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THE GOLD COAST, 193 T. 
THE GOLD COAST, 193 I. 
A Review of conditions in the Gold Coast in 
1931 as compared with those of 1921, based on 
figures and facts collected by the Chief Census 
Officer of 1931, together with a Historical, 
Ethnographical and Sociological Survey of 
the People of that Country. 
By A. W. CARDINALL 
Chief CellSUf Officer. 
Printed by the G overnment Printer, Accra, Gold Coast . 
G-IJ-(2 3 9 B 
DT 5""\-0 . GIl 
~\ ~S) C~, 
CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER I. 
GEOGRAPHICAL. PAGE 
Description of the Country-The Coast Line-Lake 
BOS1!,mtwi-The Forest and S~tdanese Zones 1-7 
CHAPTER II. 
HISTORICAL. 
Myths and Traditions-Forme1' High State of 
Civilisation-Aggrey Beads-Advent of the Europeans-
History of the Gold Coast in its relation to that of 
the World-Local Historical Events-International 
Agreements-Ashanti and the Northern Territories-
Samory-Ferguson's Death-Awm~al Record of the Last 
D ecade- C onstitution- J udicial System 8-52 
CHAPTER III. 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL. 
Divisions of the Gold Coast Peoples-Their 
ReligionS-Sky, Earth, Animism, Ancestors and Fetish 
W orship-I njluence of Christianity--Cult of St. A nthony-
Sir James Fraze1"s Su,mma1'y of the Gold Coast Reli-
gions-Earth-gods and Land Te'/t'I,we--Constitution of the 
Tribes-A True Democracy-The Common People--
Asafu-Despots and P1'1:ests-Oriental I nfhtences in the 
North 53-74 
CHAPTER IV. 
ECONOMIC. 
Economic Development of the Country-Gold-mining-
hon and Manganese-Diamonds-Romance of the Cacao 
Industry-Economics of that I ndustry-Problems arising 
therefrom-Forestry Problems-M'inor Ag1'icultural and 
Sylvan Products-Imported Foodstuffs-Internal Trade-
Cattle Breeding-Meat Consumption-Transport Problems-
Non-distribution oj Overhead Charges-The National 
Income 75-122 
CONTE TS. 
II 
CHAPTER V. 
THE CENSUS, 1931. . PAGE 
Preliminary Survey-Assistance freely given-
Census Ordinance-Date fixed-Cost of Census-Compar-
ison with previous Censuses-Abnormal ~'l1crease due to 
immigration-Reasons for this moveme11.t-Density 
Returns-Zone of depopulousness-Sex and Age Statistics-
Marriage conditions-Status of women--Occupational 
Retnms-Analysis of Occ~tPations-Female Occupations-
Ret'Mnt Showi'ng increased use of wheaten flour-Religion 
and Education of -the people 123- 200 
CHAPTER VI. 
SOCIAL CONDITIONS . 
Classification of Agricult1l.ral labour-Housing 
Conditions-Recent I mprovement-Water Supplies-Health 
of the Community-Child and I nfantile MOl,tality-Death 
rates in Sex and Age groups-Su,rvival rate of Cht:ld,'en-
Inf irmities-Leprosy-Lnnacy-Dietetics-Co st of liv1:ng-
A lcoholic Consumption-Labo~tr Co nditions-Mi nes labo~tr­
Tendency towards G1{.ilds 01' U nionism-l nstitutional 
Statistics-Criminal Population , .. 201-253 
CHAPTER VII. 
NON-AFRICAN POPULATION. 
Number of Non-Africans-Sex Distrib~ttion-Increase 
oj Females-Classification by Nationality-Occupational 
Ret~trn.-Age Groups-Health of Europeans-Health oj 
Asiatics ,.. 254-265 
LIST OF MAPS. 
General Map of West Africa Frontispiece. 
Linguistic lVIap of the Gold Coast To face page 9 
Geological Map-of the Gold Coast 75 
Map of the Gold Coast showing area of 
maximum productivity 82 
Map of the Gold Coast showing political 
divisions 123 
:y[ap showing density of population in the Gold 
Coast 157 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
CHAPTER 1. 
GEOGRAPHICAL. 
Description of the Co~tntry-The Coast Line-Lake Bosumtw1'-
The Forest and Sudanese Zones. 
The Gold Coast is that portion of the coast of Guinea lying 
between longitude E. 10 14' and W. 30 7' and latitude N. 40 45' and 
N.llo 10'. It stretches along a coastline of some 334 miles, and 
penetrates northwards towards the Sudan for a distance of about 
380 miles. 
The country is not a separate entity containing the people of 
one single nation but is an arbitrarily created zone, the result of 
many political machinations and arrangements. Its area amo,unts 
to some 91 ,843 square miles which is divided among the several 
parts of which the Gold Coast is composed as follows :-
Square miles. 
Gold Coast Colony 23,937 
Colon v of Ashanti 24,379 
Protectorate of Northern Territories 30,486 
Mandated Zone of Togoland 13;041 
Politically it is bounded on the West and North by the French 
Colonies of the Ivory Coast and the Upper Volta, and on the East 
by the Zone of Togoland mandated to France, whilst the Southern 
frontie r is t he Atlantic Ocean. 
Occasic nal cliffs and rocky outcrops interrupt the low sandy 
foreshore along which break continually the ocean swells in a surf 
that for long has made landing difficult and often dangerous and 
to no small extent has hindered the progress of the country. No 
harbours, nor river estuaries have offered shelter to the trading 
vessels, until during the past decade the harbour of Takoradi was 
built and opened. 
Back of this sandy horizon there rises a long chain of low hills 
which , reaching the coast itself at about Cape Three Points, recede 
further and further inland until they are still visible some 30 miles 
away from the sea at Prampram. Between these hills and the sea 
lies a great plain which is characterised by areas of oil-palm, grassy 
fiats and brackish lagoons. 
The late Director of t he Geological Survey of the Gold Coast 
briefiy describes it as follows :-
" The coast-line varies verv much in its character from 
west to east. Between Newtowil and Axim there are strips of 
beach sand, backed by swampy country, ext ending in place~ 
to about 20 miles from the coast. From Axim eastward to 
A 
2 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
beyond Appam, the greater portion of the coast-line consists 
of massive rocky cliffs, some of them rising as sheer walls to 
upwards of 200 feet above sea-level. \i\There streams reach the 
ocean there are usually brackish or freshwater swamps or 
lagoons, separated from the sea by fringes of sea-sand. From 
near Appam eastward to the limit of the Colony there is an 
alternation of lagoon and coastal plain, with or without cliffs. 
