[NOTE: Because of the time in which the book was written, it contains some outwardly racist, ethnocentric material. I am posting the book here not only because Hugh was my third great-grandfather, but also because it contains both historical and anthropological data.]

         [PAGE 84] The Torch anchored off Appolonia at noon. Owing to “the smokes” it was difficult to distinguish the town. Had it not been for the fort which is much higher than the native houses, we might have passed it.

         The swell was very heavy.

         We took the usual precautions, when landing, but the rollers were breaking at quite one-third of a mile off shore, and if the “pardon” of the surf boat had not felt confident of his skill, we should not have attempted it.

         We passed the first breaker successfully, but the second one came into the boat, filled her, and she sank under our feet. Fortunately she kept upright, and the water was so shallow that we could feel her with our toes. The first few seas set us fast towards the shore, boat and all, then a current carried us along to the eastward. The heavy seas striking down on our heads had a stunning effect, and I saw the Doctor’s head droop from exhaustion. Fearing he would drown, I directed Tom Peters and Jack Smart, the Kroomen from the Torch I had brought with me, to assist him; but nothing could induce these men to leave the [PAGE 96] “Cap’en.” One had my sword, and the other a bag of signal flags under the off arm; with the other they supported me. I could swim, and told them so, but they would not leave me. By jumping to the seas, springing up from the thwarts of the sunken boat, as the seas reached us, we saved ourselves a little. Johnstone rallied and was able to do this. The crew of the boat were swimming near the boat, but not helping us. We saw the Torch’s boat approach the edge of the surf but she dare not enter. Looking landwards we were cheered to see numerous black heads rapidly nearing us, and a number of small canoes on their way to our rescue. The latter reached us first and I was delighted to see Johnstone tumbled into one, although he was more dead than alive. I was soon taken by another and paddled quickly on shore. The swimmers who had so readily taken to the water to assist us were quite fifty in number, and neither they nor the canoemen asked for any reward.

         It was calculated we were twenty minutes in the water. My colleague’s peril was imminent, but once on shore he speedily recovered. Our loss in property was serious. We had provisions for our large party for four days in the boat, our clothes and other necessities; some of them were saved, and the surf boat was eventually got on the beach and rolled to a place of safety. The “Padron” complained that all the gold realized by the crew at Assama went to the bottom. I doubted him, but said “serve you right.”

         [PAGE 97] We found ourselves received with open arms by a white person, Mr. Novi, a Spanish gentleman, agent for the French house of Vardier & Co., who took us to his house, furnished us with a fresh water bath, men to rub us with coarse towels until we were in a glow, and then lent us flannel clothing and gave us a glass of cordial. The king sent to express his gratification at our safety and to offer assistance. Finding that his canoemen were not afraid to go through the surf to the Torch, we sent Jack Smart to the ship for clothes and provisions. In due time these arrived, carefully tied up in waterproof bags. Mr. Novi, and those competent to judge, said that our boat filled entirely from want of skill. Yet the boats used here were different from ours, they were shorter and much lighter, with only four paddlers.

         The party travelling by land did not arrive until 7 p.m. King Amakee immediately he was informed by us they were coming, sent a large armed escort to Itanbo to bring them in, and carry the hammocks if the Assama men were afraid to come in, but at sunset his men returned, our party not being in sight. Very shortly after they came up, and without any hesitation, the Assama men came straight into town. To our astonishment they appeared to receive a hearty welcome. The Appolonians were evidently anxious for peace also.

         A grand dance was performed outside our quarters [PAGE 98] by torchlight - the music consisted mostly of “tom-tom,” the native drum. The dancers formed a circle and kept good time in their movements of hands and feet, and chanted some refrain all the time. The performers were all men or boys, and they kept it up until late in the night.

         Mr. Yockney and the shore party reported highly of their reception at the villages they passed through. At every mile or two fresh carriers fought for the honour of carrying them, and at several places refreshments were provided.

