fell, and in the little villages the lights -began to appear--these Coast villagers use a cheap, a very cheap sort -of kerosene lamp--and more than once my headman appealed to me. “We stop -here, Ma.” - -I was very tired myself, now, very tired, indeed, and gladly would I -have stopped, but those negro houses seen by the light of a flickering, -evil-smelling lamp were impossible; besides I realised it would be -very bad to give in to my men. Finally we left the last little village -behind, and before us lay a long, crescent-shaped bay, with a twinkling -point of light at the farther horn--Elmina, I guessed. It was quite dark -now, sea and sky mingled, a line of white marked the breakers where -the water met the sands, and on my left was the low shore hardly -rising twenty feet above the sea-level, and covered with short, wiry -sea-grasses, small shrubs, and the creeping bean. The men who were -carrying me staggered along, stumbling over every inequality of the -ground, and I remembered my youthful reading in “Uncle Tom's Cabin,” and -felt I very much resembled Legree. There was, too, a modicum of sympathy -growing up in my mind for Legree and all slave-drivers. Perhaps there -was something to be said for them; they certainly must have had a -good deal to put up with. Presently my men dropped the hammock, and I -scrambled out and looked at them angrily. The carriers were behind, the -policeman--my protection and my dignity--was nowhere to be seen, my two -servants were just behind, where they ought to have been, and my four -hammock-boys looked at me in sullen misery. - -“We no be fit.” - -The case was beyond all words at my command, and I set my face to the -east, and began to walk in the direction of the feeble little light I -could see twinkling in the far distance, and which I concluded rightly, -as it turned out, must be Elmina. - -My servants overtook me, and Grant, who had been a most humble person -when first I engaged him, who had been crushed with a sense of his own -unworthiness the night before, now felt it incumbent upon himself to -protest. - -“You no walk, Ma. It no be fit.” - -How sick I was of that “no be fit.” - -“Grant,” I said with dignity, at least I hope it was with dignity, -abandoning pigeon English, “there is no other way. Tell those boys if I -walk to Elmina they get no pay,” and I stalked on, wishing at the bottom -of my heart I knew something of the manners and customs of the African -snake. In my own country I should have objected strongly to walking in -such grass, when I could not see my way, and it just shows the natural -selfishness of humanity that this thought had never occurred to me while -my hammock-boys were carrying me. I don't suppose I had gone half a mile -when Grant and the boys overtook me. - -“Ma,” said Grant with importance, the way he achieved importance that -day was amazing, “you get in. They carry you now.” - -“They no be fit.” - -“They carry you,” declared he emphatically. - -“We try, Ma,” came a humble murmur from the boys, and I got in once more -and we staggered along. - -How I hated it all, and what a brute I felt. I thought to offer a little -encouragement, so I said after a little time, when I thought the light -was getting appreciably larger: “Grant, which of these men carry me -best?” and thought I would offer a suitable reward. - -“They all carry you very badly, Ma,” came back Grant's stern reply; -“that one,” and he pointed to the unfortunate who bore the lefthand -front end of the hammock, “carry you worst.” - -Now, here was a dilemma. The light wasn't very far away now, and I could -see against the sky the loom of a great building. - -“Very well,” I said, “each of the other three shall have threepence -extra,” and the lefthand front man dropped his end of the hammock with -something very like a sob, and left the other three to struggle on as -best they might. We were close to Elmina now. There was a row of palms -on our right between us and the surf, and I could see houses with tiny -lights in them, and so could the men. - -“I will walk,” I said. - -But the three remaining were very eager. “No, Ma; no, Ma, we carry you.” - -Then there appeared a man in European clothes, and him I stopped and -interviewed. - -“Is that the Castle of Elmina?” - -“Yes,” said he, evidently mightily surprised at being interviewed by a -white woman. - -“Who is in charge?” and I expected to hear some negro post office or -Custom official. - -“Dr Dove,” said the stranger in the slurring tones of the negro. - -“A white man?” - -“Yes, a white man.” - -For all my weariness, I could have shouted for joy. Such an unexpected -piece of good luck! I had not expected to meet a white man this side -of Cape Coast. I had thought the great Castle here was abandoned to the -tender mercies of the negro official. - -“You can get in,” went on my new friend; “the drawbridge is not down -yet.” - -A drawbridge! How mediaeval it sounded, quite in keeping with the day I -had spent, the day that had begun in Chama fifty years ago. - -We staggered along the causeway, the causeway made so many hundreds -of years ago by the old Portuguese adventurers; the sentry rose up in -astonishment, and we staggered across it into the old courtyard; I got -out of my hammock at the foot of a flight of broad stone steps, built -when men built generously, and a policeman, not mine, raced up -before me. All was in darkness in the great hall, and then I heard an -unmistakable white man's voice in tones of surprise and unbelief. - -“A missus, a------” - -I stepped forward in the pitchy darkness, wondering what pitfalls there -might be by the way. - -“I am a white woman,” I said uncertainly, for I was very weary, and I -had an uneasy feeling that this white man, like so many others I had -met, might think I had no business to be there, and I didn't feel quite -equal to asserting my rights just at that moment, and then I met an -outstretched hand. It needed no more. I knew at once. It was a kindly, -friendly, helpful hand. Young or old, pretty or plain, ragged, smart, -or disreputable, whatever I was, I felt the owner of that hand would -be good to me. Dr Duff, for the negro had pronounced his name after his -kind, led me upstairs through the darkness, with many apologies for the -want of light, into a big room, dimly lighted by a kerosene lamp, and -then we looked at each other. - -“God bless my soul! Where on earth did you come from?” said he. - -“No one told me there was a white man in Elmina,” said I; “and the -relief of finding one was immense.” - -But not till I was washed and bathed, dressed, fed, and in my right -mind did we compare notes, and then we sat up till midnight discussing -things. - -It seemed to me I had sounded the depths, I had mastered the -difficulties of African travel. My new friend listened sympathetically -as he drank his whisky-and-soda, and then he flattered my little -vanities as they had never been flattered since I had set out on my -journeyings. - -“Not one woman in ten thousand would have got through.” - -I liked it, but I think he was wrong. Any woman who had once started -would have got through simply and solely because there was absolutely -nothing else to be done. It is a great thing in life to find there is -only one way. - -Then Dr Duff descended to commonplace matters. - -“I hope you don't mind,” said he; “I've kicked your policeman.” - -“That,” said I, “is a thing he has been asking someone to do ever since -we left Sekondi a thousand years ago.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX--AN OLD DUTCH TOWN - -_But one man of the ruling race--Overlooked Elmina--Deadly fever--The -reason why--Magnificent position--Ideal for a capital--Absence of -tsetse--Loyal to their Dutch masters--Difficulty in understanding -incorruptibility of English officials--Reported gold in Elmina--The -stranded school-inspector--“Potable water”--Preferred the chance of -guinea-worm to trouble--Stern German head-teacher--Cape Coast--Wonderful -native telegraphy--Haunted Castle--Truculent people._ - -Elmina means, of course, the mine, and the reason for the name is lost -in the mist of ages. Certain it is there is no mine nearer than those at -Tarkwa, at least two days' journey away, but in the old Portuguese -and Dutch days Elmina was a rich port. It is a port still, though an -abandoned one, and you may land from a boat comfortably on to great -stone steps, as you may land in no other place along the Guinea Coast. -On the 17th of May in this year of our Lord, 1911, there raged along the -Coast a hurricane such as there has not been for many a long day, and -the aftermath of that hurricane was found in a terrific surf, which -for several days made landing at any port difficult, in some cases -impossible. The mail steamer found she could land no mails at Cape -Coast, and then was forgotten, neglected Elmina remembered, and the -mails were landed there, eight miles to the west, and carried overland -to their destination. - -Yet is there but one man of the ruling race in Elmina, and the fine old -Castle, where the Portuguese and Dutch governors of Guinea reigned, is -almost abandoned to the desecrating hand of the negro officials--Custom -and post office men! Why, when the Gold Coast was looking for a capital, -they overlooked Elmina is explained usually by the declaration that -yellow fever was very bad there; and I conclude it was for the same -reason that they passed it by when they wanted a seaport for the inland -railway. Somehow it seems an inadequate reason. It would have been -cheaper surely to search for the cause of the ill-health than to abandon -so promising a site. The reason lies deeper than that. It is to be found -in that strong feeling in the Englishman--that feeling which is going to -ruin him as a colonising nation now that rivals are in the field, unless -he looks to his ways--that one place in “such a poisonous country” is -as good or as bad as another, and therefore if people die in one place, -“let's try another beastly hole.” Die they certainly did in Elmina. -It was taken over from the Dutch in 1874, and in 1895 the records make -ghastly reading. “Yellow fever, died,” you read, not once but over and -over again. Young and strong and hopeful, and always the record is the -same, and now, looking at it with seeing eyes and an understanding mind, -the explanation is so simple, the cure so easy. - -Round this great Castle is a double line of moats, each broad and deep -and about half a mile in extent, and these moats were full to the brim -of water, stagnant water, an ideal breeding place for that entirely -domesticated animal, the yellow-fever mosquito--_stegmia_, I believe, is -the correct term. Get but one yellow-fever patient, let him get bitten -by a mosquito or two, and the thing was done. But sixteen years ago they -were not content with such simple ways as that. It seems there was a -general sort of feeling then along the Coast, it has not quite gone yet, -that chill was a thing greatly to be dreaded, and so instead of taking -advantage of the magnificent position so wisely chosen by the Portuguese -mariners, where the fresh air from the ocean might blow night and day, -they mewed themselves up in quarters on the landward side of the Castle, -so built that it is almost impossible to get a thorough draught of air -through them. The result in such a climate is languor and weariness, an -ideal breeding ground for malaria or yellow fever. And so they died, -God rest their souls; some of them were gallant gentlemen, but they died -like flies, and Elmina, for no fault of its own, was abandoned. - -[Illustration: 0212] - -And yet the old Portuguese were right. It is an ideal site for a -capital. The Castle is on a promontory which juts out into the sea, and -is almost surrounded by water, for the Sweetwater River, which was very -salt when I was there, runs into the sea in such a fashion as to leave -but a narrow neck of land between the Castle and the mainland. The land -rises behind the town, it is clear of scrub and undergrowth, so that -horses and cattle may live, as there is no harbour for that curse of -West Africa, the tsetse fly; there is sufficient open space for the -building of a large town, and it is nearer to Kumasi, whence comes all -the trade from the north, than Sekondi, which was chosen, instead of it, -as a railway terminus. A grievous pity! It is England's proud boast that -she lets the man on the spot have a free hand, knowing that he must -be the better judge of local conditions and needs; it is West Africa's -misfortune that she had so evil a reputation that the best and wisest -men did not go there; and hence these grave mistakes. - -I had always believed that every coloured man was yearning to come under -the British flag, therefore was I much astonished to hear that in 1874, -when Britain took over this part of the Coast, the natives resented -the change of masters very bitterly. They would not submit, and the big -village to the west of the fort, old Elmina native town, was in open -rebellion. At last the guns from the fort were turned upon it, the -inhabitants evacuated it hastily, it was bombarded, and the order went -forth that no one should come back to it. - -Even now, thirty-seven years later, the old law which prohibits the -native from digging on the site of the old town is still in force, and -since the natives were in the habit of burying their wealth beneath -their huts, great store of gold dust is supposed to be hidden there. -Again and again the solitary official in charge of Elmina has been -approached by someone asking permission to dig there, generally with the -intimation that if only the permission be granted, a large percentage -of the hidden treasure shall find its way into the pockets of that -official. - -“It is hard,” said Dr Duff, “for the native mind to grasp the fact that -the English official is incorruptible, and the law must be kept--but I -confess,” he added, “I should like to know if there really is gold in -old Elmina.” - -The town has been a fine town once. The houses are substantially built -of stone, they are approached by fine flights of stone steps, there are -the ruins of an old casino, and picturesque in its desolation is an old -Dutch garden. If I were to describe the magnificent old Castle, I should -fill half the book; it is so well worth writing about. I walked up -the hill behind the Castle where they have built up the roadway with -discarded cannon, and there I took photographs and wished I had a little -more time to spare for the place, and vowed that when I reached England -the British Museum should help me to find out all there is to be known -about this magnificent place and the men who have gone before. - -[Illustration: 0216] - -For the man of the present it must be a little difficult to live in, if -it is only for the intense loneliness. It must be lonely to live in the -bush with the eternal forest surrounding you, but at least there a -man is an outpost of Empire, the trade is coming to him, he may find -interest and amusement in the breaking of a road or the planning of -a garden, while the making of a town would fill all his time, but in -Elmina there are no such consolations. The place is dead, slain by the -English; the young men go away following the trade, and the old mammies -with wrinkled faces and withered breasts lounge about the streets and -talk of departed glories. - -I had not expected to find one white man here, and I found two, the -other being a school-inspector who was on his way along the Coast -inspecting the native schools. He was in a fix, for he had sent on his -carriers and stores and could get no hammock-boys. They had promised -to send them from Cape Coast and they had not come. The medical officer -made both us strangers hospitably welcome, but stores are precious -things on the Coast and one does not like to trespass, so he was a -troubled school-inspector. - -“I think I'll walk on to Kommenda,” said he. - -“I wouldn't,” said I, the only one who knew that undesirable spot. - -We made a queer little party of three in that old-world Castle, in the -old Dutch rooms that are haunted by the ghosts of the dead-and-gone men -and women of a past generation. At least, I said they were haunted, the -school-inspector was neutral, and the medical officer declared no ghosts -had ever troubled him. I don't know whether it was ghosts that troubled -me, but the fact remains that I, who could sleep calmly by myself in -the bush with all my carriers drunk, could not sleep easily now that my -troubles were over, and I set it down to the haunting unhappy thoughts -of the people who had gone before me, who were dead, but who had lived -and suffered in those rooms; and yet in the day-time we were happy -enough, and the two men instructed me as one who had a right to know in -things African. The school-inspector was very funny on the education -of the native. His great difficulty apparently was to make the rising -generation grasp the fact that grandiloquent words of which they did not -understand the meaning were not proofs of deep knowledge. The negro is -like the Hindoo Baboo dear to the heart of Mr Punch. He dearly loves a -long word. Hygiene is a subject the Government insist upon being -taught, only it seems to me they would do more wisely to teach it in the -vernacular so that it might be understood by the common people. As it -is, said my school-inspector, the pupils are very pat; and when solemnly -asked by the teacher what are the constituents of drinking water, rap -out a list of Latin adjectives the only one of which he can understand -is “potable.” - -“Tut, tut,” said the inspector, “run along, Kudjo, and bring me a glass -of drinking water”; and then it was only too evident that that youthful -scion of the Fanti race who had been so glib with his adjectives did not -understand what “potable” meant. - -[Illustration: 0220] - -Afterwards in the eastern portion of the Colony I was told of other -difficulties and snares that lie in the way of the unlucky schoolmaster. -In Africa it is specially necessary to be careful of your water, as in -addition to many other unpleasant results common in other lands there -is here a certain sort of worm whose eggs may apparently be swallowed in -the water. They have an unpleasant habit of hatching internally and -then working their way out to the outer air, discommoding greatly their -unwilling host. Therefore twice a week in every English school the -qualities of good water and the way to insure it are insisted upon by -the teacher. But does that teacher practise what he preaches? He doesn't -like guinea-worm, but neither does he like trouble, wherefore he chooses -the line of least resistance and chances his water. If the worst come -to the worst and he has guinea-worm, a paternal Government will pay his -salary while he is ill. - -At least up till lately it always has. But a change is coming over the -spirit of the dream. The other day there arose in Keta, a town in -the Eastern Province, a German head-teacher who got very tired of -subordinates who were perpetually being incapacitated by guinea-worm, -a perfectly preventable disease, and, as the Germans are nothing if -not practical, there went forth in his school the cruel order that any -teacher having guinea-worm should have no salary during his illness. -There is going to be one more case of guinea-worm in that school, then -there is going to be a sad and sorry man fallen from his high estate and -dependent on his relatives, and then the teachers will possibly learn -wisdom and practise what they preach. But in Elmina my school-inspector -seemed to think the Golden Age was yet a long way off. - -I left him and the medical officer with many hopes for a future meeting, -and one afternoon took up my loads and having sent a telegram to the -Provincial Commissioner--how easy it seemed now--set out for Cape Coast -eight miles along the shore. - -There is very little difference in the scenery all along the shore here. -The surf thunders to the right, and to the left the land goes back low -and sandy, covered with coarse grass and low-growing shrubs, while here -and there are fishing villages with groves of cocoa-nuts around them, -only the houses instead of being built of the raffia palm are built -of swish, that is mud, and as you go east dirtier and dirtier grow the -villages. - -It took us barely two hours and a half to reach Cape Coast, one of the -oldest if not the oldest English settlement on the Coast. It was the -original Capo Corso of the Portuguese, but the English have held it -since early in the seventeenth century, and the natives, of course, bear -English names--in Elmina they have Dutch names--and remember no other -masters. - -Cape Coast is a great straggling untidy town with rather an eastern look -about it which comes, I think, from the fact that many of the houses -have flat roofs. But it is a drab-looking town without any of the -gorgeous colouring of the east. The Castle is built down on the -seashore behind great walls and bastions, and here are the Customs, the -Commissioner's Court, the Post Office, all the mechanism required for -the Government of a people, but the old cannon are still there, piles of -shot and shell and great mortars, and in the courtyards are the graves -of the men and women who have gone before, the honoured dead. Here lies -the lady whom the early nineteenth century reckoned a poet, L. E. -L., Laetitia Landor, the wife of Captain Maclean who perished by some -unexplainable misadventure while she was little more than a bride, and -here lies Captain Maclean himself, the wise Governor whom the African -merchants put in when England, in one of her periodic fits of thriftless -economy, would have abandoned the Gold Coast, and here are other unknown -names Dutch and English, and oh, curious commentary on the hygiene of -the time, in the same courtyard is the well whence the little company -of whites, generally surrounded by a people often hostile, must needs in -time of siege or stress always draw their water. - -They say Cape Coast like Elmina is haunted, and men have told me tales -of unaccountable noises, of footsteps that crossed the floor, of voices -in conversation, of sighs and groans and shrieks for help that were -unexplained and unexplainable. One man who had been D.C. there told me -he could keep no servant in the Castle at night they were so terrified, -but as I only paid flying visits to take photographs I cannot say of my -own knowledge whether there is anything uncanny about it. There ought to -be, for there are deep dungeons underground, dark and uncanny, where -in old days they possibly kept their slaves and certainly their -prisoners-of-war. There was no light in them then, there is very little -now, only occasionally someone has knocked away a stone from the thick -walls, and you may see a round of dancing sunlight in the gloom and hear -the sound of the ceaseless surf. An officer in the Gold Coast regiment -told me he wanted to have a free hand to dig in the earth here, for he -was sure the pirates who owned it in the old days must have buried much -treasure here and forgotten all about it, but he was a hopeful young man -and looked forward to the days when the Ashantis should come down -and besiege Cape Coast again as they had done in the old days, and he -pointed out the particular gun on the bastion that in case of such an -event he should train on the Kumasi road and blow those savages into the -next world. I have seen those fighting men of Ashanti since then and I -do not think they are ever coming to Cape Coast, at least as enemies, -which perhaps is just as well, for the gun which that gay young -lieutenant slapped so affectionately and called “Old Girl” is pretty -elderly and I fancy might do more damage to those loading than to those -at the other end of her muzzle. - -But I did not lodge at the fort. The medical officer, it was always the -medical officer to the rescue, very kindly took charge and I was -very comfortably lodged in the hospital. And here I had proof of the -wonderful manner in which news is carried by the birds of the air in -West Africa. I had thought that the Provincial Commissioner was going to -put me up, and I instructed my boys to that effect. - -“Ask way to Government House,” which I thought lay to the west of the -town. As we passed the first houses a man sprang up. - -“Dis way, Ma, I show you,” and off he went, we following, and I thought -my men had asked the question. Clearly Government House was not to the -west, for we went on through the town and up a hill and up to a large -bungalow which I was very sure was not Government House, unless we had -arrived at the back. - -I got out protesting, but my boys were very sure and so was our guide. - -“Dis be bungalow, Ma. Missus come.” - -Then I knew they were wrong, for I knew the Commissioner had no wife. -But they weren't after all, for down the steps breathing kindly welcome -came the medical officer's wife, a pretty bride of a couple of months, -and she smilingly explained that the Commissioner had asked her to take -me in because it would be so much more comfortable for me where there -was another woman. “I suppose he sent you on,” said she. - -But not only had he not sent me on, but he knew nothing of my coming, -and was waiting in Government House for my arrival. The town, then, knew -of my expected coming and his intentions with regard to me almost before -he had formulated them himself. At any rate, it was none of his doing -or his servants' doings that I went straight to the hospital, and the -telegram stating my intention had only been sent that morning. So much -for native telegraphy. - -Round Cape Coast, in my mind, hangs a mist of romance which will always -sharply divide it from the town as I saw it. When I think of it I have -to remind myself that I have seen Cape Coast and that, apart from kindly -recollections of the hospitality with which I was received, I do not -like it. The people are truculent and abominably ill-mannered, and I do -not think I would ever venture to walk in the streets again without the -protection of a policeman. - -There were two white women there, so they had hardly the excuse of -curiosity, as we must have been familiar sights, yet they mobbed me -in the streets, and when I tried to take photographs of the quaint, -old-world streets, hustled and crowded me to such an extent that it was -quite out of the question. And they did this even when I was accompanied -by my two servants and my hammock-boys. - -“These Fanti people catch no sense,” said Grant angrily, when after a -wild struggle I had succeeded in photographing a couple of men playing -draughts, and utterly failed to get a very nice picture of a man making -a net. I quite agreed with Grant; these Fanti people do catch no sense, -and I got no photographs, for which I was sorry, for there are corners -in that old town picturesque and quaint and not unlike corners in the -towns along the Sicilian coast. What they said of me I do not know, but -I am afraid it was insulting, and if ever my friends the Ashantis like -to go through Cape Coast again I shall give them a certain amount of -sympathy. At least it would give me infinite satisfaction to hear of -some of them getting that beating I left without being able to inflict. - -I do not think a white woman would be safe alone in Cape Coast, and this -I am the more sorry for because it has belonged so long to the English. -Perhaps Dr Blyden is right when he says, and I think he spoke very -impartially when speaking of his own people, that the French have -succeeded best in dealing with the negro, I beg his pardon, the African. -They have succeeded in civilising him, so says Dr Blyden, with dignity. -The English certainly have not. - -[Illustration: 0228] - - - - -CHAPTER X--IN THE PATHS OF THE MEN OF OLD - -_The glory of the morning--The men who have passed along this road--The -strong views of the African pig--An old-world Castle--Thieving -carriers--The superiority of the white man--Annamabu--A perfect specimen -of a fort--A forlorn rest-house--A notable Coast Chief--Tired-out -mammies--The medical officer at Salt Ponds--The capable German -women--The reason of the ill-health of the English women--Kroo boys as -carriers--Tantum--A loyal rest-house--Filthy Appam--A possible origin -for the yellow fever at Accra--Winne-bah--A check--The luckless -ferryman--Good-bye to the road._ - -The carriers from Kommenda were only to come as far as Cape Coast, so -here I had to find fresh men or rather women to replace them. I know -nothing more aggravating than engaging carriers. Apparently it was a -little break in the monotony of life as lived in an African town to come -and engage as a carrier with the white missus, come when she was about -to start, an hour late was the correct thing, look at the loads, turn -them over, try to lift them, say “We no be fit,” and then sit down and -see what would happen next. The usual programme, of course, was gone -through at Cape Coast, the mammies I had engaged smiling and laughing -as if it were the best joke in the world, and I only kept my temper by -reflecting that since I could not beat them, which I dearly longed to -do, it was no good losing it. They had had three days to contemplate -those loads and they only found “we no be fit” as I wanted to start. -Of course the men who had come on from Sekondi with me were now most -virtuous; they bore me no ill-will for my harsh treatment, indeed they -respected me for it, and they regarded themselves as my prop and my -stay, as indeed they were. - -With infinite difficulty I got off at last, taking three new carriers, -mammies, where two had sufficed before. - -Travelling in the early morning is glorious. The dew is on all the -grass; it catches and reflects the sunbeams like diamonds, and there is -a freshness in the air which is lost as the day advances. I loved going -along that coast too. - -I was thrown upon myself for companionship, for my followers could only -speak a little pigeon English, and of course we had nothing in common, -but the men and women who had gone before walked beside me and whispered -to me tales of the strenuous days of old. Perhaps the Phoenicians had -been here, possibly those old sea rovers, the Normans, and certainly the -Portuguese; they had marched along this shore, even as I was marching -along, only their own homes were worlds away and the bush behind was -peopled for them with unknown monsters, such as I would not dream of. -They had feared as they walked, and now I, a woman, could come alone and -unarmed. - -Leaving Cape Coast that still, warm, tropical morning, we passed the -people coming into town to the markets with their wares upon their -heads, all carried in long crates, chickens and fowls and unhappy pigs -strapped tightly down, for the African pig, like the pig in other lands, -has a mind of his own; he will not walk to his own destruction, he has -to be carried. These traders were women usually, and they looked at -me with interest and no little astonishment, for I believe that never -before had a white woman by herself gone alone along this path. - -[Illustration: 0232] - -My carriers had been instructed to go to Accra and to Accra they went by -the nearest way, sometimes cutting off little promontories, and thus -it happened that, looking up on one of these detours, I saw on a hill, -between me and the sea, a ruined fort. Of course I stopped the hammock -and got out. I had come to see these forts, and here I was passing one. -I wanted to go back. My headman demurred. Had I not distinctly said I -wanted to go to Accra, and were we not on the direct road to Accra? To -get to that old fort, which he did not think worth looking at, we -should have to go back an hour's journey, and the men “no be fit.” I -am regretful now that I only saw that fort from a distance. It was very -very hot, and I don't think I felt very fit myself; at any rate, the -thought of two hours extra in the hammock dismayed me and I decided to -take a long-distance photograph from where I stood. It was an old Dutch -fort--Fort Mori--and was built on high ground overlooking a little bay. -I think now it would have been easier for me to do that two hours than -to climb as I did, with the assistance of Grant and my headman, to -the highest point on the roadside, through long grass, scrub, and -undergrowth, there to poise myself uneasily to get a photograph of -the ruins. An ideal place, whispered the men of old, for a fort in the -bygone days, for it overlooked all the surrounding country, there was -no possibility of surprise, and at its feet was a little sheltered bay. -Now, on the yellow sands, in the glare of the sunshine, I could see the -great canoes that dared the surf drawn up, the thatched roofs of the -native town that drew its sustenance from the sea and in old times owed -a certain loyalty to the fort and derived a certain prestige from the -presence of the white men. - -Regretfully I have only that distant memory of Fort Mori, and I went on. -Those men who were “no fit” to take me back behaved abominably. Whenever -they neared a village they endeavoured to steal from the inhabitants--a -piece of suger-cane, a ball of kenky, or a few bananas--and again and -again a quarrel called me to intervene. It is very curious how soon one -gets an idea of one's own importance. In England, if I came across a -crowd of shouting, furious, angry men, I should certainly pass by on the -other side, but here in Africa when I was by myself I felt it my bounden -duty to interfere and inquire what was the matter. It was most likely -some trouble connected with my carriers. I disliked very much making -enemies as I passed, and I endeavoured to catch them and make them pay -for what they had stolen. And now I understood at last how it is white -people living among a subject race are so often overwhelmed in a sudden -rising. It is hard to believe that these people whom you count your -inferiors will really rise against you. Here was I, alone, unarmed, only -a woman, and yet immediately I heard a commotion I attended at once -and dispensed justice to the very best of my ability. I fully expected -village elders to bow to my decision, and I am bound to say they -generally did. - -Most of the villages along the Coast bore a strong family resemblance to -the one in which I had spent an unhappy hour while my men attended -the funeral palaver, and all the shore is much alike. Between Axim and -Sekondi is some rough, rugged, and pretty country, but east and west of -those points the shore is flat, and the farther east you go the flatter -it becomes, till at the mouth of the Volta and beyond it is all sand -and swamp. The first day out from Cape Coast it was somewhat monotonous, -possibly if I went over it again I should feel that more; but there was -growing up in me a feeling of satisfaction with myself--I do trust it -was not smug--because I was getting on. I was doing the thing so many -men had said I could not possibly do, and I was doing it fairly -easily. Of course, I was helped, helped tremendously by the freehanded -hospitality of the people in the towns through which I passed, for which -kindness I can never be sufficiently grateful, but here with my carriers -I was on my own, and I began to regard them as the captures of my -bow and spear, and therefore I at least did not find the country -uninteresting. Who ever found the land he had conquered dull? - -In due course I arrived at Annamabu, an old English fort that the -authorities on the Gold Coast hardly think worth preserving, and have -given over to the tender mercies of the negro Custom and post office -officials. Like Elmina, I could write a book about Annamabu alone, and I -was the more interested in it because it is the most perfect specimen -of the entirely English fort on the Coast, and is built at the head of a -little bay, where is the best landing on the Coast for miles round. - -There is a curious difference between the sites chosen by the different -nations. The other nations apparently always chose some bold, commanding -position, while the English evidently liked, as in this instance, the -head of a little bay and a good landing. - -Annamabu is quite a big native town, ruled over, I believe, by a -cultured African, a man who is well read and makes a point of collecting -all books about the Coast, and has, so they say, some rare old editions. -I tried to see him and went to his house, a mud-built, two-storied -building, where I sat in a covered courtyard and watched various members -of his family go up and down a rickety staircase that led to the upper -stories, but the Chief was away on his farm, and even though I waited -long he never made his appearance. I should like to have seen the inside -of his house, seen his books; all I did see was the courtyard, all -dull-mud colour, untidy and unkempt, with a couple of kitchen chairs in -it, a goat or two, some broken-down boxes and casks, and the drums of -state that marked his high office piled up outside the door. - -In the fort itself is the rest-house on the bastion, as untidy and dirty -as the Chiefs courtyard. There are three rooms opening one into -the other, and in the sitting-room, a great high room with big -windows--those men of old knew how to build--there is a table, some -chairs, a cupboard, and a filter, on which is written that it is for the -use of Europeans only, and behind in the bedroom is the forlornest wreck -of a bed, and some remnants of crockery that may have been washed about -the time when Mrs Noah held the first spring cleaning in the ark, but -apparently have never been touched since. It is only fair to say that -every traveller, they are like snow in summer, carries his own bedding, -and in fact all he needs, so that all that is really wanted for these -rest-houses along the shore is a good broom and a good stout arm to -wield it, and if a place is left without human occupancy the dirt is -only clean dust, for the clean air along these coasts is divine. - -But at Annamabu the usual difficulties came in my way; my old men were -well broken-in now, but my new mammies were--well--even though I am a -woman, and so by custom not permitted to use bad language, I must say -they were the very devil. They carried on with the men and then -they complained of the men's conduct, and when they arrived at -Annamabu--late, of course, and one of them had the chop box--they sent -in word to say they “no be fit” to go any farther, and there and then -they wanted to go back to Cape Coast. - -I said by all means they might go back to Cape Coast, but the loads -would have to be left here and sent for from Salt Ponds, and therefore, -as they had not completed their contract, they should be paid nothing. - -They came and lay down before me in attitudes of intense weariness -calculated to move the heart of a sphinx, but I came to the conclusion I -must be a hard-hearted brute, for I was adamant, and those weeping women -decided they would go on to Salt Ponds. - -At Salt Ponds there is a little company of white people, and, so says -report, the very worst surf on the Coast, with perhaps the exception -of Half Assinie. The D.C. was away, so the Provincial Commissioner had -telegraphed to the medical officer asking him to get me quarters. I -arrived about three o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, when the place was -apparently wrapped in slumber; the doctor's bungalow was pointed out -to me, built on stilts on a cement foundation, and on that foundation I -established myself and my loads, and made my way upstairs. A ragged and -blasphemous parrot, with a very nice flow of language, was in charge, -and he did not encourage me to stop, nor did he even hint at favours to -come, so I went down again and waited. Apparently I might wait; towards -evening I made my way--I was homeless--towards another bungalow, where a -white man received me with astonishment, gave me the nicest cup of tea -I have ever drunk, and sent for the medical officer, who had lunched -off groundnut soup and had gone into the country to sleep it off. We all -know groundnut soup is heavy. - -The medical officer remains in my mind as a man with a grievance; he was -kind after his fashion, but he did hate the country. If I had listened -to him, I should have believed it was unfit for human habitation, and I -couldn't help wondering why he had honoured it with his presence. In his -opinion it was exceedingly unbecoming in a woman to be making her way -along the Coast alone. To drive in these facts he found me house-room -with the only white woman in the place, the charmingly hospitable wife -of the German trader who had been on the Coast for a couple of years, -who was perfectly well, healthy, and happy, who always did her own -cooking, and who gave me some of the most delicious meals I have ever -tasted. Thus I was introduced to the German element in West Africa, and -began to realise for the first time that efficiency in little things -which is going to carry the Germans so far. This fair-haired, plump -young woman, with the smiling young face, was one of a type, and I could -not help feeling sorry there were not more English women like her. I do -not think I have ever met an English woman, with the exception of the -nursing Sisters, who has spent a year on the Coast. The accepted theory -is they cannot stand it, and in the majority of cases they certainly -can't. They get sick. With my own countrywomen it is different; the -Australian stays, so does the German, so does the French woman. At first -I could not understand it at all, but at last the explanation slowly -dawned upon me. - -“_Haus-fraus_,” said many a woman, and man, too, scornfully, when I -praised those capable German women who make a home wherever you find -them, and it is this _haus-frau_ element in them that saves them. A -German woman's pride and glory is her house, therefore, wherever she is -she has to her hand an object of intense interest that fills her mind -and keeps her well. An Australian does not take so keen an interest in -her house, perhaps, but she has had no soft and easy upbringing; from -the time she was a little girl she has got her own hot water, helped -with the cooking, washing, and all the multifarious duties of a houshold -where a servant is a rarity, therefore, when she comes to a land where -servants are plentiful, if they are rough and untaught, she comes to -a land of comfort and luxury. Besides, it is the custom of the country -that a woman should stand beside her husband; she has not married for -a livelihood, men are plentiful enough and she has chosen her mate, -wherefore it is her pleasure and her joy to help him in every way. She -is as she ought to be, his comrade and his friend, a true helpmate. God -forbid that I should say there are not English women like that, because -I know there are, but the conditions in England are also very different. -The girl who has been brought up in an English household, even if it be -a poor one, is not only brought up in luxury, but is the victim of many -conventions. Any ruffled rose leaf makes her unhappy. The servants that -to the Australian are a luxury to be revelled in are very bad indeed to -her. Whenever I saw one of these complaining English women, I used to -think of the Princess of my youth. We all remember her. She was -wandering about lost, as royalty naturally has a habit of doing, and she -came to a little house and asked the inmates to give her shelter because -she was a princess. They took her in, but being just a trifle doubtful -of her story--when I was a little girl I always felt that was rather a -slur upon those dwellers in the little house--they put on the bed a pea -and then they put over it fourteen hair mattresses and fourteen feather -beds--it doesn't seem to have strained the household to provide so much -bedding--and then they invited the princess to go to bed, which she did. -In my own mind I drew the not unnatural conclusion that princesses were -accustomed to sleeping in high beds. Next morning they asked her how she -slept. She, most rudely, I always thought, said she had not been able to -sleep at all, because there was such a hard lump in the bed. And so they -knew that her story was true, and she was a real princess. Now, the -English women in West Africa always seem to me real princesses of this -order. Certain difficulties there always are for the white race in a -tropical climate, there always will be, but there is really no need to -find out the peas under twenty-eight mattresses. In a manless country -like England, many a woman marries not because the man who asks her is -the man she would have chosen had she free right of choice, but because -to live she must marry somebody, and he is the first who has come along. -He may be the last. Her African house interests her not, her husband -does not absorb her, she has no one to whom to show off her newly wedded -state, no calls to pay, no afternoon teas, no _matinées_, in fact she -has no interest, she is bored to death; she is very much afraid of -“chill,” so she shuts out the fresh, cool night air, and, as a natural -result, she goes home at the end of seven months a wreck, and once more -the poor African climate gets the credit. - -No, if a woman goes to West Africa there is a great deal to be said for -the German _haus-frau_. At least they always seem to make a home, and I -have seen many English women there who cannot. - -At Salt Ponds one of my carriers came to me saying he was sick and -wanting medicine, and I regret to say, instead of sending him at once to -the doctor, I casually offered him half a dozen cascara tabloids, all -of which to my dismay he swallowed at one gulp. The next morning he was -worse, which did not surprise me, but I called in the medical officer -and found he was suffering from pneumonia--cascara it appears is not the -correct remedy--and I was forced to leave him behind. The mammies I had -engaged at Cape Coast also declined to go any farther, so I had to look -around me for more carriers, and carriers are by no means easy to come -by. Finally the Boating Company came to the rescue with four Kroo boys, -and then my troubles began. - -I set out and hoped for the best, but Kroo boys are bad carriers at -all times. These were worse than usual. One of my hammock-boys hurt his -foot, or said he had, and had for the time to be replaced by a Kroo boy, -and we staggered along in such a fashion that once more I felt like a -slave-driver of the most brutal order. Again and again we stopped for -him to rest, and my hammock-boys remarked by way of comforting me: - -“Kroo boy no can tote hammock.” - -“Why can Kroo boy no tote hammock?” - -“We no know, Ma. We no be Kroo boy.” - -We scrambled along somehow, out of one village into another, and at -every opportunity half the carriers ran away and had to be rounded up -by the other half. In eight hours we had only done fifteen miles. I felt -very cheap, very hungry, very thirsty, and most utterly thankful when we -arrived late in the afternoon at a dirty native town called Tantum. The -carriers straggled in one by one, and last of all came my chop box, so -that, for this occasion only, luncheon, afternoon tea, and dinner were -all rolled into one about six o'clock in the evening. - -The rest-house was a two-storied house, built of swish and white-washed, -and was inside a native compound, where both in the evening and in the -morning the women were most industriously engaged in crushing the corn, -rolling it on a hard stone with a heavy wooden roller. - -And the rest-house, though very loyal, there were four coloured -oleographs of Queen Alexandra round the walls of the sitting-room and -two at the top of the stairs, all exactly alike, was abominably dirty. -It had a little furniture--two mirrors, well calculated to keep one in -a subdued and humble frame of mind, a decrepid bed that I was a little -afraid to be in the same room with lest its occupants would require no -invitation to get up and walk towards me, a table, and some broken-down -chairs. Also on the wall was a notice that two shillings must be paid -by anyone occupying this rest-house. Someone had crossed this out and -substituted two shillings and sixpence, and that in its turn had been -erased, so, as the sum went on increasing at each erasure, at last -eighteen shillings and sixpence had been fixed as the price of a night's -lodging in this charming abode. I decided in my own mind that two -shillings would be ample, and that if the people were civil I should -give them an extra threepence by way of a dash. - -I photographed Tantum with the interested assistance of a gentleman clad -in a blue cloth and a tourist cap. He seemed to consider he belonged to -me, so at last I asked him who he was. - -“P'lice,” said he with a grin, and then I recognised my policeman in -unofficial dress. - -I didn't like that village. The people may have been all right, but I -didn't like their looks and I made my “p'lice” sleep outside my door. -My bedroom had the saving grace of two large windows, and I put my bed -underneath one of them in the gorgeous moonlight; but a negro town -is very noisy on a moonlight night and the tom-toms kept waking me. I -always had to be the first astir else my following would have cheerfully -slumbered most of the day, but on this occasion so bright was the -moonlight, so noisy the town, that I proceeded to get up at two o'clock, -and it was only when I looked at my travelling clock, with a view to -reproaching Grant with being so long with my tea, that I discovered my -error and went back to bed and a troubled rest again. - -Two shillings was accepted with a smile by the good lady of the house, -who was a stout, middle-aged woman with only one eye, a dark cloth about -her middle, and a bright handkerchief over her head. She gave me the -impression that she had never seen so much money in her life before. -Possibly she had only recently gone into the rest-house business, say a -year or two back, and I was her first traveller with any money to -spend. We parted with mutual compliments, and I bestowed on her little -grand-daughter the munificent dash of threepence. - -There is a story told of a man who went out to India, and as he liked -sunshine used to rise up each morning and say to his wife with emphasis, -“Another fine day, my dear.” - -Now, she, good woman, had been torn from her happy home in England, -and loved the cool grey skies, so at last much aggravated she lost her -temper, and asked: “What on earth else do you expect in this beastly -country?” - -So, along the Guinea Coast in the month of March, the hottest season, -there is really nothing else to expect but still, hot weather: divine -mornings, glorious evenings, but in between fierce hot sunshine. And of -course it was not always possible to travel in the coolest part of the -day. To sit still by the roadside in the glare of the sunshine, or even -under a tree, with a large crowd looking on, was more than I could have -managed. So I started as early as I could possibly induce my men to -start--one determined woman can do a good deal--and then went straight -on if possible without a stop to my next point. I would always, when I -am by myself, rather be an hour or two late for luncheon than bother to -stop to have it on the way, and if a breakfast at half-past five or six -and a morning in the open air induces hunger by eleven, it is easily -stayed by carrying a little fruit or biscuits or chocolate to eat by the -way. - -It was fiercest noonday when I came to a town called Appam, where once -upon a time was an old Dutch lodge worth keeping, if only to show what -a tiny place men held garrisoned in the old days. It is hardly necessary -to say that the Gold Coast Government do not think so, and have handed -this old-time relic over to negro Custom and post office officials; -and, judging by the condition of the rest of the town, much has not been -required of them, for Appam is the very filthiest town I have ever seen. -The old lodge is on the top of a hill overlooking the sea, splendidly -situated, but you arrive at it by a steep and narrow path winding -between a mass of thatched houses, and it stands out white among the -dark roofs. As a passer-by, I should say the only thing for Appam is to -put a fire-stick in the place; nothing else but fire could cleanse it. -Many of the young people and children were covered with an outbreak of -sores that looked as if nasty-looking earth had been scattered over -them and had bred and festered, and they told me the children here were -reported to be suffering and dying from some disease that baffled the -doctors, what doctors I do not know, for there is no white man in Appam. -It seems to me it is hardly necessary to give a name to the disease. I -should think it was bred of filth pure and simple, and my remedy of the -fire-stick would go far towards curing it. But there is a graver side to -it than merely the dying of these negro children. Appam is not very far -from Accra; communication by surf boat must go on weekly, if not -daily, and Appam must be an ideal breeding ground for the yellow-fever -mosquito. I know nothing about matters medical, but I must say, when I -heard Accra was quarantined for yellow fever, I was not surprised. I had -come all along the Coast, and filthier villages it would be difficult to -find anywhere, and of these filthy villages Appam, a large town, takes -the palm. I left it without regret, and though I should like to see that -little Dutch lodge again, I doubt if I ever shall. - -My carriers were virtue itself now. The Kroo boys were giving so much -trouble that they posed as angels. I must admit they were a cheery, -good-tempered lot, and it was impossible to bear malice towards them. -They had forgotten that I had ever been wrathful, and behaved as if they -were old and much-trusted servants. Munk-wady, a Ju-ju hill on the shore -between Appam and Winnebah, is steep and the highest point for many -miles along the Coast, and over its flank, where there was but a -pretence at a road, we had to go. - -“You no fear, Ma; you no