The land is steadily encroaching on t he sea. The coast-line 
is undoubtedly rising, a fact evidenced by the occurrence of 
several well-marked marine terraces or platforms, one of which 
is from 70 to 100 feet above present sea-level, and at least two 
others of more recent age, of 20 feet and 8 to 10 feet above it. 
The last uplift of 8 feet was partly the cause of the occurrence 
of the fringing and landlocked lagoons to be seen now along 
many parts of the coast. In some places shells of existing 
marine species can be seen in t he clay and mud of the banks 
of channels several feet above present sea-level. Owing to 
the uplift the shallow estuaries and indentations of the coast 
at the mouths of streams were converted into lagoons. The 
strong west-south-west Guinea current, and t he prevailing 
south-west wind acting on the sea formed a great swell which 
persistently swept and is still sweeping along the coast, trans-
porting landward large quantities of sand along the sea-floor. 
Continued action of this kind has resulted in the formation 
first , of a shoal, then of a tidal sandbank, and finally of ashore-
sand barrier. This work is being actively aided and hastened 
by the wind, which blows the dry sand inland. The 
constructive action of the two forces proceeds rapidly, and at 
such places the land is gaining at the expense of the sea, while 
at others, as at Acc] a, those portions of the cliffs that are 
composed of soft rocks are being rapidly broken down and the 
material washed away. Shore-sand barriers in most places 
prevent the waters of the impounded streams from flowing into 
the sea. In a few places, however, the streams are able to 
discharge during the rainy season floods or at low tide, wIllie 
several of the small streams and the large rivers have permanent 
outflows." 
Immediately behind this coast line, from Axim to Kpong on 
the Volta River and eastward thereof there stretches an area 
commonly known as the Coastal Zone, varying in width up to as 
much as 60 miles inland from the sea. It consists generally of 
almost level plains, on which very occasionally there rise abruptly 
small ranges of hills or isolated peaks. Trees of any size are scarce, 
but the soil is by no means a poor one, crops of various kinds being 
readily cultivated. 
To several causes can this quasi-deser t nature of the plains be 
attributed ; t he uplift mentioned above, the continuous depositing 
of sand by the south-west monsoon, the act ion of man, and the 
influence of t he Volta River's everchanging delta. The receding 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931 . 3 
of the forest has been historically noted, and its retreat is clearly 
visible to-day, one of the most difficult of the many problems in the 
Gold Coast. 
The area of the country covered by the forest is almost an 
equilateral triangle; from Axim to the Volta River at Kpong, 
from Kpong to Nkoranza m Ashanti, and a base formed by the 
Western Frontier across which the forest itself continues to stret ch 
towards Sierra Leone. It covers an area of approximately 18,000 
square miles, and includes almost all t hat country from which the 
people of the Gold Coast at present draw their prosperity. 
This ever-green forest offers to the traveller a sense of almost 
overwhelming weight. Giant trees rise to a height of some 200 feet 
or more; a late conservator of forests in t his country estimated 
their number to be from 20 to 30 an acre, so that it is not difficult 
to realise how the canopy of their branches and leaves affords a 
roof almost impenetrable t o the full light of the sun, whilst trees of 
smaller girth, rising to an equal height help to add to the 
entanglement above. In the forest, an almost twilight prevails'. 
The undergrowth, or jungle which borders the paths and roads of 
man. or covers the space where some giant tree has fallen or a 
former patch of cultivation existed, ceases. One can gaze for as 
much as a hundred yards through the long irregular lines of the 
grey barked trees, rising branchless t o the dark ceiling of their 
leaves, whilst one stands on a soft carpet, the pile of which is one 
vast nursery of treelings, rising barely a foot in height. The air is 
heavy and steaming, a continuous dropping of moisture almost 
enough to be termed rain falls from the canopy above, and over all 
t here hangs an almost overwhelming odour of vegetation, sometimes 
pleasant and sometimes the reverse, The silence of the woodland 
is not here, there is always the chatter of monkeys, the hoarse 
calling of birds and the ear-splltting shrilling of the cicadas. 
The evel-green forest lies in a country of hills and mountains. 
The northern boundary is formed by a range which in many places 
attains to heights of more than 2,000 feet . But throughout the 
area the hills are many and steep, with here and there perpendicular 
walls of rock or over-hanging cliffs, affording vist as of magnificent 
scenery. 
The whole area is well-watered with innumerable streams and 
rivulets, which form the tributaries of the Rivers Tano, Ankobra, 
Prah and Birim, 
Included in the river system is the basin of the one and only 
real lake in the Gold Coast (Lake Bosumtwi), lying some 20 miles 
to the south-east of Kumasi. This expanse of water presents in 
many ways a unique problem for the geographer and for the 
geologist, The latest account of it is given in the J ournal of the 
Royal Geographical Society for September, 1931 in an article by 
Mr. Malcolm Maclaren, D,se" F.G, S" who puts forwarn the theory 
that its origin is meteoric, His description of the lake is briefly 
as follows :-
AI 
4 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
"Lake Bosumtwi is roughly circular, with an average 
diameter of a little under 5 miles. It lies at the bottom of a 
great crater with its surface waters 900 to 1,200 feet below the 
crater rim. The diameter of the crater at the rim is about 
6! miles. The inner slopes are steep. They were obviously 
originally precipitous. but have been modified somewhat by 
denudation. . . . . The inner walls of the crater are densely 
jungle clad. Perhaps the most striking topographical featur 
is t he continuous and unbroken rim, which is raised from 300 
to 600 feet above the general upland level (950 feet) 
The water gathering area of Lake Bosumtwi is therefore 
confined wholly to the crater walls, and no stream flowing 
into it has a greater length than 2t miles, while the majority 
have a length of ahout it mile. The maximum depth of the 
lake appears to be at the present time about 240 feet 
" The bottom of the lake is therefore about 100 feet above 
sea-level." 
Mr. Maclaren compares these figures with the almost exactly 
coinciding ones of the famous Meteor Crater in Arizona. 
To the casual observer the appearance of the lake would suggest 
a volcanic origin. But as Mr. Maclaren · points out there are 
nowh t're in the neighbourhood any traces of volcanic ejecta, nor 
is there any evidence of recent volcanic action recorded elsewhere 
in the country. It is the comparative recentness of the origin of 
this lake that is so striking to the geologist and no theory has yet 
been put forward as so likely as Mr. Maclaren's theory. He gives 
an almost thrilling account of what to him seems to have occurred. 
" There is no reason to assume that the diameter of the 
meteor in any way approached that ofthe resultant impact-crater. 