         Mr. Novi was not able to put all our party up, although he made his house stretch to an astonishing extent. It was only a native one made of palm stems and thatched with leaves, but it was quite weather proof and airy. We slept in hammocks.

         Mr. Novi was the only white man in the place. He told us he lived in the native fashion, on kanky, plantains, and water, with occasionally a little fish as a relish, and that he found that diet agree with him very well.

         Captain Hoare had a room of his own fitted up an always kept ready in the house of Taniki, the King’s nephew, who acted as Captain Hoare’s local agent.

         The early morning was chilly as at Assama. This was owing I think to “the smokes” the suspended [PAGE 99] moisture in the atmosphere, which causes this phenomenon, penetrating the low-laying houses. Our house being close to the sea, there appeared no chance of our clothes getting dry.

         Before breakfast we went for a walk. The town was not large, the houses were now, and the streets wider and straighter than usual. The fort was grass grown, and falling to ruin, but a moderate sum would put it in repair. The rooms were large and airy, the situation good, and we had a pleasant walk on its roof, above the “smokes.”

         As usual in native towns the sanitary customs were abominable. The well in the fort from which the drinking water was taken, was half filled with rubbish and filth. The smells on the beach and in rear of the town were dreadful, and our appetite was not improved by our walk. Tom Peters, who acted as our cook still further tried it by cooking a dish of his own composing. Sardines and Oxford sausages boiled together in an earthern [sic] pot! The shock to our nerves at first sight of this uninviting dish was great, but the sausages proved eatable.

         Amakee sent to say that it was impossible he could get his chiefs together before the next day, the 11th, at 10 a.m. for which hour the palaver was fixed.

         During the day we received private visits from several chiefs, among others from the Ashantee Commander of the party mentioned by Blay. He was [PAGE 100] a fine manly fellow and we at once took a great fancy to him.

         He had the manners of a gentleman and all the bearing of a soldier, was well dressed, and without followers. He said his men were in the bush, and he had not brought them, and did not intend to bring them into the town, that his object was to trade, but Ashantees always carried their guns.

         Taniki the King’s nephew, talks English very well. He talked temperately of local politics, expressed himself anxious for peace, and to see a British Commandant in the form once more, and said it was a bad thing for the Appolonians we ever had left.

         During the day the warriors were exercised on the beach as at Assama, and armed escorts were sent out to meet the chiefs coming from a distance, and bring them in with honour. The troops were kept in the same formation as at Assama, and the skirmishing was performed in the same manner. The companies carried Dutch colours; the staves were more profusely ornamented with fingers and jawbones than at the other place, and a strong net full of skulls was carried on a pole by two men before each company. Some of the warriors were boys of 12 or 14 years of age.

         Most of the men who appeared to be officers carried skulls smeared with blood, and they ornamented themselves with jaw bones and fingers. The soldiers carried their powder in two calabashes slung from their [PAGE 101] shoulders, one containing coarse powder to load with, and the other finer for priming. The troops remained on the beach all day, and firing never ceased until sunset.

         We walked out to Itanbo in the evening. The people eastward of this point refuse to acknowledge Amakee’s authority and are Blay’s loyal subjects. It was once a large town, but Affoo burnt it at the same time he destroyed Appolonia. As Amakee was taken by surprise then, he keeps an armed guard continually, whose duty it is to signal the approach of an enemy, and keep them in cheek until the warriors are assembled. Itanbo is only two miles from Appolonia.

         The next morning at daylight everyone was astir. The warriors assembled near the King’s house. The women were set to work to cut down the grass in front of the fort, where the “palaver” was to be held. The streets were swept up, rubbish removed, and everything put in order. We noticed that at every entrance into the town, balls of kanky and jars of palm wine or water, were placed to refresh friends from a distance. Appolonia is not stockaded, so I mean by “entrances” where the paths entered the town. Men and women turned out in their smartest attire. A Chief living next door to us wore a French grey ribbed silk, that must have cost much money. Taniki paid us an early visit, wearing still more expensive and brighter silk. A Wassaw chief sat opposite our door in a chair of [PAGE 102] state, covered in gold, and wearing scarlet and gold clothes and handsome ornaments. His followers formed a circle before him. In the middle, two men performed anties intended for dancing. A huge “tom tom,” six feet long and about eighteen inches in diameter, was borne on the head of one slave and beaten with two sticks by another. It was formed out of the hollowed trunk of a tree and covered with skin, ornamented with snakes, skin and human bones. Occasionally a horn struck up, to disturb the monotonous sound of the “tom tom,” which for about two hours never ceased to sound. All this time the old Chief sat still, never moving a muscle, but looking very important.