fear,” said the men cheerily, “we tote you -safe”; and so they did, and took me right across the swamp that lay at -the other side and right into the yard of the Basel Mission Factory at -Winnebah, where a much-astonished manager made me most kindly welcome. -It amused me the astonishment I created along the road. No one could -imagine how I could get through, and yet it was the simplest matter. It -merely resolved itself into putting one foot before the other and seeing -that my following did likewise. Of course, there lay the difficulty. -“Patience and perseverance,” runs the old saw, “made a Pope of his -reverence”; and so a little patience and perseverance got me to Accra, -though I am sometimes inclined to wonder if it wasn't blind folly that -took me beyond it. - -[Illustration: 0248] - -But at Winnebah I received a check. Those Kroo boys gave out, and it was -plain to be seen they could travel no longer with loads on their heads. -I had no use for their company without loads. There were white men in -Winnebah, but none of them could help me, for the cocoa harvest in the -country behind was in full swing, and carriers there were not. The only -suggestion was that there was a ship in the roadstead, and that I -should embark on her for Accra. There seemed nothing else for it, and, -regretful as I was, I felt I must take their advice. The aggravating -part was that it was only a long day's journey from Winnebah to Accra, -but as I had no men to carry my loads I could not do it. One thing I was -determined to do, however, and that was to visit an old Dutch fort there -was at a place called Berraku, about half-way to Accra. I could do it by -taking my hammock-boys and my luncheon, and that I did. - -That day's journey is simply remarkable for the frolicsomeness of my -men and for the extreme filth of the fishing villages through which we -passed. They rivalled Appam. As for the fort, it was built of brick, -there was a rest-house upon the bastion for infrequent travellers, -and it was tumbling into disrepair. There will be no fort at Berraku -presently, for the people of the town will have taken away the bricks -one by one to build up their own houses. But it must have been a big -place once, and there is in the town a square stone tomb, a relic of the -past. The inscription is undecipherable, but it was evidently erected in -memory of some important person who left his bones in Africa, and lies -there now forgotten. - -There was a river to cross just outside the town of Winnebah, and -crossing a river is a big undertaking in West Africa, even when you have -only one load. I'm afraid I must plead guilty to not knowing my men by -sight; for a long time a black man was a black man to me, and he had no -individuality about him. Now they all crowded into the boat to cross the -river, and it was evident to my mind that we were too many; then as -no one seemed inclined to be left behind, I exercised my authority -and pointed out the man who was to get out, and out he got, very -reluctantly, but cheerily helped by his unfeeling fellows. It took us -about a quarter of an hour to cross that river, for it was wide and we -had to work up-stream, and once across they all proceeded to go on their -way without a thought for the man left behind. And then I discovered -what I had done. I had thrown the ægis of my authority over, putting the -unfortunate ferryman out of his own boat, and to add injury to insult my -men were quite prepared to leave him on one side of the stream and his -boat on the other. When I discovered it was the ferryman I had put out -I declared they must go back for him, and my decision was received with -immense surprise. - -“You want him, Ma?” as if such a desire should be utterly impossible; -but when they found I really did, and, moreover, intended to pay him, -two of them took the boat and he was brought to me with shouts of -laughter, and comforted with an extra dash, which was more than he had -expected after my high-handed conduct. - -One could not help liking these peasant peoples; they were such -children, so easily pleased, so anxious to show off before the white -woman. Here all along the beach the people were engaged in fishing, and -again and again I saw a little crowd of men launching a boat, or hauling -it in and distributing their catch upon the beach. I always got out and -inspected the catch, and they always made way to let me look when they -saw I was interested. Of course, we could not speak to each other, but -they spread out the denizens of the deep and pointed out anything they -thought might be specially curious. I can see now one flat fish that was -pulled out for my benefit. One man, who was acting as showman, caught -him by the tail and held him out at arm's length. He was only a small -fish about the size, I suppose, of a large dish, but that thorny tail -went high over the man's head while the body of the fish was still -flapping about on the sand, and the lookers-on all laughed and shouted -as if they had succeeded in showing the stranger a most curious sight, -as indeed they had. - -[Illustration: 0252] - -I was sorry to turn my back on the road, sorry to go back to -Winnebah--Winnebah of the evil reputation, where they say if a white man -is not pleasing to the people the fetish men poison him--sorry to pay -off my men and send them back, sorry to take ship for Accra; but I could -not get carriers, there was nothing else for it, and by steamer I had to -go, and very lucky indeed was I to find a steamer ready to take me, so I -said good-bye to the road for some considerable time and went to Accra. - - - - -CHAPTER XI--THE CAPITAL OF THE GOLD COAST COLONY - -_The pains and penalties of landing in Accra--Negro officials, blatant, -pompous, inefficient--Christiansborg Castle--The ghost of the man -with eyes like bright stones--The importance of fresh air--Beautiful -situation of Accra--Its want of shade-trees--The fences of Accra--The -temptation of the cooks--Picturesque native population--Striking -coiffure--The expensive breakwater--To commemorate the opening of the -waterworks--The forlorn Danish graveyard--A meddlesome missionary--Away -to the east._ - -I don't like landing in Accra. There is a good deal of unpleasantness -connected with it. For one thing, the ships must lie a long way off -for the surf is bad, and the only way to land is to be put into a -mammy-chair, dropped into a surf boat, and be rowed ashore by a set of -most excellent boatmen, who require to be paid exorbitantly for their -services. I don't know what other people pay, but I have never landed on -Accra beach under a ten-shilling dash to the boat boys, and then I had -to pay something like sixpence a load to have my things taken up to the -Custom house. In addition to that you get the half-civilised negro in -all his glory, blatant, self-satisfied, loquacious, deadly slow, and -very inefficient. As well as landing my goods from the steamer, I -wanted to inquire into the fate of other goods that I had, with what I -considered much forethought, sent on from Sekondi by a previous steamer, -and here I found myself in a sea of trouble, for, the negro mind having -grasped the fact that a troublesome woman was looking for boxes that had -probably been lost a couple of months ago, each official passed me on -from one department to another with complacency. Accra is hot, and Accra -is sandy, and Accra as yet does not understand the meaning of the text, -“the shadow of a great rock in a thirsty land,” so for a couple of -hours I was hustled about from pillar to post, finding traces of luggage -everywhere, and no luggage. Then, a little way from the port office, a -large placard in blue and white, announcing “Post and Telegraph Office” - caught my eye, so I thought I would by way of refreshment and interlude -send a telegram telling of my safe arrival to my friends in Sekondi, -and, in all the heat of a tropical morning, I toiled down one flight -of steps and up another and at last found that the telegraph office, -in spite of that big placard, was not at the port at all but at -Victoriaborg, about a couple of miles away. I could not believe it, but -so it was. Whether that placard is previous, or hints at past greatness, -I cannot tell. I also found later on that you cannot send a telegram -after four o'clock in the afternoon in the Gold Coast. Government takes -a most paternal care of its negro subordinates and sees that the -poor things are not worked too hard, but when I found they closed for -luncheon as well, I was apt to inquire why it should be so hard-hearted -as ever to require them to open at all. I think this matter should be -inquired into by someone who has the welfare of the negro race at heart. - -[Illustration: 0256] - -When my temper was worn to rags, and I was thoroughly hot and unhappy, -wishing myself with all my heart out in the open again with only -carriers who “no be fit” to deal with, at last a surprised white man -found me, straightened things out in a moment, and assured me that I -should have evening dresses to wear at Government House. - -The Acting Governor and his wife put me up for a day or two, and then -found me quarters, and I hereby put it on record that I really think -it was noble of the Acting Governor, for he had no sympathy with my -mission, and I think, though he was too polite to say so, was inclined -to regard a travelling woman as a pernicious nuisance. I am sure it -would have been more convenient for him if I had gone straight on, but -I did not want to do the capital of the Colony like an American tourist, -and so protested that I must have somewhere where I could rest and -arrange my impressions. - -Government House is old-world. It is Christiansborg Castle, which was -bought from the Danes, I think, some time in the seventies, when a -general rearrangement of the Coast took place. It is one of the nicest -castles on the Coast, bar, of course, Elmina, which none can touch, and -has passed through various vicissitudes. I met at Kumasi the medical -officer who had charge of it some years back, when it was a lunatic -asylum. - -“Such a pity,” said he, “to make such a fine place a lunatic asylum. But -it was a terrible care to me. I was so afraid some of the lunatics would -smash those fine old stained-glass windows.” - -I stared. Stained-glass windows on the Coast! But there is not a trace -of them now, nor have I ever met anyone else who knew of them. I suppose -they are some of those things no one thought worth caring about. - -[Illustration: 0260] - -There are ghosts at Christiansborg too. It used to be Government House, -and then, because some Governor did not like it, a lunatic asylum, and -Government House again. A man once told me how, visiting it while it was -a lunatic asylum, he spoke to the warder in charge and said, “You must -have an easy time here.” - -“No, sah; no, sah,” said the man earnestly, “it no be good.” - -“Why?” asked my curious friend. - -And then the negro said that as soon as the place was locked up quiet -for the night, and he knew there could not possibly be any white men -within the walls, two white men, he described them, one had eyes like -bright stones, walked up and down that long corridor. And the strange -part of the story, said my friend, was that he described unmistakably -two dead-and-gone English Governors, men who have died in recent years, -one, I think, in the West Indies, and the other on the way home from -West Africa! - -Christiansborg Castle is close down on the seashore, so close that the -surf tosses its spray against its windows, and thus it came about that I -learned what seems to me the secret of health in West Africa. - -All along the Coast I had wondered; sometimes I felt in the rudest -health, as if nothing could touch me, sometimes so weary and languid it -was an effort to rouse myself to make half a dozen steps, and here in -Christiansborg Castle I was prepared to agree with all the evil that had -ever been said about the climate. - -“In the morning thou shalt say, 'Would to God it were even,' and at even -thou shalt say, 'Would to God it were morning.'” - -That just about expressed my feelings while I was staying at -Christiansborg Castle. My room, owing to the exigencies of space was -an inside one, and though the doors were large, wide, and always open, -still it had no direct communication with the open air. All the windows -along the sea side of the Castle were tight closed, for the Acting -Governor's wife did not like her pretty things to be spoiled by the damp -sea breeze, so she stirred her air by a punkah. But at night of course -there was no punkah going and I spent nights of misery. The heat was so -oppressive I could not sleep, and I used to get up and wander about the -verandah, where the air was cool enough, but I could not sleep there -as it was by way of being a public passage-way. After a day or two -they very kindly gave me for my abode a tumble-down old bungalow, just -outside the Castle walls. It was like a little fort, and probably had -been built for defence in the days that were passed and gone. There was -a thick stone wall round the front of a strongly built stone house, that -was loopholed for defence, and here lodged some of the Government House -servants and their families, but on top of this stone house had been -built a wooden bungalow, now rapidly falling into decay. Here were two -big rooms and wide verandahs with a little furniture, and here I lodged, -engaging a cook, and running my own establishment, greatly to my own -satisfaction. The bungalow was as close to the seashore as the Castle, -and I opened all the windows wide, and let the cool, health-giving fresh -air blow over me day and night. - -After the first night the languor and weariness at once disappeared and -I felt most wonderfully well, a feeling that I kept always up so long -as I could sleep in the uninterrupted fresh air. Put me to sleep in a -closed-in room with no possibility of a direct draught and I was tired -at once, wherefore I believe and believe firmly that to insure good -health in West Africa you must have plenty of fresh air. I go further -and would advise everybody to sleep as much in the open as possible, or, -at the very least, in a good, strong draught. After that experience, I -began to notice. I had a habit of getting up very early in the morning -and going out for walks and rides in my cart, and as I went down the -streets of towns like Sekondi, Tarkwa, and Accra, it was surprising the -number of shutters I saw fast closed against the health-giving air. -I concluded the people behind were foolishly afraid of chills and -preferred to be slowly poisoned, and I looked too later on in the day at -the pallid, white-faced men and women who came out of those houses. For -myself, West Africa agreed with me. I have never in my life enjoyed such -rude health as I found I had there. - -I set the reason down to the care I took to live always in the open. -The conclusion I draw is this--of course I may be wrong--the margin of -health in West Africa is narrow and therefore you cannot do without a -supply of the invigorating elixir supplied by Nature herself. Could I -live in England as I did there it is quite likely my health would -be still better. Now, when I hear a man is ill in West Africa, I ask -several questions before I condemn the place. First, of course, there -is the unlucky man who would be ill in any climate, then there is the -dissipated man who brings his ailments upon himself, and, while in -Africa men set his illness down to the right cause, when they are this -side of the water they are only too ready to add another nail to their -cross and pity the poor devil who has succumbed to the terrible climate -they have to face. Next comes the man who, while not exactly dissipated, -does himself too well, burns the candle at both ends, and puts upon his -constitution a strain it certainly could not stand in a cooler climate, -and then, when all these eliminated, there is to my mind the man and the -woman, for the women are still greater offenders, who will sleep in too -sheltered a spot, and spend their sleeping hours in the vitiated air of -a mosquito-proof room. - -[Illustration: 0264] - -Of course other things tend to ill-health--loneliness, want of -occupation for the mind, that perpetual strain that is engendered when a -man is not contented with his surroundings and is for ever counting the -slowly moving days till he shall go home; but that must come in any -land where a man counts himself an exile, and I finally came to the -conclusion that pretty nearly half the ill-health of West Africa would -be cured if men would but arrange their sleeping-quarters wisely. - -At any rate, in this old tumble-down bungalow I was more than happy. I -engaged a cart and boys, and I used to start off at six o'clock in the -morning, or as near to it as I could get those wretches of Kroo boys to -come, and wander over the town. - -Accra, which is the principal town of the Ga people, must have been for -some centuries counted a town of great importance, for three nations had -forts here. The English had James Fort, now used as a prison, the -Dutch had Fort Crêvecoeur, now called Vssher Fort and used as a police -barracks, and the Danes had Christiansborg Castle close to the big -lagoon and three miles away from the town of Accra. And in addition to -these forts all along the shore are ruins of great buildings. Till I -went to Ashanti, between Christiansborg and Accra was the only bit -of good road I had seen on the English coast of Guinea, and that was -probably made by the Danes, for there is along part of it an avenue of -fine old tamarind trees, which only this careful people would take the -trouble to plant. They are slow-growing trees, I believe, and must be -planted for shelter between other trees which may be cut down when the -beautiful tamarinds grow old enough to take care of themselves. Some of -the trees are gone and no one has taken the trouble to fill in the gaps, -but still with their delicate greenery they are things of beauty in hot, -sun-stricken Accra. For if ever a town needed trees and their shade it -is this capital of the Gold Coast. - -[Illustration: 0268] - -Accra might be a beautiful city. The coast is not very high, but raised -considerably above sea-level, and it is broken into sweeping bays; the -country behind gradually rises so that the bungalows at the back of the -town get all the breeze that comes in from the ocean and all that sweeps -down from the hills. In consequence, Accra, for a town that lies within -a few degrees of the Equator, may be counted comparatively cool. The -only heat is between nine o'clock in the morning and four o'clock in -the afternoon; at night, when I was there, the hottest time of the year, -March and the beginning of April, there was always a cool sea breeze. A -place is always bearable when the nights are cool. - -But on landing, Accra gives the impression of fierce heat. Shade-giving -trees are almost entirely absent, the sun blazes down on hot, yellow -sands, on hot, red streets lined with bare, white houses, and the very -glare makes one pant. In the roadways, here and there, are channels worn -by the heavy rainfall, the streets are not very regular, and many of the -houses are ill-kept, shabby, and sadly in need of a coat of paint; when -they belong to white men one sees written all over them that they are -the dwellings of men who have no permanent abiding place here, but are -“just making it do,” and as for the native houses, every native under -English rule has yet to learn the lesson that cleanliness and neatness -make for beauty. When in the course of my morning's drive I looked at -the gardens of Accra, for there are a good many ill-kept gardens, I -fancied myself stepping with Alice into Wonderland. The picket fences -are made of the curved staves that are imported for the making of -barrels, and therefore they are all curved like an “S,” and I do not -think there is one whole fence in all the town; sometimes even the posts -and rails are gone, but invariably some of the pickets are missing. - -“All the good cooks in Accra,” said a man to me with a sigh, “are in -prison for stealing fences.” - -“Not all,” said his chum; “ours went for stealing the post office, you -remember. He'd burnt most of it before they discovered what was -becoming of it.” They say they are importing iron railings for Accra -to circumvent the negro; for the negro, be it understood, does not -mind going to prison. He is well-fed, well-sheltered, and the only -deprivation he suffers is being deprived of his women; and when he comes -out he feels it no disgrace, his friends greet him and make much of him, -much as we should one who had suffered an illness through no fault of -his own, therefore the cook who has pocketed the money his master has -given him to buy wood, and stolen his neighbour's fence, begins again -immediately he comes out of prison, and hopes he will not be so unlucky -as to be found out this time. - -[Illustration: 0272] - -This is the capital of a rich colony, so in business hours I found the -streets thronged, and even early in the morning they were by no means -empty, for the negro very wisely goes about his business while yet it -is cool. Here, away from the forest, is no tsetse fly, so horses may be -seen in buggies or drawing produce, but since man's labour can be bought -for a shilling a day, it is cheaper, and so many people, like I was, are -drawn by men. I, so as to feel less like a slave-driver, bought peace -of mind in one way and much aggravation in another by having three, but -many men I saw with only two, and many negroes, who are much harder on -those beneath them than the white men, had only one. Produce too is very -often taken from the factory to the harbour in carts drawn by eight or -a dozen men, and goods are brought up from the sea by the same sweating, -toiling, shouting Kroo boys. - -They are broad-shouldered, sinewy men, clad generally in the most -elderly of European garments cast off by some richer man, but always -they are to be known from the surrounding Ga people by the broad -vertical band of blue tattooing on their foreheads, the freedom mark -that shows they have never been slaves. In Accra the white people are -something under two hundred, the Governor and his staff, officials, -teachers, merchants, clerks, missionaries, and artisans, and there are -less than thirty white women, so that in comparison the white faces are -very few in the streets. They are thronged with the dark people who call -this place home. Clad in their own costumes they are very picturesque, -the men in toga-like cloths fastened on one shoulder, the women with -their cloths fastened under the arms, sometimes to show the breasts, -sometimes to cover them, and on their head is usually a bright kerchief -which hides an elaborate coiffure. - -When I was strolling about Christiansborg one day I saw a coiffure which -it was certainly quite beyond the power of the wearer to hide under a -handkerchief. She was engaged in washing operations under a tree, and -so I asked and obtained permission to photograph her. It will be seen -by the result that, in spite of her peculiar notions on the subject -of hair-dressing, she is not at all ungraceful. Indeed, in their own -clothes, the Africans always show good taste. However gaudy the colours -chosen, never it seems do natives make a mistake--they blend into the -picture, they suit the garish sunshine, the bright-blue sky, the -yellow beach, the cobalt sea, or the white foam of the surf breaking -ceaselessly on the shore; only when the man and woman put on European -clothes do they look grotesque. There is something in the tight-fitting -clothes of civilisation that is utterly unsuited to these sons and -daughters of the Tropics, and the man who is a splendid specimen of -manhood when he is stark but for a loin cloth, who is dignified in his -flowing robe, sinks into commonplaceness when he puts on a shirt and -trousers, becomes a caricature when he parts his wool and comes out in a -coat and high white collar. - -Money is spent in Accra as it is spent nowhere else in the Colony. Of -course I do not know much about these matters, therefore I suppose I -should not judge, but I may say that after I had seen German results, I -came to the conclusion that money was not always exactly wisely spent. -Most certainly the people who had the beautifying of the town were not -very artistic, and sometimes I cannot but feel they have lacked the -saving grace of a sense of humour. - -[Illustration: 0276] - -The landing here was shockingly bad; it is so still, I think, for the -last time I left I was drenched to the skin, so the powers that be set -to work at enormous cost to build a breakwater behind which the boats -might land in comparative safety. Only comparative, for still the moment -the boat touches the shore the boatmen seize the passenger and carry him -as swiftly as possible, and quite regardless of his dignity, beyond the -reach of the next breaking wave. - -“Ah,” said a high official, looking with pride at the breakwater, “how -I have watched that go up. Every day I have said to myself, 'something -accomplished, something done'”; and he said it with such heartfelt pride -that I had not the heart to point out the sand pump, working at the -rate of sixty tons a minute, that this same costly breakwater had -necessitated, for the harbour without it would fill up behind the -breakwater; not exactly, I fancy, what the authorities intended. The -breakwater isn't finished yet, but the harbour is filling fast; by the -time it is finished I should doubt whether there will be any water at -all behind it. - -I did Accra thoroughly. I lived in that little bungalow beside the fort, -and I went up and down the streets in my cart and I saw all I think -there was to be seen. But for one good friend, a medical officer I had -known before, the lady who was head of the girls' school, a thoroughly -capable, practical young woman, and the one or two friends they brought -to see me, I knew nobody, and so I was enabled to form my opinions -untrammelled, and I'm afraid I had the audacity to sit in judgment on -that little tropical capital and say to myself that things might really -be very much better done. The Club may be a cheerful place if you know -anyone, but it is very doleful and depressing if the only other women -look sidelong at you over the tops of their papers as if you were some -curious specimen that it might perhaps be safer to avoid, and I found -the outside of the bungalows, with their untidy, forlorn gardens, the -houses of sojourners who are not dwellers in the land, anything but -promising. Yet money is spent too--witness the breakwater--and in my -wanderings I came across a tombstone-like erection close to James Fort, -which I stopped and inspected. Indeed it is in a conspicuous place, with -an inscription which he who runs may read. At least he might have read a -little while ago, but the climate is taking it in hand. The stone is of -polished granite, which must have cost a considerable amount of money, -and by the aid of that inscription I discovered that it was a fountain -erected to commemorate the opening of the waterworks in Accra. Oh -Africa! Already it is difficult to read that inscription; the unfinished -fountain is falling into decay, and the water has not yet been brought -to the town! When future generations dig on the site of the old Gold -Coast town, I am dreadfully afraid that tombstone will give quite a -wrong impression. Now it is one of the most desolate things I know, more -desolate even than the forlorn Danish graveyard which lies, overgrown -and forgotten, but a stone's throw from my bungalow at Christiansborg. A -heavy brick wall had been built round it once, but it was broken down -in places so that the people of Christiansborg might pasture their goats -and sheep upon it, and I climbed through the gap, risking the snakes, -and read the inscriptions. They had died, apparently most of them, -in the early years of the nineteenth century, men and women, victims -probably to their want of knowledge, and all so pitifully young. I could -wish that the Government that makes so much fuss about educating the -young negro in the way he should go, could spare, say ten shillings a -year to keep these graves just with a little respect. It would want so -little, so very little. Those Danes of ninety years ago I dare say sleep -sound enough lulled by the surf, but it would be a graceful act to keep -their graves in order, and would not be a bad object-lesson for the -Africans we are so bent on improving. - -[Illustration: 0280] - -Behind the town are great buildings--technical schools put up with this -object in view. They are very ugly buildings, very bare and barren and -hot-looking. Evidently the powers who insist so strongly upon hand and -eye training think it is sufficient to let the young scholars get their -ideas of beauty and form by sewing coloured wools through perforated -cards or working them out in coloured chalks on white paper; they -have certainly not given them a practical lesson in beauty with these -buildings. They may be exceedingly well-fitted for the use to which they -are intended, but it seems to me a little far-fetched to house young -negroes in such buildings when in such a climate a roof over a cement -floor would answer all purposes. - -If I had longed to beat my hammock-boys, my feelings towards them were -mild when compared with those I had towards my cart-boys. They were -terriblelooking ruffians, clad in the forlornest rags, and they dragged -me about at a snail's pace. What they wanted of course was a master who -would beat them, and as they did not get it, they took advantage of me. -It is surprising how one's opinions are moulded by circumstances. Once -I would have said that the man who hit an unoffending black man was a -brute, and I suppose in my calmer moments I would say so still, but I -distinctly remember seeing one of my cart-boys who had been on an errand -to get himself a drink, or satisfy some of his manifold wants, strolling -towards me in that leisurely fashion which invariably set me longing for -the slave-driver's whip to hasten his steps. In his path was a white man -who for some reason bore a grudge against the negro, and, without saying -a word, caught him by the shoulder and kicked him on one side, twisted -him round, and kicked him on the other side, and I, somewhat to my -own horror, found myself applauding in my heart. Here was one of my -cart-boys getting his deserts at last. The majority of white men were -much of my way of thinking, but of course I came across the other sort. -I met a missionary and his wife who were travelling down to inquire into -the conditions of the workers in the cocoa plantations in Ferdinando Po. -I confess I thought them meddlesome. What should we think if Portugal -sent a couple of missionaries to inquire into the conditions of the -tailoring trade in the East End of London, or the people in the knife -trade in Sheffield? I have seen both these peoples and seen just as -a passer-by far more open misery than ever I saw on the coast of West -Africa. The misery may be there, but I have not seen it, as I may see it -advertising itself between Hyde Park Corner and South Kensington any day -of the week. Since I was a tiny child I have heard the poor heathen -talked of glibly enough, but I have never in savage lands come across -him. - -[Illustration: 0284] - -After nearly a month at Accra I decided I must go on, and then I found -it was impossible to get carriers to go along the beach eastward; the -best I could do was to go up by the Basel Mission motor lorry to a place -called Dodowah, and here the Acting Governor had kindly arranged with -the Provincial Commissioner at Akuse to send across carriers to meet me -and take me to the Volta. - -So one still, hot morning in April I packed up bag and baggage in my -nice little bungalow, had one final wrangle with my cart-boys, a parting -breakfast with the Basel Mission Factory people whose women-kind are -ideal for a place like West Africa and make a home wherever you find -them, and started in the lorry north for Dodowah in the heart of the -cocoa district. - - - - -CHAPTER XII--BLOOD FETISH OF KROBO HILL - -_To Dodowah by motor lorry--Orchard-bush country--Negro tortures--The -Basel Mission factor--A personally conducted tour--Great hospitality--A -dinner by moonlight--Plan a night journey--The roadway by -moonlight--Barbarous hymns--Carriers who “no be fit” once more--Honesty -of the African carrier--Extraordinary obedience--The leopard that -cried at Akway Pool--A hard-hearted slave-driver--Krobo Hill--Blood -fetishes--Terror of the carriers--Story of the hill--The dawning of a -new day--Unexplained disappearances--Akuse at last--The arrival of a -whirlwind--The fire on Krobo Hill._ - -Inland from Accra the country is what they call orchard bush, that is -to say, it was rather flat country sloping in gradual gradation to the -hills behind, covered now, in the end of the dry season, with yellow -grass and dotted all over with trees, not close together as in the -forest country but just far enough apart to give it a pleasant, -park-like look. There were great tall ant heaps too, or rather the homes -of the termite, the white ant which is not an ant at all I believe, and -these reminded me of the ghastly form of torture sometimes perpetrated -by the negroes. A Provincial Commissioner once told me that he had -several times come across on these hills, which are often ten or twelve -or twenty feet high, the skeleton of a man who had undoubtedly been -fastened there while he was alive; and another went one better and -told me how another form of torture was to place a man on the ant heap -without any fastening whatever and then to surround it with men and -women with knives, so that when he tried to escape he was promptly -driven back. In this last case I am glad to think that the torturers -are bound to have run their share of risk, and must have received many -a good hard nip. But the negro mind seems to rather revel in secret -societies, trial by ordeal, and tortures. Christianity, the religion of -love and pity, has been preached on the Coast for many a long day now, -and yet in this year of our Lord 1911 there is behind the Church of -England in Accra, down on the sea beach, a rock which is generally -known as Sacrifice Rock, and here those who know declare that every -yam festival, which takes place just after the rains in September, they -sacrifice a girl in order that the crops may not fail. - -[Illustration: 0291] - -Riding in a lorry I had plenty of time to consider these matters. My -kind Basel Mission Factory _haus-frau_ had provided me with luncheon to -eat by the way, and I knew that all my goods and chattels would arrive -safely at their destination without my having to worry about them. Grant -was the only servant I had left. I had dismissed the cook, and Zacco had -quarrelled with Grant and dismissed himself, and so while I sat on the -front seat of the lorry alongside the negro driver, Grant and my goods -and chattels were packed away in odd corners on top of the merchandise -that was going to Dodowah. The road was bad, deeply cut by the passing -of these lorries, but I arrived there about midday and was cordially -received by a Basel Mission Factory man who told me my carriers had -arrived, and suggested I should come to his house and have luncheon. - -He was a kindly, fair-haired young German who had been in the Colony -about a month and was learning English on Kroo-boy lines. The result was -a little startling, but as it was our only means of communication I was -obliged to make the best of it. - -My carriers had been here waiting for me since Friday; this was Monday, -and they wanted “sissy” money. I paid up and declared I should start the -moment they had broken their fast. Meanwhile my German friend undertook -to show me the sights. - -Dodowah is a very pretty little place at the foot of the hills; it is -embowered in palm trees and is the centre of the cocoa industry. In the -yard of the factory the cocoa was lying drying in the blazing sun, -and when I had been duly instructed in its various qualities, my host -suggested I should “walk small.” - -“I take you my house.” - -It was very kind of him, but I was cautious. I do not like walking in -the blazing noonday. - -“How far is it?” I asked. - -“Small, small,” said he, with conviction. - -Grant was a very different person now from the boy in a pink pyjama -coat, meek and mild and bullied by Kwesi, whom I had engaged in the -distant past. He was my body servant; evidently supposed by everyone -else who came in contact with me to hold a position of high trust, and -thinking no end of himself. So to him I gave strict instructions. All -the loads were to start at once, the hammock-boys were to follow me to -the factor's house, and he was to go on with the carriers. We had left -the protection of the “p'lice” behind, and on the whole I thought I -could do just as well without. - -So I set out with my new friend and accompanied by my new headman who -evidently thought it his duty to follow in my wake, though he could -understand no English and I could understand not one word of his tongue. -That walk remains in my mind as one long nightmare; I only did one -worse, and then I thought I must be going to die. We left the plain -country and plunged uphill, it was blazing noonday in April, and though -there were palms and much growth on either side of the road, on the road -itself was not a particle of shade. Still we went up and up and up. - -“I show you, I show you,” said my friend. - -Frankly I wished he wouldn't. It was a splendid view from that hillside, -with the town nestling embowered in palms at our feet, but a personally -conducted walking-tour on the Coast at midday on an April day was the -very last thing I desired. - -I was dripping with perspiration, I was panting and breathless before -we had been on that road five minutes; in the next five I would have -bartered all my prospects in Africa for a glass of iced water, and then -my companion turned. “You like go through bushway, short cut.” It looked -cooler, so I feebly assented and we turned into the bush which was so -thin it did not shut out the sun, and the walking was very much rougher. -I had given up all hopes of ever coming to the end when my companion -stopped, flung up his head like a young war-horse, and said cheerfully, -“Oh I tink I go lookum road.” - -I sank down on a log; my new headman, an awful-looking ruffian, stood -beside me, and that aggressively active young German went plunging about -the bush till he returned still cheerful and remarking, “I tink we lose -way. We go back.” - -I draw a veil over the remainder of that walk. We did arrive at his -house finally after two and a half hours' march over very rough country, -and then he gave me wine to drink and fed me and was good to me, but I -was utterly tired out and didn't care for the moment what became of me. -He showed me a bedroom and I lay down and slept, rose up and had a bath, -and felt as if I might perhaps face the world again. At half-past four -we had some tea and I contemplated all my new hammock-boys sitting in -a row under some palm trees on the other side of the road. They looked -strapping, big, strong men, and I was thankful, for Akuse they said was -twenty-seven miles away and I had to do it in one march. The question -was, when I should start? - -“If you start now,” said the factor, “you get there one--half-past one -in the morning--very good time.” - -Now I really could not agree with him. To launch yourself on totally -unknown people at halfpast one in the morning and ask them to take you -in is not, I think, calculated to place you in a favourable light, and -I demurred. But what was I to do? I did not want to inflict myself any -longer on this hospitable young man, and already I had paid my carriers -for four days while they did nothing. It was a full moon. Last night had -been gorgeous; this night promised to be as fine. I asked the question, -why could I not travel all night? - -“Oh yes, moon be fine too much”; and then he went on to tell me a -long story about his Kroo boys being frightened to travel that road by -themselves. “But it all be foolishness.” It took me so long to discover -the meaning of the words that I really paid no attention to the gist of -what he was saying, besides I could not see that a Kroo boy being afraid -was any reason why I should be. Finally we figured it out that I should -start at nine o'clock, which would bring me to Akuse at a little after -six in the morning. This did not seem so bad, and I agreed and cordially -thanked the kindness which made him plan a nice little dinner in the -moonlight on the verandah. It comes back to me as one of the most unique -dinners I ever had; we had no other light but that of the moon, the -gorgeous moonlight of the Tropics. It shone silver on the fronds of the -palms, the mountains loomed dimly mysterious like mountains in a dream, -and the road that ran past the house lay clear and still and warm in the -white light. - -My host asked leave to dine in a cap; he said the moon gave him a -headache, and strongly advised me to do likewise, but though I have -heard other people say the moon affects them in that manner, it never -troubles me and I declined. And he translated his German grace into -English for my benefit, and I could not even smile so kindly was the -intention; and we ate fruit on the verandah, and nine o'clock came and I -had the top taken off my hammock and started. - -“Yi, yi, yi, ho, ho, ho,” cried the hammock-boys, clapping their hands -as they went at a fast trot, far faster than the ordinary man could walk -without any burden on his head, and we were off to Akuse and the Volta. -The night was as light as day, and it never occurred to me that there -was any danger in the path. We went through the town, and here and there -a gleam of fire showed, and here and there was a yellow light in one -of the window places, and the people were in groups in the streets, -dancing, singing, or merely looking on. Generally they sang, and no one -knows how truly barbaric a hymn can sound sung by a line of lightly clad -people keeping time with hands and feet to the music. It might have been -a war song, it might have been a wail for those about to die; it was, -I realised with a start, “Jesu, lover of my soul,” in the vernacular. I -suppose the missionaries know best, but it always seems to me that the -latest music-hall favourite would do better for negro purposes than -these hymns that have been endeared to most of us by old association. -These new men were splendid hammock-men; they stopped for no man, and -the groups melted before them. - -A happy peasant people were these, apparently with just that touch of -mysterious sadness about them that is with all peasant peoples. Their -own sorrows they must have, of course, but they are not forced upon the -passer-by as are the sordid sorrows of the great cities of the civilised -world. At the outside ring of these dancers hung no mean and hungry -wretches having neither part nor parcel with the singers. - -Through the town and out into the open country we went, and the trees -made shadows clear-cut on the road like splashes of ink, or, where the -foliage was less dense, the leaves barely moving in the still night air -made a tracery as of lace work on the road beneath, and there was -the soft, sleepy murmur of the birds, and the ceaseless skirl of the -insects. Occasionally came another sound, penetrating, weird, rather -awe-inspiring, the cry of the leopard, but the hammock-boys took no -heed--it was moonlight and there were eight of them. - -“Yi, yi, yi, ho, ho, ho.” They clapped their hands and sang choruses, -and by the time we arrived at the big village of Angomeda, a couple of -hours out, I was fairly purring with satisfaction. I have noticed that -when things were going well with me I was always somewhat inclined to -give all the credit to my perfect management; when they went wrong -I laid the blame on Providence, my headman, or any other responsible -person within reach. Now my self-satisfaction received a nasty shock. - -The village of Angomeda was lying asleep in the moonlight. The brown -thatch glistened with moisture, the gates of the compounds and the doors -of the houses were fast shut; only from under the dark shadow of a -great shade-tree in the centre of the village came something white which -resolved itself into Grant apologetic and aggrieved. - -“Carriers go sleep here, Ma. They say they no fit go by night.” - -My fine new carriers “no fit.” How are the mighty fallen! And I had -imagined them pretty nearly at Akuse by now! Clearly, they could not be -allowed to stay here. I have done a good many unpleasant things, but -I really did not feel I could arrive at Akuse at six o'clock in the -morning without a change of clothing. - -But I restrained myself for the moment. - -“Why?” - -“I not knowing, Ma.” - -I debated a moment. I realised the situation. I was a woman miles from -any white man, and I could not speak one word of the language. Still, -I had sent those carriers to Akuse and I could not afford to be defied, -therefore I alighted. - -“Where are those carriers?” - -Nine pointing fingers indicated the house. Evidently the hammock-boys -had been here before, and one of them pushed open a door in the wall. -Black shadows and silver-white light was that compound. Heaped in the -middle, not to be mistaken, were my loads, and from under the deeper -shadows beneath the surrounding sheds came tumbling black figures which -might or might not have been my erring carriers. I did not know them -from the people about them, neither did I know one word of their -language, and only one of my hammock-boys spoke any pigeon English. But -that consideration did not stay me. I singled out my headman, and him -I addressed at length and gave him to understand that I was pained and -surprised at such conduct. Never in the course of a long career had I -come across carriers who slept when they should have been on the -road, and before I was half-way through the harangue those sleepy and -reluctant men and women were picking up the loads. I confess I had been -doubtful. Why should these carriers pay any attention to me? Now that I -know what they risked by their obedience I have no words to express my -astonishment. I did not know the carriers, but I did know the loads, and -before I got into my hammock I stood at the gate and counted them all -out. I need not have worried. The African carrier is the most honest man -I have ever met. Never have I lost the smallest trifle entrusted to him. -When my goods were well on the road I got into my hammock and started -again. - -Oh, such a night! On such a night as this Romeo wooed Juliet, on such a -night came the Queen of the Fairies to see charm even in the frolicsome -Bottom. - -All the glories of the ages, all the delights of the world were in that -night. The song of the carriers took on a softness and a richness -born of the open spaces of the earth and the glorious night, and for -accompaniment was the pad-pad of their feet in the dust of the roadway, -and in one long, musical monotonous cadence the cheep of the insects, -and again a sharper note, the cry of a bat or night bird. - -It was orchard-bush country that lay outspread in the white light, with -here and there a cocoa plantation. Here a tree cast a dark shadow across -the road, and there was a watercourse through which the feet of the -men splashed--only in German West Africa may you always count on a -bridge--and, again, the trees would grow close and tunnel-like over the -road with only an occasional gleam of moonlight breaking through. But -always the hammock-boys kept steadily on, and the carriers kept up as -never before in two hundred miles of travel had carriers kept up. We -went through sleeping villages with whitewashed mud walls and thatched -roofs gleaming wetly, and even the dogs and the goats were asleep. - -It was midnight. It was long after midnight; the moon was still high and -bright, like a great globe of silver, but there had come over the night -that subtle change that comes when night and morning meet. It was night -no longer; nothing tangible had changed, but it was morning. The twitter -of the birds, the cry of the insects, had something of activity in it; -the night had passed, another day had come, though the dawning was hours -away. And still the men went steadily on. - -A great square hill rose up on the horizon, and we came to a clump of -trees where the moonlight was shut out altogether; we passed through -water, and it was pitch-dark, with just a gleam of moonlight here and -there to show how dense was that darkness. It was Akway Pool, and a -leopard was crying in the thick bush close beside it. It was uncanny, -it was weird; all the terror that I had missed till now in Africa came -creeping over me, and the men were singing no longer. Very carefully -they stepped, and the pool was so deep that lying strung up in the -hammock I could still have touched the water with my hand. Could it be -only a leopard that was crying so? Might it not be something even worse, -something born of the deep, dark pool, and the night? Slowly we went up -out of the water, and we stood a moment under the shade of the trees, -but with the white light within reach, and Krobo Hill loomed up ahead -against the dark horizon. The only hammock-boy who could make himself -understood came up. - -“Mammy, man be tired. We stop here small.” - -It was a reasonable request, but the leopard was crying still, and the -gloom and fear of the pool was upon me. - -“No, go on.” They might have defied me, but they went on, and to my -surprise, my very great surprise, the carriers were still with us. -Presently we were out in the moonlight again; I had got the better of my -fears and repented me. “Wait small now.” - -“No, Mammy,” came the answer, “this be bad place,” and they went on -swiftly, singing and shouting as if to keep their courage up, or, as -I gathered afterwards, to give the impression of a great company. Only -afterwards did I know what I had done that night. Krobo Hill grew larger -and larger at every step, and on Krobo Hill was one of the worst, if not -the worst blood fetish in West Africa. Every Krobo youth before he -could become a man and choose a wife had to kill a man, and he did it -generally on Krobo Hill. There the fetish priests held great orgies, and -for their ghastly ceremonies and initiations they caught any stranger -who was reckless enough to pass the hill. How they killed him was a -mystery; some said with tortures, some that only his head was cut off. -But the fear in the country grew, and at the end of the last century the -British Government interfered; they took Krobo Hill and scattered the -fetish priests and their abominations, and they declared the country -safe. But the negro revels in mystery and horror, and the fear of the -hill still lingers in the minds of the people; every now and then a man -disappears and the fear is justified. Only three years ago a negro -clerk on his bicycle was traced to that hill and no further trace of him -found. His hat was in the road, and the Krobos declared that the great -white baboons that infest the hill had taken him, but it is hardly -reasonable to suppose that the baboons would have any use for a bicycle, -whereas he, strong and young, and his bicycle, together emblems of -strength and swiftness, made a very fitting offering to accompany to -his last resting-place the dead chief whose obsequies the Krobos were -celebrating at the time. Always there are rumours of disappearances, -less known men and women than a Government clerk and scholar, and always -the people know there is need of men and women for the sacrifices, -sacrifices to ensure a plenteous harvest, a good fishing, brave men, and -fruitful women. - -My men were afraid--even I, who could not understand the reason, grasped -that fact; very naturally afraid, for it was quite within the bounds of -possibility that a straggler might be cut off. - -“Would they have touched me?” I asked afterwards. - -“Not with your men round you. Some might escape, and the vengeance would -have been terrible.” - -“But if I had been by myself?” - -“Ah, then they might have said that the baboons had taken you; but you -would not have been by yourself.” - -No, it was extremely unlikely I should be here by myself, but here were -my men, sixteen strong and afraid. Akway Pool had been the last water -within a safe distance from the hill, and I had not let them halt; now -they dared not. A light appeared on the hill, just a point of flickering -fire on the ridge, above us now, and I hailed it as a nice friendly -gleam telling of human habitation and home, but the men sang and shouted -louder than ever. I offered to stop, but the answer was always the same: -“This be bad place, Mammy. We go.” - -At last, without asking my leave, they put down the hammock, and the -carriers flung themselves down panting. - -“We stop small, Mammy”; and I sat on my box and watched the great, -sinewy men with strapping shoulders as they lay on the ground resting. -They had been afraid I was sure, and I knew no reason for their fear. - -But the night was past and it was morning, morning now though it was -only half-past three and the sun would not be up till close on six -o'clock. On again. The moon had swung low to the dawn, and the gathering -clouds made it darker than it had yet been, while the stars that peeped -between the clouds were like flakes of newly washed silver. People began -to pass us, ghostlike figures in the gloom. Greetings were exchanged, -news was shouted from one party to the other, and I, in spite of the -discomfort of the hammock, was dead with sleep, and kept dropping into -oblivion and waking with a start to the wonder and strangeness of my -surroundings. Deeper and deeper grew the oblivion in the darkness that -precedes the dawn, till I wakened suddenly to find myself underneath a -European bungalow, and knew that for the first time in my experience of -African travel I had arrived nearly two hours before I expected to. - -My people were wild with delight and triumph. I had forced them to come -through the Krobo country by night, but my authority did not suffice to -keep them quiet now they had come through in safety. They chattered and -shouted and yelled, and a policeman who was doing sentry outside the -Provincial Commissioner's bungalow started to race upstairs. I tried to -stop him, and might as well have tried to stop a whirlwind. Indeed, when -I heard him hammering on the door I was strongly of opinion that the -Commissioner would think that the whirlwind had arrived. But presently -down those steps came a very big Scotchman in a dressing-gown, with his -hair on end, just roused from his sleep, and he resolved himself into -one of those courteous, kindly gentlemen England is blessed with as -representatives in the dark corners of the earth. - -Did he reproach me? Not at all. He perjured himself so far as to say he -was glad to see me, and he took me upstairs and gave me whisky-and-soda -because it was so late, and then tea and fruit because it was so early. -And then in the dawning I looked out over Krobo Hill, and my host told -me its story. - -“I cleared them out years ago. I have no doubt they have their blood -sacrifices somewhere, but not on Krobo Hill. But the people are still -afraid.” - -“I saw a fire there last night.” - -He shook his head unbelieving. - -“Impossible; there is a fine of fifty pounds for anyone found on Krobo -Hill.” - -The dawn had come and the sun was rising rosy and golden. The night lay -behind in the west. - -I looked out of the window at the way I had come and wondered. I am -always looking back in life and wondering. Perhaps it would be a dull -life where there are no pitfalls to be passed, no rocks to climb over. - -“I see smoke there now.” In the clear morning air it was going up in a -long spiral; but again my host shook his head. - -“Only a cloud.” - -But there were glasses lying on the table, and I looked through them and -there was smoke on Krobo Hill. - -So I think my men were right to fear, and I am lost in wonder when I -remember they obeyed me and came on when they feared. - -And then when the sun had risen and another hot day fairly begun, I went -over to the D.C.'s house; he had a wife, and they were kindly putting -me up, and I had breakfast and a bath and went to bed and slept I really -think more soundly than I have ever in my life slept before. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII--THE FEAR THAT SKULKED BENEATH THE MANGO TREE - -_Up the Volta--Svvanzy's trusting agent at Akuse--Amedika, the port of -Akuse on the Volta--The trials of a trolley ride--My canoe--Paddling -up-river--Rapids that raise the river thirty-four feet--Dangers of -the river--Entrancingly lovely scenery--A wealthy land--The curious -preventive service--Fears--Leaving the river--Labolabo--A notable black -man--The British Cotton-growing Experimental Farm--The lonely white -man--The fear that was catching--The lonely man's walk._ - -At Akuse I changed my plans. I had intended to come here, drop down the -Volta in the little river steamers that run twice a week to Addah, and -then pursue my way along the coast to Keta where there was an old Danish -castle, and possibly get across the German border and see Lome, their -capital. But there is this charm or drawback--which ever way you like to -look at it--about Africa: no one knows anything about the country beyond -his immediate district. The Provincial Commissioner had gone to Addah, -and I discussed my further progress with the D.C. and his wife as we -sat on the verandah that night and looked over the country bathed in the -most gorgeous moonlight. The D.C.'s wife, a pretty little woman who had -only been out a couple of months, was of opinion that the vile country -was killing her and her husband, that it was simply a waste of life to -live here, and she could not get over her surprise that I should find -anything of interest in it. The D.C. thought it wouldn't be half bad -if only the Government brought you back to the same place, so that you -might see some result for your labours, and he strongly advised me to go -a day or two up the river in a canoe just to see the country. - -“It is quite worth seeing,” said he, and his wife smiled. She had seen -all she intended to see of the country at Akuse, and did not want to go -farther in. - -The next day I went into the town, the official quarters are some -distance away, and called on a couple of the principal merchants. - -The factor at Miller Bros, put a new idea into my head. - -“Oh yes, go up the Volta,” said he; “you can get up as far as Labolabo, -then cut across-country and come out at Ho in German territory. You can -get to Palime from there, and that is rail-head, so you can easily make -your way down to Lome.” - -It sounded rather an attractive programme. - -“You go and see Rowe about it,” he suggested. - -So I went and called upon Swanzy's agent, a nice young fellow, who first -laughed, then looked me up and down doubtfully, and finally said it -could be done. Mr Grey, one of their principals, had come across that -way the other day, but it was very rough going indeed. No one else that -he knew of had ever ventured it. - -[Illustration: 0309] - -If I liked to try he would get me a canoe to go up the river in, and -give me letters to their black agents, for I must not expect to meet any -white men. And again he looked doubtful. - -If I liked; of course I liked. I am always ready to plunge in and -take any risks in the future, provided the initial steps are not too -difficult, and once he found I wanted to go, Mr Rowe made the initial -steps very easy indeed. - -First he very nobly lent me twenty-five pounds in threepenny bits, for -I had got beyond the region of banks before I realised it, and had only -two pounds in hand; he engaged a canoe and six men for me; he gave me -letters to all Swanzy's agents in the back-country; and finally, when I -had said goodbye to the D.C. and his wife, he gave me luncheon and had -me rolled down on a trolley by the little hand railway, if I may coin -a word, that runs through the swamp and connects Akuse with its port -Amedika on the Volta. - -This was a new mode of progression rather pleasant than otherwise, for -as it was down-hill to the river it couldn't have been hard on the men -who were pushing. I had come from the Commissioner's to the town on a -cart, proudly sitting on top of my gear, and drawn by half a dozen Kroo -boys; now my luggage went before me on another trolley, and my way was -punctuated by the number of parcels that fell off. My clothes were in -a tin uniform case supposed, mistakenly, I afterwards found, to be -air-tight and watertight, and I did not want this to fall off and break -open, because in it I had stowed all my money--twenty-five pounds all -in threepenny bits is somewhat of a care, I find. It escaped, but my -bedding went, making a nice cushion for the typewriter which followed -it. - -The port Amedika, as may be seen from the picture, is very primitive, -and though twice a week the little mail steamer comes up coaly and black -as her own captain, on the occasion of my departure there were only -canoes in the harbour. - -My canoe was one of the most ordinary structures, with a shelter in the -middle under which I had my chair put up. My gear was stowed fore and -aft, and six canoe-men took charge. - -[Illustration: 0309] - -Starting always seems to be a difficulty in Africa, and when I was weary -of the hot sun and the glare from the water, and was wondering why we -did not start, the canoe-men, true to their kind, found they had no -chop, and they had to wait till one of their number went back and got -it. But it was got at last and I was fairly afloat on the Volta. - -To be paddled up a river is perhaps a very slow mode of progression, but -in no other way could I have seen the country so well; in no other way -could I have grasped its vast wealth, its wonderful resources. It is -something of an adventure to go up the Volta too, for as soon as we -started its smooth, wide reaches were broken by belts of rock that made -it seem well-nigh impassable. Again and again from the low seat in the -canoe it looked as if a rocky barrier barred all further progress, but -here and there the water rushed down the narrow chasm as in a mill-race. -Wonderful it was to find that a canoe could be poled up those rocky -stairways against the rushing water. The rapids before you reach Kpong -are innumerable; it seems as if the going were one long struggle. But -the river is wonderfully beautiful; it twists and turns, and first -on the right hand and then on the left I could see a tall peak, -verdure-clad to its very summit, Yogaga, the Long Woman. First the sun -shone on it brilliantly, as if it would emphasise its great beauty, and -then a tornado swept down, and the mist seemed to rise up and swallow -it. The Senchi Rapids raise the river thirty-four feet in a furlong or -two, and the water, white and foaming, boils over the brown rocks like -the water churned up in the wake of a great ocean steamer. I could -not believe we were going up there when we faced them, but the expert -canoe-men, stripped to a loin cloth, with shout and song defying the -river, poled and pulled and pushed the canoe up to another quiet reach, -and when they had reached calm water flung themselves down and smoked -and chattered and looked back over the way we had come. We seemed to go -up in a series of spasms; either the men were working for dear life or -they were idling so as to bring down upon them the wrath of Grant who, -after that trip along the Coast, felt himself qualified to speak, and -again and again I had to interfere and explain that if anybody was going -to scold the men it must be me. But indeed they worked so hard they -needed a spell. - -[Illustration: 0313] - -Many a time when the canoe was broadside on and the white water was -boiling up all round her, I thought, “Well, this really looks very -dangerous,” but nobody had told me it was, so I supposed it was only -my ignorance, but I heard afterwards that I was right, it is dangerous. -Many a bag of cotton has gone to the bottom here, and many a barrel of -oil has been dashed to pieces against the rocks, and if many a white -man's gear has not gone to the bottom too, it is only because white men -on this river are few and far between. I had one great advantage, I -did not realise the danger till we were right in it, and then it was -pressing, it absorbed every thought till we were in smooth water again, -with the men lying panting at the bottom of the canoe, so that I really -had not time to be afraid till it was all over. Frankly, I don't think -I could enter upon such a journey again so calmy, but I am glad I have -gone once, for it was such a wonderful and enchanting river. Some day -they dream the great waterway will be used to reach Tamale, a ten days' -journey farther north, but money must be spent before that happy end -is arrived at, though I fancy that if the river were in German hands -something would be attempted at once, for the country is undoubtedly -very rich. - -“Scratch the earth it laughs a harvest.” Cocoa and palm oil and rubber -all come to the river or grow within a short distance of its banks, and -all tropical fruits and native food-stuffs flourish like weeds. Beauty -is perhaps hardly an asset in West Africa, but the Volta is a most -beautiful river. The Gambia is interesting, the Congo grand, but the -Volta is entrancingly lovely. I have heard men rave of the beauty of -the Thames, and it certainly is a pleasant river, with its smooth, green -lawns, its shady trees, and its picturesque houses; but to compare it -to the Volta is to compare a pretty little birch-bark canoe to a -magnificent sailing ship with all her snowy canvas set, heeling over -to the breeze. Sometimes its great, wide, quiet reaches are like still, -deep lakes, in whose clear surface is mirrored the calm, blue sky, the -fleecy clouds, the verdure-clad banks, and the hills that are clothed in -the densest green to their very peaks. Sometimes it is a raging torrent, -fighting its way over the rocks, and beneath the vivid blue sky is the -gorgeous vegetation of the Tropics, tangled, luxuriant, feathery palms, -tall and shapely silk-cotton trees bound together with twining creeper -and trailing vine in one impenetrable mass. A brown patch proclaims a -village, and here are broad-leaved bananas, handsome mangoes, fragrant -orange trees, lighter-coloured cocoa patches, and cassada that from the -distance might be a patch of lucerne. Always there are hills, rising -high, cutting the sky sharply, ever changing, ever reflected faithfully -in the river at their feet. There is traffic, of course, men fishing -from canoes, and canoes laden with barrels of oil or kernels, or cocoa -going down the river, the boats returning with the gin and the -cotton cloths for the factories run by the negro agents of the great -trading-houses; and every three or four hours or so--distance is as -yet counted by time in West Africa--are the stations of the preventive -service. - -[Illustration: 0317] - -This preventive service is rather curious, because both banks of the -river, in the latter part of its course, are owned by the English, and -the service is between the two portions of the Colony. But east of -the Volta, whither I was bound, the country is but little known, and -apparently the powers that be do not feel themselves equal to cope with -a very effective preventive service, so they have there the same duties, -a 4 per cent, one that the Germans have in Togo land, while west of the -Volta they have a 10 per cent. duty. - -I hope there is not much smuggling on the Volta, for with all apologies -to the white preventive officers, I doubt the likelihood of the men -doing much to stop it. The stations match the river. They have been -picturesquely planned--the plans carefully carried out; the houses are -well kept up, and round them are some of the few gardens, in English -hands, on the Gold Coast that really look like gardens. Though I did not -in the course of three days' travel come across him, I felt they marked -the presence of some careful, capable white man. The credit is certainly -not due to the negro preventive men. In the presence of their white -officer they are smart-looking men; seen in his absence they relax their -efforts and look as untidy and dirty as a railway porter after a hard -day's struggle with a Bank Holiday crowd. After all one can hardly -blame the negro for not exerting himself. Nature has given him all he -absolutely requires; he has but to stretch out his hand and take it, -using almost as little forethought and exertion as the great black -cormorants or the little blue-and-white king-fishers that get their -livelihood from the river. - -And I was afraid of those men. I may have wronged them for they were -quite civil, but I was afraid. Again and again they made me remember, as -the ordinary peasants never did, that I was a woman alone and very very -helpless. Nothing would have induced me to stay two nights at one of -those stations. These men were half-civilised. They had lost all awe of -a white face, and, I felt, were inclined to be presuming. What could I -have done if they had forgotten their thin veneer of civilisation, and -gone back to pure savagery. Nothing--I know it--nothing. At Adjena I had -to have my camp-bed put up on the verandah, because I found the house -too stuffy, and the moonlit river was glorious to look upon, but I was -anything but happy in my own mind; I wondered if I wanted help if my -canoe-men, who were very decent, respectable savages, would come to my -help. I wonder still. But the morning brought me a glorious view. The -sun rose behind Chai Hill, and flung its shadow all across the river, -and I attempted feebly to reproduce it in a photograph, and gladly and -thankfully I went on my way up the river, and I vowed in my own mind -that never if I could help it would I come up here again by myself. If -any adventurous woman feels desirous of following in my footsteps, I -have but one piece of advice to give her--“Don't.” I don't think I -would do it again for all the money in the Bank of England. I may do -him an injustice, but I do not trust the half-civilised black man. I got -through, I think, because for a moment he was astonished. Next time he -will not be taken by surprise, and it will not be safe. - -[Illustration: 0321] - -At Labolabo I left the river. Dearly I should have loved to have gone -on, to have made my way up to the Northern Territories, but for one -thing, my canoe-men were only engaged as far as Labolabo; for another, -I had not brought enough photographic plates. I really think it was that -last consideration that stopped me. What was the good of going without -taking photographs? Curiously enough, the fact that I was afraid did not -weigh much with me. I suppose we are all built alike, and at moments our -mental side weights up our emotional side. Now, my mental side very much -wanted to go up past the Afram plain. I should have had to stay in the -preventive service houses, which grew farther and farther apart, and I -was afraid of the preventive service men, afraid of them in the sordid -way one fears the low-class ruffian of the great cities, but there was -that in me that whispered that there was a doubt, and therefore it might -be exceedingly foolish to check my search after knowledge for a fear -that might only be a causeless fear. But about the photographic plates -there was no doubt; I had not brought nearly enough with me, and -therefore I landed very meekly at Labolabo. - -There was rather a desolate-looking factory, but it did not look -inviting enough to induce me to go inside it, so I sat down under a tree -on the high bank of the river and interviewed the black factor to whom -Swanzy's agent had given me a letter. He was mightily surprised, but -I was accustomed to being received with surprise now, and began to -consider the making of a cup of tea. Then the factor brought another -man along and introduced him to me as Swanzy's agent at Pekki Blengo, -Mr Olympia. And once more I feel like apologising to all the African -peoples for anything I may have said against them. Mr Olympia came -from French Dahomey. He was extremely good-looking, and had polished, -courteous manners such as one dreams of in the Spanish hidalgos of old. -If you searched the wide world over I do not think you could wish to -find a more charming man than Swanzy's black agent at Pekki Blengo. I -know very little of him. I only met him casually as I met other black -men, men outside the pale for me, a white woman, but I felt when I -looked at him there might be possibilities in the African race; when -I think of their enormous strength and their wonderful vigour, immense -possibilities. - -I explained to Mr Olympia that I wanted to get to the rest-house at -Anum, that I had arranged for my canoe-men to carry my kit there, and -that Mr Rowe had told me that he, Mr Olympia, could get me carriers on -to Ho. He said certainly, but he thought I ought at least to go up to -the British Cotton-growing Experimental Farm, about ten minutes' walk -away from the river. He felt that the white man in charge would be much -hurt if I did not at least call and see him. - -A white man at Labolabo! How surprised I was. Of course I would go, and -Mr Olympia apologising for the absence of hammock or cart, we set off to -walk. - -Those African ten minutes! It took me a good forty minutes through the -blazing heat of an African afternoon, and then I was met upon the steps -of the bungalow by a perfectly amazed white man in his shirt sleeves, -who hurriedly explained that when he had seen the luggage coming along -in charge of the faithful Grant, who made the nearest approach to a -slave-driver I have ever seen, he had asked him, “Who be your master?” - -“It be no massa,” said Grant, “it be missus.” - -“And then,” said my new friend, “I set him at the end of the avenue and -told him he was to keep you off till I found a coat. But I couldn't find -it. I don't know where the blamed thing's got to.” - -He went on to inquire where I had come from and how I had come. I told -him, “Up the river.” - -“But,” he protested, “it requires a picked crew of ten preventive -service men to come up the Volta.” - -I assured him, I was ready to take my oath about it, you could do it -fairly easily with six ordinary, hired men, but he went on shaking his -head and declared he couldn't imagine what Rowe was thinking of. He -thought I had really embarked on the maddest journey ever woman dreamt -of, and while getting me a cool drink, for which I blessed him, went on -murmuring, “Rowe must have been mad.” I think his surprise brought home -to me for the first time the fact that I was doing anything unusual. -Before that it had seemed very natural to be going up the river, to -be simply wanting to get on and see the great waterway and the country -behind. - -I did not go on to Anum as I had intended. It was Easter Saturday, and -my new friend suggested I should spend Easter with him. I demurred, -and he said it would be a charity. He had no words to express his -loneliness, and as for the canoe-men, who could not stay to carry my -things to Anum, let them go. He would see about my gear being taken up -there. And so I stayed, glad to see how a man managed by himself in the -wilderness. - -The British Cotton-growing Experimental Farm at Labolabo is to all -intents and purposes a failure. It was set there in the midst of -gorgeously rich country to teach the native to grow cotton, and the -native seeing that cocoa, with infinitively less exertion, pays him very -much better, naturally firmly declines to do anything of the sort. So -here in this beautiful spot lives utterly alone a solitary white man -who, with four inefficient labourers, tries desperately to keep the -primeval bush from swallowing up the farm and entirely effacing all -the hard work that has been done there. This farm should be a valuable -possession besides being a very beautiful one. The red-roofed bungalow -is set in a bay of the high, green hills, which stretch out verdure-clad -arms, threatening every moment to envelop it. The land slopes gently, -and as I sat on the broad verandah, through the dense foliage of the -trees I could catch glimpses of the silver Volta a mile and a half away, -while beyond again the blue hills rose range after range till they were -lost in the bluer distance. Four years ago this man who was entertaining -me so hospitably had planted a mile-long avenue to lead up to his -bungalow, and now the tall grape-fruit and shaddock in front of his -verandah meet and have regularly to be cut away to keep the path clear. -I am too ignorant to know what could be grown with profit, only I can -see that the land is rich and fruitful, and should be, with the river -so close, a most valuable possession. As it is, it is one of the most -lonely places in the world. I sympathised deeply with the man living -there alone. The loneliness grips. If I went to my room I could hear him -tramping monotonously up and down the verandah. “Tramp, tramp, tramp,” - and when I went out he smiled queerly. - -[Illustration: 0327] - -“I can't help doing it,” said he; “it's the lonely man's walk. And when -I can't see those two lines,” he pointed to two boards in the verandah, -“I know I'm drunk and I go to bed.” - -It was like the story of the man who kept a frog in his pocket and every -time he had a drink he took it out and looked at it. - -“What the dickens do you do that for?” asked a companion. - -“Well, when I see two frogs,” said he, “I know I've had enough.” - -Now I don't believe my friend at Labolabo did exceed, judging by his -looks, but if ever man might be excused it was he. He had for servants -a very old cook and a slave-boy with a much-scarred face; the marks upon -his face proclaimed his former status, but no man could understand the -unintelligible jargon he spoke, so no man knew where he came from. It -was probably north of German territory. At any rate, he flitted about -the bungalow a most inadequate steward. - -And he laid the table in the stone house--or rather the shelter with two -stone walls, a stone floor, and a broken-down thatch roof, where we had -our meals. It was perhaps twenty yards from the bungalow, and on the -garden side grew like a wall great bushes of light-green feathery -justitia with its yellow, bell-like flowers, while on the other side a -little grass-grown plain stretched away to the forest-clad hills behind. - -Oh, but it was lonely! and fear is a very catching thing. - -“There is nothing to be afraid of in Africa,” said my host, “till the -moment there is something, and then you're done.” - -Whether he was right or not I do not know, but I realised as I had never -done before why men get sick in the bush, worse, why they take to drink -and why they go mad. I looked out from the verandah, and when I saw -a black figure slip silently in among the trees I wondered what it -portended. I looked behind me to see if one might not be coming from -behind the kitchen. The fool-bird in the bush crying, “Hoo! hoo! hoo!” - all on one note seemed but crying a suitable dirge. Fear hid on the -verandah; I could hear him in the creak of a door, in the “pad, pad” of -the slave-boy's feet; I could almost have sworn I saw him skulking under -the mango tree where were kept the thermometers; and when on Easter -Sunday a tornado swept down from the hills, blotting out the vivid -green in one pall of grey mist, he was in the shrieking wind and in the -shuddering rain. - -Never was I more impersonally sorry to leave a man alone, for if I saw -my host again I doubt if he would recognise me, but it seemed wicked to -leave a fellow white man alone in such a place. If there had been any -real danger, of course I should only have been an embarrassment, but -at least I was company of his own kind and I kept that haunting fear at -bay. - -I stayed two days and then I felt go I must. I was also faced with my -own carelessness and the casual manner in which I had dropped into the -wilderness. Anum mountain was a steep climb of five miles, and beyond -that again I had, as far as I could gather, several days' journey in the -wilds before I could hope to reach rail-head in German Togo, and I -had actually never remembered that I should want a hammock. The -Cotton-growing Association didn't possess one, and, like Christian in -the “Pilgrim's Progress,” I “cast about me” what I should do. I could -not fancy myself walking in the blazing noonday sun. My host smiled. He -did not think it was a matter of any great consequence because he felt -sure I could not get through, but he came to my rescue all the same and -sent up a couple of labourers to the Basel Mission at Anum to see what -they could suggest. The labourers came back with a hammock--rather a -dilapidated one--on their heads, and an invitation to luncheon next day. - -“It's as far as you'll go,” said my friend, “if nothing else stops you; -you can't possibly get carriers. Remember, I'll put you up with pleasure -on your way back.” - -But I was not going to face the Volta again by myself, though I did not -tell him that. Those black men insulted me by making me fear them. - -It was a very hot morning when we started to climb up Anum mountain. The -bush on either side was rather thick, and the road was steep and very -bad going. It was shaded, luckily, most of the way, and there arose that -damp, pleasant smell that comes from moist earth, the rich, sensuous, -insidious scent of an orchid that I could not see, or the mouselike -smell of the great fruitarian bats that in these daylight hours were -hidden among the dense greenery of the roadside. It was a toilsome -journey, and my new friend walked beside me, but at last we reached Anum -town, a mud-built, native town, bare, hot, dirty, unkempt, and we passed -beyond it to the grateful shade once more of the Basel Mission grounds. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV--INTO THE WILDS - -_Anum Mountain--The Basel Mission--A beautiful spot--An old Ashanti -raid--A desolate rest-house--Alone and afraid; also hungry--A long -night--Jakai--Pekki Blengo--The unspeakable Eveto Range--Underpaid -carriers--A beautiful, a wealthy, and a neglected land--Tsito--The -churches and the fetish--Difficulties of lodging in a cocoa-store--The -lonely country between Tsito and the Border--Doubts of the -hammock-boys--The awful road--Butterflies--The Border._ - -Frankly, my sympathies are not as a rule with the missionaries, -certainly not with African missionaries. I have not learned to -understand spiritual misery, and of material misery there is none in -Africa to be compared with the unutterable woe one meets at every turn -in an English city. But one thing I admire in these Swiss and German -teachers is the way they have improved the land they have taken -possession of. Their women, too, make here their homes and bear their -children. “A home,” I said as I stepped on to the wide verandah of the -Mission Station at Anum; “a home,” as I went into the rooms decorated -with texts in German and Twi; “a home,” as I sat down to the very -excellent luncheon provided by the good lady whom most English women -would have designated a little scornfully as a _haus-frau_. Most -emphatically “a home” when I looked out over the beautiful gardens that -were nicely planted with mangoes, bananas, palms, and all manner of -pretty shrubs and bright-foliaged trees. It seems to me almost a pity to -teach the little negro since he is so much nicer in his untutored state, -but since they feel it must be done these Basel Mission people are going -the very best way about it by beautifying their own surroundings. - -From their verandah over the scented frangipanni and fragrant orange -trees you may see far far away the winding Volta like a silver thread -at the bottom of the valley, and the great hills that control his -course standing up on either side. It is an old station, for in the late -sixties the Ashantis raided it, captured the missionary, Mr Ramseyer, -his wife and child, and held them in captivity for several years. But -times are changed now. The native, even the fierce Ashanti warrior, has -learned that it is well for him that the white man should be here, and -up in the rest-house on the other side of the mountain a white woman may -stay alone in safety. - -Why do the powers that be overlook Anum mountain? The rest-house to -which my kind friend from Labolabo escorted me after we had lunched -at the Basel Mission was shabby and desolate with that desolation that -comes where a white man has been and is no longer. No one has ever tried -to make a garden, though the larger trees and shrubs have been cleared -from about the house and in their stead weeds have sprung up, and the -vigour of their growth shows the possibilities, while the beauty of -the situation is not to be denied. Away to the north, where not even a -native dwells, spreads out the wide extent of the Afram plain, a -very paradise for the sportsman, for there are to be found numberless -hartebeests, leopards, lions, and even the elephant himself. It lies -hundreds, possibly thousands of feet below, and across it winds the -narrow streak of the Volta, while to the north the hills stretch out as -if they would keep the mighty river for England, barring its passage to -the east and to German territory. - -And here my friend from Labolabo left me--left me, I think, with some -misgivings. - -“Come back,” he said; “you know I'll be glad to see you. Mind you come -back. I know you can't get through.” - -But I had my own opinion about that. - -“What about the carriers Mr Olympia is going to send me to-morrow -morning?” - -And he laughed. “Those carriers! don't you wish you may get them? I know -those carriers black men promise. Why, the missionary said you needn't -expect them.” - -The Basel missionary had said I might get through if I was prepared to -wait, and as I said good-bye I was prepared to wait. - -The rest-house was on top of a mountain in the clouds, far away from -any sign of habitation. The rooms were large, empty, and desolate with a -desolation there is no describing. There was a man in charge living in a -little house some way off, the dispenser at the empty hospital which -was close to the rest-house, and the Basel missionary spoke of him with -scorn. - -“He was one of my boys,” he said; “such a fool I sent him away, and why -the Government have him for dispenser here I do not know.” - -Neither do I, but I suspect he was in a place where he could do the very -minimum of harm, for very few people come to Anum mountain. There is a -Ju-ju upon it, and my first experience was that I could get no food. - -No sooner were we alone than Grant appeared before me mightily -aggrieved. - -“This bush country no good, Ma. I no can get chop.” - -I hope I would have felt sorry for him in any case, but it was brought -home to me by the fact that he could get no chop for me either. - -I had come to the end of my stores and there was not a chicken nor an -egg nor bread nor fruit to be bought in the village down the hill. The -villagers said they had none, or declined to sell, which came to the -same thing. I dined frugally off tea and biscuits, and I presume Grant -helped himself to the biscuits--I told him to--tea he hated--and then as -the evening drew on I prepared to go to bed. - -Oh! but it was lonely, and fear fell upon me. A white mist came softly -up, so that I could not see beyond the broad, empty verandahs. I knew -the moon was shining by the white light, but I could not see her and -I felt shut in and terrified. Where Grant went to I don't know, but he -disappeared after providing my frugal evening meal, and I could hear -weird sounds that came out of the mist, and none of the familiar chatter -and laughter of the carriers to which I had grown accustomed. It was -against all my principles to shut myself in, so I left doors and windows -wide open and listened for the various awful things that might come out -of the bush and up those verandah steps. What I feared I know not, but -I feared, feared greatly; the fear that had come upon me at Labolabo -worked his wicked will now that I was alone on Anum mountain, and the -white mist aided and abetted. I could hear the drip, drip, as of water -falling somewhere in the silence; I could hear the cry of a bird out in -the bush, but it was the silence that made every rustle so fraught with -meaning. It was no good telling myself there was nothing to fear, that -the kindly missionaries would never have left me alone if there had -been. - -I could only remember that on this mountain had raided those fierce -Ashanti warriors, that terrible things had been done here, that terrible -things might be done again, that if anything happened to me there was no -possibility of help, that I was quite powerless. I wondered if a Savage, -on these occasions one spells Savage with a very large “S,” did come on -to the verandah, did come into my bedroom, what should I do. I felt that -even a bush-cat would be terrifying, and having got so far I realised -that a rabbit would probably send me into hysterics. At the thought -of the rabbit my drooping spirits recovered themselves a little, but -I spent a very unpleasant night, dozing and listening, till my own -heart-beats drowned all other sounds. But I never thought of going back. -I don't suppose I should have given up in any case, it is against -family tradition, but if I had, there was the Volta behind me, and those -preventive service men made it imperative to go on. - -But when morning dawned I felt a little better. True, I did not like the -thought of tea and biscuits for breakfast, but I thought hopefully of -the Basel Mission gardens. I was sure, if I had to stay here, those -hospitable people would give me plenty of fruit, and probably a good -deal more than that, so I was not quite as depressed as Grant when I -dressed and stood on the verandah, looking across the mysterious mist -that still shrouded the valley of the Volta. - -And before that mist had cleared away, up the steps of the rest-house -came the Basel missionary, and at their foot crowded a gang of lightly -clad, chattering men and women. My carriers! Mr Olympia had been as good -as his word, the missionary kindly came to interpret, and I set out for -Pekki Blengo, away in the hills to the east. - -It was all hill-country through which we passed; range after range -of hills, rich in cocoa and palm oil, while along the track, that we -English called a road, might be seen rubber trees scored with knives, so -that the milky rubber can be collected. Very little of this rich country -is under cultivation, the vegetation is dense and close, and the vivid -green is brightened here and there by scarlet poinsettas and flamboyant -trees, then at the beginning of the rains one mass of flame-coloured -blossom. It was a tangle of greenery, like some great, gorgeous -greenhouse, and the native, when he wants a clearing, burns off a small -portion and plants cocoa or cassada, yams, bananas, or maize, with -enough cotton here and there, between the lines of food-stuffs, to give -him yarn for his immediate needs. When the farmer has used up this land, -he abandons it to the umbrella trees and other tropical weeds, and with -the wastefulness of the native takes up another piece of land, burning -and destroying, quite careless of the value of the trees that go to feed -the fire. Such reckless destruction is not allowed by the Germans, but -a few miles to the east. There a native is encouraged to take up a farm, -but he must improve it year by year. Our thrifty neighbours will have no -such waste within their borders. - -In the course of the morning I arrived at Jakai, and the whole of the -village turned out to interview me, and I in my turn took a photograph -of as few as I could manage of the inhabitants under the principal tree. -That was always the difficulty. When they grasped I was going to take -a picture, and there was generally some much-travelled man ready to -instruct the others, they all crowded together in one mass in front of -the camera--if they did not object altogether, when they ran away--and -I always had to wait, and perjure myself, and say the picture was taken -long before it was done. But always they were kindly. If I grew afraid -at night I always reminded myself of the uniform goodwill of the -villages through which I passed; their evident desire that I should be -pleased with my surroundings. And at Jakai Grant, with triumph, bought -so many eggs that I trembled for my future meals. I foresaw a course of -“fly” egg, hard-boiled egg, and egg and breadcrumbs, but after all that -was better than tea and biscuits, and when I saw a pine-apple and a -bunch of bananas I felt life was going to be endurable again. - -At Pekki Blengo, an untidy, disorderly village, where the streets -are full of holes and hillocks, strewn with litter and scarred with -waterways, Mr Olympia met me, and conducted me to an empty chiefs house, -where I might put up for the night. It was a twostoried house of mud, -with plenty of air, for there were great holes where the doors and -windows would have been, and I slept peacefully once more with the hum -of human life all around me again. But I can hardly admire Pekki Blengo. -It is like all these villages of the English Eastern Province. The -houses are of mud, the roofs of thatch, and fowls, ducks, pigs, goats, -and little happy, naked children alike swarm. That is one comfort -so different from travelling in the older lands--these villagers are -apparently happy enough. They are kindly and courteous, too, for though -a white woman was evidently an extraordinary sight equal in interest to -a circus clown, or even an elephant, and they rushed from all quarters -to see her, they never pushed or crowded, and they cuffed the children -if they seemed likely to worry her. - -And beyond Pekki Blengo the road reached its worst. Mr Olympia warned -me I should have to walk across the Eveto Range as no hammock-boys could -possibly carry me, and I decided therefore that the walking had better -be done very early in the morning, and arranged to start at half-past -five, as soon as it was light. - -The traveller is always allowed the privilege of arranging in Africa. If -he does not he will certainly not progress at all, but at the same time -it is surprising how seldom his well-arranged plans come off. True to -promise my hammock-boys and carriers turned up some time a little before -six in the morning, and the carriers, swarming up the verandah, turned -over the loads, made a great many remarks that I was incapable -of understanding, and one and all departed. Then the hammock-boys -apparently urged me to get into the hammock and start, as they were in a -hurry to be off and earn the four shillings they were to have for taking -me to Ho in German territory. I pointed out, whether they understood I -did not know, that I could not stir without my gear, and I went off to -interview Mr Olympia, who was sweetly slumbering in his house about a -mile away. He, when he was aroused, said they thought I was not giving -them enough; that they said they would not carry loads to Ho for one -shilling and sixpence and two shillings a load. I said that that was the -sum he had fixed. I was perfectly willing to give more; and he set out -to interview the Chief, and see if he could get fresh carriers, but he -was not very hopeful about getting any that day. I retired to my -chiefs house, grew tired of making mental notes of the people and the -surrounding country, and got out a pack of cards and solaced myself with -one-handed bridge, which may be educational, but is not very exciting. -My hammock-boys again pleaded to be taken on, but I was firm. It was -useless moving without my gear; and finally when I was about giving -up hope Mr Olympia returned. He had found eight men and women who -were bound across the Eveto Range to get loads at Tsito. Sixpence, he -explained, was the ordinary charge for a load to Tsito, but if I would -rise to say ninepence for my heavier loads--he hesitated as if such an -enormous expenditure might not commend itself to my purse. But naturally -I assented gladly, and off went my loads at sixpence and ninepence -a head. For a moment I rejoiced, and as usual began to purr over my -excellent management. Not for long though. It was my turn now, and where -were my hammock-boys? Inquiry elicited the awful fact that they had gone -to their farms and could not be prevailed upon to start till next day; -Mr Olympia was sure I could not hope to move before to-morrow morning. - -The situation was anything but comfortable. I had had nothing to eat -since earliest dawn. I had now not even a chair to sit upon, nor a pack -of cards to solace the dull hours. I dare not eat and, worse still, -dare not drink. Then I sent word to Mr Olympia that if he would get me a -couple of men to carry my hammock I would walk. - -I sat on the steps of that house and waited, I walked down the road and -waited, and the tropical day grew hotter and hotter, the sun poured down -pitilessly, and I was weary with thirst, but still I would not drink -the native water. At last, oh triumph, instead of two, eight grinning -hammock-boys turned up, and about 1.30 on a blazing tropical afternoon -we started. Ten minutes later I was set down at the foot of the -unspeakable Eveto Range, and my men gave me to understand by signs they -could carry me no longer. - -I cannot think that the Eveto Range is perpendicular, but it seemed -pretty nearly so. It was thickly wooded, as is all the country, and the -road was the merest track between the walls of vegetation, a track that -twisted and turned out of the way of the larger obstacles, the smaller -ones we negotiated as best we might, holes, and roots, and rocks, and -waterways, that made the distance doubly and trebly great. In five -minutes I felt done; in ten it was brought home to me forcibly that I -was an unutterable fool ever to attempt to travel in Africa. In addition -to the roughness there was the steepness of the way to be taken into -consideration, and the constant strain of going up, up compelled me -again and again to lie down flat on my back to recover sufficient -strength and breath to go on. What matter if the view was delightful--it -was--when I had neither time, nor strength, nor energy to raise my eyes -from the difficulties that beset my feet. But there was nothing to -be done except to crawl painfully along with the tropical sun pouring -pitilessly down, and not a breath of wind stirring. - -And I was dead with thirst. We came across a bunch of bananas, laid -beside the track, and my men offered me one by way of refreshment, but -I was too done to eat, and I thought what a fool I was not to carry a -flask. When I had given up all hope of surviving, and really didn't much -care what became of me so long as I died quickly, we reached the top -where were native farms with cotton bushes now in full bloom planted -among the food-stuffs, and I rested a little and gathered together my -energies for the descent. And if the going up was bad, the going down -was worse. There were great rocks and boulders that I would never -have dared in England, and when I could spare time from my own woes I -reflected that the usual charge for taking a load to Tsito was sixpence, -and decided between my own gasps it was the most iniquitous piece of -slave-driving I had ever heard of. Twenty pounds, I felt, would never -pay me for carrying myself across this awful country, and there were -those wretched carriers toiling along for a miserable sixpence, or at -most ninepence. I was thoroughly ashamed of myself. And the view was -beautiful. Before us, in the evening light, lay the wealthy land where -no white man goes, and the beautiful, verdure-clothed hills dappled with -shadow and sunshine. The light was going, but, weary as I was, I had to -stop and look, for never again might I see a more lovely view. - -And at last, just as the darkness was falling, we had crossed the range, -and I thankfully and wearily tumbled into my hammock and was carried -through the village of Tsito to the trader's store. It was a humble -store, presided over by a black man who spoke English, and here they -bought cotton and cocoa, and sold kerosene and trade gin, cotton cloths, -and the coarsest kinds of tinned fish. I had a letter from Mr Olympia -to this black man, and he offered me the hospitality of the cocoa-store; -that is to say, a space was cleared among the cocoa and cotton and -other impedimenta, my bed and table and bath set up. Grant brought me -something to eat--hard-boiled eggs, biscuits, and bananas, with tea to -drink. How thankful I was for that tea! I dined with an admiring crowd -looking on, and I remembered my repentance on the mountain and sent for -my carriers and paid them all double. I still think it was too little, -but in excuse it must be remembered that I was alone and hardly dared -risk a reputation for immense wealth. - -There are difficulties connected with lodging in a cocoa-store, -especially when you are surrounded by a population who have never seen -a white woman before. I needed a bath, but how to get it I hardly knew, -with eyes all over the place, so at last I put out the lights and had it -in the dark, and I went to bed in the dark, and as I was going to sleep -I heard the audience dispersing, discussing the show at the top of their -voices. As I did not understand what they said I did not know whether -they had found it satisfactory. At least it was cheap, unless Swanzy's -agent charged them. - -I was not afraid now, curiously enough, right away from civilisation, -entirely at these peoples' mercy. I felt quite safe, and after my hard -day I slept like the dead. It is mentally very soothing, I notice, to -say to oneself, “Well done!” and our mental attitude has a great effect -upon our physical health. At least I found one thing--I had pitied -myself most unnecessarily. My exertions had done me no harm, and I never -felt in better health than when I waked up next morning in Swanzy's -cocoa-room and proceeded to get dressed in the dark. That was necessary, -because I knew the sound of my stirring would bring an interested -audience to see how the white woman did things. I really don't think the -White City rivalled me as a provider of amusement for the people in the -eastern district of the Volta and the western district of Togo in the -end of April and beginning of May last. - -[Illustration: 0349] - -I had picked up a discarded map on the floor of the rest-house at Anum, -and here I saw that many of the villages were marked with crosses to -show that there was a church, but I saw no church here in Tsito, though -I doubt not there was one. What I did see, not only in Tsito but at the -entrance to every village I passed through, was a low, thatched shed, -under which were the fetish images of the village. These were generally -the rough-cut outline in clay or wood of a human figure seated. -Sometimes the figure had a dirty rag round it, sometimes a small -offering in front of it, and dearly should I have liked to have had a -picture, but the people, even Swanzy's agent, objected, and I did not -like to run counter to local prejudice. And yet Swanzy's agent is by -way of being a Christian, but I dare say Christianity in these parts of -Africa, like Christianity in old-time Britain or Gaul, conforms a good -deal to pagan modes of thought. - -I met a picturesque gentleman starting out for his farm, and him I -photographed after he had been assured that no harm could possibly -happen to him, though he begged very anxiously that he might be allowed -to go home and put on his best cloth. I think he is a very nice specimen -of the African peasant as he is, but I am sure he would be much troubled -could he know he was going into a book in his farm clothes. - -It was just beginning to get hot as I got back to the store after -wandering round the village, and I found Grant and the carriers with -all my gear had already started and were nowhere to be seen. It was, -perhaps, just as well that it never occurred to Grant that I might be -afraid to be left alone with strange black men. But to-day my strange -black men were not forthcoming. I had expected them to come gaily -because, to celebrate the crossing of the Eveto Range, while I had paid -the carriers double, I had given the hammock-boys, who had had a very -easy time, a couple of shillings to buy either gin or rum or palm wine, -whichever they could get. It stamped me as a fool woman, and now, after -a long delay, they came and stood round the hammock without offering to -lift it from the ground. - -“There is trouble,” said the black agent sententiously. - -I had come out into the roadway, prepared to get into the hammock. - -“What is the matter?” - -“They say Ho be far. Four shillings no be enough money to tote hammock -to Ho.” - -I was furious. They had made the agreement. I had given exactly what -they asked, but where I had made the mistake was in doing more. Now what -was to be done? I did not hesitate for a moment. I marched straight back -to the cocoa-store. - -“Tell them,” I said, “they can go home and I will pay them nothing. I -will walk.” - -Now if either the agent or those hammock-boys had given the thing a -moment's thought, they must have seen this was sheer bluff on my part. -It would have been a physical impossibility for me to walk, at least I -think so; besides, I should have been entirely alone and I had not the -faintest notion of the way. However, my performance of yesterday had -apparently not impressed them as badly as it had impressed me, and just -as I was meditating despairingly what on earth I should do, for I felt -to give in would be fatal, into the store came those men bearing the -hammock, and it did not need Swanzy's interpreter to tell me, “You get -in, Mammy. They go quick.” - -We were out of the village at once and into the country. It was -orchard-bush country, thick grass just growing tall with the beginning -of the rains, and clumps of low-growing trees, with an occasional -patch of miniature forest that grew so close it shut out the fierce sun -overhead and gave a welcome and grateful shade. We passed the preventive -service station on the Border--an untidy, thatched hut, presided over -by a black man, who looked not unlike a dilapidated, a very dilapidated -railway porter who had been in store for some time and got a little -moth-eaten--and I concluded we were at the end of British territory; but -not yet. The road was bad when we started, and it grew steadily worse -till here it was very bad indeed. It became a mere track through the -rough, grass country on either side, a track that admitted of but one -man walking singly, and my boys dropped the hammock by way of intimating -that they could carry me no farther. They could not, I could see that -for myself, for not only was the track narrow, but it twisted and turned -and doubled on itself, so that a corkscrew is straight in comparison -with the road to Ho. - -And once more fear fell upon me. I was alone with men who could not -understand a word that I said, who could not speak a word that I could -understand, and since only in a Gilbertian sense could this track be -called a road at all, that it could lead to anywhere seemed impossible. -There were no farms, no villages, not a sign of habitation. A fool-bird -called cynically, “Hoo! hoo! hoo!” and I hesitated whether I would -rather these eight men walked in front of me or behind me. I decided -they should walk in front, and they laughingly obeyed, and we walked -on through the heat. Many-coloured butterflies, large as small birds, -flitted across the track. Never have I seen such beautiful butterflies, -blue as gentian, or