Travelling, as it must have done, at a velocity of approximately 
50 miles per second, urging allead of it , and especially drawing 
behind it, enormous quantities of superheated air, the shock 
and heat of impact must have blown all rock round the point 
of impact to incandescent dust. If, as was probable, since 
by far the greater number of meteorites that enter the earth's 
atmosphere are stony and not of nickel-iron, the Bosumtwi 
meteor was stony, then it also was blown to dust. leaving in 
solid masses only the small portions of nickel-iron metal that 
stony meteorites usually carry. The mass of the meteor is 
probably to be expressed in thousands rather than in millions 
of tons, and the relative diameters of meteor and crater are 
believed to be comparable to those of a high-explosive shell 
and the crater formed by it. The direction of the meteor is 
possibly indicated by the greater piling up of the rim against 
the flank of the Obuom Range to the south. If this assumption 
is valid the meteor fell from the nOlih-north-east." 
The lake is a sacred place, and many are the tabus imposed 
upon t he dwellers on its shores and the fishers in its water. It 
was the great fishing centre from which the people of Kumasi drew 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
supplies of fish, and as a result the villages along its bank are 
numerous and the inhabitants passing rich. The earliest known 
description of the lake seems to be that given by Perregaux in the 
Bnlletin de la Societe N eufchateloise in 1906, but the fullest is 
probably that of Rattray in his book Ashanti, 1923, pages 54-76. 
Lying immediately to the north of the ever-green forest is 
the so-called Sudanese zone. Of this the late Major T. F. Chipp, 
D.SC., M.C., wrote :-
"Comparatively no botanical or forestry survey work 
has so far been carried out in this country on the vegetation 
of the Sudanese Zone, and consequently it is not possible 
at the present stage to define the limits of the sub-divisions 
into Savannah Forest and Savannah .. The controlling factor 
over this zone, apart from its proximity to the more arid 
conditions of the north, is the annual grass fires, which, sweeping 
over extensive areas of country for many decades must now 
be considered in the light of a natural factor. Strips of the 
original closed forest are still found in its southern edges along 
watercourses and on the south side of the hill masses. Beyond 
that Savannah Forest and Savannah stretch away to the 
north, the forest patches or isolated tress ever becoming fewer. 
" In the west all the country north of 7° 30' belongs 
to this zone. As one proceeds eastwards the limits bear 
towards the south, but keep to the north of the Mampong, 
Agogo, Kwahu and Akwapim ranges of hills. In the east 
of the Colony it has supplanted the Guinea vegetation right 
down to the sea front. It is now steadily progressing along 
the sea front in the shape of a wedge, ever widening behind, 
and at the same time extending its thin end westwards. In 
this manner it has progressed as far as Sekondi. Westwards 
of Sekondi it cannot yet be said to be established, although 
many of its characteristic denizens such as Borassus, Phcenix 
and Sanseveria are found as far as Half Assinie along the sea 
front, and the latter two right to the western frontier of the 
Colony. The extension of com and groundnut farms between 
Sekondi and Half Assinie is causing the tall forest to contract 
inland rapidly and so preparing for the conversion of this 
country to the Sudanese vegetation. 
" As in the case of the Guinea Zone (i.e. coastal zone) 
the soil may be sand or clay, but there seems little doubt that 
the majority of the country has a sandy soil covering. In 
many places, however, owing to the destruction of the 
vegetation, the soil is completely removed, and there the barE' 
rock surface is exposed. This occurs sometimes as stretches 
of fiat rock . sometimes as prominent jagged rocks 
and scarps. Where the vegetation exists there is found a 
black soil to the depth of a few inches only, formed by the 
collection of vegetable ash from the annual fires, and often 
described as ' a rich black soil suitable for the growth of cottoTi 
6 THE GOLD COAST, I93 I . 
and similar agricultural crops.' The removal of the vegetation, 
however, quickly causes its dispersal by wind and rain. 
" The principal rock of this part of the country i sandstone. 
Where this has been eroded, as on the hill tops, granite with 
quartz appears, and the effect of the erosion is seen in the 
sandy accumulations in the depressions and low valleys . 
Where this zone of vegetation occurs in the south-east of the 
country detached outcrops of clay ironstone occur, and here 
and elsewhere further north are occasionally found schists 
and shales. 
"The general rise of the country does not 
appear to be continued, and maximum heights of the majority 
of the isolated hills are not recorded as being greater than 
those of the principal divides of the country. It seems 
reasonable to suppose that the northern part which embraces 
the Northern Territories and Northern Ashanti is a land 
surface reduced to a low relief by erosion. This explains the 
exposed granite on the hill tops and alluvium in the depressions, 
the latter being constantly moved on to the sea." 
This Sudanese Zone is drained by the Volta River System. 
It is, except in the rainy season, from August to October inclusive, 
not well watered, most of the rivers and tributaries running almost 
completely dry, leaving only occasional pools of comparatively 
deep water. 
Finally in th e extreme north the approach of the desert has 
already made itself apparent. Thorn-bush and sandy patches 
are annually growing larger, and the writer is persona,lly aware 
of fields on account of the advance of the sand having been 
abandoned as no longer fit for cultivation. . 
Of the hills in the Sudanese Zone there are few of remarkable 
note. From Kintampo to Gambaga a broken scarp faces the 
north-west, rising to about 800 feet above the surrounding country, 
whilst ranges of hills north of the White Volta mark the frontier 
of the Protectorate with the Upper Volta Colony. Isolated peaks 
are noticeable here and there but the general character of this 
zone is one of gentle undulation. To the east the frontier with 
French Togoland is marked by the mountain ranges which form the 
backbone as it were of that country, and the watershed of the 
Volta River and the Mono. 
The population of these various zones differs, both tribally 
and in density. In the coastal area, at its widest the greater number 
of inhabitants belong to the linguistically allied tribes known as 
Ga, Adangb e and Ewe, and their area is comparatively thickly 
populated. 
The oil-palm and ever-green forest is t he habitat of the Akan 
peoples and except for the more open areas their country is but 
sparsely inhabited. 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 7 
But even more thinly peopled is the adjacent area of the 
Savannah forest, where the Guang division of the Akan stock is 
found. To their north is the true Savannah country where the 
Dagomba and tribally related peoples dwell and populate the 
country more and more thickly as one proceeds northward. 
8 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
CHAPTER II. 
HISTORICAL. 
Myths and Traditions-Former High State of CiV1Jisatiol1-
Agg1'ey Beads-Advent of the E1.tropealls-Hlstory of the Gold 
Const in its 1'elation to that of the World-Local H,stoncal Events-
International Agreeme'l1ts-Ashal1ti alld the Northern TerY1:t01'ies-
Samory-Ferguson's Death-AwHlal Rcc01'd of the Last Decade-
Co nstit~ltion--Judicial System. 