         At ten a.m. the palaver took place. It was on a much larger scale than at Assama, and much more brilliant. Chairs wee provided for our party close to the walls of the fort. To our astonishment, we found the “Colonel” from Assama placed behind us; but in mufti! We found afterwards that several Cape Coast men, and men from eastern tribes had mixed themselves with our native followers, to spy and report our proceedings to their Chiefs.

         Amakee was more royally arrayed than any native King I had yet seen, and had a large red umbrella held over his head. Several other chiefs also had umbrellas, and in one instance a woman held it. Tanaki sat on the King’s right, and the chief men of the State close [PAGE 103] around him. The preliminary proceedings were of the same kind as at Assama. Such a day of handshaking I have never been through before, or since. After the King’s visit had been paid, and returned, the Ashantee and Wassaw Chiefs performed the same ceremony, and it had to be returned. The executioner, a hideous creature naturally, but with his face and body painted to add to his disgusting appearance, carried a large sheathed knife before the Ashantee Chief. The Wassaw Chief was carried on the heads of slaves in a coffin-shaped box, covered with a very rich cloth. There was another Chief present, who brought a young, well-dressed woman, evidently a person of importance, but not his wife, with him. She did not shake hands, and looked frightened. We saw several women standing near the central group that surrounded the king.

         To forward business, we dispensed with the ordinary method of speaking through the public orators, and spoke face to face, first in English, which Taniki translated to the people, and then it was repeated in the native language by Mr. Molenaar.

         The people all listened attentively, and occasionally said words of approval or otherwise. We gave the king an English flag, and read out a list of the presents which were on board the Alligator for him, as unfortunately the brig had not arrived.

         The King’s answer to us was to this point. He was [PAGE 104] glad to receive the English flag again, and would be loyal to it. He had never wished to change it for the Dutch, but he had not been consulted. He did what the English told him. The road along the beach should be open where his authority was respected; he could not answer for it elsewhere. He should be glad of peace, for war had made him poor, but Blay was a slave, and the son of a slave, and he would not treat with him. He denied sending our Governor’s present, or the slaves to Ashantee. The present had only given a silver ring to each of his head men, and he complained that our Governor sent as much to Blay as to him.

         In the end we were enabled to obtain from the King a promise not to attack Blay, to send an embassy to Cape Coast, and to open the road at once. This was as much as we could expect. The King expressed a hope that Appolonia would be made a port of entry, and have a resident English Commandant.

         The result of the palaver seemed satisfactory to all parties, and Amakee said he should send his son with the embassy to Cape Coast to represent him.

         Before we left Appolonia an embarrassing circumstance occurred. In Mr. Novi’s house was stored a quantity of trade goods, which had not paid duty. A notice had been posted at Cape Coast ever since the western districts came under our protection, that vessels trading, or traders importing goods anywhere, [PAGE 105] but at a port of entry, should be liable to a fine of £500.

         As Captain Hoare was obliged to pay duty on his goods, he naturally drew attention to the fact that his rival in trade had not done so, and Dr. Johnstone, in his capacity as Collector of Customs, was obliged to call upon our kind host to obey the law. This was done, but shortly afterwards the King sent to request us to remit it as he would practically have to pay the duty, and he had received no pecuniary advantage as yet from our protection. There was logic in his argument, and we took it upon ourselves to remit the tax. Amakee also very sensibly remarked that if we collected a tax on goods imported into his dominions, it is only fair that he should benefit by it in the way of protection, and the money ought to not be spent on improvements at Cape Coast and Elmina.