as turquoise with a brilliancy the turquoise lacks; -purple, red, yellow, and white were they, and it was only the utter -hopelessness of keeping them prevented my making any attempt to catch -them. Evidently I was not as afraid as I thought I was because I could -reflect upon the desirability of those butterflies in a collection. But -I was afraid. Occasionally people, men or women, in twos or threes, came -along with loads upon their heads, and I tried to speak to them and -ask them if this really was the road to Ho, but I could make no one -understand and they passed on, turning to stare with wonder at the -stranger. There were silk-cotton trees and shea-butter trees and many -another unknown tree, but it seemed I had come right out into the wilds -beyond human ken or occupation, and I had to assure myself again and -again that these carriers were decent peasants, just earning a little, -something beyond what came from cocoa or palm oil, with wives--probably -many wives--and children, and the strange white woman was worth a good -deal more to them safely delivered at her destination than in any way -else. We came to a river, and by a merciful interposition of Providence -it was dry, and we were able to ignore the slippery, moss-grown -tree-trunk that did duty as bridge, and, scrambling down into its bed, -cross easily to the other side, and there, in the midst of a shady clump -of trees, was Grant with all the carriers. - -So it was the road to Ho after all, and, as usual, I had worried myself -most unnecessarily. I sat down on my precious black box that contained -all my money, and Grant got out a tumbler, squeezed the last orange -I possessed into it, filled it up from the sparklet bottle, and I was -ready to laugh at my fears and face the world once more. - -Again we went along the tortuous path, and then suddenly the Border! - - - - -CHAPTER XV--CROSSING THE BORDER - -_German roads--German villages--The lovely valley of Ho--The kindly -German welcome--German hospitality--An ideal woman colonist--Pink -roses--The way it rains in Togo--An unfortunate cripple--Vain -regrets--Sodden pillows--A German rest-house--A meal under -difficulties--Travelling by night--The weirdness of it--The sounds of -the night--The fireflies--A long long journey--Palime by night--More -German hospitality--Rail-head._ - -There was nothing to mark the border between the Gold Coast Colony -and Togo. The country on the one side was as the country on the other, -orchard-bush country with high grass and clumps of trees and shrubs; -the lowering sky was the same, the fierce sun the same, only there was a -road at last. - -The Germans make roads as the Romans made them, that their conquering -legions might pass, and here, in this remote corner of the earth, where -neither Englishman nor German comes, is a road, the like of which I -did not find in the Gold Coast Colony. It is hard and smooth as a -garden-path, it is broad enough for two carts or two hammocks to pass -abreast, it runs straight as a die, on either side the bushes and grass -are kept neatly trimmed away, and deep waterways are cut so that the -heavy rainfall may not spoil the road. - -After a short time we came to a preventive station, neat and pretty as -a station on the Volta, higher praise I cannot give it, and beyond that -was a village; a village that was a precursor of all the villages that -were to come. As a Briton I write it with the deepest regret, but the -difference between an English village and a German village is as the -difference between the model village of Edensor and the grimy town of -Hanley in the Black Country. Here, in this first little village on the -Togo side, all the ground between the houses was smoothed and swept, -the houses themselves looked trim and neat, great, beautiful, spreading -shade-trees of the order _ficus elasticus_ were planted at regular -intervals in the main street, and underneath them were ranged logs, so -that the people who lounge away the heat of the day in the shade may -have seats. Even the goats and the sheep had a neater look, which -perhaps is no wonder, for here is no filthy litter or offal among which -they may lie. - -As I passed on my wonder increased. Here was exactly the same country, -exactly the same natives, and all the difference between order and -neatness and slatternly untidiness. - -[Illustration: 0357] - -I went on through this charming country till I found myself looking -across a lovely valley at a house set high on a hill, the Commissioner's -house at Ho at last. I went down into the valley, along a road that was -bordered with flamboyant trees, all full of flame-coloured blossom, and -then suddenly the curtain of my hammock was whisked up, and there stood -before me a bearded white man, dressed in a white duck suit with a -little red badge in his white helmet--the Commissioner, he told me in -his halting English, at Ho. - -Now I had come into that country without a letter or a credential of any -sort, a foreigner, speaking not one word of the language, and I wondered -what sort of reception I should meet with. I tried to explain that I was -looking for a rest-house, but he waved my remarks aside with a smile, -made me understand that his wife was up in the house on the hill, and -that if I would go there she could speak English, and would make me -welcome. And so I went on through country, lovely as the country -round Anum mountain, only in the British colony there is this great -difference--there the land is exactly as Nature made it, bar the little -spoiling that man has done, innocent of roads, and exceedingly difficult -to traverse, while here in German territory everything is being carried -out on some well-thought-out plan. Ho was a station straggling over hill -and valley, with high hills clothed with greenery near at hand, high -hills fading into the blue distance, and valleys that cried out to the -Creator in glad thankfulness that such beauty should be theirs. The road -up to the Commissioner's bungalow was steep, steep as the Eveto Range, -but it had been graded so that it was easy of ascent as a path in Hyde -Park. Every tree had been planted or left standing with thought, not -only for its own beauty but for the view that lies beyond; flamboyant, -mango, palm, frangipanni, that the natives call forget-me-not, all have -a reason for their existence, all add to the beauty and charm of the -scene. And when I got to the top of the hill I was at the prettiest of -brown bungalows, and down the steps of the verandah came a rosy-cheeked, -pretty girl, ready to welcome the stranger. - -“Of course you stay with us,” she said in the kindness of her hospitable -heart, though there was certainly no of course about it. - -She took me in and gave me coffee, and as we sat eating cakes, home-made -German cakes, I asked her, “You have not been out very long?” because of -the bright colour of her cheeks. - -“Oh, not long,” she said, “only a year and two months. But it is so nice -we are asking the Government to let us stay two years.” - -“And you do not find it dull?” - -“Oh no, I love it. The time goes so quick, so quick. There is so much to -do.” - -And then her husband came and added his welcome to hers, and paid off -my carriers in approved German official style, and they took me in to -“evening bread,” and I found to my intense surprise they had wreathed -my place at table with pink roses. Never have I had such a pretty -compliment, or such a pretty welcome, and only the night before I had -been dining off hard-boiled eggs and biscuits in Swanzy's cocoa-house at -Tsito. - -Bed after dinner, and next morning my hostess took me round, and showed -me everything there was to be seen, and told me how she passed her time. -She looked after the house, she saw to the food, she went for rides on -her bicycle, and she worked in the garden. It was the merry heart that -went all the day, and I will venture to say that that pretty girl, with -her bright, smiling face and her bright, charming manners, interested in -this new country to which she had come, keen on her husband's work, was -an asset to the nation to which she belonged; worth more to it than a -dozen fine ladies who pride themselves on not being _haus-frau_. And as -for the Commissioner, if I may judge, he was not only a strong man, but -an artist. He had the advantage over an English Commissioner that his -tour extended over eighteen months, instead of a year, and that he -always came back to the same place. His bungalow looked a home; round -it grew up a tropical garden, and behind he had planted a grove of -broad-leaved teak trees, and already they were so tall the pathway -through the grove was a leafy tunnel just flecked with golden sunshine, -that told of the heat outside. - -Those Germans were good to me. I feel I can never be grateful enough for -such a warm welcome, and always, for the sake of those two there in the -outlands, shall I think kindly of the people of the Fatherland. - -They helped me to take photographs; the Commissioner mended my camera -for me, and he got me more carriers, and told me that they were engaged -to take me on thirty miles to Palime for the sum of two shillings a -piece, that it could be done in one day if I chose, indeed it must be -done in one day unless I stayed in the rest-house at Neve, and he warned -me that I carried about with me a great sum of money, and asked if I -were sure of my boy. I did not think it was likely Grant would rob me -at this stage of the proceedings, but I suddenly realised with a little -uncomfortable feeling what implicit trust I was putting in him; and then -they gave fresh instructions for my comfort. It would rain, they said it -always rained in Togo at this season in the afternoon; and I evidently -did not realise how it rained, so they tied up my camera in American -cloth and instructed me to put my Burberry on at the first drop of -rain. Then with many good wishes we parted, and I set off on the road to -Palime. - -The road was most excellent, and anyone who has travelled for miles -along a track that is really little better than a hunter's trail can -understand the delights of smooth and easy going. We passed through -villages where the villagers all turned up to see the show, but I -fancied, it may have been only fancy, that the people were not as -lightheartedly happy as in English territory, and whenever we came to a -stream my men stopped and begged in pantomime that they might be allowed -to bathe. I should like to have bathed myself, so I assented cheerfully, -and the result was that we did not get over the ground very quickly. One -of them spoke a little, a very little Twi, the language of the Fantis -and Ashantis, and Grant spoke a little, and that was my only means of -communication, lost of course when he was not with me, but they were -most excellent men and went on and on untiringly. - -Presently the clouds began to gather, a great relief, because the -sun had been very hot, a few drops of rain fell, and I, remembering -instructions, flew out of my hammock and put on my Burberry. By the time -it was on the few drops were many drops, and by the time I was in my -hammock again, the water was coming down as if it had been poured out of -a bucket. Such sheets of rain fairly made me gasp. Now, my hammock was -old. I had forgotten the need of a hammock when I started up the Volta, -and finding this elderly one at Anum, marked “P.W.D.” Public Works -Department, and there being nobody to say me nay, I commandeered it. -Now, far be it from me to revile a friend who carried me over many a -weary mile of road, but there is no disguising the fact, the poor old -hammock was not in the first bloom of youth, and the canopy was about -as much use against a rainstorm as so much mosquito-netting. The water -simply poured through it. Now the canvas of which the hammock was made, -of course, held water, so did the Burberry, the water trickled down my -neck, and, worse still, carried as I was, with my feet slightly raised, -trickled down my skirts, and the gallant Burberry held it like a bucket. -When the water rose up to my waist, icy-cold water, I got out and -walked. - -The sky was heavily overcast, and it was raining as if it had never had -a chance to rain before, and never expected to have a chance to rain -again, so I walked on, hatless, because I did not mind about my hair -getting wet. I thought to myself, “when the sun comes out, it will dry -me,” and I looked at the string of dejected-looking carriers tailing out -behind with all their loads covered with banana leaves. And I walked, -and I walked, and I walked, and there seemed no prospect of the rain -stopping; apparently it proposed to go on to doomsday, or at least the -end of the rainy season. An hour passed, two hours, three, my pillows -were simply sodden masses, my hammock was a wisp of wet canvas, and I -was weary to death; then a village came into view, a little neat German -village, and the people came out to look at me with interest, though -they had certainly seen a white woman before. I always think of that -village with regret. A man passed along through the mud, working his way -in a sitting posture, and having on his hands a sort of wooden clog. -So very very seldom have I seen misery in Africa that I was struck as I -used to be struck when first I came to England, and I put my hand in my -pocket for my purse, but all my money with the exception of threepence -was in my box, and that threepence I bestowed upon him. Now there -remains with me the regret that I did not give him more, for never have -I seen such delight on any man's face. He held it out, he called all -his friends to look, he bowed obeisance before me again and again. I was -truly ashamed of so much gratitude for so small a gift, and while I -was debating how I could get at my box to make it a little more, -he clattered away, as happy apparently as if someone had left him a -fortune. But I always think of it sadly. Why didn't I manage to give him -two shillings. It would have meant nothing to me, and so much to him. - -But now I was very tired, and when the rest-house was pointed out to -me, I hailed it with delight. I have seen many weird rest-houses on my -travels, but that was the most primitive of them all. A mud floor was -raised a little above the surrounding ground, and over it was a deep -thatch, a couple of tiny windowless rooms were made with mud walls, and -just outside them was a table, made by the simple process of sticking -upright stakes into the ground and laying rough boards across them; two -chairs alongside the table were also fixtures, but I sat down wearily, -and Grant promptly produced a pack of cards, and went away to make tea. - -Bridge was not a success; I was so wet and cold, but the tea came -quickly along with a boiled egg and biscuits and mangoes, for the -Germans it appears, after their thorough fashion, always insist that -wood and water shall be ready in their rest-houses. I was sorry for the -carriers, wet and shivering, and I was sorrier for my own servant, for -the rain was still coming down pitilessly. I suggested he should have -some tea to warm him, but he did not like tea, and the other egg he -also rejected, quite rightly I decided when I tried to partake of the -specimen he brought for me. But the tea was most refreshing, and I was -prepared to try and understand what the carriers wanted. Briefly, they -wanted to stop here. Though I could not understand their tongue, I could -understand that. - -“They say Palime be far, Ma,” said Grant. - -Yes, I reckoned Palime must be about fifteen miles, but I looked at the -dismal house and decided it was an impossible place to stay. I would -rather walk that fifteen miles. I looked at my bedding roll, and decided -it must be wet through and through, and then I got into that dripping -and uninviting hammock, among the sodden pillows, and gave the order to -go on. I was wet through, and I thought I could hold out if we got to -Palime as quickly as possible, but I knew we could not possibly do it -under five hours, probably longer. However, it was not as hard on me as -on the men who had to walk with loads on their heads. Of course I was -foolish. I ought either to have changed in one of those dismal-looking -little mud rooms, or to have filled my hot-water bottle--I always -carried one to be ready for the chill I never got--with hot water -and wrapped myself up in a rug; but I foolishly forgot all these -precautions, and my remembrance of that tramp to Palime is of a struggle -against bitter cold and wet and weariness. It was weird, too, passing -along the bush in the dark. Grant and the carriers dropped behind, the -rain stopped, and the hammock-boys lighted a smoky lantern which gleamed -on the wet road ahead, and was reflected in the pools of water that lay -there, and made my two front boys throw gigantic shadows on the bush as -they passed along. Strange sounds, too, came out of the bush; sometimes -a leopard cried, sometimes one of the great fruitarian bats bewailed -itself like a woman in pain, there was the splash, splash of the men's -feet in the roadway, the deep croak of the African bull-frog, there -was the running of water, a drip, drip from the trees and bushes by the -roadside, and always other sounds, unexplained, perhaps unexplainable, -that one hears in the night. Sometimes tom-toms were beating, sometimes -we passed through a village and a few lights appeared, and my men -shouted greetings I suppose, but they might have been maledictions. -It is an experience I shall never forget, that of being carried along, -practically helpless, and hearing my men, whom I could not understand, -exchange shouts that I could not understand with people that I could not -see. It was hot I dare say, but I was wet to the skin and bitter cold, -and I know the night after the rain was beautiful, but I was too tired -and too uncomfortable to appreciate it. Then the fireflies came out, -like glowing sparks, and again and again I thought we were approaching -the lights of a town only to look again and see they were fireflies. - -Such a long journey it was. It seemed years since I had left Ho that -morning, æons since I had unhappily struggled across the Eveto Range, -but I remembered with satisfaction I _had_ crossed the Eveto Range, -and so I concluded in time I should reach Palime, but it seemed a long -night, and I was very cold. - -At last, though it was wrapped in darkness, I saw we had entered a town; -we passed up a wide roadway, and finally got into a yard, and my men -began banging on a doorway, and saying over and over again, “Swanzy's.” - -The German Commissioner had suggested I should go to Swanzy's; and was -it possible we had really arrived? It seemed we had. - -I can never get over the feeling of shyness when I go up to a total -stranger's house and practically demand hospitality. True, I had in my -pocket a telegram from Mr Percy Shaw, one of Swanzy's directors, asking -his agents to give me that hospitality, but still I felt dreadfully shy -as I waited there in the yard for some sign of life from out of the dark -building. It came at last, and in English too. - -“Who is dere?” said a voice, and my heart sank. I thought it must be a -negro, since I knew the agent was a German, and thought he would be sure -to hail in his own tongue. Somehow I felt I could not have stood a negro -that night. Prejudices are very strong when one is tired. - -But I was wrong. The agent was a German, and down long flights of stairs -he came in his dressing-gown, welcoming me, and presently was doing all -he could for my comfort. He roused out an unwilling cook, he got cocoa -and wine, South-Australian wine to my surprise, and hot cakes, and -bread, and fruit, and then when I was refreshed, my baggage not yet -having come in, he solemnly conducted me to my bedroom, and presented me -with a couple of blankets and a very Brodbignag pair of slippers. I was -far more tired than when I had'crossed the Eveto Range, and I undressed, -got into bed, wrapped myself up in those warm blankets, and slept the -sleep of the woman who knows she has arrived at rail-head, and that her -difficult travelling is over. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI--ONE OF THE CURSES OF THE DARK CONTINENT - -_The neat little town of Palime--The market--The breakfast--A luxury -for the well-to-do--Mount Klutow--The German Sleeping Sickness Camp--The -German's consideration for the hammock-boys--Misahohe, a beautiful road, -well-shaded--A kindly welcome--The little boys that were cured--Dr -von Raven, a devotee to science--The town of the sleeping sickness -patients--“Last year strong man, this year finish”--Extreme poverty and -self-denial--A ghastly, horrible, lingering and insidious disease--Dr -von Raven's message to the English people._ - -Palime is the neatest of little towns, set at the foot of some softly -rounded hills. Not hills clothed with dense bush such as I had come -across farther west, but hills covered with grass, emerald in the -brilliant sunshine, with just here and there a tree to give it a -park-like appearance. And the town, it is hardly necessary to say, was -spotlessly neat and tidy. All the streets were swept and garnished, and -all the fences were whole, for if a German puts up a picket fence, he -intends it for a permanency, and not for a fuel supply for the nearest -huts. That the streets were neat was perhaps a little surprising, for -every morning, beginning at dawn, in those streets there was held a -market in which all manner of goods, native and European, were exposed -for sale, spread out on the ground or on stalls. I looked with interest -to see if I could notice any difference between the native under English -and under German rule in the markets, and I came to the conclusion that -there was none whatever. Here, at rail-head, both native and European -goods were bought and sold, and here too the people took their alfresco -meals. The native of West Africa usually starts the morning with a -little porridge, made of cassada, which is really the same root from -which comes our tapioca, but his tapioca is so thin you can drink it, -and it looks and smells rather like water starch. It was being made and -served out “all hot” at a copper a gourd, the customer providing his own -gourd, and the porridge being in a goodsized earthen pot fixed on three -stones over a little fire of sticks, or else the fire was built inside -another pot out of which one side and the top had been knocked. Porridge -of course is not very staying, so a little later on good ladies make -their appearance who fry maize-meal balls in palm oil, and sell them for -two a “copper,” the local name for a _pfennig_, which is not copper at -all, but nickel. Very appetising indeed look these balls. The little -flat earthenware pan on the fire is full of boiling palm oil, and the -seller mixes very carefully the maize meal, water, a little salt, and -some native pepper, till it is smooth like batter, such as a cook would -make a pancake of, then it is dropped into the boiling oil, and the -result, in a minute or so, is a round, brown ball, which looks and -smells delicious. Sometimes trade is brisk, and they are bought straight -out of the pan, but when it slacks they are taken out and heaped up on a -calabash. I conclude that it is only the aristocracy who indulge in such -luxuries, for I am told that the average wage of a labourer in Palime -here is ninepence a day, but judging by what I saw, there must have been -a good many of the aristocracy in Palime. After all, the woman from the -time she is a tiny child is always self-supporting, so in a community -where every man and woman is self-supporting, I conclude that many -luxuries are attainable that would not be possible when one man has to -provide for many. - -[Illustration: 0369] - -The butchers' shops presided over as they are on the Gold Coast by -Hausas are not inviting, and tend to induce strong vegetarian views -in anyone who looks upon them, and the amount of very highly smelling -stink-fish makes the vegetarian regime very narrow. But there are other -things beside food-stuffs for sale; from every railing flutter gay -cloths from Manchester, or its rival on the Coast, Keta, and there were -several women selling very nice earthenware pots, that attracted me very -much. They were the commonest household utensils of the native woman; -she uses the smaller ones as plates and dishes, and the larger ones for -water, for washing, or for storage. The big ones were terribly expensive -and cost a whole sixpence, while a penny brought me a big store of small -ones. I thought how very quaint and pretty my balcony at home would look -with plants growing in these pots from such a far corner of the earth, -and so I bought largely, even though I knew I should have to engage a -couple of extra carriers for them, and my host applauded my taste. - -That young German was very kindly. I showed him my telegram, but he -laughed at it, and gave me to understand that of course I was welcome -anyhow, though again I can certainly see no of course about it. Why -should he, in the kindness of his heart, put himself out for me, a total -stranger, who did not even belong to his nation? Still he did. - -I was bent on going on to Mount Klutow, the German Sleeping Sickness -Camp, and he said he had never seen it, though it was only a short -distance away, so he would get carriers and come with me. Accordingly -we got carriers, paying them threepence extra because it was Sunday, and -went up to Mount Klutow. They were very good carriers, but since I have -heard so much about the German's inconsiderateness to the native, I must -put it on record that when we came to a steep part of the road, and it -was very steep, though a most excellent road, that German not only got -out and walked himself, but expected me to do the same. I did of course, -but many and many a time have I made my men carry me over far worse -places, and many an Englishman have I seen doing likewise. - -Again I must put it on record that these German roads are most -excellent. They are smooth and wide, well-rolled and hard, and they -are shady, a great boon in such a climate. Every native tree that -is suitable has been allowed to stand, and others have been planted, -shapely, dark-green mangoes and broad-leaved teak, and since all -undergrowth has been cleared away, the road seems winding through a -beautiful park, while there is absolutely no mosquito. During all my -stay in German territory I never slept under a mosquito curtain, and I -never saw that abomination, a mosquito-proof room. The Germans evidently -think it is easier to do away with the mosquito. - -Misahohe is a little Government station, set on the side of the mountain -up which we were climbing. It looks from a distance something like a -Swiss chalet, and the view from there is as magnificent as that from -Anum mountain itself, only here there are white men connected, I think, -with the German medical station to see and appreciate its beauties. -On and on went the beautiful road; but even the Germans have not yet -succeeded in getting rid of the tsetse fly, and so though the roads -are good, there are as yet no horses. We met great carts of trade goods -going to Kpando, fifteen miles away, and they were drawn and pushed -their slow, slow journey by panting, struggling Kroo boys. Strongly as I -should object to carrying a load on my head, I really think it would -be worse to turn the wheels of a laden cart, spoke by spoke, while you -slowly worked it up-hill. - -At Mount Klutow, the German Sleeping Sickness Camp, there is no timber, -and the first impression is of barrenness. We went up and up, and I, -who had not yet recovered from my long day's journey to Palime, was -exceedingly thankful when my escort allowed me to lie in my hammock till -we arrived at a plateau surrounded by low hills. It was really the top -of the mountain. There was a poor-looking European bungalow, a very -German wooden kiosk on the other side of the road, and a winding road, -with on either side of it little brown native huts built of clay, and -thatched. It is just a poor-looking native village, with the huts built -rather farther apart than the native seems to like his huts when he can -choose, and none of the usual shelter trees which he likes about his -village. After the magnificent tropical scenery we had just passed -through it looked dreary in the extreme, but the young man who came -out of the bungalow and made us most kindly welcome, Dr von Raven, the -doctor in charge, explained that this barrenness was the very reason of -its existence. They wanted a place that the cool winds swept, and they -wanted a place that gave no harbour to the _glossina pal palis_, the -tsetse fly that conveys the disease. Mount Klutow was ideal. - -I had hesitated a little about visiting a doctor and asking him for -information. I had no claim, no letters of introduction, and I should -not have been surprised if he had paid no attention to me, but, on the -contrary, Dr von Raven was kindness itself. He took us to the little -kiosk and sent for wine and cakes and beer, so that we might be -refreshed after our hot journey, though it was hardly hot here. The good -things were brought by two small boys, and the doctor put his hand first -on one shoulder and then on the other, and turned the little laughing -black faces for me to see. - -“Sleeping sickness,” said he. “Cured,” and he gave them a friendly cuff -and let them go. He knew very little English, and I knew no German, and -Mr Fesen's, even though he was agent for an English firm, was of -the scantiest; so that it was a process of difficulty to collect -information, and it was only done by the infinite kindness and -patience of the two Germans. Dr von Raven produced papers and showed me -statistics, and so by degrees I learned all there is to be known, and -then he took me round and showed me the patients. - -Many men in Africa count themselves exiles, but never saw I more clearly -the attributes of exile than in Dr von Raven. Comforts he had none, and -his house was bare almost to poverty. Here he had lived for two and a -half years without going home, and here he intended to live till some -experiments he had in hand were complete. A devotee to science truly, -but a cheerful, intensely interested one, with nothing of the martyr -about him. Very few white people he must have seen, and he said himself -he had only been down to the nearest town of Palime three times in two -years, but he looked far better in health than many a man I have seen -who has been on the Coast only as many months. - -[Illustration: 0375] - -From the doctor's house there curves a road about a kilometre in length, -and off this are the houses of the sleeping sickness patients. Two -and two they are built, facing each other, two rooms in each house and -plenty of space between. They are built of mud, with holes for doors and -windows, and the roofs are of grass--native huts of the most primitive -description. Each patient has a room, and each is allowed one relative -to attend him. Thus a husband may have a wife, a mother her daughter, -and between them they have an allowance of sevenpence a day for food, -ample in a country where the usual wage for a day labourer is ninepence. -There are one hundred and fifty-five patients in all, and besides them -there are a few soldiers for dignity, because the neighbouring chiefs -would think very lightly of a man who had not evidences of power behind -him, and so whenever the doctor passes they come tumbling out of the -guard-room to salute him. There are also a certain number of labourers, -because though many of the sick are quite capable of waiting on -themselves, it would never do for them to go beyond the confines of the -camp, and possibly, or probably, infect the flies that abound just where -wood and water are to be had. - -Of course there is a market where the women meet and chat and buy their -provisions; there are cookhouses and all the attributes of a rather -poor native village, but a village where the people are among the -surroundings to which they have been accustomed all their lives and in -which they are more thoroughly at home than in a hospital. Part of -the bareness may be attributed to economy, but the effect is greatly -heightened by the absence of all vegetation. Anything that might afford -shelter for the flies or shut out the strong, health-giving breezes -that blow right across the plateau is strictly forbidden. And here were -people in all stages of the disease--those who had just come in, who -to the ordinary eye appeared to have nothing wrong with them, great, -strong, healthy-looking men, men of thews and sinews who had been -completely cured, and those who were past all help and were lying -waiting for death. - -“You would like to see them?” asked the doctor. - -I said I would, and I would like to take a photograph or two if I might. -My stock of plates was getting woefully scarce. - -“Yes,” he said, and we went down the roadway. - -A man was borne out of one of the huts and laid on the ground in the -brilliant sunshine. He was wasted to skin and bone, his eyes were sunken -and half-open, showing the whites, his skeleton limbs lay helpless, -and his head fell forward like a baby's. The doctor pointed to him -pitifully. - -“Last year,” he said, “strong man like this,” indicating the men who -bore him; “this year--finish.” - -“He will die?” - -“Oh, he will die--soon.” - -[Illustration: 0379] - -And the great brawny savages who carried the stretcher, stark but for -a loin cloth and a necklace, with their hair cut into cock's combs, had -come there with sleeping sickness and were cured. They brought them -out of all the huts to show the visitor--women in the last stages after -epilepsy had set in, with weary eyes, worn faces, and contracted limbs, -happy little children with swollen glands, a woman with atoxyl blindness -who was cured, a man with atoxyl blindness who, in spite of all, will -die. They were there in all stages of the disease, in all stages of -recovery. Some looked as if there was nothing the matter with them, but -the enlarged glands in the neck could always be felt. The doctor did not -seem very hopeful. “We could cure it,” he said; “it is quite curable if -we could only get the cases early enough. Not 2 per cent, of the flies -are infected, and of course every man who is bitten by an infected fly -does not necessarily contract the disease.” - -It comes on very insidiously. Three weeks it takes to develop, and -then the patient has a little fever every evening. In the morning -his temperature is down again, only to rise once more in the evening. -Sometimes he will have a day without a rise, sometimes three or four, -but you would find, were you to look, the parasites in the blood. After -three or four months the glands of the neck begin to swell, and this is -the time when the natives recognise the danger and excise the glands. -But swollen glands are not always caused by sleeping sickness, and, in -that case, if the wounds heal properly, the patient recovers; but if -the parasites are in the blood then such rough surgery only causes -unnecessary suffering without in any way retarding the progress of the -disease. Slowly it progresses, very slowly. Sometimes it takes three or -four months before nervous symptoms come on, sometimes it may be twelve -months, and after that the case is hopeless. Not all the physicians in -the world in the present state of medical knowledge could cure it. -In Europeans--and something like sixty Europeans are known to have -contracted the disease--very often immediately after the bite of the -fly, symptoms have been noticed on the skin, red swellings, but in the -black man apparently the skin is not affected. - -The treatment is of the simplest, but the doctor only arrived at it -after careful experiment. After having ascertained by examination of the -blood that the patient has sleeping sickness he weighs the patient -and gives him five centigrams per kilogram of his own weight of -arsenophenylycin. This is divided into two portions and given on two -consecutive days, and the treatment is finished. Of course the patient -is carefully watched and his blood tested, and if at the end of ten days -the parasites are still found, the dose is repeated. Sometimes it is -found that the toxin has no effect, and then the doctor resorts to -atoxyl, which he administers the same way every two days, with ten -days between the doses. This has one grave drawback, for sometimes -in conjunction with sleeping sickness it causes blindness. Out of -eighty-five cases that have taken atoxyl since 1908 five have gone -blind. I saw there one young man cured and stone-blind, and one woman -also cured and but just able to see men “as trees walking.” Apparently -there was nothing wrong with their eyes, but the blank look of the blind -told that they could not see. - -At first this camp here up among the hills was looked upon with -suspicion by the natives, and they resisted all efforts to bring them -to it. They feared, as they have always feared, all German thoroughgoing -methods. But gradually, as is only natural, a good thing makes its -own reputation, and the natives who were before so fearful come long -distances to seek help where they know only help can be found. - -[Illustration: 0383] - -After we had walked all round the camp and got well soaked with the -ordinary Togo afternoon shower, of which none of us took any notice, we -went back to the kiosk for more refreshment, and here we found waiting -us one of the Roman Catholic Fathers from Palime. He was a fair-bearded -man in a white helmet and a long, white-cotton _soutane_, which somehow, -even in this country of few clothes, gave the appear-ence of extreme -poverty and self-denial. He had come up on a bicycle and had a great -deal to say about the sleeping sickness. A day or two before he had been -travelling two days west of Palime and he was asked by a native if he -could speak English, and, when he assented, was taken to see a sick man. -The man was a stranger to the people round and could only make himself -understood in pigeon English. He told the Father he lived six days away, -in British territory, and as he talked he perpetually took snuff. “Why,” - asked the Father, “do you take snuff when you talk to me?” Because, -the man explained, he had the sickness, and unless he took the strong, -pungent snuff into his nostrils he could not talk, his head would fall -forward, and he would become drowsy at once. This, he went on to say, -was his reason for being here, so far from his home. He had heard there -was a doctor here who could cure the sickness, and he was journeying to -him as fast as he could. It is sad to think after such faith that he had -probably left it too late. - -“It is very difficult, indeed,” said the doctor, “to be sure of a cure.” - The patient is discharged as cured and bound over to come back every -six months for examination, and if each time his blood is examined it is -free from parasites, all is well. He is certainly cured. But he has gone -back to his home in an infected district, and if after six months or -twelve months the parasite is again found, who is to say whether he has -been re-infected or whether there has been a recrudescence of the old -disorder? Occasionally, says the doctor, it is impossible to find the -parasite in the blood, while the patient undoubtedly dies of sleeping -sickness; the parasite is in the brain. - -Since 1908 there have been four hundred cases through the doctor's -hands. Of these 19 per cent, have died of sleeping sickness, 67 per -cent, have been sent away as cured, and about 3 per cent, have died -of other causes. Only ten of those sent away as cured have failed to -present themselves for re-examination, and in this land where every -journey must be made on foot, and food probably carried for the journey, -it speaks very well, I think, for both doctor and patients that so many -have come back to him. He is far kinder, probably, than the natives -would be to each other--too kind for his own convenience, for the -natives fear his laboratory, and will not come there at night, because -when a patient is dying and past all other help he has him brought there -to die. “Why?” I asked. “I may be able to help a little,” he said. -“But how kind!” He shrugged his shoulders with a little smile. “It is -nothing, it is doctor,” and he waved the thought aside as if I were -making too much of it. - -The disease comes, so says Dr von Raven, from west to east, and -was first noticed in the Gambia in 1901. As long ago as 1802 a Dr -Winterbottom described the sleeping sickness, and in 1850 a slavetrader -noticed the swelling of the glands and refused to take slaves so -afflicted. Undoubtedly cases of sleeping sickness must have been -imported to the West Indies or America, but owing to the absence of the -_glossina palpalis_ to act as host the disease did not spread. That it -is a ghastly, horrible, lingering, and insidious disease, that every -man who has it where the _glossina palpalis_ abounds is a danger to the -community among whom he dwells, no one can doubt. They say that after a -certain time the natives of a district may acquire immunity, but as this -immunity comes only after severe suffering, it is perhaps better to stop -the spread of the disease. The Germans have no hesitation in restricting -the movements of the native if he is likely to become a public danger, -but the British Government is very loath to interfere with a man's -rights, even though it be the right to spread disease and death. Dr von -Raven and the English Dr Horne met in conference a few months ago with -the object of urging upon their respective Governments the absolute -necessity for allowing no man to cross the Volta unless he have a -certificate from a medical man that he is free from sleeping sickness. -They contend, probably rightly, that a little trouble now would ensure -the non-spread of the disease and assist materially in stamping it out. -The Volta is a natural barrier; there are only two or three well-known -crossing places where the people pass to and fro; and here they think a -man might well be called upon to present his certificate. Against this -is urged the undoubted fact that large numbers of the people are at -no time affected, and, therefore, it would be going to a great deal of -trouble and expense to effect a small thing. But is it a small thing? - -“You write,” said the doctor as he bid me farewell; “you write?” - -I said I did a little. - -“Then tell the English people,” said he, “how necessary it is to stamp -out this disease while it is yet small.” - -And so to the best of my ability I give his message, the message of a -man who is denying himself all things that go to make life pleasant, for -the sake of curing this disease, and if that sacrifice is worth while, -and he says it is well worth while, then I think it should be well worth -the while of us people, who are responsible for these dark children -we govern, to put upon them, even at cost to themselves and us, such -restrictions as may help to save in the future even 2 per cent, of the -population from a ghastly and lingering death. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII--GERMAN VERSUS ENGLISH METHODS - -_Lome, the capital of Togo--A bad situation but the best laid-out town -on the Coast--Avenues of trees--Promising gardens--The simple plan -by which the Germans ensure the making of the roads--The prisoner who -feared being “leff”--The disappointed lifer--The A.D.C.'s kindness--The -very desirable prison garb--The energetic Englishman--How to make a -road--Building a reputation._ - -People who sigh, “I am such a bad traveller,” as if it were something -to be proud of, and complain of the hardships of a railway journey, -should come upon the railway after they have had several days in a -canoe, some hard walking, and some days' hammock journeying, and then -they would view it in quite a different light. I felt it was the height -of luxury when I stepped into a first-class railway carriage on the -little narrow gauge railway, that goes from Palime to Lome, the capital -of Togo. - -My host had insisted on telegraphing to Swanzy's there. - -“They meet you. More comfortable.” - -Undoubtedly it would be more comfortable, but I wondered what I had done -that I should merit so much consideration for my comfort from men who -were not only total strangers, but belonged to a nation that has not the -reputation for putting itself out for women. I can only say that no one -has been kinder to me than those Germans of Togo, and for their sakes -I have a very soft corner in my heart for all their nation, and when -we English do not like them I can only think it is because of some -misunderstanding that a little better knowledge on both sides would -clear away. - -You do not see the country well from a railway train even though the -stoppages are many. I have a far better idea of the country between the -English border and Palime than of the country between Palime and Lome. -I was the only first-class passenger; the white men travelled second -class, and all the coloured people third, that is in big, empty, covered -trucks where they took their food, their babies, their bedding, their -baggage, and in fact seemed to make themselves quite as comfortable as -if they were at home. - -And at Lome a young German from Messrs Swanzy's met me with a cart and -carriers for my gear, and carried me off and installed me at their fine -house on the sea-front as if I had every right to be there, which I -certainly had not. - -Lome is the most charming town I have seen in West Africa. It is neat -and tidy and clean, it is beautifully laid out, and the buildings are -such as would do credit to any nation. Very evident it is that the -German does not consider himself an exile, but counts himself lucky to -possess so fine a country, and is bent on making the best of it. For -Lome has certainly been made the very best of. Only fifteen years ago -did the Germans move their capital from Little Pope in the east to -Lome in the west of their colony, not a great distance, for the whole -sea-board is only thirty-five miles in length, and all that length is, I -believe, swamp. Lome is almost surrounded by swamp; its very streets -are rescued from it, but with German thoroughness those streets are -well-laid-out, the roads well-made and well-kept, and are planted with -trees, palms, flamboyant, and the handsome _ficus elasticus_. Here is a -picture of a street in Lome, and the trees are only four years old, -but already they stretch across the road and make a pleasant shade. The -gardens and the trees of Lome made a great impression on me. Any fences -one sees are neat, but as a rule they do not have many fences, only -round every bungalow is a well-laid-out, well-kept, tropical garden; if -it is only just made you know it will be good in the future because of -the promise fulfilled in the garden beside it. - -[Illustration: 0393] - -All the Government bungalows look like young palaces, and are built to -hold two families, the higher-class man having the choice of the flats, -and generally taking the upper. Indeed I could find no words to express -my admiration for this German capital which compared so very favourably -with the English capital I had left but a short time before. - -When I had talked to the Commissioner at Ho about the magnificent roads, -I had hinted at the forced labour which is talked of so openly in the -English colony as being a sin of the Germans. But he denied it. - -“How do you make your roads then?” I asked. - -“There is a tax of six shillings a head or else a fortnight's labour a -year. It is right. If we have no roads how can we have trade?” and I, -thinking of the 25 per cent, of the cocoa harvest left up the Afram -river because “we no be fit to tote,” quite agreed. - -Every English village has some sort of tax by which the roads are kept -in order, why object if that tax is paid in the most useful sort of -kind, namely labour. - -Very very wisely it seems to me have the Germans laid the foundations of -their colony, and though it has not paid in the past, it is paying now -and in the future it will pay well. - -But a certain set of people were not quite as happy as those in the -English towns, and that was the prisoners working in the streets. They -had iron collars round their necks and were chained together two and -two, and though they were by no means depressed, they were not as cheery -as the English prisoners. The English negro prisoner is unique. His -punishment has been devised by people at home who do not understand the -negro and his limitations, and the difficulty of adequately punishing is -one of the difficulties of administration in an English colony. - -“How do you keep your villages so neat?” I asked the Germans. - -“If they are not neat we fine them.” - -“But if they do not pay the fine?” - -“Then we beat them.” - -And though it may sound rather brutal, I am inclined to think that is -the form of teaching the negro thoroughly understands. He is not yet -educated up to understanding the disgrace of going to prison, and -regards it somewhat in the light of a pleasant change from the ordinary -routine. - -The German prisoner is clad in his own rags, the garb an ordinary -working-man usually wears. The English prisoner is at the expense of the -Government clad in a neat white suit ornamented with a broad arrow. He -can hardly bring himself to believe that this is meant for a disgrace, -and rather admires himself I fancy in his new costume. Many many are -the tales told of the prisoner and his non-realisation of the punishment -meted out to him. Once a party of three or four were coming along a -street in Freetown, under the charge of a warder, and they stopped to -talk to someone. Then they went on again, but one of the party lingered -behind to finish his gossip. - -The warder looked back. They were still in earnest conversation. - -“No. 14,” he called, warningly. - -No. 14 paid no attention. - -“No. 14,” a little more peremptorily. - -Still No. 14 was interested in his friend. - -“No. 14,” called the warder sternly, as one who was threatening the -worst penalties of the law, “if you no come at once, I leff you, No. -14.” - -And No. 14 with the dire prospect of being “leff” to his own devices, -shut out of paradise in fact, ran to join the others. - -There is another story current in Accra about an unfortunate prisoner -who got eight months extra. He had been “leff,” and, finding himself -shut out, promptly broke into prison; what was a poor man to do? At any -rate, the authorities gave him an extra eight months, so I suspect all -parties were entirely satisfied. - -Then there was the man who was in for life, and was so thoroughly -well-behaved that after sixteen years the Government commuted his -sentence and released him. Do you think that prisoner was pleased? He -was in a most terrible state of mind, and the mournful petition went -up--What had he done to be so treated? He had served the Government -faithfully for sixteen years, and now they were turning him away for -absolutely no fault whatever. - -He prayed them to reconsider their decision and restore him to the place -he had so ably filled! - -The fact of the matter is, the negro is very much better for a strong -hand over him. He is a child, and like a child should have his hours of -labour and his hours of play apportioned to him. The firm hand is what -he requires and appreciates. What he may develop into in the future I do -not know, with his mighty strength, his fine development, and his superb -health; if he had but a mind to match it he must overrun the earth. -Luckily for us he has not as yet a mind to match it, he is a child, with -a child's wild and unrestrained desires, and like a child it is well -for him that some stronger mind should guide his ways. So he thoroughly -appreciates prison discipline, but it never occurs to him that it is any -disgrace. Even when he has reached a higher standing than that of -the peasant, it is hard to make him understand that there is anything -disgraceful in going to prison. - -Not so very long ago there was a black barrister in one of the -West-African capitals who had been home to England. He was naturally a -man of some education and standing. Now the Governor's A.D.C. had been -for some little time inspector of prisoners. There was a dinner-party at -Government House, and what was this young man's astonishment to have -his hand seized and shaken very warmly by the black barrister who was a -guest. - -“I have to thank you,” said he, “for your great kindness to my mother -while she was in prison, when I was in England last year.” - -Clearly, then, it seems that the Germans are on the right track when -they do not dress their prisoners in any special garb. If you come to -think of it, a white suit marked with a broad arrow is quite as smart -and a good deal cheaper than a red cloth marked with a blue broom, and -the black man naturally feels some pride in swaggering round in it. - -A good sound beating is of course the correct thing, and though a good -sound beating is not legal in English territory, luckily, say I very -luckily--for the negro does not understand leniency, he regards it as -a sign of weakness--it is many a time administered _sub rosa_, and the -inferior respects the kindly man who is his master, who if he do -wrong will have no hesitation in having him laid out and a round -dozen administered. If English administration was not hampered by the -well-meaning foolishness of folks at home, I venture to think that -native towns would be cleaner and West-African health would be better. -Because much as I admire the Germans and the wonderful fixed plan on -which they have built up their colony, I have known Englishmen who -could get just as good results if their hands had not been tied. And -occasionally one meets or hears of a man who will not allow his hands to -be tied. - -In a certain district by the Volta there are excellent roads much -appreciated by the natives. Now these roads were extra vile and likely -to remain so before Government could be prevailed upon to stir up the -local chiefs to a sense of their duty. But there was an officer in that -district who thoroughly understood how to deal with the black man, and -he was far enough away from headquarters to make sure of a free hand. -He found the making of those roads simple enough. He bought a few dozen -native hoes and set a sentry on the road to be made with a rifle over -his shoulder and a watch upon his wrist. His orders were to stop every -man who passed, put a hoe into his hand, and force him to work upon that -road for half an hour by the watch. History sayeth not what happened if -he rebelled, but of course he did not rebel. Once, so says rumour, this -mighty coloniser came to a place where the roads were worse than usual, -which from my experience is saying they were very bad indeed, and he -sent for the Chief. The Chief said he could not make his people come to -work--the English had destroyed his power. - -“All right,” said the energetic Englishman, “the fine is £5. If they -are not in in half an hour it'll be £10, and I'll bring 'em in in -handcuffs.” He began to collect them--with the handcuffs--but the second -fine was not necessary. They were both illegal, but, as I have said, he -was far away from headquarters, and he made those roads. The native bore -no malice. It was exactly the treatment he understood. There was a rude -justice in it. It was patent to every eye that the road was bad. It was -common sense that the man who used it should mend it, and as long as -that official was in the country there were in his district roads -and bridges as good as any in German Togo; and bridges as a rule -are conspicuous by their absence in English territory. Also, as the -Government never sends a man back to the same place, this man's good -work is all falling back into disrepair, for it is hardly to be expected -that Government will be lucky enough to get another man who will dare -set its methods at defiance. - -Lome, like Accra, has made an effort to get the better of the fierce -surf that makes landing so difficult all along the African coast, and -they, instead of a useless breakwater, have built a great bridge out -into deep water, and at the end of this bridge a large wharf pier or -quay, high above the waves, where passengers and goods can be lifted by -cranes, and the men can walk the half-mile to the shore dry-shod, or the -goods can be taken by train right to the very doors of the warehouses -for which they are intended. This cost the much less sum of £100,000. -It was highly successful, and a great source of pride to all Togo till -a tremendous hurricane a week or so after I had left, swept away the -bridge part and left Lome cut off from communication with the rest of -the coast, for so successful had this great bridge been they had no -surf boats. Still, in spite of that disaster, I think the Germans have -managed better than the English, for the bridge even after the necessary -repairs have been done will have cost scarcely £150,000, much less -than Accra's breakwater, and of course there is no necessity for the -sand-pump. - -I feel it is ungracious to abuse my own nation and not to recognise -all they have done for the negro--all they have done in the way of -colonisation, but after that journey across the little-known part of the -Gold Coast into the little-known part of German Togo, I can but see that -there is something much to be admired in the thorough German methods. -Particularly would I commend the manner in which they conserve the trees -and preserve the natural beauties of the country. A beauty-spot to them -is a beauty-spot, whether it be in the Fatherland or in remote West -Africa, while England seems indifferent if the beautiful place be not -within the narrow seas. Possibly she has no eyes; possibly she is only -calm in her self-conceit, certain of her position, while Germany is -building--building herself a reputation. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII--KETA ON THE SAND - -_The safety of the seashore--Why they do not plant trees in English -territory--The D.C.'s prayer--Quittah or Keta--The Bremen Sisters--The -value of fresh air as a preventive of fever--A polygamous household--The -Awuna people--The backsliding clerk of the Bremen Mission--Incongruity -of antimacassars and polygamy--Naming the child--“Laughing at last” - and “Not love made you”--Forms of marriage--The cost of a wife--How to -poison an enemy--Loving and dutiful children--The staple industry of the -place--Trading women--The heat of Keta._ - -Having got into Lome the question was how to get out of it. I wanted -to go to Keta, twenty-seven miles away in British territory, and my idea -was to go by sea as I could do it in three hours at the very most, and -Elder Dempster, having very kindly franked me on their steamers, it -would cost me nothing save the tips to the surf boats that landed me; -but there was one great thing against that--my hosts told me that very -often the surf was so bad it was impossible to land at Keta. The head -of Swanzy's had a man under him at Keta, and when he went to inspect he -invariably went overland. That decided me. I too must go overland. - -But carriers were by no means cheap. I had got hammock-boys to carry -me the thirty miles from Ho to Palime for two shillings, and here for -twenty-seven miles along the shore I paid my hammock-boys six shillings -and sixpence and my carriers five shillings and sixpence, so that my -pots were adding to their original price considerably. - -So on a fine, hot morning in May I was, with my train of carriers, on -the road once more. First the going was down between groves of palms by -the Governor's palace, which is a palace indeed, and must have cost a -small fortune. A very brief walk brought us to the Border, and then -the contrast was once more marked. The English villages were untidy and -filthy, with a filth that was emphasised now that I had seen what could -be done by a little method and orderliness; those Coast villages remain -in my mind as a mixture of pigs, and children, and stagnant water, and -all manner of litter and untidiness. One saving grace they had was that -they were set among the nice clean sand of the seashore that absorbed as -much as possible all the dirt and moisture, and we passed along through -groves of cocoa-nut palms that lent a certain charm and picturesqueness -to the scene. I am never lonely beside the sea; the murmur of its waves -is company, and I cannot explain it, but I am never afraid. I do not -know why, but I could not walk in a forest by myself, yet I could walk -for miles along the seashore and never fear, though I suppose many deeds -of violence have been done along these shores; but they have been done -on the sand, and the waters have swept over them, and washed all memory -of them away. - -Soon it was evident that we were travelling along almost as narrow a way -as that which led along the shore to Half Assinie. There was a lagoon on -the right hand, and the sea on the left, and the numerous villages drew -their sustenance from the sea and from the cocoa-nut palms in which they -were embowered. - -All the hot long day we travelled, and at last, towards evening, on -either side of the road, we came upon fine shade-trees of an order of -_ficus_, planted, it is hardly needful to say, by the Danes who owned -this place over thirty years ago. It makes such a wonderful difference, -this tree-planting, that I have preached it wherever I went. I met -one young D.C. who agreed with me heartily, but explained to me the -difficulties of the job in English territory. - -I had suggested they might get trees from the agricultural stations -that Government is beginning to dot over the country, and he said it was -quite possible. In fact they had planted three hundred the year before. -The place I was in was rather barren-looking, so I asked where they -were. He shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the native sheep and -goats; they are only to be distinguished by their tails, and a certain -perkiness about the goats. - -“But,” said I, surprised, “if you plant trees, you should certainly -protect them.” - -“How?” said he. - -“Barbed wire,” was my idea. - -“And where are we to get the money for barbed wire? We put cactus all -round those three hundred trees we planted, and then the medical officer -got on to us because the cactus held water and became a breeding place -for mosquitoes, and so we had to take it away, and I don't believe six -of those trees are alive now. You see it is too disheartening.” - -Another thing that is very disheartening is the fact that tours, as they -call a term of service among the English, last twelve months, and that a -man at the end of a tour goes away for five months, and very often never -again returns to the same place, so that he has no permanent interest in -its welfare. - -“Give peace in my time, oh Lord,” they declare is the prayer of the -West-African D.C., and can we wonder? A man is not likely to stir up -strife in a place if he is not going to remain long enough to show that -he has stirred it up in a good cause. Fancy a German D.C. explaining his -failure to have proper shade-trees by the fact that the native sheep and -goats had eaten them! - -The English have decided that Keta shall be called Quittah, which means -nothing at all, but the native name is, and I imagine will be for a long -time to come, Keta, which means “On the sand,” and on the sand the town -literally is. It is simply built on a narrow sand-bank between the ocean -and a great lagoon which stretches some days' journey into the interior, -and at Keta, at its widest, is never more than a quarter of a mile in -extent. - -I appealed to the D.C. for quarters, and he very kindly placed me with -the Bremen Mission Sisters, and asked me to dinner every night. I feel -I must have been an awful nuisance to that D.C., and I am most grateful -for his kindness, and still more grateful for his introduction to those -kindly mission Sisters. - -“Deaconesses” they called themselves; and they had apparently vowed -themselves to the service of the heathen as absolutely as any nun, and -wore simple little cotton dresses with white net caps. Sister Minna, who -had been out for ten long years, going home I think in that time twice, -spoke the vernacular like a native, and Sister Connie was learning it. -They kept a girls' school where some three hundred girls, ranging from -three to thirteen, learned to read, and write, and sew, and sum, and I -was introduced to quite a new phase of African life, for never before -had I been able to come so closely in touch with the native. - -Again I have to put it on record that I have absolutely no sympathy with -missionaries. I cannot see the necessity for missions to the heathen; -as yet there should be no crumbs to fall from the children's table while -the children of Europe are in such a shameful state as many of them are, -far worse than any heathen I have ever seen in Africa. But that did not -prevent me admiring very much these Sisters, especially Sister Minna. -It was a pity her services were lost to Germany, and given to these -heathen, who, I am bound to say, loved and respected her deeply. - -But Keta was hot. Never in my life have I lived in such a hot place, and -the first night they put me to sleep in their best bedroom, in which was -erected a magnificent mosquito-proof room, also the window that looked -on the back verandah was covered carefully with coloured cretonne to -ensure privacy. In spite of all their kindness I spent a terrible night; -the want of air nearly killed me, and I arose in the morning weary to -death, and begging that I might be allowed to sleep in the garden. There -there was a little more air, but the ants, tiny ones that could get -through the meshes of my mosquito curtains, walked over me and made life -unbearable. Then I put up a prayer that I might be allowed to sleep -on the verandah. The good Sisters demurred. It was, in their opinion, -rather public; but what was I to do? Sleep I felt I must get, and so -every night Grant came over and put up my camp-bed on the verandah, -or rather balcony, and every night I slept the comfortable, refreshing -sleep of the fresh-air lover, and if a storm of rain came up, as it did -not infrequently, this being the beginning of the rainy season, I simply -arose and dragged my bed inside, and waited till it was over. I admit -this had its drawbacks, but it was better than sleeping inside. The -Sisters were perpetually making remarks on my healthy colour, and -contrasting it with their own pale faces, and their not infrequent -attacks of fever with my apparent immunity, and they came to the same -conclusion that I did, that it was insured by my love of fresh air. Why -they did not do likewise I do not know, but I suspect they thought it -was not quite proper; not the first time in this world that women have -suffered from their notions of propriety. - -Under the guidance of Sister Minna I began a series of calls, visiting -first one of the head chiefs, who had about sixty wives. Some dwelt in -little houses off his compound, some were scattered over the town, and -some were away in the country. It was the first time I had really been -introduced into a polygamous household with understanding eyes, and I -went with interest. It is approaching the vital points of life from an -entirely different angle. - -The Chief received us most graciously. He was a big man, old, with a -bald head on which was a horrid red scar, got, he explained, in a big -fight. He said he was very pleased to see me, spoke for a moment to one -of his attendants, and then presented me with a couple of florins, and -wished me well. After all, that was certainly a most substantial sign of -goodwill. Then I called upon his wives, young, old, and middle-aged, -and I don't even now understand how he managed to have so many without -interfering seriously with the natural distribution of men and women. Of -course his descendants are many, and many are the complications, for I -have seen a married woman, the grand-daughter of the Chief, nursing on -her knee her little great-aunt, his daughter, and well spanking her too -if she did not come to school quick enough. - -One of his old wives had broken her leg, and we visited her; she had a -room in his house, and was lying on her bed on the floor, while beside -her sat another wife who had come to see how she was getting on. - -“If I were a wife,” said I, from the outlook of a monogamous country, “I -should not call upon another wife a man chose to take, even if she were -sick.” - -“I don't know,” said kind-hearted Sister Minna. “I have lived so long in -a country like this that I think I should. It is only kind.” - -And we went from one household to another, and were received most -graciously, and generally Sister Minna was given some small sum of money -to entertain me. Sometimes it was sixpence, sometimes it was a shilling, -sometimes it even rose as high as two shillings, and she was instructed -to buy chickens and bananas that I might be well fed. Also they can -never tell a white person's age, and many a time she was asked, because -I was short, whether I was not a child. - -Altogether I was most agreeably struck with these Awuna people, and -found there was even something to be said for the polygamous system. -I have always, from my youth upwards, admired the woman who worked and -made a place for herself in the world, and here were certainly some -of my ideals carried out, for every woman in this community was -selfsupporting for the greater part of her life, and not only did she -support herself, but her children as well. It was in fact not much of -a catch to marry a chief; of course, being a rich man, he probably gave -her a little more capital to work upon in the beginning, but she had to -pay him back, and work all the same. - -We visited another household, the home of a clerk in the Bremen Mission -Factory, a gentleman who wore a tweed suit and a high collar, and who -once had been a pillar of the mission church. He had four wives, and he -lived inside a compound with small houses round it, and his house, the -big house, on one side. Each wife had her own little home, consisting -of two rooms and a kitchen place; the wife without children was the -farthest away from him, and the last wife, just married, had a room next -his. His sitting-room was quite gorgeous, furnished European fashion -with cane chairs, and settee, coloured cushions, an ordinary lamp with -a green shade, and a rack, such as one sees on old-fashioned ships, hung -with red and green wineglasses. I don't know why I should have felt that -antimacassars and tablecloths were out of place with polygamy, but I -did, especially as the wives' houses were bare, native houses, where -the women squatted on the floor, their bedrooms were dark and dismal hot -places, with any amount of girdle beads hanging against the walls. For -clothes are but a new fashion in Keta, and the time is not far off when -a woman went clothed solely in girdle beads, and so still it is the -fashion to have many different girdle beads, though now that they wear -cloths over them they are not to be seen except upon the little girls -who still very wisely are allowed to go stark. Each woman's children, -not only in this house, but in the Chief's house, ran in and out of the -other wives' houses in very friendly fashion, and they most of them bore -English names--Grace, Rosina, and Elizabeth. And the names, when they -are not English, are very curious and well worth remembering. A couple -had been married for many years, and at last the longed-for child came. -“Laughing at last,” they called it. “Come only” is another name. “A cry -in my house”--where so long there had been silence. “Every man and his,” - meaning with pride, “this is mine, I want nothing more.” But they are -not always pleased. “God gives bad things”--a girl has been born and -they have been waiting for a boy. “A word is near my heart,” sounds -rather tender, but “I forgive you” must have another meaning, and the -child would surely not be as well loved as the one its mother called -“Sweet thing.” Then again girls do not always marry the man they love -or would choose, and they will perhaps call their child “Not love made -you,” but on the whole I think pleasant names predominate, and many a -child is called “So is God,” “God gives good things,” or merely -“Thanks.” Often too a child is called after the day of the week upon -which it is born. - -“What day were you born?” asked the Chief of me. - -“Wednesday,” I said. - -“Then your name is Aquwo,” said he. - -Marriage in a country like this has a somewhat different status -from what it does, say in England. What a woman wants most of all is -children; motherhood is the ideal, and the unmarried woman with a child -is a far more enviable person than the married woman without, and -even in this land, where motherhood is everything, there was in every -household that I visited an unhappy woman without children, because vice -has been rampant along the Coast for hundreds of years. You may know -her at once by her sad face, for not only is she deeply grieved, but -everyone despises her, as they do not despise the woman who has had a -child without being married. Of course parents prefer their daughters -to be chaste, and if a man marries what the Sister described as a “good” - girl, he will probably give her a pair of handsome bracelets to mark his -appreciation of the fact, but if on the other hand a daughter, without -being married, suddenly presents the household with an addition, they -are not more vexed than if the daughter in civilised lands failed to -pass her examination, outran her allowance, or perhaps got herself too -much talked about with the best-looking ineligible in the neighbourhood. -It is a natural thing for a girl to do, and at any rate a child is -always an asset. - -[Illustration: 0409] - -There is one binding form of marriage that is absolutely indissoluble. -If the man and woman, in the presence of witnesses, drink a drop or two -of each other's blood, nothing can part them; they are bound for ever, a -binding which tells more heavily upon the woman than the man, because -he is always free to marry as many wives as he likes, while she is bound -only to him, and whatever he does, no one, after such a ceremony, would -give her shelter should she wish to leave him. All other marriages are -quite easily dissolved, and very often the partings occasion but little -heart-burnings on either side. The great desire of everyone is children, -and once that is attained, the object of the union is accomplished, -wherefore I fancy it is very seldom couples, or rather women, take the -trouble to bind themselves so indissolubly. The most respectable form of -marriage is for a man to take a girl and seclude her with an old woman -to look after her for from five to nine months after marriage. She does -no work, but gives herself up to the luxury and enjoyment of the petted, -spoiled wife. Her brothers and sisters and her friends come and see her, -but she does not pass outside the threshold, and being thus kept from -the strong sunlight, she becomes appreciably lighter in colour, and is -of course so much the more beautiful. He may take several women after -this fashion, and all the marriages are equally binding, but of course -this means that he must have a little money. Another kind of marriage is -when the man simply gives the woman presents of cloths, and provides her -with a house. It is equally binding but is not considered so respectful; -there is something of the difference we see between the hasty -arrangement in a registry office and the solemn ceremony at St George's, -Hanover Square. - -One thing is certain, that when an Awuna man asks a girl to marry him, -she will most certainly say “No.” Formerly the parents were always -asked, and they invariably said “No,” and then the man had to ask again -and again, and to reason away their objections to him as a suitor. -Now, as women are getting freer under English rule, the girl herself -is asked, and she makes a practice of saying “No” at least two or three -times, in order to be able to tell him afterwards she did not want him. -Even after they are Christians, says Sister Minna, the women find it -very hard to give up this fiction that they do not want to marry, and -the girl finds it very difficult to say “Yes” in church. - -She likes to pretend that she does not want the man. As a rule this is, -I believe, true enough. There is no trust or love between the sexes; you -never see men and women together. A woman only wants a man in order that -she may have children, and one would do quite as well as another. - -After marriage the woman has a free time for a little. She does not have -to begin cooking her husband's meals at once, and this also holds good -after the first baby is born. A man is considered by public opinion a -great churl if he does not get somebody to wait on his wife and fetch -her water from the well at this time. After the second baby they are -not so particular, and a woman must just make her own arrangements and -manage as best she may. It is a woman's pride to bear children, and -to the man they are a source of wealth, for the boys must work for the -father for a time at least, and the girls are always sold in marriage, -for a wife costs at least five or six pounds. - -With all due deference to these kindly missionaries, I cannot think that -Christianity has made much progress, for these Awuna people have the -reputation of being great poisoners. One of the Chief's wives offered me -beer, stuff that looked and tasted like thin treacle, and she tasted it -first to show me, said the Sister, that it was quite safe; but also she -explained they insert a potent poison under the thumb nail, drink first -to show that the draft is innocuous, and then offer the gourd to the -intended victim, having just allowed the tip of the thumb nail to dip -beneath the liquid. - -The early morning is the correct time to do the most important things. -Thus if a man wants a girl in marriage he appears at her parents' house -at the uncomfortable hour of four o'clock in the morning, and asks her -hand. The morning after the Chief had given me a dash, I sent Grant -round early, not at four o'clock I fear, when in the Tropics it is quite -dark, with a box of biscuits and two boxes of chocolates and the next -morning early he sent me his ring as a sign that he had received my dash -and was pleased. If by any chance they cannot come and thank you in -the morning, they say, “To-morrow morning, when the cock crows, I shall -thank you again.” They use rather an amusing proverb for thanking; where -we should say, “I have not words to thank you,” they say, “The hen does -not thank the dunghill,” because here in these villages, where they do -not provide food for the fowls, the dunghill provides everything. Sister -Minna once received a very large present of ducks and yams from a man, -so she used this proverb in thanking him, as one he would thoroughly -understand. Quick came the response, “Oh please do not say so. I am the -hen, and you are the dunghill,” which does not sound very complimentary -translated into English. - -It was delightful staying here at the Mission House, and seeing quite -a new side of African life, seeing it as it were from the inside. Every -day at seven o'clock in the morning the little girls came to school, and -I could hear the monotonous chant of their learning, as I sat working -on the verandah. Somewhere about nine school was out and it was time for -the second breakfast. The second breakfast was provided by the little -markets that were held in the school grounds, where about a dozen women -or young girls came with food-stuffs to sell at a farthing, or a copper, -for they use either English or German money, a portion. They were rather -appetising I thought, and quite a decent little breakfast could be -bought for a penny. There were maize-meal balls fried in palm oil, -a sort of pancake also made of maize meal and eaten with a piece of -cocoa-nut, bananas, split sections of pine-apple, mangoes, little balls -of boiled rice served on a plantain leaf, and pieces of the eternal -stink-fish. Every woman appears to be a born trader, and I have seen a -little girl coming to school with a platter on her head, on which were -arranged neatly cut sections of pine-apple, She had managed to acquire -a copper or two, and began her career as a trader by selling to the -children for their school breakfast. She will continue that career into -her married life, and till she is an old old woman past all work, when -her children will look after her, for they are most dutiful children, -and Christian or heathen never neglect their parents, especially their -mother. - -Old maids of course you never see, and it is considered much more -natural, as I suppose it is, that a woman should have a child by a man -whom she has met just casually, than that she should live an old maid. -There was a good missionary woman who took a little girl into her -household and guarded her most carefully. The only time that girl was -out of her sight was once or twice a week for half an hour when she went -to fetch water from the well. Presently that girl was the mother to a -fine, lusty boy, and the missionary's wife was told and believed that -she did not know the father. He was a man she had met casually going to -the well. - -When they asked me, as they often did, how my husband was, I always -explained that he was very well, and had gone on a journey; it saved a -lot of trouble, but it amused me to find that Sister Minna, when she was -among strangers, always did the same. She explained that once on her way -to Lome she stopped her hammock and spoke to a woman. This woman brought -up a man, who asked her how her husband was, and in her innocence she -explained she had none. The man promptly asked her to marry him, and as -she demurred, the ten or twelve standing round asked her to choose -among them which man she would have for a husband. The situation was -difficult. Finally she got out of it by explaining that she was here to -care for their children, and if she had to cook her husband's dinner it -would take up too much of her time. Of course in Keta they now know -her, and appreciate her, and respect her eccentricities if they do not -understand them, but if she goes to a strange place she is careful to -hide the fact that she has not a husband somewhere in the background. It -is embarrassing to be single. - -She is a firm believer in the good that the missions are doing; I am -only a firm believer in the good that a woman like Sister Minna could -not help doing in any land. - -Keta is the place whence come all the cloths of the Guinea Coast, and -again and again in a compound, in a little, sheltered dark corner, you -may come across a man working his little loom, always a man, it is not -women's work, and often by his side another winding the yarn he will -use, and the product of their looms goes away, away to far Palime and -Kpando, and all along the Coast, and up the railway line to Kumasi, and -into the heart of the rubber country beyond. - -But here, being an enterprising people, they are beginning to do their -own weaving, and have imported, I am told, men from Keta to show them -the best way. - -[Illustration: 0417] - -I shall not soon forget Keta. If I shut my eyes I can see it now. The -bare hot sand with the burning hot sun pouring pitilessly down upon it; -the graceful cocoa-nut palms; the great _ficus_ trees that stand in rows -outside the little Danish fort that is so white that it makes your eyes -blink in the glare; the flamboyant tree, all red blossom, that grows -beside it. Some Goth of a D.C. took the guns from the walls, and stood -them upside down in the earth in a row leading down to the beach, and -subsequent Commissioners, making the best of a bad job, have painted -them carefully with tar to keep them from rusting. At the wells the -little naked girls with beads round their middles draw the water, and in -the streets, making the best of every little patch of shade, though they -have not initiate enough to plant for themselves, are the women sitting -always with some trifle to sell, early-morning porridge, or maize-meal -balls, or portions of pine-apple, or native sweets made from imported -sugar. Once I went into a chiefs house and wanted to photograph the -people at work under the shade of the central tree in the courtyard. He -sent word to say he would like to be photographed too, and as there -was nothing particularly striking or objectionable about his shirt and -trousers, I agreed. He kept me waiting till the light was almost gone, -and then he appeared in a tourist cap, a light-grey coat, a red tie, a -pink shirt, khaki breeches, violent green socks pulled up over the ends -of his breeches, and a pair of red-and-yellow carpet slippers. I -sent the plate home, but have been unable to discover that photograph -anywhere, and I think in all probability the plate could not stand him. -So I did not get the people at work. The market is held on a bare piece -of ground close to the lagoon, and whenever there is a high tide it is -half under water, and the Chief calls upon the people to bring sand from -the seashore to raise the ground, and after about six hundred calabashes -have been spilled, it looks as if someone had scattered a handful of -sand there. Indeed, though Keta has existed for many years, it looks -as if at any moment an extra high tide might break away into the lagoon -behind, and the whole teeming population, for whose being there I can -see no possible reason, might be swept into the sea. - -It was hotter in Keta than any other place I visited along the Coast, as -there are no cool sea breezes for all they are so close to the sea. -The sand-bank on which it is built runs almost north and south, and the -prevailing wind, being from the south, blows always over hot-baked sand -instead of over the cool sea. But yet I enjoyed life in that Mission -House very much. It was a new piece of the world to me, and kind Sister -Minna told me many things about the native mind. When first she came she -had tried to do without beating the children, tried to explain to them -that it was a shame that a girl should be beaten, but they would have -none of her ways. All they thought was that she was afraid of them, -the children despised her, and the school was pandemonium. Now she has -thoroughly grasped their limitations, and when a girl does wrong she -beats her, and they respect and love her, and send their children to her -to be corrected. - -“I have beaten thirty to-day,” she would say with a sigh, as we sat down -to dinner, or if we were going to the Commissioner's there was generally -one in prison who had to be released before we could go. Sometimes, if -she were specially bad, a girl was kept in prison all day and all night, -in addition to her beating. Once in the compound opposite I saw a little -stark-naked girl about thirteen stand screaming apparently without any -cause. The Sisters stood it for about half an hour, then I saw them -stealing across the road; they entered the compound, and promptly -captured the small sinner. Her aunt, who was the owner of the compound, -had apparently given her up as hopeless, and she looked on with -interest. I had thought the captive's lungs must have given out long -before, but as they crossed the road she put on a fresh spurt, and she -yelled still more heartrendingly when she was beaten. But the next -day she came trippingly along the verandah, confident, and happy, and -apparently all the better for the correction she had received the day -before. I do not know what her sin was. Probably she had not obeyed her -aunt when she told her to rub the beads. Beads are bought in strings -in Germany or England, and then every bead has to be rubbed smooth with -water on a stone. It must be a dull job, but the women and children are -largely occupied in doing it; the stones you see in every compound are -worn hollow, and the palms of the woman's hands are worn quite hard. But -it is part of a woman's education and she must do it just as a man must -do the weaving. - -[Illustration: 0421] - -The day came at last when I had to go, and I sat on the beach, -surrounded by my goods and chattels, waiting for the surf boat that was -to take me to the ship. Grant was bidding regretful farewells to the -many friends he had made, and I was bidding my kind Sisters good-bye. -Then I was hustled into a boat in a man's arms, hastily we dashed -through the surf, and presently I was on board the _Bathurst_ bound for -Addah at the mouth of the Volta River. - -[Illustration: 0425] - - - - -CHAPTER XIX--FACING DEATH - -_The Spanish nuns--One of the loneliest settlements in West -Africa--Hospitality and swamp--A capable English woman--A big future -in store for Addah--The mosquitoes of Addah--The glorious -skies--Difficulties of getting away--A tremendous tornado--The bar -steamer--The boiling bar--“We've had enough!”--Would rather be -drowned in the open--The dismantled ship--Everybody stark--The gallant -engineer--On the French steamer bound for Accra._ - -At Addah, at the mouth of the Volta, a place that exists solely for the -transport, there is the very worst surf on all this surf-bound coast. -There is a big native town a few miles up the river, but here at its -entrance live the handful of Europeans, either right on the beach or on -the banks of the river, over a mile away, with a great swamp between. -The river is wide at its mouth, and the miles of swamp lend to the -country an air at once weird and austere. - -“Enter not here,” cries the surf; “enter not here.” But when its dangers -have been dared, and the white man has set foot on the Dark Continent, -the swamp takes up the refrain in another key, more sullenly -threatening. - -“In spite of warning you have crossed the outworks. Now, see how you -like the swamp and the mosquito, the steaming heat and the blazing sun.” - And men come still, as they came three or four hundred years ago. - -But I, for one, did not much like the landing. The Captain of the -_Bathurst_ explained that he had had no intention of calling at Addah, -but hearing that there was a white woman on the beach wanting to go, he -of his courtesy had decided to take her, and he wanted to be off as he -wished to discharge cargo at Pram-Pram before it grew dark. And here, -for once, on board an African steamer I found the women passengers -largely outnumbering the men, for they had on board a number of nuns who -had been exiled from San Paul de Loanda. They were Spanish, French, and -German Sisters in the costume of their order; gentle, kindly women with -faces that bore evident marks of an indoor life in the Tropics, a mark -that cannot be mistaken. They had been very very frightened at first, -and they were still very seasick, but the sailormen had made them most -kindly welcome, for their sakes were staunch Monarchists when Portugal -was spoken of, and they brought them the captain's cat to play with, and -looked with deepest admiration on their wonderful embroidery. Never was -so much sewing before seen on an African steamer. - -I unwittingly added to their woes, for the surf was bad at Addah. - -“We'll whistle and the bar steamer will come out for you,” said the -captain, and the steamer gave vent to the most heartrending wails. - -In the distance I could see a most furious white surf, a palm or two -cutting the sky line, and a speck or two that were probably bungalows, -but it was a typical African shore and I didn't like the look of it at -all. It is bad enough to go to a place uninvited, not to know where -you are going to be put up, but when to that is added a bad surf, you -wish--well, you wish it was well over. The ship rolled sickeningly in -the swell; the Sisters, first one and then another, disappeared, to come -back with faces in all shades of green whiteness, and the ruddy-faced -captain paced the deck with an impatience that he in vain tried to -control, and I felt an unutterable brute. If I had been seasick it would -have crowned things; luckily for myself I am not given that way. At -intervals the _Bathurst_ let off shrieks, plaintive and angry, and we -went to lunch. I felt I might as well have luncheon, a luncheon to which -I really had a right. - -“You'll have to come on with us to Pram-Pram,” said the captain; “the -beach is evidently too bad.” - -But presently, after luncheon, we saw a surf boat making its way towards -us, and the captain through the glasses proclaimed, “Custom's boat. No -white man. The surf is very bad.” - -When the boat same alongside, the black Custom officer said the captain -was right. The surf was bad. They had rather hesitated about coming out, -but the bar steamer in the river could not come out till to-morrow. - -“Will you land,” said the captain, “or shall we take you on?” - -It seemed a pity to pass Addah, now I had come so near, and if the -Customs could get through I did not see why I should not, so I got into -the mammy-chair and was lowered into the surf boat with my servant and -my gear. A surf boat is about five feet deep, and this time, as no one -had expected a white woman to land, no chair had been provided, so I was -obliged to balance myself on one of the narrow planks that ran -across the boat and served as seats, and of course my feet dangled -uncomfortably. Also, as we approached it, the surf looked most -threatening. We were going straight into a furiously boiling sea with -white, foam-lashed waves that flung themselves high into the air. I did -not like the look of it at all, but as we were bound to go through it, I -whisked myself round on my seat so that I sat with my back to the thing -I was afraid of. Then the Custom-house officer, a black man, edged his -way close beside me, and stretching out his hand put it on my arm. I did -not like it. I object to being touched by black men, so I promptly shook -it off, and as promptly the boat was apparently flung crash against a -stone wall; she had really hit the beach, and over I went backwards and -head first into the bottom of the boat. The man's help had been kindly -meant; he would have held me in my place. But there is no time for -apologies when a surf boat reaches the beach. Before I had realised what -was happening, two Kroo boys had dived to the bottom of the boat, seized -me without any ceremony whatever, and raced me up to the shore, where -they put me down in all the blazing sun of an African afternoon, without -even a helmet or an umbrella to protect my head. Grant followed with the -helmet, and I endeavoured to smooth my ruffled plumes. At least, I had -landed in safety, and the thing was now to find the Commissioner and -see what he would do for me. We were on a beach where apparently was not -even a boat, only the forlorn remains of the wreck of an iron steamer -rapidly coming to its last end. The shore, rising to a height of about -six or eight feet, was all sand with a little sparse, coarse grass -upon it. We climbed up the yielding bank, and then I saw a native town, -Beachtown, on my right, and on my left three or four bungalows built -after the English fashion, on high posts rising out of cement platforms. -Those bungalows at Beachtown, Addah, are perhaps the forlornest places -on all the West-African coast. The wild surf is in front of them, the -coarse grass all around them, and behind is a great swamp. Brave, brave, -it seemed to me, must be the men and women who lived here and kept their -health. The strong sea breeze would be healthgiving, but the deadly -monotony of life must be something too terrible. But here the doctor, -who was going home by the next steamer, had his wife, and the doctor who -had just come out had brought his bride; two women, and I was told there -was a third at the transport station. The Commissioner came forward, and -I looked at him doubtfully. I had thought I should have known him and I -didn't. - -“You have forgotten me?” - -Yes; I certainly ought to know him, but--it came on me with a flash, and -I spoke my thoughts. “Ah, but you have grown a beard since I met you.” - -He laughed and blushed. - -“I've just come off trek and I've lost my razors.” - -It was so like Africa. The dishevelled woman from the sea met the -unkempt man from the bush, and we foregathered. - -They were awfully good to me. Packed they were already with two more -people than the bungalows were intended to hold, and so they considered -what they should do for me, and while they were considering, hearing -I had had luncheon, they gave me coffee and other drinks and offered -cigarettes, and then they wrote to the transport company and asked them -if they would take in a stray woman. - -The kindness of these people in Africa! Can I ever repay it? I know, of -course, I never can. The head of Swanzy's transport and his pretty wife -sent over to say they would be delighted to have me, and I was to come -at once and consider myself at home. And, moreover, they had sent a cart -for me, drawn by three Kroo boys. - -I have said many hard things about the English women in West Africa. -I had begun to think, after my visit to Accra, that only the nursing -Sisters were worthy of the name of capable women; but, when I went to -Addah, my drooping hopes revived. For I met there, in Mrs Dyson, the -transport officer's wife, a woman, charming, pretty, and young, who yet -thought it not beneath her dignity to look after her husband's house, to -see that he lived well here in the wilderness, and who enjoyed herself -and made the very best of life. - -And Addah, I must admit, takes a deal of making the best of. It has been -settled for long years. In Beachtown you may see old guns; in Big Addah, -a native town six miles up the Volta, you may see more of them lying -about the rough, uncared-for streets, and you may see here a clump of -tamarind trees that evidently mark the spot where once the fort has -been. Not one stone of it remains. The authorities say that these “old -shells of forts” are not worth preserving, and the natives have taken -them literally at their word, and incorporated the very stones in their -own buildings. - -I am sorry, for Addah at the mouth of the great river must have been a -great slaving station once; trade must have come down the river in the -past, even as it does now, as it will do, doubled and trebled, in the -future. - -The house I stayed in was close on the river, and my bedroom opened -out on to a verandah that overlooked it. In the shipbuilding yard below -perpetually rings the clang of iron on the anvil, for always there are -ships to be built or repaired; and there, grown into a great cotton tree -in that yard, may be seen the heavy chains that the slavers of oldtime -used to hold their ships to the shore. The slavers have gone, the past -is dead; but, knowing that wonderful river, I do not mind prophesying -that, in spite of that dangerous surf, in spite of those threatening -swamps, there is a big future in store for that lonely outpost of the -Empire. That sixty-five miles of unimpeded waterway that lies between -it and Akuse is not to be lightly disregarded, and the rich country goes -far beyond that. - -But, at present, there is not much to see at Addah. There is the swamp, -apparently miles of it, there is a great, wide, mangrove-fringed river, -and there are the never-to-be-forgotten mosquitoes. The mosquitoes of -Addah are the sort that make you feel you should go about armed, and -that made me feel for once that a mosquito-proof house was an actual -necessity. One thing, there is always a strong breeze blowing at Addah, -and my hostess was always very particular to have her wire-netting swept -down carefully every day so that every scrap of air that could come in -did so, and I conclude it was owing to this that I did not feel the air -so vitiated and oppressive as I have in other houses. I hope one of the -next public works of the Gold Coast will be to fill in that swamp, and -so rid the place of those terrible mosquitoes. One solace the white -people have, if there are mosquitoes, there is no undergrowth, and so -there are no tsetse flies, and they can keep horses. My hostess's two -solitary amusements--because she was a smiling, happy-faced girl she -made the best of them--were to ride along the beach and to play tennis -after it had grown cool in the evening, as it always does in Africa -before the sun goes down. And those sunsets across the swamp, too, were -something to wonder at. Purple and red and gold were they. Every night -the sun died in a glory over swamp and heath; every morning he rose -golden and red across the wide river, as if he would say that if Addah -had naught else to recommend it there was always the eternal beauty of -the skies. - -[Illustration: 0435] - -But having got there it was rather difficult to get away. - -The _Sapele_, they said, should come and take me back to Sekondi or, at -least, to Accra, but the _Sapele_ did not come, and if my hosts had not -been the kindest in the world I should have begun to feel uncomfortable. -I would gladly have gone overland, but carriers were not, even though -some of my precious pots had been broken in the surf, and so my loads -were reduced. - -But every day there was no steamer, till at last a German steamer was -signalled, and the bar steamer, a steamer of 350 tons, which usually -lay at the little wharf just outside my bedroom window alongside the -shipbuilding yard, prepared to go out. All my gear was carried down and -put on board, and then suddenly the captain appeared on the verandah and -pointed out to us two waiting women a threatening dark cloud that was -gathering all across the eastern sky. - -He shook his head, “I dare not go out till that is over.” And so we stood -and waited and watched the storm gather. - -It was a magnificent sight. The inky sky was reflected in an inky river, -an ominous hush was over everything, one felt afraid to breathe, and the -halfnaked workmen in the yard dropped their tools and fled to shelter. -The household parrot gave one loud shriek, and the harsh sound of his -call cut into the stillness like a knife. - -From the distance we could hear the roaring of the surf, as if it were -gathering strength, and then the grasses in the swamp to the west bent -before a puff of air that broke on the stillness. There was another -puff, another, and then the storm was upon us in all its spendour. -Never have I seen such a storm. Though it was only four o'clock in -the afternoon, it was dark as night, and the lightning cut across like -jagged flame, there came immediately the crash of thunder, and then a -mighty roaring wind, a wind that swept everything before it, that bent -the few trees almost to the ground, that stripped them of their leaves -as if they had been feathers shaken out of a bag, that beat the placid -river into foam, and tore great sheets of corrugated iron from the roofs -of the buildings and tossed them about the yard as if they had been so -many strips of muslin. - -The bar steamer's captain had gone at the first sign to see that his -moorings were safe, and we two women stood on the verandah and watched -the fury of the elements, while my hostess wondered where her husband -was, and hoped and prayed he was not out in it. The inky blackness was -all over the sky now, the wind was shrieking so as to deaden all other -sounds, and the only thing we could hear above it was the crash of the -thunder. And then I looked at the horizon away to the south-west. There, -about a mile away as the crow flies, was the shore, and there against -the inky darkness of the sky I could see tossed high into the air great -sheets of foam. The surf on that shore must have been terrific. I would -have given a good deal to go and see it, but, before I could make up my -mind to start, down came the rain in torrents, the horizon was blotted -out, the road through the swamp was running like a mill race, and it -looked as if it would be no light task to beat my way through wind and -rain to the shore. - -And when the storm was subsiding back came the bar steamer's captain. - -“No going out to-day,” said he; “I wouldn't dare risk the bar. Look at -the surf!” and he pointed across the swamp to where we could again see -the great white clouds of foam rising against the horizon. “To-morrow,” - he said, “very early”; and he went away, and my host, soaked through -and through, came back and told us what the storm had looked like from -Beachtown. - -The next morning was simply glorious. The world was fresh and clean -and newly washed, and the river, from my window, looked like a brightly -polished mirror. - -“It'll be a bad bar, though,” said my host, shaking his head. “Better -stay.” - -It was very kind of him, but I felt I had trespassed on their kindness -long enough; besides, there were other parts of the Coast I wished to -see, and I felt I must take this opportunity of getting out of Addah. -What was a bad bar? I had faced the surf before. So I bid them farewell, -with many grateful thanks, and went on board, and in all the glory of -the morning we set off down the river. - -I was the only white passenger on board, and was allowed to stand on the -bridge beside the wheel. Behind me was a little house wherein I might -have taken shelter, but I thought I might as well see all there was -to be seen; besides, I held my camera in my hand and proposed to take -photographs of this “bad bar.” - -The mouth of the Volta is utterly lonely looking. A long sandpit ran out -on the right hand, whereon grew a solitary bush, blighted, for there was -not a sign of a leaf upon it, and to the left was also sand, with a -few scattered palms. I fancy there must have been a native hut or two, -though I do not remember them, for I remember the captain saying, “We -have to make our own marks. When you get a hut in line with a certain -tree you know you are in the channel.” I was glad to hear there was a -channel, for to my uninitiated eyes we seemed heading for a wild waste -of boiling water, worse than anything I had ever conceived of, and yet -I was not unaccustomed to surf, and had faced it before now in a surf -boat. Never again shall I face surf with equanimity. I tried to carry -out my programme, but I fear I must have been too upset to withdraw the -slides, for I got no photographs. Presently we appeared to be right -in the middle of the swirl. The waves rose up like mountains on either -side, and towards us would come a great smooth green hill of water which -towered far above our heads and then, breaking, swept right over us with -a tremendous crash. I can see now the sunlight on that hill; it made it -look like green glass, and then, when the foam came, there were all the -colours of the rainbow. Again and again the two men at the wheel were -flung off, their cloths seemed to be ripped from them as if they had -been their shells, and the ship trembled from stem to stern and stood -still. I thought, “Is this a bad bar? I'm afraid, I'm afraid,” but as -the captain came scrambling to the wheel to take the place of the men -who had been thrown off I did not quite like to say anything. It -is extraordinary how hard it is to make one believe there really is -anything to fear, and I should hate to be a nuisance at a critical -moment, so I said to the captain--he and I and the German engineer were -the only white people on board: “It's magnificent.” - -He was holding on to the wheel by my side and a naked black man, -stripped by the ruthless water, was holding on to it on the other, and I -could see the moisture on his strained face. Was it sweat or sea water? - -“Magnificent!” said he. “Don't you see we can't stand it? We've had -enough!” - -So that was it. We were going down. At least, not exactly going down, -but the water was battering us to pieces. I learned then that what I -was afraid of was fear, for now I was not afraid. It had come, then, -I thought. This