The arbitrary character of the political boundaries of the 
Gold Coast is such that in any review of the history of its inhabitan ts 
there must always be kept in mind that the Gold Coast as defined 
to-day has been imposed upon the people by aliens not only of 
nation bu t of race and is in no sense of the word a spontaneous 
or homogeneous creation. 
The earliest known contact with Europeans was during 
the latter half of the fifteenth century, and prior to that our 
knowledge of the people who lived in the Gold Coast amounts 
practically to nothing. One has to rely almost entirely on myth 
and tradition. -
The former seems generally to point to a race of short m en 
or dwarfs of a reddish colour as being the aborigines; t he latter 
consists of one long list of migrations of families and individuals 
and the founding of settlements by hunters and fish ers. Throughou t 
the traditions, however, there runs a general tendency to record 
a movement in waves from north-west to south-east with a 
secondary movement on a very much smaller scale from the east 
along the coast westward. 
There is no real antiquity lying behind these traditions 'but 
there is considerable evidence to support their truth. Linguistically 
the people of the Gold Coast Colony and Ashanti as well as of a 
considerable portion of both the Protectorate and Mandat ed area 
are allied; their religion, custom and folk-lore are so similar as 
to be almost identical ; and the forest area where the bulk of t he 
Akan tribes have settled shows no evidence of any dense settlem en t 
or any ascertainable age to man's existence therein . 
It is the Akans that reached 1;he coast line in waves from the 
north-west, ,vhilst the Ga, Adangbe and Ewe seem t o have drifted 
slowly and in comparatively recent historical times from the east 
and north-east. 
~o useful pUrpose can be. served. here ?y giving t he story of 
each mdlvldual t n be, for the dlvlslOn mto tnbes is oft en arbitrary 
and the term "tribe" is too frequently loosely interpreted. 
2' 1° 0 ' 
'P E R V 0 L T A /~-r, 11 
V B.wku 
.Tumu Navron ff" I Il 
-Han · Zuarun u K.anja ga .I 6.mbaga 
Wah.bu· Nabul '" 
" ? 
N o F T B. ! N Cheropa."' '" 
)r---~--~.~w.~a~--+-------~------~---v~~~~-\ --+-----\7. -+~~- --110 
ago. J(dra a. \ ~ ! 
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8' H (Banda Ifinta. po \. . / _ ., •. ....~ Chi din i 
s" 
~~~ \ ~ 
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(' Techima • • Nko ma Akfo 0\, ( \ -0 
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\ 0 .Wiawso .Obua'l / K'-'t/I KI61 ~kwamu. ~ Ab ~hunda~oF 
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fa-·~ I _~ Ap.ml 
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BI~~:sekond; 0 2.0 4.0 6 0 8,0 I~O /\AILES 
xim TAKORADI L'- ---~--~~~-:-~---
SCA L.E- I 4 ,0 0 0.000 . I 
Cope Three Pojnt:i I I 
2° f' 0' 
SURVEY H . Q ACCR.A 1932. . 
MAP SHOWING DISTR IBUTION OF LANGUAGE GROUPS. 
[=:J Akan- I Twi-Fanti liroup. c=J Akan-2 Twi-Guanlf Group. 
c:::::=:J Ga-Ewe. c=J Moshi- Dagomba. c:::::::J Uncla.ssifled. 
THE: GR ADUAL MERG/NG OF ONE LA.NGUAGE GRO Up 
].NTO ANOTH ER IS INOfCATED B Y THE SHADING. 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 9 
Ordinarily it might be defined as a social group comprising a number 
of families descended from a common ancestor; in course of time 
slaves and others seeking protection or adoption are included 
until, although the idea of consanguinity persists, the tribe becomes 
based more and more on common social and political institutions 
rather than kinship. 
In the Gold Coast Colony there can be classified three tribes, 
the Akan, Ga-Adangbe and Ewe, and as the coast is approached 
these are more and more mixed in blood with the unknown 
aborigines, slaves, strangers both European and African and even 
Asiatics. These three type-tribes can be distinguished by the 
following main characteristics: the Akan form a social group 
organised on democratic, quasi-military lines, the men not being 
circumcised; the Ga-Adangbe practise circumcision and being in 
the intermediate cultural stage between the Akan and Ewe have a 
constitution which is semi-military and semi-sacerdotal and less 
inclined to democracy; the Ewe society is built on a religious 
base, circumcision is practised and a democratic form of government 
non-existent, it not having yet wholly evolved from the patriarchal 
state. 
In Ashanti the Akan type-tribe continues northward under 
the tribal name Brong, but in the north-west corner there is an 
isolated group, the Mo-Banda, which has not yet been studied 
but which superficially seems to be closely related to the Nunuma 
and Kassena division of the so-called Grunshi living along the 
northern frontier of the country. 
In the Protectorate of the Northern Territories the dominant 
tribe in the southern province is the Guang or Gbanya or Gonja. 
They are not numerically dominant, but cover the greatest area of 
which any single identifiable tribe is in occupation. Undoubtedly 
of the same stock as the Akan they have been ruled for some two 
hundred years by overlords of Mandingo origin,"bl1t have maintained 
almost intact their own cultural and social systems as other peoples 
in other parts of the world have done under similar conditions. 
Numerically superior to these Guang in the protectorate 
are the Dagomba who likewise, but for a far greater period of time, 
have been subject to rulers of alien race. It will probably be 
found, when the tribes of the protectorate have been more closely 
studied, that the Dagomba people cover, except for isolated groups 
of remnant tribes, the whole area north of the Guang to as far 
north as the sixteenth parallel. So little is known of the northern 
tribes that at present excepting linguistically no reliable grouping 
into tribes can be made. Linguistic divisions are by themselves 
of little value, and of this fact there is an excellent example in the 
north of the mandated area of Togoland where the Chakosi of 
undeniably close affinity to the Konkomba, their neighbours, 
speak a language dialectically related to that spoken by the Akan 
from whom they are separated by close on two hundred miles. 
10 THE GOLD CO.\ST, 1931. 
The mandated area of Togoland provides many ethnic problems. 
The old international frontiers, the Volta Ri,-er and the Daka 
River, were merely arbitrary ones, and the Mamprussi, Dagomba, 
Guang, Akan and Ewe hibes dwell on both sides; but to the east 
are found tribes quite unclassified although considerably studiecJ 
by various German students. Such are from north to south the 
Bimoba, the Chakosi already mentioned, the Konkomba, the Ajati, 
Adele and the small mountain tribes Logba, Buem, Santrokofi, 
Akposso and vVora-wora. 