         As the current on the Coast of Guinea runs strongly to the East, and the wind blows almost constantly towards the same point, it is very difficult for sailing vessels to get to the West again, once they have passed eastwards. Consequently Appolonia lost considerably by not being a port of entry, for it was 20 miles to windward of Axim, where a vessel had to go to enter before she could discharge a bale of cloth at Appolonia. All this we mentioned to the Governor in our report.

         Before leaving, Amakee presented us with gold rings, two splendid sheep, and some vegetables. The [PAGE 106] sheep produced as good mutton as it was possible to eat.

         Mr. Novi showed us a quantity of “pawn gold” in his possession. This consists of ornaments, deposited with the traders as security for goods given on credit. Some of these were heavy gold chains, gold plates worn as marks of distinction by the Chiefs, and “fetish” charms shaped like men and animals. Some of the work on these ornaments was well done, other was very coarse.

         Mr. Novi had been to Coomassie, he walked all the way. I heard some stories of the King of Ashanti, in his house if not from him.

         It is said to be etiquette at the Ashantee court to watch attentively the King’s face, to laugh when he laughs, be grave when he is so; and I was told that even a prisoner about to be sent to death would follow this rule if the King smiled as he announced the sentence.

         If a man tells a story which makes the King laugh, the king will take a handful of gold from a jar by his side, and send it to the joker.

         I heard it said that the Ashantees made a great profit in trading with the tribes to the north of them, sometimes exchanging powder with them for its weight in gold.

         We embarked in safety, using the boat we were capsized in, but a crew of Captain Hoare’s men. The Torch then returned to Axim.

         [PAGE 107] At Axim we had a final palaver, at which Amakee’s terms were agreed to. The road was to be open to all from Assini to Axim. The tribes were not to attack one another without first appealing to Cape Coast, and representatives were to be sent to Cape Coast to settle some petty complaints. We gave the King a good lecture on his behaviour in murdering Blay’s men. When we called on him to explain his conduct, he said he was at war with Blay, and considered it fair to kill his men whenever he could!

         When the palaver was about to break up, the King handed us a 6-lb. shot and said it was one of two that was fired into his house at 9 o’clock the previous night, from a gun of the fort. A nine o’clock gun is fired every night, but of course it ought to be a blank one.

         Immediate enquiry was made, and we found that a soldier of the 2nd West had been seen to put something into the gun, and others had seen two shot in his possession.

         It was now our turn to apologise to the King. We took the mischief-making soldier to Cape Coast as a prisoner.

         A native committed suicide in the town. Doctor Johnstone was “Coroner” as well as everything else, and had to preside at an inquest and give medical evidence as well to the jury. There was no reason to be found for the deed, except that the wives of the deceased had been quarrelling. He shot himself in the [PAGE 108] head, firing the gun with his toe which he had tied to the trigger of a gun. The body having been white-washed by the fetish man, was laid out in the centre of the village for all the people to see, and in the course of a few hours was buried. On the 14th August [1872] we returned to Cape Coast Castle.

         In reporting our proceedings to the Governor we were able to say that the object of our mission had been accomplished; but that both Mr. Molenaar and Captain Hoare were of opinion that the natives could not be depended on to perform their promise to keep peace with their neighbours unless they took the native oath between them.

         We also drew attention to one or two matters which were well known at Cape Coast, which kept the native mind in a state of uneasiness. One of these was that an Ashantee Chief, named Atchampong, had brought a force of 2,000 men to aid the Elmina in 1870. This man remained at Elmina up to the time of the transfer, but as the Dutch did not think it right he should fall into our hands he was taken to Assini. His men would not follow him, but settled near Elmina. The Chief said his honour forbade him to return to Ashantee without his men, so he continued to plot with, and disturb, the Western tribes, and he has had much to do with what had since occurred. We also remarked upon the extreme jealousy existing between tribes formerly under different protections, and the necessity of endeavouring to reconcile them.

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