was the end of the life where sometimes I had been so -intensely happy and sometimes I had been so intensely miserable that -I had wanted to die. Not so very long ago, and now I was going to die. -Presently those waters that were soaking me through and through would -wash over me once for all and I was not even afraid. I thought nothing -for those few moments, except how strange that it was all over. I -wondered if I had better go into the little house behind me, but no, -I saw I was not in the way of the men at the wheel. I could hear the -crashing of broken wood all round me, and I thought if I were to be -drowned I would rather be drowned in the open. Why I held on to my -camera I do not know. That, I think, was purely mechanical. The waves -beat on the ship from all quarters, and so apparently held her steady, -and I might just as well hold on to the camera as to anything else. I -certainly never expected to use it again. Crash, crash, crash came the -tons of water, there was a ripping of broken wood, and a human wail that -told me that crew and black passengers had realised their danger. Crash, -crash, crash. It seemed to me the time was going very slowly, and then -suddenly the ship seemed to give a leap forward, and instead of the -waves crashing on to us we were riding over them, and the captain seized -me by the arm. - -“Come inside. You're wet to the skin.” - -“But------” - -“We're all right. But, my God, you'll never be nearer to it.” - -And then I looked around me to see the havoc that the bar had wrought. -The bulwarks were swept away, the boats were smashed, the great -crane for working cargo was smashed and useless, the galley was -swept overboard, the top of the engine-house was broken in, and, -transformation scene, every solitary creature on board that little -ship, with the exception of the captain and me, was stark. Custom-house -officers had stripped off their uniforms, clerks who had come to tally -cargo in all the glory of immaculate shirts and high-starched collars -were nude, and the black men who worked the ship had got rid of their -few rags as superfluous. Everyone had made ready to face the surf. - -“Much good would it have done 'em,” opined the captain; “no living thing -could have got ashore in that sea.” - -Then up came the chief engineer, a German; his face was scalded and his -eyes were bloodshot, and it was to him we all owed our lives. - -The waves had beaten in the top of the engine-room, and the water had -poured in till it was flush with the fires; a gauge blew out--I am -not sure if I express myself quite rightly, but the place was full of -scalding steam, and all those educated negro engineers fled, but the -white man stuck to his job. - -“I tink it finish,” said he, “when I see the water come close close to -the fires, but I say, 'well, as well dis vay as any oder,' so I stick to -do my job, an' I not see, I do it by feel.” - -And we all three shook hands, and the captain and engineer had a glass -of whisky, and though it was so early in the morning, never did I think -it was more needed. I had been but an onlooker. On them had fallen the -burden and heat of the day. - -And then came boats, bringing on board the captains of the French and -German steamers that lay in the roadstead, far out, because the surf was -so bad. - -They had been watching us. They thought we were gone, but though they -had out their boats they confessed they would have been powerless to -aid. No boat could have lived in such a sea, and the captain declared -that though he was swept bare of all food nothing would induce him to go -back. It would be certain death. - -We looked a rather forlorn wreck, but the German captain came to the -rescue with a seaman-like goodwill, lending men to work the cargo in -place of the broken-down crane, and giving food to the hungry ones. He -had come from Lome, and he brought news that the hurricane of the night -before had swept away the bridge that had been the pride and delight of -the people of Togo, and that never for many a long year had there been -such a storm along the Guinea Coast. He had been unable to get his -papers and had come away without them. He would take me if I liked, but -he must go back to Lome. - -But I was rather feeling I had had enough of the sea, and so I turned to -the Frenchman. He was just as kind and courteous. His ship was small, he -said, and he was not going to Sekondi, but I might tranship at Accra -if I liked. The captain of the bar steamer advised my going on board at -once, for his ship was in a state of confusion, and also he was going to -tranship cargo. - -Then Grant took a hand in the proceedings. Whether he had stripped I -don't know, for I did not see him, but he presented himself before me in -a very wet and damp condition. - -“Medicine chest gone, Ma.” - -Now, the medicine chest was my soldier brother's, the pride of my heart. -I had proposed to bring it back to him and show him that the only time -it had been used in this unhealthy climate was when the carrier had -inadvertantly got cascara for his pneumonia. Well, it was gone, and -there was nothing more to be said. Its pristine beauty had been lost in -the rains in Togo. Grant departed, but presently he was on the bridge -again. - -“Pots be all bruck, Ma.” - -“Oh, Grant!” I had got them so far only to lose them in the end. Grant -was like one of Job's comforters. He seemed to take a huge delight in -announcing to me fresh disasters. My things were all done up small for -carrying on men's heads, and the sea had played havoc with them. The -bucket was gone; the kettle, an old and tried servant, was gone; the -water-bottle was gone, so was the lantern; the chop box had been burst -open, and the plates and cups smashed; while the knives and forks had -been washed overboard, and the majority of my boots, for some reason -or other, had followed. After Grant had made about his tenth journey, -announcing fresh disasters, I said: - -“Oh, never mind, Grant. We must make the best of it; I'm rather -surprised we are not gone ourselves,” and with a grin he saw to the -handing of the remains of my goods into the boat, and getting them on -board the steamer. - -That steamer was tiny. I looked at the cabin assigned me, and determined -if I had to sit up all night I would not occupy it, and then I had my -precious black box brought on deck, and proceeded to count the damage. -It was locked and it was supposed to be air-tight and water-tight. I -can't say about the air-tight, but water-tight it certainly was not, for -every single thing in that box was soaked through and through. I took -them out one by one; then, as no one said me nay, I tied them on to -the taffrail, and let my garments flutter out in the breeze and the -sunshine. There were four French women on board, bound from the French -Congo to Konakri, and they took great interest and helped me with -suggestions and advice, but I must say I was glad that I was bound -for Sekondi, where my kind friend the nursing Sister was keeping fresh -garments for me. As for my poor little typewriter, it was so drenched -with water that, though I stood it out in the sun, I foresaw its career -in West Africa was over. - -As the sun was setting, came on board the captain of the bar steamer to -bid me God-speed. We had never met till the day before, but that morning -we had faced death together, and it made a bond. - -“Go back to-night?” said he; “not if I know it. Not for a week, if that -surf doesn't go down. I couldn't face it.” - -I wanted him to stay and dine, because I knew he had nothing, but he -told me how good the German had been, and said he did not like leaving -his own ship after dark; so we said “good-bye” with, I hope, mutual -respect, and, after dinner, I began to consider how I should spend the -night. I knew my own bedding must be rather wet, but I knew, also, the -camp-bed would be all right, and I told Grant to bring it up on deck and -make it up with bedding from the Frenchman's bunk. - -“They no give you cabin, Ma,” said he, surprised. - -Nothing would induce a child of Nature to sleep in the open as long as -he can find any sort of a cuddy-hole to stew in. I was a little afraid -of what the French captain might say, but he took my eccentricity calmly -enough. - -“Ah, zat your bed? Ah, zat is good idea”; and left me to a night rolling -beneath the stars, when I tossed and dreamed and woke with a start, -thinking that the great green hills of water were about to overwhelm me; -and as about twenty times more terrified of the dream than I had been of -the reality. - -Next morning found us outside Accra, a long way outside, because the -surf was bad, and I found to my dismay there was no mail in yet, and I -must land, for there was no cargo for the _Gergovia_, and she wanted to -go on her way. - -I found the landing terrible. I can frankly say I have never been so -frightened, and I had no nerve left to stand up against the fear. But it -was done. I saw my friend in Accra, and again recounted with delight my -travels. For the first time I began to feel I had done something, and I -felt it still more when the people in Schenk & Barber's, a great trading -firm, held up their hands and declared that I had done a wonderful thing -to cross by Krobo Hill at night. I had done well, then, I kept saying -to myself, I had accomplished something; but I must admit I was most -utterly done. When the mail steamer arrived, the port officer made it -his business to see me off to the ship himself; we were drenched to -the skin as we rounded the breakwater, and I was so nervous when the -mammy-chair came dangling overhead from the ship's deck, that I hear he -reported I was the worst traveller he had ever been on board with. Then, -in addition to my woes, instead of being able to sit and chat and tell -my adventures comfortably to the friends I met, I was, for the first -time for many a long year, most violently seasick. - -But, when I went to bed, I slept dreamlessly, and when I awakened we -were rising to the swell outside Sekondi, and I felt that even if I had -to face the surf again I should be among friends presently, and there -was a feeling of satisfaction in the thought that I had at least seen -something of the most beautiful river in the world, and some unknown -country in the east of the Colony. - -Always there is that in life, for, good or evil, nothing can take -away what we have done. We have it with us, good or bad, for ever. Not -Omnipotence can alter the past. - - - - -CHAPTER XX--WITH A COMPANION - -_The kindness of Sekondi--Swanzy's to the rescue--A journey -to Dixcove--With a nursing Sister--The rainy season and wet -feet--Engineering a steep hill in the dark--Rains and brilliant -fireflies--The P.W.D. man's taste in colours--The need of a woman in -West Africa--Crossing the Whin River--My fresh-air theory confirmed._ - -Sekondi, from the nursing Sister outwards, was as it always has been, -awfully good to me, and I felt as if I were come home. I had the kindest -offers of help from all sides, and the railway company took my damaged -goods in hand and did their level best to repair damages. I was -bound for the goldfields and Ashanti, but I had still uneasily in my -remembrance that little bit of coast to the west of Sekondi that I had -left unvisited. If I had not written so much already about the carrier -difficulties, I might really write a book, that to me would be quite -interesting, about that day's journey to Dixcove. Swanzy's transport -came to the rescue and provided me with carriers, a most kindly gift, -for which I am for ever grateful, and I took with me a young nursing -Sister who was anxious to see something of bush travel. - -There is always a fascination about the shore, the palm trees and the -yellow sand and the blue sky and bluer sea, but now the difficulties -were being added to daily and hourly, because it was the beginning of -the rainy season, and all the little rivers had “broken out,” and to -cross from one bank to another when a river is flooded, even if it is -only a little one, is as a rule no easy matter. To my great amusement I -found my companion had a great objection to getting her feet wet. I am -afraid I laughed most unsympathetically. - -[Illustration: 0450] - -“You can't,” I decided, and I fear she thought me a brute, “travel in -the rainy season in Africa and hope to keep dry”; and I exhorted her -not to mind if the water were up to her ankles, but to wade through. She -brought home to me difficulties of travel that I had never thought of -before. It had never occurred to me to worry as to whether I was likely -to get wet before; a little water or a little discomfort never seemed -to matter. The seat of the canoe I was sitting in broke and let me down -into the waist-deep puddle of water in the bottom, and somehow it seemed -a less thing to me than that her feet should get wet did to her. She -was a nice, good-looking girl, pleasant and smiling, but I decided that -never again as long as I lived would I travel with another woman. I know -my own shortcomings, but I never know where another woman will break -out. - -And we went along that coast, where, two hundred years ago, quaint, -gossipy old Bosman had found so much of beauty and interest. Tacorady -Fort was deserted in his day. It is overgrown and forgotten now. Boutry -is on a high hill, the place of the old fort only marked by a thick -clump of trees, dark-green against the sky line; but it was getting dark -when we reached Boutry, there was a river to cross, and I was obsessed -with a sense of my responsibilities, such as I had never felt when I had -only my own skin to look after, and I was very thankful that a doctor -who was going to Dixcove had overtaken us. If I damaged my -travelling companion in any way, I felt that he at least could share -responsibility. We crossed the river, and the darkness fell, pitchy, -black darkness; it rained in a businesslike way as it does in the -Tropics, and there was a high hill to climb. It was a very steep hill, -with a very shocking track that did duty as a road, and my companion -expressed her utter inability to get up it. I was perfectly sure that -our Kroo hammock-boys could never get us up it, and I was inclined to -despair; then that doctor came to our aid. He had four Mendi boys, -the best carriers on the Coast, and we put them on to my companion's -hammock, and gaily she went off. She knew nothing of the dangers of the -way. I did, but I did not feel it necessary to enlighten her. I don't -know what the doctor did, but I put on my Burberry and instructed two of -my carriers that they must help me over the road. It was a road. When -I came back over it in the light, three days later, I wondered how -on earth we had tackled it in the dark; still more did I wonder how a -heavily laden hammock--for she was a strapping young woman, a good deal -bigger than I am--had been engineered up and down it. But Mendi carriers -are wonderful, and there was a certain charm in walking there in the -night. When the rain stopped, the fireflies came out, and the gloom -beneath the trees was lightened by thousands of brilliant sparks of -fire. I don't know whether fireflies are more brilliant after rain, -but I remember them most distinctly on those two wet nights when I was -travelling, once on my way to Dixcove and once on the way to Palime. - -Up the hill we went and down the hill, along the sands, across the -shallows of a river just breaking out--and the lantern light gleamed -wetly on the sand--through little sleepy villages and across more -hilly country, and at last, just as the moon was rising stormily in the -clouded sky, we were opposite a long flight of wide steps, and knew we -had reached Dixcove. - -There was one white man, a P.W.D. man, in Dixcove, and a surprised -man was he. Actually, two women had come out of the night and flung -themselves upon him. Of course, we had brought servants and provisions -and beds, so it was only a question of providing quarters. Now I smile -when I think of it. We crossed the courtyard, we climbed the stairs, we -entered the modern house that was built on top of the little fort, and -out of a sort of whirlpool a modified disorder emerged, when we -found ourselves, two men and two women, by the light of a fluttering, -chimneyless Hinkson lamp, all assembled in the room that two camp-beds -proclaimed the women's bedroom, and we all partook of a little whisky to -warm ourselves while we waited for dinner. The P.W.D. man was fluttered -and, I think, pleased, for at least our coming broke the monotony, and -the nursing Sister undertook the commissariat and interviewed his cook. -Altogether we made a cheerful little week-end party in that romote -corner of the earth, and when it rained, as rain it did most of the -time, we played bridge as if we had been in London. - -Dixcove is a pretty little place, literally a cove, and the fort is -built on high ground on a neck of land that forms the head of the cove. -Round it grow many orange groves, and altogether it is a desirable and -delightful spot, but it must be very lonely for the only white man who -was there. He had just repainted the bungalow on top of the fort, and -whether he had used up the odds and ends of paints, or whether this was -his taste, or whether he had desired something to cheer him, or whether -he was actuated by the same spirit that seems to move impressionist -painters, I do not know, but when I got up next morning and walked on -the bastion, that bungalow fairly took my breath away. It was painted -whole-heartedly a violent Reckitt's blue; the uprights and the other -posts that criss-crossed across it were a bright vivid green, and they -were all picked out in pink. There was the little white fort set in the -midst of tropical greenery, everything beautiful, with the bungalow on -top setting the discordant note. It was pitiful, but at the same time -the effect was so comic that the nursing Sister and I laughed till we -cried, and then our host came out and could not understand what we -were laughing about. We came to the charitable conclusion he must be -colour-blind. - -[Illustration: 0456] - -The two men wanted us to stay. They said it was more comfortable, and -when I compared the luncheon the doctor gave us to the meals we had when -I provided the eatables and the nursing Sister gave her attention to -the cuisine, I must say I agreed with them, and resolved once again to -proclaim the absolute necessity for having women in West Africa. But she -had to go back to her work, and I had to go on my travels, and so, like -the general who marched his army up the hill and marched it down again, -presently I was on my way back. And not a moment too soon. It was -raining when we started, and our host and the doctor pressed us to stay, -but I had not been on the Coast all this time without knowing very well -what that rain would mean. The rivers that had been trickles when we -set out would be roaring torrents now, and I knew in a little time they -would be impassable; then the only thing would be to go back to Sekondi -by surf boat, and I had had enough of the surf to last me for many a -long day. Besides, our provisions were getting low. We started early; we -had less to carry, for we had eaten most of the provisions, and we had -more men, for we brought back most of the doctor's following, but still -it took us all we knew to get across those rivers, and the Whin River -was nearly too much for us. It had been bad when we came, now the sea -was racing across the sands, the flooded, muddy water of the river was -rushing to meet it, and the two black men who were working a surf -boat as a ferry came and asked an exorbitant sum to take us across. -My headman demurred and said we wouldn't go. I left it to him, and the -bargaining was conducted in the usual slatternly Coast English at the -top of their voices. I must confess, as my companion and I sat on the -sand and watched the wild waters, I wondered what we would do if we did -not cross, for Dixcove was fully fourteen miles behind us. Down came the -price by slow degrees, in approved fashion, till at last it appeared -I, my companion, our goods, chattels, hammocks, and our followers, -numbering fully twenty men, were to be taken across for the sum of two -shillings and sixpence. I sent the gear first, and then some of the men, -and finally the nursing Sister and I went. Unfortunately there was not -room in the boat for the two last men, and I could not help being amused -when the ferryman came to be paid, and the men all clustered round -vehemently demanding that I should do no such thing till their two -companions were also brought over. Not a scrap of faith had they in the -ferryman keeping his word, so I had to sit down on the sand among the -short, coarse grass and the long stalks of the wandering bean, and -wait till those two men were fetched, when I paid up, and we went on to -Sekondi. - -The journey was short; it is hardly worth recording, hardly worth -remembering, but for those wonderful fireflies, and for another thing -that bears strongly on my theory regarding health in West Africa. - -The nursing Sister I took with me was a tall, goodlooking girl, -considerably younger than I am, and she looked as if she ought to have -been very much stronger. She had barely been on the Coast a short three -months, but she had already had one or two goes of fever, a thing I have -never had, and she did not like it. She was very careful of herself, -and she abominated the climate. At night I noticed she shut herself away -from all chance of draughts, drawing curtains and shutting doors so as -to insure herself against chill. When we started on our journey she -was not well, “the climate was not agreeing with her,” and they were -beginning to think she “could not stand it.” We spent a day in the open -and we got somewhat wet. When night came we shared a room and she wanted -to close, at least, a shutter. Partly that was to have privacy and -partly to keep away draughts. Then I brutally put down my foot. - -I considered it dangerous to be shut in in Africa, and as I was -engineering that expedition I thought I ought to have my way. One thing -I did not insist upon, I did not have the windows open all round, but -I had them wide on two sides, so that a thorough draught might blow -through the room. My bed I put right in it, but I allowed her to put -hers in the most sheltered part of the room she could find, and, of -course, I could not prevent her wrapping her head in a blanket. - -She put in those two nights in fear and trembling, I know, but she went -back to Sekondi in far better health than she had left it. That she -acknowledged herself, but she does not like Africa; the charm of it had -passed her by, and I wonder very much if she will complete her term of -service. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI--THE WEST-AFRICAN GOLDFIELDS - -_A first adventure--Tarkwa--Once more Swanzy to the rescue--Women -thoroughly contented, independent, and well-to-do--The agricultural -wealth of the land--The best bungalow in West Africa--Crusade against -the trees--Burnt in the furnaces--Prestea--The sick women--A ghastly -hill--Eduaprim--A capable fellow-countrywoman--“Dollying” for -gold--Obuasi--Beautiful gardens--75 per cent.--The sensible African -snail._ - -I was born and brought up on the goldfields. My first adventure--I -don't remember it--was when my nurse, a strapping young emigrant from -the Emerald Isle, lost me and herself upon the ranges, and the camp -turned out to search, lest the warden's precious baby and her remarkably -pretty nurse should spend an unhappy night in the bush. As a small -girl, I watched the men wash the gold in their cradles, and I dirtied -my pinafore when the rain turned the mullock heaps into slimy mud. As I -grew older, I escorted strangers from the Old Country who wanted to go -down the deep mines of Ballarat. I watched, perforce, the fluctuations -of the share market, and men who knew told me that the rise and fall -had very often nothing whatever to do with the output of gold; so that -I grew up with the firmly fixed idea--it is still rather firmly -fixed--that the most uninteresting industry in the world was goldmining. - -Wherefore was I not a bit keen on going to the gold mines of West -Africa, and I only went to Tarkwa because I felt it would never do to -come away not having seen an industry which I am told is going up by -leaps and bounds. The question was, where could I go for quarters? -There are no hotels as yet, and once more I am deeply indebted to Messrs -Swanzy and their agent in the mining centre of the Gold Coast. He put me -up and entertained me right royally, and not only did he show me round -Tarkwa, but he saw to it that I should have every chance to see some of -the other mines, Prestea and Eduaprim. - -[Illustration: 0464] - -Tarkwa is set in what we in Australia should call a gully, and the high -hills rise up on either side, while the road, along which straggles the -European town, runs at the bottom of the gully. For there are several -towns in Tarkwa. There is the European town where are all the stores, -the railway station, and the houses of the Government officials, and -in this town there is some attempt at beautifying the place; some trees -have been planted along the roadside, grass grows on the hillsides, -whether by the grace of God or the grace of the town council I know not, -and round most of the bungalows there is generally a sort of garden, and -notably in one or two, where there are white women who have accompanied -their husbands, quite promising beginnings of tropical gardens. - -There is the native town, bare and ugly, without a scrap of green, just -streets cutting each other at right angles, and small houses, roofed -with corrugated iron or thatch, and holding a teeming and mixed -population that the mines gather together, and then every mine has its -own village for its workers; for the labour difficulty has reached quite -an acute stage in the goldfields, and the mines often import labour from -the north, which they install in little villages, that are known by the -name of the mine where the men work, and are generally ruled over by a -white officer appointed by the mine. These villages, too, are about -as bare and ugly as anything well could be that is surrounded by the -glorious green hills and has the blue sky of Africa over it. - -Tarkwa gives the impression of a busy, thriving centre; trains rush -along the gully and the hills echo their shrill whistles, the roadways -are thronged with people, and the stores set out their goods in that -open fashion that is half-eastern, so that the hesitating buyer may -hesitate no longer but buy the richest thing in sight. In all my travels -I never saw such gorgeously arrayed mammies as here. The black ladies' -cloths, their blouses, and the silken kerchiefs with which they covered -their heads, all gave the impression of having been carefully studied, -and my host assured me they had. Many of them are rich, and in this -comfortable country they are all of them self-supporting wives. -They sell their wares, or march about the streets, happy, contented, -important people, very sure of themselves. Let no one run away with the -impression that these women are in any way down-trodden. They look very -much the reverse. We may not approve of polygamy, but I am bound to -say these women of Tarkwa were no down-trodden slaves. They looked like -women who had exactly what they wanted, and, curiously enough whenever I -think of thoroughly contented, thoroughly independent, well-to-do women, -I think of those women in the goldmining centre of West Africa. - -My host told me they spent, comparatively speaking, enormous sums on -their personal adornment, were exceedingly particular as to the shade -and pattern of their cloths, and were decided that everything, cloth, -blouse, and head kerchief, should tone properly. They lay in a large -store of clothes too, and when Mr Crockett wrote the other day of “The -Lady of the Hundred Dresses,” he might have been thinking of one of -these Fanti women. The reason of this prosperity is of course easy to -trace. The negro does not like working underground, for which few people -I think will blame him, therefore high wages have to be paid, and -these high wages have to be spent, and are spent lavishly, much to the -advantage of these women traders. - -[Illustration: 0468] - -Because Tarkwa is a great centre of industry, Government have very -wisely made it one of their agricultural stations, and there, set on -a hill, and running down into rich alluvial flats, are gardens wherein -grow many of the plants that will in the future contribute largely to -the industrial development of the Colony. There is a rubber plantation, -a great grove of dark trees already in bearing, plantations of bananas, -pine-apples, hemp, and palm trees, and the director, set in his lonely -little bungalow on the hilltop, rejoices over the wealth and fertility -of the land, which he declares is not in her gold, but in her -agricultural products which as yet we are but dimly realising, and then -he mourns openly because the Government will not let him bring out his -wife. “She would be ready to start in an hour if I might send for her,” - he sighed, “and I would want nothing more. But I mayn't. Oh, think of -the dreary days. And I could work so much better if she were here. I -should want nothing else.” - -And I sympathised. Think of the dreary days for him, and the still more -dreary days for her, for at least he has his work. It would surely I -think pay the Government to give a bonus to the woman who proved that -she could see her year out without complaint, and who was to her husband -what a woman ought to be, a help and a comfort. - -Another thing in Tarkwa I shall never forget is Messrs Swanzy's -bungalow, where I stayed for nearly a fortnight. My host had -superintended the building of it himself, and it was ideal for a -West-African bungalow. It was built of cement raised on arches above the -ground; floors and walls were of cement. There was a very wide verandah -that served as a sitting-room and dining-room, and the bedrooms, though -they were divided from each other by stout walls of cement, were only -shut off from the verandah by Venetian screens that could be folded -right away. They did not begin till a foot above the floor, and ended -six feet above it, consequently there was always a thorough draught of -air, and Messrs Swanzy's bungalow at Tarkwa is about the only house I -know in West Africa where one can sleep with as much comfort as if in -the open air. Needless to say, they are not so foolish as to go in for -mosquito-proof netting. They keep the mosquitoes down by keeping the -place round neat and tidy, and though the verandah is enclosed with -glass, it is done in such fashion that the windows may be thrown right -open and do not hinder the free passage of air. Flies and mosquitoes -there were, but that, when I was there, was attributed to the presence -of the town rubbish tip on the next vacant allotment, and my host hoped -to get it taken away. Why the Government had a town rubbish tip close to -the handsomest bungalow in the Colony, I do not pretend to say. It was -just one of those things that are always striking you as incongruous in -West Africa. My host used to fret and fume at every evil fly that came -through his windows, and, when I left, was threatening to stand a gang -of Hausas round that tip with orders to kick anyone who desired to -deposit any more rubbish there. - -[Illustration: 0472] - -It is hardly necessary to say there had been at the same time a great -crusade against the trees in Tarkwa. But a short time ago the whole -place had been dense forest, very difficult to work, and after the usual -fashion of the English everyone set to work to demolish the forest trees -as if they were the greatest enemies to civilisation. The mines, of -course, I believe burn something like a hundred trees a day, and the -softwood trees are no good to them. What their furnaces require are -the splendid mahogany, the still harder kaku, a beautiful wood that is -harder than anything but iron, and indeed any good hard-wood tree; the -worth of the wood is no business of theirs. They consider the wealth of -Africa lies beneath the soil, and they must get it out; wherefore -into their furnaces goes everything burnable, even though the figured -mahogany may be worth £1 a foot, and the tree be worth £1000. It is a -pity, it is a grievous pity, but Tarkwa is certainly prosperous, and I -suppose one cannot make omelettes, and look for chickens. Only I cannot -help remembering that never in our time, nor in our children's time, -nor their children's time, will the hills of Tarkwa be covered with such -trees as she has ruthlessly consigned to the flames. Even the soft-wood -trees such as the cotton, that might have added beauty to the slopes, -have gone because an energetic doctor waged war upon them as shelterers -of the mosquito, and the hill-sides lie in the blazing sun for close on -twelve hours of a tropical day. Oh for a sensible, artistic German to -come and see to the beautifying of Tarkwa, for never saw I a place that -could lend itself more readily to the hand of an artist. - -But if Tarkwa is being ruthlessly treated, what shall I say of beautiful -Prestea, which lies but a short railway journey right away in the heart -of the hills. Prestea is a great mine, so large that the whole of the -one hundred and eighty white people who make up the white town are -employed upon it. It is so hilly that there are hardly any paths, and -the people seem to move about on trolleys, winding in and out of the -hills, and, it was reported once, one of the unhealthiest places in -West Africa. The doctor very kindly gave me hospitality, and we promptly -agreed to disagree on every subject. I hate to be ungracious to people -who have been kind to me, but with all the will in the world I have to -keep my own opinion, and my opinion was diametrically opposed to the -doctor's. The nursing Sister who ran the hospital, a nice-looking, -capable, sensible Scotch woman, whom it did my heart good to meet, was -one of the few I have met who put the sickness of the average English -woman in West Africa down to the same causes as I did. - -“They come from a class who have nothing to think of, and when they have -nothing to do they naturally fall sick,” said she. “Every woman on this -camp has been sent home this year.” - -I debated with her whether I should give my opinion of the climate to -the world in my book. It meant I was up against every doctor in the -place, who ought to know better than I, a stranger, and a sojourner. - -“If you don't,” said she, “someone else will come along presently and do -it.” - -That decided me. I am doing it. - -[Illustration: 0476] - -This nursing Sister, while she had to have the hospital mosquito-proof, -in deference to the doctor's opinion, sternly declined to have any such -abomination anywhere near her little bungalow, and so the cool, fresh -night air blew in through her great windows, and we had an extensive -view of the glorious hillsides, all clothed in emerald green, and if a -clammy white mist wrapped us close when we waked in the early morning so -that we could not see beyond our own verandahs, the rolling away of that -mist was a gorgeous sight, ever to be remembered. - -Needless to say, the doctor's house was carefully enclosed in -mosquito-proof wire, and I dined in an oppressive atmosphere that nearly -drove me distracted. The bungalow was set high on a hilltop, in the -middle of a garden that should one day be beautiful, but he has of -course cut down every native tree, and owing to the mosquito-proof wire -we got no benefit from the cool breeze that was blowing outside. He took -me to see the new native village he was building, a place that left an -impression of corrugated iron and hard-baked clay. Trees, of course, and -all vegetation were taboo, but I am bound in justice to say that the -old village, a place teeming with inhabitants, drawn from all corners of -West Africa, attracted by the lust for gold, was just as bare and ugly, -and a good deal more unkempt. - -He took me out, and pointed out to me the principal hill in the centre -of Prestea, on which are the mining manager's and other officials' -houses, and he pointed it out with pride. - -“There's a nice clean hill for you.” - -The sun glared down fiercely on corrugated-iron roofs, the soil of the -hill looked like a raw, red scar, and there was not so much as a blade -of grass to be seen. I did not wonder that the unfortunate women of -Prestea had gone home sick if they had been compelled to live in such a -place. - -I said, “It's a horrible place. I never saw a beautiful place more -utterly spoiled.” - -He looked at me with surprise, and his surprise was thoroughly genuine. -“Why, what's the matter? It's nice and clean.” - -I pointed to the beautiful hills all round. - -“Mosquitoes,” said he, with a little snort for my ignorance. - -“But you want some shade?” - -He shook his head doubtfully. - -“You can't have trees. The boys would leave pots under them. Breeding -places for mosquitoes.” - -He was my host, so I did not like to say all I felt. - -“I'd rather die of fever than sunstroke any day,” was the way it finally -came out. - -“My dear lady,” he said judicially, as one who was correcting a -long-standing error, “no one dies of fever in Africa.” - -“Exactly what I always maintain,” said I; “you, with your ghastly hills -are arranging for them to die of sunstroke.” - -But he only reiterated that they could not have the trees, because -the boys would leave pots and pans under them, and so turn them into -mosquito traps. Personally, I didn't arrive at the logic of that, -because it has never seemed to me to require trees for boys to leave -pots about. The theory was, I suppose, that they would not walk out -into the hot sun, while they might be tempted to do work and make litter -under shade-trees. And again I did not wonder that there were no women -save the nursing Sister in Prestea. To live on that hill and keep one's -health would have been next door to impossible. - -“It doesn't matter,” said the doctor, “we don't want women in West -Africa. I keep my wife at home. It isn't a white man's country.” - -[Illustration: 0480] - -But I'm bound to say that they very often arrange it shall not be a -white man's and emphatically not a white woman's country. It suits -somebody's plan that the country should have an evil reputation. - -Goldfields, too, must never be judged in the same category as one judges -the ordinary settlements in a country. When I was a tiny child I learned -to discriminate, and to know that “diggers” must not be judged by -the rules that guide the conduct of ordinary men. The population of a -goldfield are a wild and reckless lot, and they lead wild and utterly -reckless lives, and die in places where other people manage to live -happily enough. - -When the gold first “broke out” in Victoria, my father was Gold -Commissioner on the Buckland River, among the mountains in the -north-eastern district, and I have heard him tell how the men used to -die like flies of “colonial” fever, and the theory was that there was -some emanation from the dense vegetation that was all around them. -Nowadays the Buckland is one of the healthiest spots in a very healthy -country, and no one ever gets fever of any sort there. Now I do not wish -to say that West Africa is one of the healthiest countries in the world, -but I do say that men very very often work their own undoing. - -“You should see Tarkwa,” said a man to me, who was much of my way of -thinking, “when an alcoholic wave has passed over it!” - -Eduaprim was another mine I went to see from Tarkwa. But it was in -direct contrast to Prestea, though it too was in the heart of the forest -country. No railway led to it; I had to go by hammock, and so I got my -first taste of forest travelling, and enjoyed it immensely. - -It is a solitary mine about nine miles from Tarkwa, and I started off -early in the morning, and noticed as I went that the industry is, for -good or ill, clearing the forests of West Africa, opening up the dark -places, even as it did in my country over fifty years ago. Along the -hillsides we went to Eduaprim, past mines and clearings for mining -villages; sometimes the road was cut, a narrow track on the side of -the hill, with the land rising up on one side and falling sheer on the -other, sometimes a little river had to be bridged, and the road went on -tunnel-like through the forest that must disappear before the furnaces, -but at last I arrived at the top of the hill, and on it, commanding -a wonderful view over the surrounding country, stood a bungalow, in a -garden that looked over the tops of range upon range of high hills. I -saw a storm come sweeping across the country, break and divide at the -hilltop upon which I stood, and pass on, veiling the green hills in -mist, which rolled away from the hills behind, leaving them smiling and -washed and clean under a blue sky. If for no other sight than that, that -journey into the hills was worth making. - -[Illustration: 0484] - -The wife of the manager of the mine was a fellow-countrywoman of mine. -She liked West Africa, kept her health there, and felt towards it very -much as I did. No one likes great heat. The unchanging temperature is -rather difficult to bear for one unaccustomed to it, but she thought it -might be managed by a woman interested in her work and her husband, and -as for the other discomforts--like me, she smiled at them. “The people -who grumble should live in Australia,” said she, “and do their own -work, cooking, washing, scrubbing. Do it for a week with the temperature -averaging 100 degrees in the shade, and they wouldn't grumble at West -Africa, and wouldn't dream of being sick.” And yet this contented woman -must have led a very lonely life. Some wandering man connected with the -mines, or a stray Commissioner, would come to see her occasionally, and -the news of the world would come on men's heads from Tarkwa. And, of -course, I suppose there was always the mine, which was her husband's -livelihood. They took me into the bush behind the bungalow and showed me -a great mahogany tree they had cut down, and then they showed me what -I had seen many and many a time in my life before, but never in -Africa--men washing the sand for gold. They were “dollying” it first, -that is crushing the hard stone in iron vessels and then washing it, and -the “show,” I could see for myself, was very good. - -I lingered in Eduaprim; the charm of talking with a woman who found joy -in making a home in the wilderness was not to be lightly foregone, and I -only went when I remembered that it was the rainy season, the roads were -bad, and Tarkwa was away over those forbidding hills. - -And from Tarkwa I went up the line to Obuasi. - -This railway line that runs from Sekondi to Kumasi, the capital of -Ashanti, is a wonderful specimen of its class. Every day sees some -improvement made, but, being a reasonable being, I cannot help -wondering what sort of engineers laid it out. It presents no engineering -difficulties, but it was extremely costly, and meanders round and round -like a corkscrew. They are engaged now in straightening it, but still -they say that when the guard wants a light for his pipe all he has to -do is to lean out of his van and get it from the engine. It was laid -through dense forest, but the forest is going rapidly, the trees being -used up for fuel. In the early days, too, these trees were a menace, for -again and again, when a fierce tornado swept across the land, the line -would be blocked by fallen trees, a casualty that grows less and less -frequent as the forest recedes. When first the line was opened they tell -me all passengers were notified that they must bring food and -bedding, as the company could not guarantee their being taken to their -destination. There is also the story of the distracted but pious negro -station-master, who telegraphed to headquarters, “Train lost, but by -God's help hope to find it.” It is a single line of 168 miles, so I -conclude his trust in the Deity was not misplaced. - -Obuasi, on the borders of Ashanti, is the great mine of West Africa, -a mine that pays, I think, something like 75 per cent, on its original -shares, and even at their present value pays 12 per cent. It is enough -to set everyone looking for gold in West Africa. - -And like Prestea, Obuasi is the mine, and the mine only. There are, -I think, between eighty and one hundred white men, all, save the few -Government officials and storekeepers, in some way or another connected -with the mine, and the place at night looks like a jewel set in the -midst of the hills, for it is lighted by electricity. Every comfort of -civilisation seems to be here, save and except the white woman, who is -conspicuous by her absence. “We want no white women,” seems to be the -general opinion; an opinion, I deeply regret to say, warranted by my -experience of the average English woman who goes to West Africa. - -[Illustration: 0488] - -The place is all hill and valley, European bungalows built on the hills, -embowered generally in charming gardens such as one sees seldom in the -Colony, and the native villages--for there are about five thousand black -men on the books of the mine--in the valleys. There are miles of little -tramway railways too, handling about 35,000 tons a month, more, they -tell me, than the Government railway does, and the mine pays Government -a royalty of £25,000 a year. - -Obuasi is a fascinating, beautiful place; I should have liked to have -spent a month there, but it is not savagery. It is as civilised in many -ways as London itself. I stayed in the mining manager's bungalow, and am -very grateful to him for his hospitality, and the manager's bungalow is -a most palatial place, set on the top of a high hill in the midst of -a beautiful garden. Palm and mango and grape-fruit trees, flamboyant, -palms, dahlias, corallita, crotons, and roses, the most beautiful roses -in the world, red, white, yellow, pink, everywhere; a perfect glory of -roses is his garden, and the view from the verandah is delightful. His -wide and spacious rooms are panelled with the most beautiful native -woods, and looking at it with the eyes of a passer-by, I could see -nothing but interest in the life of the man who had put in a year there. -He will object strongly, I know, to my writing in praise of anything -West-African, and say what can I know about it in a brief tour. True -enough, what can I know? But at least I have seen many lands, and I am -capable of making comparisons. - -Every man I met here pointed out to me the evils of life in Africa. - -“You make the very worst of it,” said I, and proceeded to tell the story -of a bridge party in a Coast town that began at three o'clock on Friday -afternoon and ended up at ten o'clock on Monday morning. - -“And if those men have fever,” said I, feeling I had clinched my -argument, “they will set it down to the beastly climate.” - -“So it is,” said my opponent emphatically; “we could always do that sort -of thing in Buluwayo.” - -I thereby got the deepest respect for the climate of Buluwayo, and -a most doubtful estimate of the character of the pioneer Englishman. -Perhaps I look on these things with a woman's narrow outlook, but I'm -not a bit sorry for the men who cannot dissipate without paying for it -in Africa. I heartily wish them plenty of fever. - -The manager took me on a trolley along one of these little lines, right -away into the hills. This was a new form of progression. A seat for two -people was fixed on a platform and pushed along the line, uphill or on -the flat, by three or four negroes, and fairly flew by its own weight -downhill. It was a delightful mode of progression, and as we flew along, -Xi my host, while pointing out the sights, endeavoured to convert me, -not to the faith that West Africa was unfit for the white woman, that -would have been impossible, but that the mining industry was a very -great one and most useful to the Colony. And here he succeeded. - -[Illustration: 0492] - -I admired the forests and regretted their going, but he showed me the -farms that had taken their place. Bananas and maize and cassada, said he -truly enough, were far more valuable to the people than the great, dark -forests they had cleared away--ten people could live now where one had -lived before; and so we rolled on till we came to the Justice mine, -where all the hillside seemed to be worked, a mine that has been paying -£10,000 a month for the last three years. Truly, it is a wonderful -place, that Obuasi mine with its nine shafts, an industry in the heart -of savage Africa. They pay £11,000 a week in wages, and when I was -thinking how closely in touch it was with civilisation, the manager told -me how the chiefs had just raised a great agitation against the mine -because it worked on Friday, their sacred day. They complained that the -snails were so shocked at this act of sacrilege that they were actually -leaving the district. Now the snails in Ashanti are very important -people, boundaries are always calculated with reference to them, and if -a chief can prove that his men are in the habit of gathering snails over -a certain area, it is proof positive that he holds jurisdiction over -that land. That the snails should leave the district shocked would be -a national calamity. The African snail looks like an enormous whelk, he -haunts the Ashanti forest, and is at his best just at the commencement -of the rains, when he begins to grow fat and succulent, but is not yet -too gross and slimy. He is hunted for assiduously, and all along the -forest paths may be seen men, laden with sticks on which are impaled -snails drawn from their shells, dried, and smoked. Luckily also these -African snails appear to be very sensible, and when it was put to them -that the mines could not possibly stop working on a Friday, but a small -monetary tribute would be paid to them regularly through the principal -chief, they amiably consented at once to stay and meet their final end, -as a self-respecting snail should, by impalement on a stick. - -[Illustration: 0497] - - - - -CHAPTER XXII--A NEW TRADING CENTRE - -_The siege of Kumasi--The Governor in 1900--The rebellion--The -friendlies under the walls of the fort--The Ashanti warrior of ten years -ago and the trader of to-day--The chances of the people in the fort--The -retreat--The gallant men who conducted it--The men who were left -behind--The rescue--Kumasi of to-day--The trade that comes to Kumasi as -the trade of Britain came to London in the days of Augustus--The Chief -Commissioner--The men needed to rule West Africa._ - -And when I had been to Obuasi nothing remained but to go up the line -and see Kumasi and go as far beyond as the time at my disposal would -allow. - -I wonder if English-speaking people have forgotten yet the siege of -Kumasi. For me, I shall never forget, and it stands out specially in -my mind because I know some of the actors, and now I have seen the fort -where the little tragedy took place; for, put it what way you will, it -was a tragedy, for though the principals escaped, some with well-merited -honour, the minor actors died, died like flies, and no man knoweth even -their names. - -It was dark when I reached Kumasi and got out on to the platform and was -met by the kind cantonment magistrate, put into a hammock, and carried -up to the fort, and was there received by the Chief Commissioner and his -pretty bride, one of the two white women who make Kumasi their home, I -had seen many forts, old forts along the Coast, but this fort was put -up in 1896, and in 1900 its inmates were fighting for their lives. In -it were shut up the Governor, his wife, two or three unfortunate Basel -missionary women, a handful of troops, and all the other white people in -the place. Standing on the verandah overlooking the town to-day, with -a piano playing soft music and a dining-table within reach set out with -damask and cut-glass and flowers and silver, it is hard to believe that -those times are only ten years back. I have heard men talk of those -days, and they are reticent; there are always things it seems they think -they had better not tell, and I gather that the then Governor was not -very much beloved, and that no one put much faith in him. The rebellion -started somewhere to the north, and by the time it reached Kumasi it was -too late to fly, for it was a good eight days' hard march to the Coast -through dense forest. The nearest possible safety outside that fort lay -beyond the River Prah, at least three or four days' march away. Every -white man and many of the black who were not Ashantis had taken refuge -in the fort, which was crowded to suffocation, and outside, in front -of the fort, camped the friendlies, safe to a certain extent under the -white man's guns, but dying slowly because the white man could not give -what he had not got himself--food; and here they died, died of disease -and hunger and wounds, and the reek of their dying poisoned the air so -that the white man, starving behind his high walls of cement, was like -to have his end accelerated by those who stood by him. - -And out beyond, where the English town now stands, with broad streets -planted with palms and mangoes and _ficus_, were the encampments of -fierce Ashanti warriors, their cloths wound round their middles, their -hair brushed fiercely back from their foreheads, their powder-flasks and -bullet-bags slung across their shoulders, and their long Danes in their -hands, the locks carefully covered with a shield of pigskin. The same -man, very often the very same individual, walks about the streets of -Kumasi to-day, and if he wears a tourist cap and a shirt, torn, ragged, -and dirty, he is at least a peaceful citizen, and ten years hence he -will probably, like the Creoles in Sierra Leone, be talking of “going -home.” But it was ghastly in the fort then. It was small and it was -crowded