Of the history of these protectorate and north Togo tribes 
excepting for the Dagomba and Mamprussi little is known. The 
Konkomba relate how they were driven from the westward and 
point as evidence to the great heaps of slag which their forefathers 
are said to have made when smelting their iron and which are so 
marked a feature of the country in the Savannah zone east of the 
Great North Road from Kumasi to Tamale and west of the Daka 
and. Volta Rivers. 
The Bimoba are of recent migration having entered their 
present settlement within the past decade. 
Of the other Grunshi tribes, the Busanga, the Nabdam, Nan-
kanni, Kassena, Issala, the so-called Lobi, etc., the tradition leads 
generally back to some hunter or to some mythical arrival out of 
a hole in the ground. 
But as with recent Gonja or Guang history the Mamprussi and 
Dagomba have preserved a traditional story which rings true. 
They tell of the descent from the north-east of a hero who with 
his followers seized the dominion of the land, and after exterminat-
ing the actual chieftains of the clans or families that lived therein 
tolerated the return of the rightful heirs to those chieftainships 
in the guise of priests and interceders before the spirits of the Earth. 
That traditional history is to a certain extent borne out by quite 
disinterested evidence. 
The tradition is briefly that the hero settled first in Pussiga, 
a small village now just across the old international frontier east 
of Bawku. A son, i.e. a descendant, founded the kingdom of Mam-
prussi, from which again the kingdom of Dagomba was similarly 
created. Meanwhile by identical methods sons had founded the 
kingdoms of Fadan Gurma, Tenkodogu, Wagadugu and Wahiguya. 
It appears the descendants of the original conqueror did not 
take kindly to a quiet sedentary life but were ever anxious to be on 
the war-path, to earn fame and fortune and if possible to found 
kingdoms. That spirit in the blood of those of the ruling stock 
survived until and even during the early days of Eurpoean 
occupation. 
It is definitely recorded by the historian of Timbuktu, in the 
Tarikh es Soudan, how in the fifteenth century that city was sacked 
by marauders from Moshi and at the end of that same century 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 11 
the Portuguese governor of E lmina despatched a large embassy 
from the coast to give presents to and make a treaty with the 
" Sultan" of that country. 
The particular lVIoshi Kingdom referred to was that of Wahi-
guya. That was the latest to Ilave been founded by the scion of 
the hero race of Pussiga. It is therefore not unreasonable to deduce 
that tile kingdoms of lVIamprussi and Dagomba date historically 
from tbe twelfth century at the latest, since 300 years must have 
elapsed before Wahiguya could have been founded and rendered 
sufficiently powerful to overwhelm Timbuktu. 
Their traditional history is one long list of petty wars, of raids 
and brigandage, of rebellion and of pal'Lce intrigues. 
To return however to the people of the coastal zone and Akan 
kinship, their migration from the north and north-westward having 
been admitted, one can recognise that their earliest migration had 
not the character of permanency. That these immigrants were 
hunters, lived on grubs and snails, roots and fruits, with occasional 
meat of the forest animals is certain. The earliest pictures of these 
people show a naked folk, covering parts of their body with bark-
cloth, and armed with spears and bows and arrows. To this day 
these general characteristics survive. In areas such as the districts 
of Sefwi and Kete-Krachi, the people still make and use bark-cloth 
both for aprons an(i for covering; snails and certain caterpillars, 
(especially the former) are still the staple diet of the majority of 
the inland Akans ; and the wild roots and fruits once the ordinary 
food of the people have survived in the manner customary to 
sociological evolution as medicinal and magical concoctions. 
The earth itself supplies evidence of all this in the innumerable 
broken off pieces of neolithic diggers, termed here, as similar stones 
elsewhere in the world, God's axes and hoes and thunderbolts; 
it also reveals a complete absence of ancient clearings either for 
farming or for dwelling sites. So that with myth, tradition and the 
testimony of the earth itself in accord it is clear that at the period 
preceding the arrival of the European in the fifteenth century, 
t he people in t he coast al and forest zone were nomadic hunters. 
undoubtedly not numerous, and traditionally migrants from the 
interior. 
Such were the ancestors of the Akan tribes. The forebears 
of the Ga and Ewe t raditionally came from the East, probably over-
land and possibly a few contingents by sea. Their appearance 
came at a much later period and they encountered members of t he 
earliest Akan people in Winnebah, where t hey were known as Fetu, 
or Ofutu, Obutu . It is interesting to record that the earliest 
linguistic and anthropological study of the people who inhabit the 
Gold Coast is t hat of the Fetu, who were described so long ago as 
1673. 
In parenthesis it may be noted that there is a pleasant theory 
that the peoples of the Gold Coast had attained a great height of 
civilization and that this had degenerated or st agnated until, the 
12 THE GOLD COAST, 1931 . 
circle completed, the stage of primitiveness wherein Eu ropeans re-
discovered them was reached again. There is no shred of evidence 
to justify this theory. On the contrary every myth and tradition 
point to the reverse, and the fact that the ancestors of the Akan 
people fled from culture and civilisation, which the conquerors of 
the Dagomba certainly possessed, seems undeniable proof to the 
contrary. 
Several writers have put forward a suggestion that t he 
Phoenicians probably visited the Gold Coast. There is no sound 
reason to accept this nor yet to refuse it. The matter to-day is 
of almost purely academical interest. In support of their assertion, 
they have pointed to the occasional finding in the ground of beads, 
locally termed" aggrey." To these beads the inhabitants of the 
Gold Coast attribute a great value. 
But these writers overlook the fact that beads of glass 
and porcelain partake of the nature of indestructibility. At the 
same time the artificial value given to the beads by the local 
inhabitants has misled them into attributing a greater antiquity 
than need necessarily be the case and has probably caused the 
confusion in terms of Phoenician and Venetian. 
Certain facts point to this having taken place. There is no 
evidence that the Phoenicians were specialists in the art of bead-
making; there is absolute evidence that the Venetians were, and 
moreover that they had an established trade with the people south 
of the Niger in the early part of the fifteenth centry, having agencies 
at least so far south as in EI Touat; there is no evidence to be 
gained from the beads brought to Europe of their being of an age 
such as a Phoenician origin would have shown (actually the bead 
from West Africa of greatest ascertainable antiquity in the British 
Museum is of the Roman Empire period) ; and it is to be recorded 
that during the past decade, when the north was opened up to the 
southerner, a small but very profitable trade existed for a short 
time in these beads, many Ashanti and Kwahu traders travelling 
into French Territory to acquire (which they readily were able to 
do) collections of so-called aggrey beads for sale in their home 
towns. 
The word " aggrey" itself seems to indicate mendy a bead 
which in the eyes of the local inhabitants was regarded as a bead 
of value. The earliest narratives of voyages by the Dutch and 
English persistently tell how the ships while awaiting the collection 
of cargoes proceeded into the bight of Benin where they brought to 
the Gold Coast among other articles cer tain bJue beads of coral 
called " akori " or " accory " or " aigri." 
The Phcenician connection seems therefore to be based on 
very slender grounds, but indirect influence from if not real 
contact with Egypt and Egyptian culture is almost certain. In 
a recent work "Hebrewisms in \~rest Africa," the author, the 
Reverend Father J. 'vV. Williams, produces a vast amount of 
material in proof of this assertion, whilst Romer showed clearly 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 13 
the routes along which this influence travelled. Not only great 
similarities in culture and religious thought and practice exist, 
but there are other likenesses, in architecture, costume, head-dress 
and so on, whilst the agricultural systems and the field products 
of the northern tribes seem to point to an eastern origin. 
It is in any case difficult to imagine that West Africa could 
have been kept outside the pale as regards influences from the older 
Mediterranean civilizations. There is clear evidence of a slight 
contact with Rome; there is clearer evidence of Egyptian. Moorish 
and Arab influence is historically known; whilst a certain influence 
from the culture of the Berbers and the Church of North Africa 
can safely be assumed. But the extent of these influences whether 
direct or indirect, whether at first or at second hand cannot now be 
ascertained. 
It is, however, highly probable that the contact, or threatened 
contact with these higher forms of culture, which would have 
involved at the best servitude and at the worst extermination, 
led to the emigration of interior tribes, forcing them to withdraw 
into the wilder recesses of the forests. They in their turn thus 
forced the aborigines into still wilder recesses so that one finds the 
oldest evidences of occupation and settlement on the hill-tops 
and in the rocky areas of the forest-repetitIon here of a course 
of events to be observed almost universally throughout the world. 
Such ancient sites are those at Begoro in Akim-Abuakwa, at Obuasi 
in Ashanti and at Nsuta in the Western Province. 
Historically it is not until the fifteenth century that the people 
of the coast came into direct contact with Europe and as a result 
they have become involved in all the great world movements since 
the Middle Ages. It was to the great impulse whicp swept Western 
Europe in the middle of the fifteenth century to seek for communi-
cation, unhampered by the Turks, with the wealth of Cathay and to 
the religious fervour to renew touch with the old Christian Church 
whose head ,vas Prester J olm, that the Portuguese, inspired by the 
princely geographer, Henry the Navigator, crept slowly down the 
coast of Africa. Year by year their progress was pursued. Their 
undertakings were commercially successful, so that they considered 
it advisable to establish a stronghold on the coast. For this purpose 
they chose the sit e of Elmina, where in 1482 d' Azambuja erected 
the castle of San J orge d' El Mina. 
The Portuguese continued their progress southward, founded 
the future great Christian Kingdom of the Congo, crossed the 
continent of Africa, rounded the Cape of Good Hope and opened the 
way to India and Cathay. 
The Spanish discoveries on the 'Western side of the Atlantic 
and the revelation of the possibility of attaining untold wealth 
raised in an acute manner the question of labour supply. No other 
source was available than that of Africa; and the only means of 
obtaining that labour was through the age-old a,nd we!l-trLer! methocl~ 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
of slavery. Thus there began the trans-oceanic Slave Trade, which 
in spite of its abomination, was in many ways dest ined to be a 
blessing to West Africa. 
Economically the Slave Trade, which both Africans and 
Europeans indulged in to the full, resulted directly in the opening 
of the country. The wandering hunter and fisherman were through 
their greed for European luxuries forced to settle and adopt fixed 
habits. Elmina, a picture of which as it was in 1547 is extant, 
from a hamlet of some few huts grew into a town of importance; 
the diggers of roots and the hunters of grubs and snails found they 
had in order to liye in the new manner to barter something for the 
luxuries they coveted. Slaves were in demand and slaves were 
easy to come by. Therefore they began to hunt and capture and 
sell their fellow men. The Portuguese in order to feed the slaves 
awaiting shipment as well as to support their captors had to 
introduce foodstuffs; so that because ofthis evil there was introduced 
into the Gold Coast almost every food-plant which provides to 
this day for the feeding of the people. 
It can safely be averred that the Slave Trade was the direct 
cause of the introduction of agricultural habits among a people 
whose wealth and happiness to-day is entirely due to agriculture. 
The security of the Spaniards and Portuguese in this trade was 
assured by Papal Bull, and Christendom was then quite willing as 
a whole to acquiesce in a regulation whereby half the unkno'wn 
world was allotted to the enterprise of Spain and half to Portugal. 
Occasional interlopers of various nations disregarded this law, but 
their individual efforts were mere interlucles and of but little 
importance. 
However Christendom at the end of the sixteenth century was 
at throes in internecine strife. Portugal had been absorbed by 
Spain, and except for the Slave Trade the coast of Guinea was 
practically neglected. Spain was deeply engaged in war with her 
subj ects in Holland and when the la tter country asserting her 
independence decided to attack her arch-enemy at the source of 
her wealth, South America, the third great step in the development 
for the Gold Coast had been taken . The Dutch seized the Coast 
of Brazil. 
The Dutch and English had visited the Gold Coast at infrequent 
intervals before the seventeenth centurv. But such visits were 
irregnlarised poaching and smuggling -trips, performed at the 
instigation of individuals in a desire to get rich quick rather than 
with the express intention to settle in and exploit the country. 
This illicit trade was, in spite of the risk to its participators, highly 
profitable, and by the end of the sixteenth century the Dutch had 
tentatIvely established two fortified posts to protect their 
interests. 
The seizure of the Brazils altered the outlook, which the 
Netherlanders in the Low Countries held as regards the West 
African trade, The Coast of G Llinea, and th~ Gold Coast in 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 15 
particular became of prime importance; the labour necessary to 
develop the South American countries had to come from vVest 
Africa. As soon as this was realised, the Dutch made determined 
attacks on the Portuguese settlements, which received but little 
assistance from their Spanish masters who were far too busily 
occupied elswhere. 
Thus it was that as soon as war in Europe broke out afresh in 
1621, the Dutch determined. on the conquest of the Gold Coast as 
a part of their plan of campaign. The West Indian and Guinea 
Company was formed, and plans laid to capture the headquarters 
of the Portuguese on the Gold Coast, San Jorge del Mina. The 
first attempt failed but in 1637 the fortress fell and the Dutch were 
more or less left in undisputed control of the traffic with t his 
country. 