to suffocation. The nearest help was at Cape Coast, nigh on 200 -miles away, and between lay the dense forest that no man lightly dared. -The Ashanti too was the warrior of the Coast, and the difficulty was -even to get carriers who would help to move a force against him. Shut -up in the fort there they looked out and waited for help and waited for -death that ever seemed coming closer and closer. - -Kumasi is set in a hollow, and round it, pressing in on every side, was -the great forest. Away to the south went the road to Cape Coast, but it -was but a track kept open with the greatest difficulty, and hidden in -the depths of the forest on either hand were these same warriors. Truly -the chances of the people in the fort seemed small, small indeed. And -day after day passed and there was no sign of help. Provisions were -getting low, ammunition was running short, and from the Ashanti no mercy -could be expected. It was war to the death. Any man or woman who fell -into their hands could expect nothing but torture. I gather that his -advisers would have had the Governor start for the Coast at once on the -outbreak of hostilities, but he could not make up his mind, and lingered -and lingered, hoping for the help that did not, that could not come. -No one has ever had a word of praise for that Governor, though very -gallantly the men under him came out of it. Starvation and death stared -them all in the face; the gallant little garrison, heavily handicapped -as it was, could certainly hold out but little longer, and the penalty -of conquest was death--death, ghastly and horrible. - -At last the Governor gave in and they started, a forlorn little company, -for the River Prah, which had generally set a bound to Ashanti raids. -The Governor's wife was carried in a hammock, but the Basel missionary -women, who had escaped with only the clothes they stood up in, walked, -for the hammock-boys were too weak to carry them, and they had to -tramp through mud and swamp. The soldiers did their best to protect the -forlorn company, the friendlies crowded after, a tumultuous, disorderly -crew fleeing before their enemies, and those same enemies hung on their -flanks, scrambled through the forest, ruthlessly cut off any stragglers, -and poured volleys from their long Danes into the retreating company. -Knowing the forest, I wonder that one man ever escaped alive to tell the -tale; that the principal actors did, only shows that the Ashanti was -not the practised warrior the Coast had always counted him. Had those -Ashantis been the lean Pathan from the hills of northern India, not a -solitary man would have lived to tell the tale, and the retreat from -Kumasi would have taken its place with some of those pitiful stories of -the Afghan Border. But one thing the Ashanti is not, he is not a good -marksman. He blazes away with his long Dane, content to make a terrific -row without making quite sure that every bullet has reached its billet. -And so, thanks to the bad marksmanship of the Ashantis, that little -company got through. - -But let no man think I am in any way disparaging the men who fought -here, who by their gallantry brought the Governor and his wife through. -Major Armitage and his comrades were brave men of whom England may well -be proud, men worthy to take their places beside Blake and Hawkins and -all the gallant Britons whose names are inscribed on the roll of fame; -they fought against desperate odds, they were cruelly hampered by the -helpless people under their care, and they stuck beside them, though by -so doing they risked not only death, but death by ghastly torture. Some -of them died, some of them got through--they are with us still, young -men, men in the prime of life--and when we tell our children tales -of the way England won her colonies, we may well tell how that little -company left the fort of Kumasi, every man who was wise with cyanide of -potassium in his pocket, and fought his way down to the Prah. - -But even though they went south they were not going to abandon Kumasi, -which had been won at the cost of so much blood, and in that fort were -left behind three white men and a company of native soldiers. All in -good time the relief must come, and till then they must hold it. - -A verandah hangs round the fort nowadays that the piping times of peace -have come, but still upstairs in the rooms above are the platforms -for the gun-carriages, and I climbed up on them and walked along the -verandahs and wondered how those men must have felt who had looked out -from the self-same place ten years ago. If no help came, if waiting were -unduly prolonged, they would die, die like rats in a hole, and the men -in their companies were dying daily. They were faithful, those dark -soldiers of the Empire, but they were dying, dying of disease and -hunger, and their officers could not help them, for were they not slowly -dying themselves? Rumours there were of the relief force, but they were -only rumours, and the spectres of disease and starvation grew daily. -Could they hold out? Could they hold out? The tale has been told again -and again, and will probably be told yet again in English story, and at -last when they had well-nigh given up to despair they heard the sound -of English guns, so different from the explosions of the long Danes, -and presently there was the call of the bugles, and out into the open -trotted a little fox terrier, the advance guard of the men who had come -to save Kumasi. - -And now the change. Kumasi has a train from the coast port of Sekondi -every day, it has a population that exceeds that of the capital of the -Gold Coast itself, every day the forest is receding and in the streets -are growing up great buildings that mark only the beginning of a trade -that is already making the wise wonder how it was when wealth lay on the -ground for the picking up, England, who had it all within her grasp, was -amiable enough to allow the greater portion of this wonderful land to -fall to the lot of the French and Germans. - -The forest used to close Kumasi in on every side. It is set in a hollow, -and the tall trees and luxuriant green in the days that I have just -spoken of threatened to overwhelm it. Now that sensation has passed -away. Whatever Kumasi may be in the future, to-day it is a busy centre -of life and trade. Where the fetish tree stood, the ground beneath its -branches soaked with human blood and strewn with human bones, is now the -centre of the town where the great buildings of the merchant princes -of West Africa are rising. They are fine, but they are a blot on the -landscape for all that. The nation that prides itself on being the -colonising nation of the earth never makes any preparation for the -expansion of its territory or the growth of its trade, so here in this -conquered country, bought at the cost of so much sweat and blood, -the authorities are allowing to go up, in the very heart of the town -buildings, very handsome buildings without doubt, so close together that -in a tropical land where fresh air is life itself they are preparing to -take toll of the health of the unfortunates who will have to dwell and -work there. But beyond that one grave mistake Kumasi promises to be a -very pretty place as well as a very important one. Its wide, red roads, -smooth and well-kept, are planted with trees, mangoes and palms; its -bungalows are set well apart, surrounded by trees and shrubs and lawns, -their red-brown roofs and verandahs toning picturesquely with the -prevailing green. - -[Illustration:0507] - -Curious it is when one thinks of its history to see the white painted -sign-posts on which are recorded the names of the streets. There is -“Kingsway” for one, and “Stewart-avenue,” after the man who deeply loved -the country, for another, and there are at least two great roads that -lead away to the fruitful country in the north, roads that push their -way through the dense forest and must even compel the admiration of our -friends the Germans, those champion road-makers. And down those roads -comes all the wonderful trade of Kumasi, not as the trade of London, of -course, but as the trade of London was, perhaps, when Augustus ruled at -Rome. The trade of the world comes to London nowadays, the trade of -the back-country came to London then, and so does the trade of all the -country round come to the Ashanti capital. Its streets are thronged with -all manner of peoples, dark, of course, for the ruling whites are but -an inconsiderable handful, and only the Chief Commissioner and one -missionary have been daring enough to bring their wives. - -Ashanti is a conquered country, and it seems to me it has got just -the right sort of Government, a Government most exactly suited to the -requirements of the negro in his present state of advancement. What a -negro community requires is a benevolent despotism, but as a rule the -British Government, with its feeling for the rights of the individual, -does not see its way to give it such a Government. But Ashanti was -conquered at great cost, wherefore as yet England has still to think of -the rights of the white men who dwell there as against the rights of -the black man, and the result to me, an onlooker, appears to be most -satisfactory for both white and black. Of course, such a Government -requires to administrate not only excellent men, not only honest and -trustworthy men, but men who have the interests of the country at heart, -and who devote themselves to it, and such men she has got in the Chief -Commissioner, Mr Fuller, and the subordinates chosen by him. Only an -onlooker am I, a woman, a passer-by, but as a passer-by I could not but -be struck by the difference between the feeling in the Gold Coast Colony -and the feeling in Ashanti. The whole tone of thought was different. -Everywhere on the Gold Coast men met me with the question, “What did -I think of this poisonous country? Wasn't it a rotten place?” and they -seemed bitterly disappointed if I did not confirm their worst blame. - -[Illustration: 0511] - -But in Ashanti it was different. The very clerks in the mercantile -houses had some good word to say for the country, and were anxious that -I should appreciate it and speak well of it, and this I can but set down -to the example and guidance of such men as the Chief Commissioner and -the men he chooses to serve under him. Had the rest of West Africa -always had such broad-minded, clever, interested men at the head of -affairs, I think we should have heard a great deal less about its -unhealthiness and a great deal more about the productiveness of the -country. Since I have seen German methods I am more than thankful that -I have been to Ashanti and learned that my own country is quite equal -to doing as well, if not beating them at their own methods. The Ashanti -himself, the truculent warrior of ten years ago, has under the paternal -and sympathetic Government of this Chief Commissioner become a man of -peace. If he has not beaten his long Dane gun into a ploughshare he has -at least taken very kindly to trade and is pleased, nay eager that the -white man should dwell in his country. He stalks about Kumasi in his -brightly coloured, toga-like cloth still, very sure that he is a man -of great importance among the tribes, and his chiefs march through the -streets in chairs on men's heads, with tom-toms beating, immense gaily -coloured umbrellas twirling, their silken' cloths a brilliant spot in -the brilliant sunshine, their rich gold ornaments marking them off from -the common herd, and all their people who are not Christian still give -them unquestioned devotion. But Kumasi, as I said, is the centre of a -great trade, and the native town, which is alongside but quite apart -from the European town, is packed with shops, shops that are really very -much in the nature of stalls, for there are no fronts to them, and the -goods are exposed to the street, where all manner of things that are -attractive to the native are set out. - -And here one gathers what is attractive to the native. First and -foremost, perhaps, are the necessities of life, the things that the -white man has made absolute necessaries. First among them, I think, -would be kerosene and bread, so everywhere, in market-place and shop, or -even just outside a house, you may see ordinary wine and whisky bottles -full of kerosene, and rows and rows of loaves of bread. Then there comes -men's clothing--hideous shirts and uglier trousers, tourist caps that -are the last cry in hooliganism, and boots, buttoned and shiny, that -would make an angel weep. Alas! and alas! The Ashanti in his native -state, very sure of himself, has a certain dignity about him even as -must have had the old Roman. You might not have liked the old Roman, -probably you would not unless he chose to make himself pleasant, but you -could not but recognise the fact that he was no nonentity, and so it -is with the Ashanti till he puts on European garments. Then how are the -mighty fallen! for like all negroes, in the garb of civilisation, he -is commonplace when he is not grotesque. What they are to wear I cannot -say, but the better-class among them seem to realise this, for I have -often heard it said, not only in Ashanti but in other parts of the -Coast: “The Chief may not wear European clothes.” - -[Illustration: 0515] - -And beside clothes in the native shops are hurricane lanterns, ordinary -cheap kerosene lamps, and sewing machines which the men work far more -often then the women, accordions, mouth harmoniums, and cotton goods -in the strange and weird patterns that Manchester thinks most likely -to attract the native eye. I have seen brooms and brushes and dustpans -printed in brilliant purple on a blue ground, and I have seen the -outspread fingers of a great hand in scarlet on a black ground. But -mostly there is nothing of very great interest in these shops, -just European goods of the commonest, cheapest description supplied -apparently with the view of educating the native eye in all that is -ugliest and most reprehensible in civilisation. - -There are horses in Kumasi, for the forest and undergrowth have been -cleared away sufficiently to destroy the tsetse fly, and so most -evenings, when the heat of the day has passed, the Chief Commissioner -and his wife go for a ride, and on occasions many of the soldiermen play -polo and hold race-meetings, but as yet there is no wheeled traffic -in the streets. Most of the goods are carried on men's heads, and the -roadways are crowded. There are women with loads on their heads and -generally children on their backs, walking as if the world belonged -to them, though in truth they are little better than their husbands' -slaves. There are soldiers all in khaki, with little green caps like -condensed fezes, lor the place is a great military camp and the black -soldier swaggers through the street; there are policemen in blue -uniforms with red fezes, their feet bare like those of the soldiers, and -their legs bound in dark-blue putties; and there are black men from all -corners of West Africa. There are the Kroo boys, those labourers of -the Coast, with the dark-blue freedom mark tattooed on their foreheads, -never carrying anything on their heads, but pushing and pulling heavily -laden carts, in gangs that vary from four to a dozen, and their -clothing is the cast-off clothing of the white man; there are Hausas and -Wangaras, than whom no man can carry heavier loads, and they wear not -a flowing cloth like the Ashanti, but a long, shirt-like garment not -unlike the smock of the country labourer. It is narrower and longer, but -is usually decorated with the same elaborate needlework about the neck -and shoulders; if their legs are not bare they wear Arab trousers, full -above and tight about their feet, and the flapping of their heelless -slippers makes a clack-clack as they walk. There are Yorubas, dressed -much the same, only with little caps like a child's Dutch bonnet, and -there are even men from the far north, with blue turbans and the lower -part of their faces veiled. Far beyond the dense forest lies their home, -away possibly in French territory, but the trade is coming to this new -city of the Batouri, and they wander down with the cattle or horses. For -all the cattle and horses come down through the forest, driven hastily -and fast because of the deadly tsetse, and many must perish by the -way. A herd of the humped, long-horned cattle come wearily through the -streets. Whatever they may have been once, there is no spirit left in -them now, for they have come down that long road from the north; they -have fed sparely by the way, and they are destined for the feeding of -the population that are swarming into Kumasi to work the mines in the -south. - -[Illustration: 0519] - -Three towns are here in Kumasi: the European quarter, the Ashanti town, -and the Mohammedan town or _zonga_. Here all the carrying trade that is -not done by Government is arranged for--by a woman. Here the houses are -small and unattractive, nondescript native huts built by people who are -only sojourners in the land, come but to make money, ready to return to -their own land in the north the moment it is made. And they sit by the -roadside with little things to sell. Food-stuffs often, balls of kenki -white as snow, yams and cassada, which is the root of which we make -tapioca, cobs of Indian corn, and, of course, stink-fish that comes -all the way from the Coast and is highly prized as a food, and does not -appear to induce ptomaine poisoning in African stomachs. Some of these -dainties are set out on brass trays made in Birmingham; others on wooden -platters and on plates delicately woven in various patterns of grass -dyed in many colours. But most things they have they are ready to sell, -for the negro has great trading instincts, and that trading instinct it -is that has made him so easy to hold once he is conquered. - -Kumasi is peaceful enough now, and the only reminder of the bad days of -ten years back is the fort just above the native town, but it looks down -now across a smooth green lawn, on which are some great, shady trees, -where chiefs assembled whom I photographed. One was a great fetish chief -with gold ornaments upon his head and upon his feet, and knowledge -of enough magic, had this been the fifteenth century instead of the -twentieth, to drive the white man and all his following back to the sea -from whence he came; but it is the twentieth, and he is wise enough to -know it, and he flings all the weight of his authority into the scales -with the British raj. But at the gate of the fort still stands a guard -of black soldiers in all the glory of scarlet and yellow which stands -for gold, for the Chief Commissioner lives here, and in a land where a -chief is of such importance it is necessary to keep up a certain amount -of state, and the Chief Commissioner ruling over this country and -receiving obeisance from the chiefs, clad in their gorgeous silken -cloths, laden with golden jewellery, men looked up to by their followers -as half-divine, must feel something like a Roman proconsul of old -carrying the eagles into savage lands, and yet allowing those savages -as far as possible to govern themselves by their own laws. Africa has -always been the unknown land, but now at last the light is being let -into dark places, the French have regenerated Dahomey, and the railway -comes to Kumasi. I sat on that verandah and thought of the old days that -were only ten years back, and learned much from the Commissioner, and I -felt that civilisation was coming by leaps and bounds to Ashanti, and -if it be true, as old tradition has it, that a house to be firmly built -must have a living man beneath its foundation stone, then must the -future of Kumasi be assured, for its foundations were well and truly -laid in rivers of human blood. - -[Illustration: 0523] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII--IN THE HEART OF THE RUBBER COUNTRY - -_Bound for Sunyani--The awe-inspiring-forest--The road through the -forest--The people upon that road--Ofinsu and an Ashanti house--Rather a -public bedroom--Potsikrom--A night of fear--Sandflies--Attractive black -babies--A great show at Bechem--A most important person--The Hausa -who went in fear of his life--Coronation night at Tanosu--A teetotal -party--The medical officer's views on trees--Beyond the road--Sunyani._ - -I talked to the Commissioner, and those talks with him made me want to -go somewhere out into the wilds. Kumasi was beginning to look strangely -civilised to me. It was a great trading-centre, and presently it would -be as well known, it seemed to me, as Alexandria or Cairo, or at the -other end of the Continent, Buluwayo. I should like to have gone into -the Northern Territories, but the rainy season was upon us, and if that -did not daunt me--and it would not have done so--I had to consider the -time. I ought to be back in London. I had intended to be away for six -months, and now it was close on eight since I had come out of the mouth -of the Mersey. - -“Go to Sunyani,” said the Chief Commissioner, “and go on to Odumase, -where the rising began at the beginning of the century. You will be the -first white woman to go there, and I think you will find it worth your -while.” - -So I interviewed the head of the transport service, and by his kindness -was supplied with seventeen carriers, and one hot day in June started -north. - -They had doubts, these kind friends of mine, about my capabilities as a -traveller, at least they feared that something might happen to me while -I was in their country, and they told me that a medical officer was -starting north for Sunyam that day and would go with me. - -I looked up the medical officer and found him in the midst of packages -that he was taking with him beyond civilisation to last for a year. He -was most courteous, but it seemed to me that he felt the presence of a -woman a responsibility, and I was so sure of myself, hated to be counted -a nuisance, that when he said he had intended to go only as far as Sansu -that night, I expressed my intention of going on to Ofinsu, and hinted -that he might catch me up next morning if he could. - -So by myself I set out into the heart of the rubber country north of -Kumasi. I was fairly beyond civilisation now. Ten years ago this country -was in open rebellion against English rule, and even now there are no -European stores there; there is no bread, no kerosene, no gin--those -first necessities of an oncoming civilisation; it was simply the wild -heart of the rubber country, unchanged for hundreds of years. It has -been known, but it has not been lightly visited. It has been a country -to be shunned and talked of with bated breath as “the land of darkness.” - The desert might be dared, the surf might be ventured, the black man -might be defied, but the gloom of the forest the white man feared and -entered not except upon compulsion. The Nile has given up its secrets, -the Sahara yields to cultivation, but still in Africa are there places -where the all-conquering white man is dwarfed, and one of them is the -great forest that lies north of the capital of Ashanti. - -[Illustration: 0527] - -Here we know not the meaning of the word forest. England's forests -are delightful woods where the deer dwell in peace, where the rabbits -scutter through the fern and undergrowth, and where the children may go -for a summer's holiday; in Australia are trees close-growing and tall; -but in West Africa the forest has a life and being of its own. It is -not a thing of yesterday or of ten years back or of fifty years. Those -mighty trees that dwarf all other trees in the world have taken hundreds -of years to their growth. When a slight young girl came to the throne of -England, capturing a nation's chivalry by her youth and innocence, the -mahogany and kaku and odoum trees were old and staid monarchs of the -forest. When the first of the Georges came over from Hanover, unwelcome, -but the nation's last hope, they were young and slim but already tall -trees stretching up their crowns to the brilliant sunlight that is above -the gloom, and now at last, when the fifth of that name reigns over -them, at last is their sanctuary invaded and the seclusion that is -theirs shall be theirs no longer. For already the axe is laid to their -roots, and through the awe-inspiring forest runs a narrow roadway kept -clear by what must be almost superhuman labour, and along that roadway, -the beginning of the end, the sign that marks the peaceful conquest of -the savage, that marks also the downfall of the forest though it is not -even whispered among the trees that scorn them yet, flows a perpetual -stream of traffic, men, women, and children. Backwards and forwards from -the north to Kumasi and the sea they come, and they bear on their heads, -going north, corrugated iron and cotton goods, kerosene, and flour, and -chairs, all the trifles that the advance of civilisation makes absolute -necessaries; and coming down they bring all in their season, hides, and -heavy cakes of rubber, and sticks of dried snails, and all the other -articles of native produce that a certain peace has made marketable -along the way or in the markets of Kumasi. - -The spell was upon me the moment I left the town. That road is like -nothing else in the world. The hammock and the carriers were dwarfed by -the great roots and buttresses of the trees to tiny, crawling ants, -and overhead was a narrow strip of blue sky where the sunlight might -be seen, but only at noon did that sunlight reach the roadway below. We -travelled in a shadow pleasant in that heat; and on either side, close -on either side, were the great trees. Looking down the road I could see -them straight as a die, tall pillars, white and brown; ahead of me and -close at hand the mighty buttresses that supported those pillars rose up -to the height of perhaps ten men before the tree was fairly started, a -tall trunk with branches that began to spread, it seemed to me, hundreds -of feet above the ground. And between those tree-trunks was all manner -of undergrowth, and all were bound and matted together with thickly -growing creepers and vines. It was impossible to step an inch from that -cleared path. There would be no getting lost in the bush, for it would -be almost impossible for the unpractised hand to get into the bush. -There is nothing to be seen but the brown, winding roadway, the dense -green of the undergrowth, and the trunks of the trees tall and straight -as Nelson's column and brown or white against the prevailing green. -And there are all shades of green, from that so pale that it is almost -golden to that so dark it is almost black, but never a flower breaks the -monotony, the monotony that is not monotony but dignity, and the flowers -of an English spring or an autumn in Australia would but cheapen the -forest of the Gold Coast. There must have been orchids, for sometimes -as I passed their rich, sensuous smell would come to my nostrils, but I -only knew they were there by my sense of smell just as sometimes I smelt -a strong smell of mice, and knew, though I could not see them, that -somewhere in the depths of the gloom were hidden away a great colony of -fruitarian bats that would not come out into the daylight. - -[Illustration: 0531] - -When there was a village there was, of course, a clearing, and on the -first day I passed several villages until at last I came to Ofinsu, -where I had arranged to spend the night. Ofinsu is on the banks of a -river, and the road comes out of the forest and passes broadly between -two rows of mud-walled houses with steeply pitched, high-thatched roofs, -and my carriers raced along and stopped opposite a small wooden door in -a mud wall and rapped hard. - -For the first time on my travels I had really excellent carriers. They -were Krepis from beyond the German border, slight, dark men with slim -wrists and ankles, and crosses cut as tribal marks on each cheek, and -they were cheerful, smiling, willing. When I remembered my before-time -tribulations I could hardly believe these were actually carriers who -were going along so steadily and well, who were always up before me in -the morning, and in as soon as I was at night, who never lingered, never -grumbled, never complained, but were simply ideal servants such as I had -never had before in my life save perhaps for a day, as when I went to -Palime from Ho, and such as I shall count myself extremely lucky if I -ever have again. - -“We _have_ got good carriers,” the transport officer had said, “though -you don't seem to believe it”; and he proved his words, for never have -I travelled more comfortably than I did on that one hundred and sixty -miles to Sunyani and back. - -The knocking at the little door brought a black lady with a shaven head -and a blue cloth wrapped round her middle. She was a woman past all -beauty, and very little was left to the imagination, but she threw open -the door and indicated that we were to enter, and she looked at me very -curiously. Never before had a white woman come to Ofinsu. - -I entered, and this was my first introduction to an Ashanti house, a -house that seems to me singularly suited to the climate and people. It -is passing away, they tell me, and I for one am sorry. - -We went into a courtyard open to the sky, and round it, raised at least -two feet from the ground, were the rooms, I suppose I must call them, -but though there was a roof overhead and walls on three sides, walls -without windows, the fourth side was open to the central courtyard. When -I entered the place was crowded; Hausas or Wangaras--I never could -tell one from the other--were settled down on the platforms, and their -loads--long bundles made up for carrying on the head--were all over the -place. I said nothing. I am generally for the superiority of the white -man and exact all the deference that is my due, but clearly these people -were here first, and it seemed to me they had it by right, only how I -was to bathe and sleep in a house where everything was so public among -such a crowd I did not know. - -[Illustration: 0535] - -But my hostess had other views. No sooner had I entered than she began -clearing out the former guests, and in less than a quarter of an hour -the place that had seemed so crowded was empty, swept and garnished for -my accommodation. My bed was put up on one platform, my table and -chair on another. “Get table quick and chair, so can play cards,” Grant -instructed my headman, and behind, through a little door that may be -seen in the picture, was a place that answered for a kitchen, and a cup -of tea was quickly produced for my comfort. It was weird going to sleep -there in the open, but it was very, very delightful. I rigged up in the -corner of one of the rooms--I have no other names for them--with ground -sheet and rugs, a little shelter where I could have my bath in comfort, -but I undressed without a qualm and went to bed and slept the sleep of -the woman who has been in the open air the livelong day and who, happily -for herself, can indulge her taste and sleep in the open air all night. - -I took a picture of my open-air bedroom with my valuable headman and -two small children who belonged to the household I had invaded in the -foreground. But that was before I went to bed at night. At earliest -dawn, before the dawn in fact, my headman was at my bedside wanting to -pack up and start. - -That night's lodging cost me one shilling and threepence. The headman -told me one shilling was enough, so I bestowed the extra threepence as -a dash on the shaven old woman who had done all for me that my servants -could not do, and she seemed so delighted that I was left wondering what -the Wan-garas who had given place to me had paid. - -Just as the sun was rising we crossed the Ofin River, and I found there -assembled the entire population of the village to look at the strange -sight--a perfectly courteous, polite people who never crushed or crowded -though they looked their fill. I can only hope I was a success as a -show, for certainly I attracted a great deal of attention, but of course -I had no means of knowing whether I came up to expectations. It took -some time to get my goods and followers across the river in the crank -canoe which is only used in the rainy season, for usually the Ofin River -can be waded, and while I waited on the farther shore I looked with -interest at the other people who were waiting for their loads to be -ferried across. - -The men were Hausas or Wangaras, some wearing turbans, some with shaven -heads, and clad in long, straight, shirt-like garments, while the women -excited my deepest compassion. They may have been the men's wives, I -know not; but by whatever name they were called they were slaves if ever -I saw slaves. They had very little on besides a dirty, earthen-coloured -cloth hitched round their loins, their dark faces were brutalised and -depressed with that speechless depression that hardly realises its own -woes, and their dusty hair that looked as if it had not been washed for -years was generally twisted into short, thick, dusty looking plaits -that were pressed downwards by the weight of the load they one and all -carried. They carried children, too, on their backs, tiny babies that -must have been born on the journey, or lusty youngsters that were a -load in themselves. But a Hausa will carry an enormous load -himself--sometimes up to 240 lbs.--so it is not likely he will have -much consideration for his women. It may be, of course, that their looks -belied them, but it seemed to me that they cared little whether Fate -drowned them there in the swirling brown waters of the river or brought -them safely through to the other side to tramp on, footsore, tired, -weary, heartsick--if these creatures who looked like dumb beasts had -life enough in them to be heartsick--to their destination three months -away in the north. - -[Illustration: 0539] - -They waited there as I passed, and they looked at me dully and without -interest; presently their loads would be brought across and they would -be on the march again, and I went on pitying to Potsikrom. - -The forest was getting denser and denser. There were fewer towns and -clearings on this day--nothing but the great trees and the narrow -ribbon of road with the strip of blue sky far, far away. It was very -awe-inspiring, the forest. I should have been unspeakably terrified -to pass through it alone, but my chattering men took away all sense of -loneliness. There was not much to see, but yet the eternal trees had a -most wonderful charm. It was like being in some lofty cathedral where -the very air was pulsating with the thought of great and unseen things -beyond the comprehension of the puny mortals who dared rashly to venture -within the precincts. No wonder the Ashanti gave human sacrifices. -Sacrifice, we all know, is the basis of all faith, and what lesser thing -than a man could be offered in so great a sanctuary? - -And that afternoon we came to Potsikrom, a little village deep in the -forest. - -The rest-house was a mud building with a thatch roof somewhat -dilapidated, and built not after the comfortable, suitable Ashanti -fashion, but after the European fashion, possibly in deference to some -foolish European who probably regarded all the country as “poisonous.” - That is to say, it was divided into two rooms with holes in the clay, -very small holes for windows, and, saving grace, a door at each side of -one of the rooms. In the corner of one of these impossible rooms I saw, -to my surprise, a camp-bed put up, and for the moment thought it was -mine. Then I saw a suit of striped pyjamas which certainly were not -mine, and realised it must belong to the medical officer whom I had -left at Kumasi the day before. His boys had stolen a march ahead, and, -thinking to do better than the white woman, had put up his bed in -what they considered the most desirable place, thinking doubtless that -possession was nine points of the law. - -I certainly didn't desire that corner, but I felt my authority must be -maintained, and so I asked: - -“Who that bed belong to?” - -“Massa,” said a grinning boy. - -“Take it down,” said I. - -Up came the Chief's clerk. All these Ashanti chiefs now have a clerk who -can write a little English and so communicate for them with Government, -and the clerk, interested as he was to see a white woman, was very -certain in his own mind that the white man was the more important -person. He probably regarded me as his wife come on ahead, and said that -the Chief had another house for me. - -I didn't like that rest-house, but pride has suffered pain since the -beginning of the world, so I distinctly declared my intention of staying -there and ordered them to clear out the medical officer's bed forthwith. - -My boys were very anxious to assert my superiority and out went that bed -in the twinkling of an eye, and my men proceeded to put up mine between -the two doors, and, having had a table set out for tea, I awaited the -arrival of the medical officer with a quiet mind. - -[Illustration: 0543] - -Presently he arrived and we laughed together over the struggle for -supremacy between our men, and pledged our future good fellowship in -tea. The Chief sent me in eggs and chickens and yams as dash, the people -came and looked at me, and presently the evening fell and I had my -evening meal and went to bed. - -And when I went to bed I repented me of having stood on my dignity. What -on earth had I wanted the rest-house for? It was the last house in the -village, a little apart from the rest, the great solemn forest was all -around me, and I was all alone, for Grant and the men had retired with -the darkness to somewhere in the village. My bed stood under a roof -certainly, but I should not have dared put up the door of the rest-house -for fear of making it too close, and so it meant, of course, that I was -sleeping with nothing between me and that awe-inspiring forest. I do not -know what I was afraid of any more than I know what I feared at Anum, -but I was afraid of something intangible, born of the weird stillness -and the gloom. I put a hurricane lantern at the door to scare away any -wandering pigs and goats--I did not really in my heart think there would -be any wild beasts--and then I proceeded to put in a most unpleasant -night. First there was too much light, it fell all over my bed, and -though I did not like it, I still felt a comfortable sense of safety in -the light. - -Then I began to itch. I twisted and turned and rolled over, and the -more I moved about the more uncomfortable I became. I thought to myself, -“There, it serves you right! You are always nursing the fat little black -babies and now you have got some horrible disease.” The thought was by -no means consoling, but I was being driven so frantic that I began to -think that no disease could really advance with such rapidity. Besides, -all sorts of great insects were banging themselves against my mosquito -curtains, so I came to the conclusion that probably the tiny sandflies -were also attracted by the light and were getting through the meshes. -There was nothing for it but to screw up my courage, get out of bed, and -take that lantern away. I did it, crept back to bed again, listened -for a little to the weird noises of the night, was relieved to find -the appalling irritation showed no signs of increasing, and finally, -in spite of my fears, dropped off into so sound a sleep that I was only -awakened by Grant endeavouring to drive away by fair words my energetic -headman, who was evidently debating whether it was not his bounden duty -to clear me away, bed and all. - -I told the doctor my experiences in the morning, and he confirmed my -supposition that it was only sandflies and not horrible disease that had -troubled my slumbers. - -Very much relieved was I, for the little black babies are dear little -round souls, and I should have been loath not to take them when their -mothers trusted them to me. I should hesitate much before I took a baby -of the peasant class in this country, but there, in the heart of Africa, -it is always safe to cuddle the little, round, naked thing that has for -all clothing a few beads or a charm or two tied to its hair. They are -always clean and soft and round and chubby, and they do not invariably -yell with terror at the white woman, though I am bound to say they often -do. - -[Illustration: 0547] - -We were in the heart of the forest now. There were but one or two -villages and only one or two places that could be dignified by the name -of clearings. At one, as big, perhaps, as a tiny London square, three or -four huts had been erected, and an old woman was making pots. They were -all set out in the sun to dry, and the good lady was very nervous when -I wanted to take her photograph. She consented at last, and sat there -shivering, in her hand a great snail shell which she used to ornament -the pots. They were such a lonely little company, so cut off from all -their kind, and we must have been such wondrous figures breaking in on -their life and then passing on again. I gave them the last bright new -pennies I had, and left them wondering. - -And so we went on again through the forest, past Insuta, until, as the -evening was falling, we created immense astonishment by arriving at -Bechem. - -Here again the rest-house was built uncomfortably, European fashion, -and again my only alternative was to have my bed put up between the -two doors so that I might get plenty of air. But at Bechem the town was -full. It was a big town set in the midst of a great clearing, and to-day -it was swarming with people, for the next day was Coronation Day, and -the Chief had sent out word that all his sub-chiefs were to come in -and celebrate. And here was another excitement--a white woman! How many -chiefs came to see me that day I really would be afraid to say, and the -Chief sent me in by way of dash a sheep, a couple of chickens, piles -of plantains, yams, eggs, and all manner of native edibles. It was very -amusing to stand there in the midst of the swarming people, receiving -these offerings. Of course they all have to be returned with presents -of value, and I was thankful they did not think me important enough to -receive a cow; as it was it cost me a pound to get out of Bechem, but my -carriers were delighted for I presented them with the sheep. He was an -elderly ram with long horns, and I think he was the only person who did -not thoroughly enjoy the entertainment. - -The Chief sent in word through his interpreter to say that the people -had never seen a white woman before; there were many people here because -of the Coronation, might they come and “look”? Never have I been so -frankly regarded as a show. There was nothing for it but to go outside -and let them look, and once more I can only hope they were satisfied. I -had never seen such crowds of natives before, crowds that had not -seen much of the white man and as yet were not arrayed in his cast-off -clothes. All round us long Dane guns were popping off in honour of the -great occasion, and tom-toms were beating half the night. When I waked -next morning--I slept in the passage to get plenty of air, but I was -not afraid because the rest-house was near the centre of the village--I -found that at the earliest glimpse of dawn long lines of people had -assembled outside my house and were patiently waiting for me to come -out. I had my breakfast in the little courtyard behind the house, the -people peeping through the fence of palm-poles, and when we set out on -our way the Chief, in all the glory of silken robes and great umbrella, -came a little way to do us honour. - -Never, not even when I was married, have I been such an important -person. The tom-toms beat, the umbrellas twirled, long Danes went off, -horns blew, and as far as the eye could see were the villagers trailing -away behind us. - -[Illustration: 0551] - -The Chief escorted us for about a mile, we walking in the cool, misty -morning, and then he turned, slipped his cloth from his left shoulder as -a mark of respect, shook hands, wished us a prosperous journey, and bid -us good-bye like the courteous gentleman he was, and we went on into the -mighty forest again. - -It is always cool in the early morning, and very pleasant here among -the trees, so the medical officer and I walked on chatting about Bechem, -when we came upon another little party of travellers, who stopped us -and asked help. It was a Hausa with a couple of women, his wives in all -probability, and a couple of other men, presumably his slaves. He was a -tall, strong man in the prime of life, upon whose shaven head were deep -lines graven by the loads he had carried. Our headman, who could speak -Hausa, interpreted. - -Men were following him from Nkwanta, he said, to kill him. A child had -died in the town, and they said he “had put bad medicine upon it,” that -is, had bewitched it, and the penalty was death. - -It was rather startling in this twentieth century to be brought face -to face with the actors in such a tragedy, especially when we were -powerless to help. We were unarmed and had with us only carriers and -servants; it was the prestige of the white man that was carrying us -through. The Hausa was going away from Nkwanta as fast as he possibly -could, and apparently he did not want to trust himself within its -bounds, even under the protection of a white man. He declined to come -back with us, and what could we do? The medical officer, I think, did -all that he could when he promised to report things to the Commissioner -at Sunyani, and recommended the Hausa, since he would not avail himself -of our protection, to get the Chiefs clerk at Bechem to write his -account of the affair to Sunyani and Kumasi. - -And so in the early morning we went our way, and he went his, and -he disappeared into the gloom of the forest, a much troubled man. I -wondered how he would ever get back to his home in the north, for there -is but this one road, and that road leads through Nkwanta. He would only -dare it, I think, with a large body of his own people, for who is to -report to Government if a travelling Hausa should disappear? - -We put in a long day that day, and in the full heat of the noontide -arrived at Nkwanta, a most important place, whose Chief rules over a -large tract of country. We came upon the butchers' stalls first, all -kept by Hausas or Wangaras. This country, on account of the tsetse fly, -will allow but few cattle to live, and these men from the north drive -them down, kill them, and sell them, for the Ashantis are rich, and like -to buy meat. I had hardly taken a photograph of these stalls, when from -all sides I saw the people assembling, and presently the Chief appeared. -He brought offerings, a sheep, fowls, eggs; yams, and plantains; but -this time I pointed out that I was on a journey, and could not take the -presents, as I had no means of carrying them. He was very anxious -indeed we should stay for that night; said he, they were celebrating the -Coronation, and there would be a big dance. I went into his house and -took a photograph of the moulded clay that ornaments the walls, and a -small slave-boy was proud to stand in the corner so as to give life to -the picture, and I think Nkwanta was sorry we elected to go on. I was a -little sorry myself afterwards, for as we passed along the forest path -we met sub-chiefs going in to the Coronation ceremonies, men carried -high in their hammock-chairs, followed by a motley assemblage of men and -women, bearing long Danes, horns, drums, household utensils, and all the -paraphernalia of a barbaric chief. - -[Illustration: 0555] - -And at last we came to a place where the forest was ruthlessly cleared -for about a hundred feet on either side of the road, and the tropical -sun poured down in all its fierceness. I did not like it. The mighty -monarch s of the forest had simply been murdered and left to lie, and -already Nature was busily veiling them with curtains of greenery. Why -those trees had been so slaughtered I do not know. That the forest would -have been better for thinning, I have no doubt, but why not leave the -beautiful trees? I am sure the Germans would have done so, but the -Englishman seems to have no mean. If there are too many trees he cuts -them all down and makes a desert. The medical officer of course did not -agree with me. - -“Must get rid of the trees,” said he with enthusiasm. - -I looked at him. He was a young fellow, pleasant and kindly, sallowed -by life in the Tropics. He wore a drab-coloured helmet, coming well down -over his back, which was further protected by having a quilted spinal -pad fastened down the back of his bush shirt. - -“Why,” I said, “do you wear so big a helmet, and a spinal pad?” - -He looked at me tolerantly, as if he had always known that woman asked -silly questions, and I was only confirming a preconceived idea. But he -was in a way my host, so he was patient with me. - -“To keep off the sun, of course,” said he. - -“The trees,” I began; and then he felt I really was silly, for every -medical man knows the proper thing is to get rid of the trees, and have -some artificial form of shade. At least, that is what I gathered from -his subsequent explanation. The idea is apparently to cut down all the -forest trees, and when the place is bare, they can be replaced by fresh -trees, planted exactly where they ought to grow. Since they are not -English trees it does not matter how beautiful they are, and that they -take at least two hundred and fifty years to come to perfection is a -matter of small moment. So the medical officer and I disagreed, till we -came to Tanosu, a little town on the Tano River. - -The Chief here had just built a new rest-house, thank heaven, on the -comfortable Ashanti pattern, and I was given it by the courteous medical -officer, who disapproved of me on trees, while he sought shelter in the -village. - -The people were very curious. The Chief, who it appears is a poor -man, sent the usual presents, and then the people came and looked, and -looked, till after about a couple of hours of it I grew weary, and shut -the doors of the courtyard. Then they applied their eyes to every crank -and cranny, and I had an uneasy feeling that whatever I did unseen eyes -were following me. I wanted to rejoice in the Coronation, so I asked the -doctor to come to dinner and celebrate, but unfortunately my kitchen -was at least a quarter of a mile away, and there were such terrible long -waits between the courses that again and again I had to ask my guest if -he would not go and see what had happened. We finished at last, and I -wanted to drink the King's health in whisky-and-soda which was the only -drink I had, but my guest was a teetotaller, so I sent for the servants, -only to be informed that every one of them refrained from liquor. And as -a rule I approve so highly of temperance. Only for this once did I find -it rather depressing. However, we stood up and drank the King's health, -and I expect the eyes that were watching us wondered what on earth we -were doing. They performed on tom-toms after that, and I fell asleep in -the pleasant, damp night air, to a sort of barbaric fantasia on horns -and drums. - -[Illustration: 0559] - -We were nearing our journey's end. Early next morning we crossed the -Tano River, which is full of sacred fish, and the medical officer took -my photograph in the stream, and I took his, as he crossed on his boy's -shoulders, and when we crossed to the other side we found we had left -every vestige of the road, the good road that had so surprised me, -behind. We went along a track now, a track that wound in and out in the -dense, tropical forest. Generally the trees met overhead and we marched -through a tunnel, the ground beneath our feet was often a quagmire, and -if we could not see the sun often, neither could we feel the rain that -fell on the foliage above our heads. On either side we could see -nothing but the great trunks and buttresses of the trees, and the dense -undergrowth. Possibly to go for days and days through a forest like this -might give a sense of oppression, but to go as I did, for but a short -time, was like peeping into a new world. Never a bird or beast I saw, -nothing but occasionally a long stream of driver ants, winding like a -band of cut jet across the path. And so we went on and on, through the -solemn forest, till at last it cleared a little. There was the sky -above again, and then no forest, but on my left cornfields and the brown -splash of a native town, and in front a clearing, with the rim of the -forest again in the distance, and right ahead, on the top of the gently -sloping rise, the European bungalows of Sunyani. I had arrived, the -first white woman who had come so far off the beaten track. - -[Illustration: 0563] - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV--AN OUTPOST - -_The white men at Sunyani--Contrast between civilisation and -barbarism--The little fort--The suffrage movement--“I am as mud in the -sight of my people!”