However only three years later Portugal regained her 
independence from Spain. The former sought to win back her 
former possessions in the Brazils and the war with Holland was 
continued. The end came in 1642 when Holland handed the Brazils 
back to Portugal, who abandoned the Gold Coast to the Dutchmen. 
Thus ended the Portuguese control of this country, a control t hat 
had lasted since 1481. 
Meanwhile the success of the Guinea trade had attracted to the 
Gold Coast the attention of other European monarchs and 
merchants, who sent out expeditions to exploit the wealthy slave 
trade and establish settlements in the country. Thus Branden-
burgers, Swedes, French, Danes and English came hither and built 
fortified posts. There is even record of a Hungarian Guinea 
Company, probably equipped and arranged at the instigation of 
Dutchmen, who found themselves excluded from this profitable 
business unless working for the monopolistic West India Company, 
and who therefore perforce had to obtain a protection similar to 
that which the letters of marque provided privat eersmen in the 
following century. 
But Brandenburgers, Swedes and French ceased by the end 
of the seventeenth century to be seriously interested in the Gold 
Coast and the trade of that country remained almost exclusivelv 
in the hands of England, Holland and Denmark. 
The merchants of these three countries carried on unceasingly 
the traffic in slaves on whose labour the prosperity of both the 
America>, and the vVest Indies was more and more dependent 
with the unforeseen result that the people living on the coast or 
within easy reach thereof leapt several stages in cultural evolution. 
to which reference is made later. 
But world politics continued inevitably to have great effects 
upon the development of this country. The Napoleonic Wars 
included among its incidents, more or less disregarded at the time, 
the sale of Louisiana by the French to the United States. 
When France once more was settled the loss of this wealthy 
Colony made itself felt in the areas of industrial mamlfacture. 
16 THE GOLD COAST, I931. 
Raw mat erial reached France but was no longer of French origin . 
Far-seeing thinkers . began to consider the possibilities of the 
northem parts of Guinea as a likely source of supply for the raw 
materials which Louisiana had provided; and thus the policy of a 
single self-supporting empire which still dominates the thoughts 
of Frenchmen when they consider matters colonial, was founded 
at the time of th e Bourbon restoration. 
Meanwhile a second event had O'(:curred at the end of the 
eighteenth century which was destined to affect most profoundly 
conditions of trade and the position of the West African. European 
opinion had never really acquiesced in the slave-trade. It h ad 
tolerated what was an obvious ill because of the immediate gain . 
. Although Africans themselves had supported in the pulpit and in 
theses submitted to their universities defended the practice and 
traffic of slavery public opinion ,vas never, when fully informed 
thereon, in its favour, and in 1782 Austria declared slavery and 
the trade in slaves illegal. Denmark followed her example a decade 
later, and England having come to the same conclusion abolished 
slavery in 1807. 
Thus at the end of the Napoleonic wars there were two world-
forces at work in the moulding of th is country: the desire of 
France to find a new source of raw materials, and t he abolition 
by the greatest sea-power of slavery in all its forms. 
The former for the t ime being had little effect beyond the 
definite establishment of the F rench in the Senegal country; the 
latter led to the general acceptance by the world of the principle 
of abolition and rendered for the time being almost useless to 
merchants the coast-line of the Gulf of Guinea. 
But with the abolition of slavery there also entered into the 
minds of a few sincere, almost fanatical men, in Switzerland as 
well as in Denmark, the desire to develop the countries where the 
slave trade had thriven. Both countries realised that this should 
be done not only by evangelisation of the people but also by 'the 
agricultural development of the country, and to the early efforts 
of these devout men the present prosperity ofthe country is almost 
exclusively due. Thus it came abou t that th e first half of the 
nineteenth century 'Nitnessed a waning in trade which led almost 
to the abandonment of the country by the English but at the same 
t ime saw an ever growing desire to lead the people of the Gold 
Coast to the peace of Christianity, as envisaged by the devout, 
and therefore to the peace of a thriving peasantry. 
This phase endured until 1870. By that time the Danes 
and th e Dutch had definitely abandoned the country and the 
English alone remained on the Gold Coast. At the same time 
the Franco-Prussian war broke out and France's u tter defeat 
brought a result quit e unforeseen to the Gold Coast . 
Faced in Europe with severe loss in territory, material and 
man-power, France remembered the poJicy to which Napoleon 's 
THE GOLb COASt, i93i. 
sale of Louisiana had given birth. She therefore looked to Africa 
wherein to rebuild her fortunes and began that intensive penetration 
which finally led to the scramble for Africa. 
Most of the European powers were involved in this imperialist . 
but rather undignified and certainly non-ethical competition. 
To the Gold Coast the result was however entirely beneficial. Great 
Britain consolidated her coastal holdings, annexed Ashanti and 
assumed a protectorate over the Northern Territories, thereby 
creating a country under her flag which could be regarded as a 
single entity and for the holding of which at that time it was 
consideoed successful exploitation alone could be the justification. 
The modern and finer ideal of leading the country towards nation-
hood had not then been born. 
Then da\'med the twentieth century and with it a complete 
revolution as regards the tropics, probably one of the most important 
in the world's history. The uses of quinine and the discovery 
that the principal tropical diseases were insect-borne and therefore 
capable of being controlled had been made known towards the 
end of the last century. The present one saw the foundation 
under the auspices of the Imperial Government of the School of 
Tropical Medicine whilst similar institutions were opened in 
Liverpool, Paris, Hamburg, Lisbon, Rome and elsewhere. The 
deadly climate of the tropics was to be attacked and the result 
of that attack is visible to-day. Without the knowledge acquired 
and made known by such men as Laveran, Manson, Ross and others, 
the development of this country could never have taken place. 
When the twentieth century opened the Gold Coast was in a 
way fortunate in having its house set in order through the tragic 
1900-1 rebellion of the Ashanti, and so enabled the country to 
adjust itself to the thoughts with which Europe was obsessed: 
to make money as quickly as possible, and to move about the earth 
with the greatest possible speed. 
Both these thoughts were applied to this country; the former 
has led to the accumulation and handling of wealth, never foreseen, 
divided not too unevenly among the Gold Coast Africans; the 
latter has, aiding and abetting this lust of acquiring wealth, brought 
about a sociological revolution, the end of which is nowhere yet 
in sight. 