--The girl who did not wish to marry the King--The -heavy loads carried by the Hausas--The danger of stubbing a toe--An -Ashanti welcome--The Chief's soul--The unpleasant duties of the Chief's -soul--The blood of sheep versus the blood of men--A courteous lady of -Odumase--The Commissioners of Ashanti--Difficulties of crossing flooded -streams--One way of carrying fowls--The last night in the wilds._ - -At Sunyani there are usually six white men, namely a Provincial -Commissioner, a medical officer--the relief had come up with me--three -soldiermen, and a non-commissioned officer, and I think my sympathies -are rather with that colour sergeant. The other men are all of one -class, but he must be utterly alone. The houses and the men were equally -delightful. I was taken into a mud-built house with a thatched roof, -large and spacious. There were, of course, only holes for windows and -doors, and the floors were of beaten earth, but it was most wonderfully -comfortable and homelike. The Commissioner was a great gardener, my -room was a bower of roses, and there were books, the newest books and -magazines, everywhere. I should like to have stayed a month at Sunyani. -Think of it! everything had to be carried eighty miles on men's heads, -through a dense forest, across all manner of watercourses, where the -white ant refused to allow a bridge to remain more than a fortnight, and -yet one felt in the midst of civilisation. They told me I was brave -to come there, but where was the hardship? none, none. It was all -delightful. But there _was_ another side. Close to the European -bungalows was a little fort to which the men might retire in case of -danger. They did not seem to think that they would ever be likely to -require it, but there it was, and I, who had seen the old-time forts -along the Coast, looked at this one with interest. It had a ditch round -it, and walls of mud, and these were further strengthened by pointed -stakes, bound together with barbed wire. An unpleasant place for a naked -man to rush would be the little fort at Sunyani. Close against its wall -so as to shelter the office, and yet outside so as not to embarrass the -people, is the post and telegraph office, and so fast is civilisation -coming to that outpost, that they take there for stamps, telegrams, and -postal orders something like fourteen pounds a week. - -I wandered round seeing everything, from the company of Waffs, -exercising in the morning, to the hospital compound where the wives of -the dresser and the wives of the patients were busily engaged in making -fu-fu. For this is a primitive place, and here are no nursing Sisters -and European comforts, and I must say the patients seem to do very well -without them. - -And only ten years ago, here and behind at Odumase, was the centre -of the great rebellion against the white man's power; but things are -moving, moving quickly. Only a week before I went up Messrs Swanzy had -opened, with a black agent in charge, a store in the native town, and -the day I arrived the agent brought his takings to the Commissioner for -safe keeping in the treasury within the fort. It was such a tiny place, -that store, simply a corrugated-iron shack, wherein were sold cotton -cloths, odds and ends of cheap fancy goods, such as might be supposed to -take the eye of the native, and possibly a little gin. Everything had -to come on men's heads, so the wares were restricted, but the agent was -well pleased with his enterprise, for that first week he had taken over -£150, and this from a people who were utterly unaccustomed to buying. - -[Illustration: 0567] - -“Things are changing, things are changing fast,” said the Commissioner, -and then he laughed and said that what bothered him most was the advance -the suffrage movement was making. It wasn't yet militant, but he didn't -know how it was going to end. The women had actually arrived at some -idea of their own value to the community, and refused to marry the men -their fathers had provided, if they did not happen to meet with their -approval. Again and again a Chief would come to the Commissioner--a girl -had declined to marry the man chosen for her, her father had appealed -to the Chief, and the young lady, relying on the support of the British -Government, had defied them both. - -“If this woman do not marry the man I tell her to, then am I as mud in -the sight of my people!” the Chief would say, flinging out protesting -hands, and the Commissioner was very often as puzzled as he was. - -On one occasion he came down to his court to find sitting there a -good-looking girl of about seventeen, with a baby on her back. She -waited patiently all through the sitting of the court, and then, when -he had time to give attention to her, explained herself. She had a -complaint to make. The King, or head Chief, had married her. Now the -Commissioner was puzzled to know why this already much-married man had -burdened himself with a wife who manifestly did not want him, and why -the lady objected to a regal alliance. The King was brief and to the -point. He considered himself a much injured man. The girl's parents had -betrothed her to a man in her childhood, and when she grew up she did -not like him, and preferring someone else, had declined to marry -him. The King had been appealed to, but still she defied them, so, -willy-nilly, to prevent further trouble, he had married her himself. - -How that case ended I do not know. But I asked one question: “Whose -is the baby?” And the baby it appeared was child to the man whom her -parents and the King had rejected, so that Nature had settled the matter -for them all. Whoever had her there was no getting over that baby. - -Sunyani is one of the great halting places for the Hausas and Wangaras -who come down from Wenchi, so on the French border and here I was -introduced into great compounds, where the men who bring down cattle -and horses and other goods from the north take up their abode, and -rest before they start on their wearisome journey through the forest to -Kumasi. I had come through in five days, but these men generally take -very much longer. The Hausa carries tremendously heavy loads, so heavy -that he cannot by himself lift it to his head, and therefore he always -carries a forked stick, and resting his load on this, rests it also in -the fork of a tree, and so slips out from underneath it. Again and again -on our way up had we come across men thus resting their heavy loads. He -must walk warily too, for they say so heavy is the load that the Hausa -who stubs his toe breaks his neck. Slowly he goes, for time as yet is -of no consequence in West Africa. A certain sum he expects to make, -and whether he takes three months or six months to make it is as yet a -matter of small moment to the black man, apparently, whatever his race. - -[Illustration: 0572] - -After I had been all round Sunyani, and dined at the mess, and inspected -the fort and the hospital, they arranged for me to go to Odumase, five -miles away. - -Odumase is on the extreme northern border of Ashanti, and in fact the -inhabitants are not Ashanti at all, calling themselves after their own -town, but it was here that the rising that overwhelmed Kumasi in 1900-1 -was engineered and had its birth. Here, as a beginning, they took sixty -unfortunate Krepi traders, bound them to a tree, and did them slowly to -death with all manner of tortures, cutting a finger off one day, a toe -the next, an arm perhaps the next, and leaving the unfortunate victims -to suffer by the insects and the sun. And here, when they had taken -him, they brought back the instigator of that rebellion, and showed him -captive to his own people. He was no coward, whatever his sins, and he -stood forth and exhorted his people to rescue him, reviling the white -men, and spitting upon them. But his people were awed by the white man's -troops, and they let him be taken down to Kumasi, where he was -tried, and hanged, not for fighting against the British raj, but for -cold-blooded murder. - -So to Odumase Mr Fell took me, explaining that because I was the first -white woman to go there, the people would greet me in Ashanti fashion, -and I was not to be afraid. - -It was well he explained. Long before we could see the town, running -along the forest path came the Ashanti warriors to meet me, and they -came with yells and shouts, firing off their long Danes, so that -presently I could see nothing but grey smoke, and I could hear nothing -much either for the yells and shouts, and blowing of horns, and beating -of tom-toms. It is just as well to explain an Ashanti welcome, else -it is apt to be terrifying, for had I not been told I certainly should -never have realised that a lot of guns pointing at me from every -conceivable angle and spouting fire and smoke, were emblems of goodwill. -But they were; and then I was introduced to the chiefs, and took their -photographs. And now I have an awful confession to make. I have taken so -many Ashanti chiefs that I do not know t'other from which. They were all -clad in the most gorgeous silken robes, woven in the country, in them -all the colours of the rainbow, and they were all profusely decorated -with golden ornaments. They had great rings like stars and catfish on -their fingers, they had all manner of gold ornaments on their heads, -round their necks, round their arms, and on their legs, and they had -many symbolical staffs with gold heads carried round them. Always, of -course, they sat under a great umbrella, and their attendants too wore -gold ornaments. Some of the latter were known as their souls, and the -Chiefs soul wore on his breast a great plate of gold. What his duties -are now I do not know, I think he is King's messenger, but in the old -times, which are about ten years back, his duties were more onerous. He -was beloved of the Chief, and lived a luxurious life, but he could not -survive his Chief. When his master died, his sun was set, and he was -either killed or buried alive with him. Moreover, if the Chief had an -unpleasant message to a neighbouring chief, he sent his soul to carry -it, and if that chief did not like the message, and desired war, he -promptly slew the messenger, put his jaw-bone in a cleft stick and sent -it back. Altogether the Chiefs soul was by no means sure of a happy -life, and on the whole I think must infinitely prefer the _pax -Britannica_. - -It takes a little time though before peace is appreciated. The last time -Mr Fell had been to Nkwanta, the big town I had passed through, he found -the place swimming in blood, and many stools reeking in it. It was only -sheep's blood luckily, for Nkwanta had quarrelled with a sub-chief, and -this was celebrating his reconciliation. - -“If the white man not be here,” said Nkwanta through his interpreter, -“plenty men go die to-day.” - -“Oh, sheep are just as good,” said the Provincial Commissioner. - -“Well perhaps,” said Nkwanta, but there was no ring of conviction in his -tones. - -Odumase the white men almost razed to the ground as punishment for the -part it took in the great rebellion, but it is fast going up again. Many -houses are built, ugly and after the white man's fashion, and many more -houses are building. We passed one old man diligently making swish, that -is kneading earth and water into sort of rough bricks for the walls, -and I promptly took a photograph of him, for it seemed to me rather -remarkable to see him working when all the rest of the place was looking -at the white woman. And then I saw an old woman with shaven head and no -ornaments whatever; she was thin and worn, and I was sorry for her. “No -one cares for old women here,” I thought, I believe mistakenly, so I -called her over and bestowed on her the munificent dole of threepence. -She took my hand in both hers and bowed herself almost to the ground in -gratitude or thanks, and I felt that comfortable glow that comes over us -when we have done a good action. - -I was a fool. There are no poor in West Africa, and she was quite as -great a lady as I was, only more courteous. As I left Odumase she came -forward with a small girl beside her, and from that girl's head she -took a large platter of most magnificent plantains, ripe and ready for -eating, which she with deep obeisance laid at my feet. If I could give -presents so could she, and she did it with much more dignity. Still, I -flatter myself she _did_ like that threepenny bit I was very very loath -to leave Sunyani. It was a place on the very outskirts of the Empire, -and the highest civilisation and barbarism mingled. It must be lonely of -course, intensely lonely at times, but it must be at the same time most -interesting to carve a province out of a wilderness, to make roads and -arrange for a trade that is growing. - -They are wonderfully enthusiastic all the Commissioners in Ashanti, and -when I praise German methods, I always want to exempt Ashanti, for here -all the Commissioners, following in the footsteps of their Chief, -seem to work together, and work with love. In the very country -where roadmaking seems the most difficult, roadmaking goes on. The -Commissioner at Sunyani had sent to the King of Warn telling him he -wanted three hundred men to make a road to the Tano River, and the King -of Warn sent word, “Certainly”; he was sending a thousand, and I left -the Commissioner wondering what on earth he was to do for tools. So is -civilisation coming to Ashanti, not by a great upheaval or desperate -change, but by their own methods, and the wise men who rule over them, -rule by means of their own chiefs. I have no words strong enough to -express my admiration for those Ashanti Commissioners and the men I -met there in the forest. We differed only, I think, on the subject of -treefelling, and possibly had I had opportunity to learn more about -things, I might have found excuses even for that. - -[Illustration: 0581] - -The rainy season was upon us, and it was time for me to go back. The -medical officer, who had just been relieved, was coming down with me, -and this medical officer was very sick with a poisoned hand. It was -my last trek in the bush, and I should have liked to linger, but the -thought of that bad hand made me go faster, for I would not keep him -from help longer than I could help. So we retraced our steps exactly, -doing in four days what I had taken five to do on the way up, and this -was the more remarkable because now it rained. It rained heavens hard, -and the little streams that our men had carried us through quite -easily on the way up, were now great, rushing rivers that sometimes we -negotiated with a canoe, and sometimes laboriously got over with the aid -of a log. It really is no joke crossing a flooded African stream on a -slimy log. I took a picture of one, with the patient Wangara crossing. -Then my men carried me in my hammock to the log, and with some little -difficulty I got out of that hammock on to it. I had to scramble to my -feet, and the man beside me made me understand that I had better not -fall over, as on the other side the water was deep enough to drown me. -I walked very gingerly, because the water beneath looked unpleasantly -muddy, up that tree-trunk, scrambled somehow round the root and down the -other branch, till at last I got into water shallow enough to allow of -my being transferred to my hammock and carried to dry land, there to -sit and watch my goods and chattels coming across the same way. I felt -a wretch too, for it had taken close on twenty men, more or less, to -get me across without injury, and yet here were a company of Wangaras -or Hausas, and the patient women had loads on their heads and babies on -their backs. No one worried about them. - -For perhaps the first time in my life I was more than content with that -station in life into which it had pleased my God to call me. I do not -think I could wish my worst enemy a harder fate than to be a Wangara -woman on trek, unless perhaps I was extra bitter, and wished him to -taste life as an African fowl. That must be truly a cruel existence. He -scratches for a living, and every man's hand is against him. I used to -feel sometimes as if I were aiding and abetting, for I received on this -journey so many dashes of fowls that neither I nor the medical officer -could possibly eat them all, and so our servants came in for them. More -than once I have come across Grant sitting resting by the roadside with -a couple of unfortunate fowls tied to his toes. In Grant's position I -should have been anything but happy, but he did not seem to mind, and as -I never saw the procession _en route_, I was left in doubt as to whether -he carried them, or insisted on their walking after him. I saw that he -had rice for them, and told him to give them water, but I dare say he -did not trouble. - -[Illustration: 0585] - -The last night out, my last night in the bush I fear me for many a long -day, we stopped at a village called Fu-fu, and I went to the rest-house, -which was built European fashion, and was on the edge of the forest, at -some distance from the village. - -I found my men putting up my bed in a room where all the air came -through rather a small hole in the mud wall, and I objected. - -“Where?” said my patient headman, who after nearly a fortnight had -failed to fathom the white woman's vagaries. - -There was a verandah facing the town and a verandah facing the forest, -and I promptly chose the bush side as lending itself more to privacy. -Very vehemently that headman protested. - -“It no be fit, Ma, it no be fit. Bush close too much”; so at length I -gave in, and had the bed put up on the verandah facing the town. On the -other end, I decided, the medical officer and I would chop. For we had -been most friendly coming down, and had had all our meals together. - -Before dinner I think the whole of the women of that village had been -to see me, and had eaten up the very last of my biscuits, but I did -not mind, for was it not the end of the journey, and they were so -interested, and so smiling, and so nice. We had dinner, and we burned up -the last of the whisky to make a flare over the plum-pudding; and then -the medical officer wished me good night and wended his way to his house -somewhere in the town, Grant and the cook betook themselves to another -hut nearer the town and barricaded the door, and then suddenly I -realised that I was entirely alone on the edge of this vast, mysterious, -unexplainable forest. And the headman had said “the bush no be fit.” I -ought to have remembered Anum Mount and Potsikrom, but I didn't. I crept -into bed and once more gave myself up to the most unreasoning terror. -What I expected to come out of that forest I do not know. What I should -have done had anything come I'm sure I do not know, but never again do I -want to spend such a night. The patter of the rain on the iron roof -made me shiver, the sighing of the wind in the branches sent fingers -clutching at my heart; when I dropped into a doze I waked in deadly -terror, my hands and face were clammy with sweat, and I dozed and waked, -and dozed and waked, till, when the dawn came breaking through the -clouds at last, it seemed as if the night had stretched itself into -an interminable length. And yet nothing had happened; there had been -nothing to be afraid of, not even a leopard had cried, but so tired was -I with my own terrors that I slept in my hammock most of the way into -Kumasi. - -And here my trip practically ended. I stayed a day or two longer, -wandering round this great, new trading-centre, and then I took train -to Sekondi, stayed once more with my kind friend, Miss Oram, the nursing -Sister there, gathered together my goods and chattels, and on a day when -it was raining as if never again could the sun shine, I went down in the -transport officer's hammock for the last time; for the last time -went through the surf, and reached the deck of the _Dakar_, bound for -England. - -[Illustration: 0589] - - - - -CHAPTER XXV--THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES - -_The enormous wealth of West Africa--The waste--The need of some settled -scheme--Competitive examination for the West-African Civil Service--The -men who come after the pioneers--One industry set against another--The -climate--The need of women--The dark peoples we govern--The isolation -of the cultivated black man--The missionaries--The Roman Catholics--The -Basel missionaries--West Africa the country of raw material--An answer -to the question, “What shall I do with my son?”--The fascination of -Africa._ - -And so I have visited 'the land I had dreamed about as a little child -in far-away Australia. But no, I have never been to that land. It is a -wonderful country that lies with the long, long thoughts of childhood, -with the desires of youth, with the hopes that are in the heart of the -bride when she draws the curtain on her marriage morning. Beautiful -hopes, beautiful desires, never to be fulfilled. We know, as we grow -older, that some of our longings will never be granted exactly in the -way we have expected them to be granted, but that does not mean that -good things will not come to us, though not in the guise in which we -have looked for them. Therefore, though I have never visited Carlo's -country, and never can visit it, still I have seen a very goodly land, -a land flowing with milk and honey, a land worthy of a high place in -the possessions of any nation, and yet, I think, a land that has been -grievously misjudged. - -Why does no one speak of the enormous wealth of West Africa? When -America was but a faint dream of the adventurous voyager, when Australia -was not on the maps, the west coast of Africa was exploited by the -nations growing in civilisation for her wealth of gold, and slaves, and -ivory, and the wealth that was there in those long-ago days is there -to-day. There is gold as of yore, gold for the working; slaves, but we -recognise the rights of man now and use them only as cheap labour; and -there is surely raw material and vegetable products that should bring -food and wealth to the struggling millions of the older world. The -African peasant is passing rich on threepence a day, and within reach -of his hand grow rubber and palm oil, groundnuts and cotton, cocoa and -hemp, and cocoa-nuts and all manner of tropical fruits. These things, I -know, appertain to other lands, but here they are simply flung out with -a tropical lavishness, and till this century I doubt if they have been -counted of any particular value. If the English colonies of West Africa -were cultivated by men with knowledge and patience, bringing to the -work but a fiftieth of the thought and attention that is given to such -matters in France, the return would be simply amazing. I have seen -25 per cent, of an ignorant peasant community's cocoa harvest wasted -because there were no roads; I have seen cocoa-nut plantations useless, -“because the place isn't suitable,” when in all probability some -parasite was killing the palms. I have seen lives and money lost in a -futile endeavour to teach the native to grow cotton, when the climate -and conditions cried out that cocoa was the proper product to be -encouraged. - -[Illustration: 0593] - -What the portion of West Africa I know well wants is to be worked on -some settled scheme, a scheme made by some far-seeing mind that shall -embrace, not the conditions of five years hence, but of fifty years -hence; the man who works there should be laying the foundations of a -plan that shall come to fruition in the time of our children's children, -that should be still in sound working order in their grandchildren's -time. The wheat of the Canadian harvest-field may bring riches in a -year, the wool of Australia's plains wealth in two or three, but the -trees of the African forest have taken hundreds of years to their -growth, and, when they are grown, are like no other trees in the world. -With them none may compare. So may these tropical dependencies of -England be when rightly used, they shall come to their full growth. -But we must remember they are tropical dependencies. The ordinary -Englishman, it seems to me, is apt to expect to gather apples from a -cocoa-nut palm, potatoes from a groundnut vine, and to rail because he -cannot find those apples and potatoes. He will never find them, and the -man who expects them is the man in the wrong place. - -I hope some day soon to find there is a competitive examination for -positions in the West-African Civil Service. Does any man grumble who -has won a place in the Indian Civil Service? I think not. A competitive -examination may not be the ideal way of choosing your political staff, -but as yet we have evolved none better. The man who passes high in a -competitive examination must at least have the qualities of industry and -self-denial, and who will deny that these are good qualities to bring to -the governing of a subject people? - -It is curious to watch English methods of colonisation, and whether we -will or no we must sit in judgment upon them. The first men who go out -are sometimes good, sometimes bad, but all have this saving grace--that -strong spirit of adventure, that dash and go which made England a -colonising nation and mistress of the seas. It would be like asking a -great cricketer to play tiddly-winks to ask one of the men who fought -for Ashanti to take part in a competitive examination. They have -competed and passed in a far sterner school. But the men who follow in -the footsteps of the pioneers are sometimes made of different stuff. -They are often the restless, discontented ones of the nation, men who -complain of the land they leave, complain of the land they come to, find -no good in West Africa, seek for no good, exaggerate its drawbacks, are -glad to regard themselves as martyrs and to give the country an evil -name. Such men, I think, a competitive examination would weed out. - -There must be continuity of service. That is a foregone conclusion. At -present England thinks so little of the land that is hers that she puts -a man in a place but for a year, and the political officer has no chance -of learning the conditions and needs of the people over whom he rules; -he is a rolling stone perpetually moving on. Then it is the height of -folly to set one industry against another. All should surely, in a new -country, be worked for the common good. For instance, there is a railway -running between Kumasi and Sekondi, a Government railway, and behind -Kumasi lies a vast extent of country unexplored and unexploited, with -hardly a road in it. One would have thought that it would simply be -wisdom and for the good of the whole community that the railway which -is Government property should be used for the opening up of the country -behind. Such is the plan in Canada; such is the practice in Australia. -But in West Africa Government holds different views. Ashanti wants to -build a road to the Northern Territories, a road such as the Germans -have made all over Togo, but Government, instead of using the railway -to further that project, charge such exorbitant freight on the road -material, that the road-making has come to a standstill. It is typical -of the country. Each department is pitted against the other, instead of -one and all working for the good of the whole. The great mind that shall -be at liberty to plan, that I fear sometimes lest the Germans and French -have found, has yet to come. - -[Illustration: 0597] - -There are many prejudices to break down, and first and foremost is -the prejudice against the climate. Now I am not going to say that West -Africa is a health resort, though I went there ill and came away in the -rudest health. Still I do recognise that a tropical climate is hard -for a European, more especially, perhaps, for people of these northern -isles, to dwell in. A man cannot afford to burn the candle at both -ends there, and if he would keep well he must of necessity live in all -soberness and temperance. He does not always do that, but at present, -whatever his illness is due to, it is always set down to the climate, -and he is always sure of a full measure of pity. - -Once I stayed for a short time next to a hospital, and the Europeans in -the little town were much exercised because that hospital was so full. -At last it occurred to me to ask what was the matter with the patients. -I was not told what was the matter with them, but I found that the only -one for whom anyone had much pity was the gentleman who had D.T. But -even the worst of them you may be sure would have full measure of pity -in England. “Poor fellow, that awful climate!” - -Doctors tell me fever is rife, and I feel they must know more about it -than I do, but it has been discovered in England that a life in the -open air is an almost certain preventive of phthisis, and I cannot help -thinking that _a sane and sober life in the open air day and night_ -would be a more certain preventive against fever than all the quinine -and mosquito-proof rooms that were ever dreamt of. Observe, I say, a -sane and sober life; and a sane and sober life means most emphatically -that a man does not rush at his work and live habitually at high -pressure. For this is a temptation that the better-class of man is -peculiarly liable to in West Africa. “Let us succeed, let us get on, and -let us get home”; and who, in the present conditions, can blame him -for such sentiments. They are such as do any man credit, but they very -often, in a hot climate more especially, spell destruction as surely as -the wild dissipation of the reckless man who does not care. And there is -only one cure for that--the cure the French and Germans are providing. -The women must be encouraged to go out. Every woman who goes and stays -makes it easier for the woman who follows in her footsteps, and I can -see no reason why a woman should not stand the climate of West Africa as -well as she does that of India. Women are the crying need; quiet, brave, -sensible women who are not daunted because the black cook spoils the -soup, or the black laundryman ruins the tablecloth, who will take an -intelligent view of life, and will make what is so much needed--a home -for their husbands. I know there are men who say that Africa is no -place for a woman. I have met them again and again. Some of those men -I respected very much; some I put in quite another category. The first -evidently regarded a wife as a precious plaything, not as a creature who -was helpmeet and friend, whose greatest joy must be to keep her marriage -vows and share her husband's life for good or ill, whose life must of -necessity be incomplete unless she were allowed to keep those marriage -vows. The other sort, I am afraid, like the freedom that the absence of -white women gives them, a freedom that is certainly not for the ultimate -welfare of a colony, for the mingling of the European and the daughter -of Ham should be unthinkable. It is good for neither people. - -[Illustration: 0601] - -And here we come to the great difficulty of a tropical dependency, the -question that as yet is unanswered and unanswerable. What of the dark -peoples we govern? They are a peasant people with a peasant people's -faults and a peasant people's charm, but what of their future? The -native untouched by the white man has a dignity and a charm that -there is no denying; it seems a great pity he cannot be kept in that -condition. The man on the first rung of civilisation has points about -him, and on the whole one cannot help liking him, but the man who -has gathered the rudiments of an education, as presented to men in an -English school on the Coast, is, to my mind, about as disagreeable a -specimen of humanity as it is possible to meet anywhere. He has lost the -charming courtesy of the untutored savage, and replaced it by a horrible -veneer of civilisation that is blatant and pompous; and it is only -because I have met such men as Dr Blyden and Mr Olympia that I am -prepared to admit that education can do something beyond spoiling a good -thing. Between black and white there is that great, unbridgeable gulf -fixed, and no man may cross it. The black men who attain to the higher -plane are as yet so few and scattered that each must lead a life of -utter intolerable loneliness, men centuries before their time, men -burdened with knowledge like Galileo, men who must suffer like Galileo, -for none may understand them, and the white man stands and must -stand--it is inevitable--too far off even for sympathy. - -All honour to those men who go before the pioneers; but for them, as far -as we can see, is only bitterness. - -The curious thing is that most people who have visited West Africa -or any other tropical dependency will recognise these facts, and -yet England continues to pour into Africa a continuous stream of -missionaries. Why? For years Christianity has been taught on the Coast, -and it is now a well-recognised fact that on the Coast dishonesty -and vice are to be found, while the man from the interior is at least -honest, healthy, and free from vice. I am not saying that religion -as taught by the missionary has taught vice, but I am declaring -emphatically that it has failed to keep the negro from it. Why encourage -missionaries? As civilisation advances the native must be taught. Very -well, let him pay for his own teaching, he will value it a great deal -more; or, since the merchants want clerks and the white rulers want -artisans, let them pay for the native to be taught. But very, very -strongly do I feel, when I look at the comfortable, well-fed native of -West Africa and the wastrel of the English streets, that the English who -subscribe to missions are taking the bread from the children's table and -throwing it to the dogs. - -[Illustration: 0605] - -Hundreds and thousands of people are ready to give to missions, but I -am very sure not a fraction of them have the very faintest conception of -what they are giving to. Their idea is that they are giving to the poor -heathen who are sunk in the deepest misery. Now there is not in all the -length and breadth of Africa, I will venture to swear, one-quarter of -the unutterable misery and vice you may see any day in the streets of -London or any great city of the British Isles. There is not a tribe that -has not its own system of morals and sees that they are carried -out; there is not the possibility of a man, woman, or child dying -of starvation in all West Africa while there is any food among the -community. Can we say that of any town in England? What then are we -trying to teach the native? Christianity. But surely a man's god is only -such as his mind can appreciate; a high-class mind has a high-class -god, a kindly mind a kindly god, and an evil mind an evil god. No matter -whether we call that god Christ, or by any other name, he will have the -attributes the mind that conceives him gives him; wherefore why worry? - -Of course I know that a large number of people feel that religion comes -from without and not from within, and a larger number still say as long -as a mission is industrial it is a good thing, and to both of these I -can only point out the streets and alleys and tenement houses of the -towns of England. It seems to me the most appalling presumption on the -part of any nation with such ghastly festering sores at its own heart to -try and impose on any other people a code of morals, a system of ethics, -a religion, if you will, until its own body is sweet and clean. An -industrial mission is doubtless a good thing, but until there are no men -clamouring for the post of sandwich-men in London, no women catering to -a shameful traffic in Piccadilly, I think we should keep the money for -our industrial missions at home. - -Let us look the thing straight in the face. They talk of human -sacrifices. Are there no human sacrifices in our own midst? We lie if we -say there are none. Every day we who pride ourselves upon having been a -Christian nation for the last thousand years condemn little children to -a life of utter hopelessness, to a life the very thought of which, -in connection with our own children, would make us hide our faces in -shuddering horror. So if any man is appealed to to give to missions, -I would have him look round and see that everyone in his immediate -neighbourhood is beyond the need of help, that there are no ghastly -creatures at his own gate that the heathen he is trying to convert would -scorn to have at his side. Believe me, if Christianity is to justify -itself there is not yet one crumb to spare from the children's table for -the dogs that lie outside. - -For the individual missionary I have--in many cases, I must have--a -great respect. The trouble to my mind is that Christianity presented in -so many guises must be a little confusing to the heathen. There are the -Roman Catholics. They are pawns in the great game played by Rome; no -individual counts. They have given themselves to the missionary service -to teach the heathen, and they stay until they die or until they are too -sick to be of further use in the land. Of course they are helpful, any -life that is oblivious of self and is utterly devoted to others must -needs be helpful, and they have my deepest respect, because never, never -have I been called upon to sympathise with a Roman Catholic father or -sister. They have given their lives, no man can do more, and all I can -say is, I would prefer they gave it to the civilising of the submerged -folks of their own nations than to civilising the black man. - -[Illustration: 0609] - -Then at the other end of the social scale are the Basel Missions. -They combine business and religion very satisfactorily in a thoroughly -efficient German spirit, and while the missionaries attend to the souls -of the heathen and set up schools to teach them not only to read and -write, but various useful trades as well, the Basel Mission Factories -do a tremendous trade in all the necessaries of life. These Basel -missionaries are most kindly, worthy people, and to their kindness I -owe much. Occasionally I have come across a man of wide reading and with -clever, observant eyes, but as a rule they are chosen from the lower -middle classes among the Swiss and Germans; very often the missionary -spirit runs in the families, and it passes on from father to son, from -mother to daughter. These people, too, come out if not for life, like -the Roman Catholics, at least for long periods of years. It is generally -believed on the Coast, and I have never heard it contradicted, that when -a man attains a certain standing he is allowed to marry, even though -he is not due for a holiday in Europe. They have at headquarters -photographs of all the eligible maidens in training for the mission -field, and the candidate for matrimony may choose his wife, and she is -duly forwarded to him, for the heads of the Basel Missions, like me, -believe in matrimony for Africa. And most excellent wives do these Basel -missionary women make. They bear their children here in West Africa -where no English woman thinks she can stay more than six months, and -their homes are truly homes in the best sense of the word. If example -is good for the heathen, then he has it in the Basel Missions. Another -thing, they must make the most excellent nucleus for German interests, -for no one who has been in a Basel Mission Station or Factory can but -respect these men and women and little children who make a home and a -garden in the wilderness. And what I have said about the Basel Missions -applies to the Bremen Missions, except that these are more pronouncedly -German. But better women may I never hope to meet in this wide world -than those in the Bremen Missions. And in between these two extremes are -missionaries of every class and description. Against the individuals -I have nothing to say, save and except this--I want to discount the -admiration given to the “poor missionary.” They are good men I doubt -not, but they are earning a living just as I who write am earning a -living, or you who read, and to my mind they are earning a living in the -halo of sanctity very much more comfortably than the struggling doctor -or the poor curate in an East-End parish. Whatever their troubles, they -have never the bitterness of seeing the ghastly want that they cannot -relieve, and if they do not live in England, they have always the joy of -making a home in a new country, and that is a joy that those who talk so -glibly about exile do not seem to realise. - -[Illustration:0613] - -“But we must have the negroes taught reading and writing and trades,” - said a man to me once when we were discussing the missionary question; -and I agree it is necessary, but I do not see why I am to regard the -teacher as on a higher plane than he who teaches the same in England. -And as for the religion that is taught, the only comment I have to make -upon it is that no man that ever I heard of would take a mission boy or -a Christian for a servant when he could get a decent heathen. Finally, -considering the amount of destitution and terrible want in the streets -of England, if I had my way I would put a heavy tax on all money -contributed for the conversion of the heathen. Before it was allowed to -go out of the country I would if I could take heavy toll, and with that -toll give the luckless children of my own colour a start in life in the -Colonies. - -Finally, West Africa is the country of raw material. It should be -England's duty so to work that country that it be complementary to -England, the great manufacturing land. The peasant of the Gold Coast -burning the bush to make his cocoa plantations is absolutely necessary -to the girl fixing the labels on the finished product; her very -livelihood depends upon him. The nearer these two are brought together -in a commercial sense the better for both, and what we say of cocoa we -may say of palm oil and groundnuts and other vegetable fats, of rubber, -of hemp, of gold, of tin. This country which produces with tropical -luxuriance should be, if properly worked, a source of immense wealth to -the nation that possesses it. - -And as we rise in the social scale, think of the openings this country, -thickly populated, well cultivated, flourishing, would offer for the -young men of the middle classes seeking a career. A political service -like the Civil Service of India, officered by men who have won places -there by strenuous work and high endeavour, who are proud of the -positions they have won, and a busy mercantile community, serving side -by side with these political officers, would go some way to answering -the question on the lips of the middle-class father, “What shall I -do with my son?” The work of women is widening every day, and I, who -honestly believe that an ordinary woman may go where an ordinary man -can, may with profit take up work even as a man may do, see scope for -the women of the future there too, not only as wives and helpmeets to -the men, but as heads of independent enterprises of their own. - -I have finished my book, ended the task that I have set myself to -do, and I hope I have been able to convey to my readers some of the -fascination that Africa has always held for those who have once visited -her shores. But hitherto it has been the fascination of the mistress, -never of the wife. She held out no lure, for she was no courtesan. A man -came to her in his eager youth asking, praying that she would give him -that which should make all life good; and she trusted and opened her -arms. What she had to give she gave freely, generously; there was no -stint, no lack. And he took. Her charm he counted as a matter of course, -her tenderness was his due, her passion was for his pleasure; but the -fascination he barely admitted could not keep him. Though she had given -all she had no rights, and when other desires called he left her, left -her with words of pity that were an injury, of regret that were an -insult. - -[Illustration: 0617] - -But all this is changing. Africa holds. The man who has once known -Africa longs for her. In the sordid city streets he remembers the might -and loneliness of her forests, by the rippling brook he remembers the -wide rivers rushing tumultuous to the sea, in the night when the rain is -on the roof plashing drearily he remembers the gorgeous tropical nights, -the sky of velvet far away, the stars like points of gold, the warm -moonlight that with its deeper shadows made a fairer world. Even the -languor and the heat he longs for, the white foam of the surf on the -yellow sand of the beaches, the thick jungle growth densely matted, -rankly luxuriant, pulsating with the irrepressible life of the Tropics. -All other places are tame. The fascination that he has denied comes back -calling to him in after years. Thus “the whirligig of time brings in his -revenges.” This mistress he will have none of has spoiled him for all -else. And here the analogy fails. Africa holds, and the man whom she -holds may yield to the fascination not only without shame, but with -pride. Before her lies a great future; to the man who knows how to use -her gifts she offers wealth and prosperity. To be won easily? Well, no. -These gifts lie there as certainly as there is a sky above us, as that -the sun will rise to-morrow, but there lie difficulties in the way, -obstacles to be overcome. Africa offers the opportunities--success is -for the - - “One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, - - Never doubted clouds would break, - - Never dreamed though right were worsted wrong would - - triumph, - - Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better, - - Sleep to wake. - - Now at noonday in the bustle of man's work-time - - Greet the unseen with a cheer! - - Bid him forward, breast and back as either should be, - - 'Strive and thrive!' cry 'Speed--fight on--'” - - - - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Alone in West Africa, by Mary Gaunt - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALONE IN WEST AFRICA *** - -***** This file should be named 54400-0.txt or 54400-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/4/0/54400/ - -Produced by David Widger from page images generously -provided by the Internet Archive - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm -concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, -and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive -specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this -eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook -for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, -performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given -away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks -not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the -trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. - -START: FULL LICENSE - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full -Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at -www.gutenberg.org/license. - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or -destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your -possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a -Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound -by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the -person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph -1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this -agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the -Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection -of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual -works in the collection are in the public domain in the United -States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the -United States and you are located in the United States, we do not -claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, -displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as -all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope -that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting -free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm -works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the -Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily -comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the -same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when -you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are -in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, -check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this -agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, -distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any -other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no -representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any -country outside the United States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other -immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear -prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work -on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, -performed, viewed, copied or distributed: - - This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and - most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no - restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it - under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this - eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the - United States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you - are located before using this ebook. - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is -derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not -contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the -copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in -the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are -redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply -either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or -obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any -additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms -will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works -posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the -beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including -any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access -to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format -other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official -version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site -(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense -to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means -of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain -Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the -full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -provided that - -* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed - to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has - agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid - within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are - legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty - payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project - Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in - Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg - Literary Archive Foundation." - -* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all - copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue - all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm - works. - -* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of - any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of - receipt of the work. - -* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than -are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing -from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The -Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm -trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project -Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may -contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate -or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other -intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or -other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or -cannot be read by your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium -with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you -with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in -lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person -or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second -opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If -the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing -without further opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO -OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT -LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of -damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement -violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the -agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or -limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or -unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the -remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in -accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the -production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, -including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of -the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this -or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or -additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any -Defect you cause. - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of -computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It -exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations -from people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future -generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see -Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at -www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by -U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the -mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its -volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous -locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt -Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to -date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and -official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact - -For additional contact information: - - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND -DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular -state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To -donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project -Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be -freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and -distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of -volunteer support. - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in -the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not -necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper -edition. - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search -facility: www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. - |