The wealth of the Gold Coast is discussed in a later chapter, 
as well as the progress of the revolution in speed and its direct and 
indirect effects. Summarised these steps in the history of the 
country in its relationship to the world in general are as follows :-
Fifteenth Century. 
First contact with modem Europe resulting in the beginning 
of the trans-oceanic Slave Trade. 
Sixteenth Century. 
Growth of that Slave Trade l'esulting in the creation of settle-
ments and the necessity of teaching agriculture to the Gold Coast 
inhabitants in order to supply the whel'ewithal to feed the slaves. 
B 
18 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
Seventeenth Century. 
General European rivalry ending in the abandonment of the 
Gold Coast by the Portuguese and their replacement by the Dutch , 
. English and Danes. 
Eighteenth Century. 
The greatest development of the Slave Trade leading to its 
decline and a general desire to evangelise the country. 
Nineteenth Century. 
Abolition of the Slave Trade ; agricultural development of 
the country through the missions and governments; the scramble 
for Africa leading directly to the creation of t he Gold Coast as a 
single country. 
Twentieth Century. 
Acquisition of great wealth by the inhabitants through the 
practice of agriculture; and the social revolution brought about 
by the search for speed which was intensified by the Great Vvar, 
whilst life in the tropics was made safer than believed hitherto 
possible by the researches in medicine. 
Finally the effects of the Great War on world politics must 
not be forgotten. There is scarcely a sufficient gap in time between 
the end of that great event and the present day to gauge aright its 
true effects but there are at least two prominent results readily 
visible: the search for speed has opened up the country 1.0 an extent 
that would have seemed incredible even in 1921, and the conquest 
of the German Colonies with their final apportionment to the Allied 
Powers has brought about a change in mental attitude towards the 
people of these tropical countries, of whom we no longer regard 
ourselves as masters but for whom we realise we hold a trusteeship 
for the conduct of which we are responsible to posterity. 
Such in brief is the history of the Gold Coast in its relationship 
with the history of the rest of the world. It is more convenient 
to record in quasi-tabular form the principal events in local history 
rather than to weld them together in a connected story, since many 
histories of the country have already been written and published 
and are readily available. 
ca. Eleventh or Twelfth Century. 
Invasion of t he north-eastern corner of the Protectorate of 
the Northern Territories by Na Ggewa and his followers who founded 
the first of the Moshi-Dagomba Kingdoms in the COlllltry of the 
Kusasi and Busansi, making Pussiga their capital. Raiding and 
marauding throughout the country to the south where they formed 
the Mamprussi and Dagomba Kingdoms, they drove many of the 
inhabitants southward and thus brought about in the 
Thirteenth Century. ca. 
the first invasion of the coastal countries by families of the Guan 
who reached the sea at Winnebah. 
THE GOLD COAST, I99I, 19 
F O%rteenth Ce nt%ry. 
The earliest arrival of immigrants from the east, who settled 
along the coast and absorbed the indigenes and thus in all 
probability created the tribe now recognised as the &a Adangbe. 
ca. 1450. 
The first Portuguese are stated to have reached that part of 
the Guinea Coast known as the Gold Coast and are probably the 
first of the modem Europeans to have done so. The French 
have asserted that almost a century earlier men from Dieppe and 
Rouen had traded here; but this story is clearly refuted by the 
recent authoritative work by M. C. de la Ronciere in hIS La 
decouverte de /' Afrique au Moyen-Age. 
From now on history is authenticated. 
1482.-Arrival on the Gold Coast of the expedition from 
Portugal under command of Dom Diego d' Azambuja and founding 
of the fortress of San Jorge d' El Mina. 
1486.-The fortress of San Jorge d' El Mina and its surrounding 
huts raised to the dignity of a City by King J oh11 II of Portugal. 
ca. 1488.-The Governor Joao de Barros, sends an embassy 
from Elmina to the Sultan of the Moshi. 
1553.-First English expedition to the Gold Coast, whence 
150 lbs. of gold was brought home to England. 
1595.-First Dutch expedition to this country. 
1598.-Dutch found their first settlements at Mori, Butri and 
Kommenda. 
1618.-Formation of the first English chartered company for 
trading in the produce of Africa; "The Company of Adventurers 
of London trading in Africa." A fort was built at Kormantin but 
shortly afterwi-rds abandoned. 
1621.--0n 3rd June, 1621 the States General of the United 
Provinces granted a charter to the Dutch merchants to form a West 
India Company which gave them exclusive right to trade on the 
West African Coast. Of those early years there is to-day but one 
record and that fortunately an authoritative one, compiled from the 
archives of the company by one of the Company's employees and 
later director, Joannes de Laet of Leiden. The narrative of the 
acts of the company appeared in 1644 in thirteen books, each book 
covering the period of one year from 1623-1636. The author then 
destroyed the archives. 
1622.-Disaster at the Abrobi mine a few miles to the north 
of Kommenda which had been worked since prior to 1482 by the 
Portuguese. 
1623.-Building of Fort Duma 15 miles inland of Axim to 
protect prospectors, and the discovery of a rich mine at Aboasi. 
1626.--Compagnie Libre de Dieppe et Rouen formed by the 
French for trade in West Africa and a second English company 
with rights to carryon business in slaves received its charter. 
BI 
20 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
1636.-Earthquake destroys the mine at Aboasi and Fort 
Duma. 
1637.-Capture of Elmina by the Dutch. 
1642.-Abandonment by the Portuguese of their possessions 
in the Gold Coast to the Dutch. 
There is considerable confusion in the local history of the Gold 
Coast after the withdrawal of the Portuguese. The Dutch were 
nominally their successors, but the monopolistic claims inherited 
from the Portuguese were disputed by the merchants of other 
countries, and during the period from 16407-1667 Danes, Swedes, 
French , Dutch and English seem to have been at incessant strife 
with each other. 
In 1662 the third English Company had been incorporated 
" The Company of Royal Adventurers of England trading to Africa," 
and in 1664 the Compagnie Libre .de Dieppe et Rouen had been 
merged into the French West India Company. It is to be noted 
that all the companies trading in Guinea excepting the English 
were Vi'est Indian Companies, thereby indicating that the trading 
interests were almost entirely confined to the Slave Trade. 
1667.- Treaty of Breda secures Cape Coast Castle to the 
English. 
1672.-The Company of Royal Adventurers surrendered its 
charter and a fourth company called the Royal African Company 
was formed, having as its patrons the King and the Duke of York. 
1682.-First German appearance on the Gold ' Coast, an 
expedition being sent by the Elector of J randenburg with orders 
to form a settlement. A fort was built at Manfro and on the return 
of the expedition some of the principal natives were taken back to 
Hamburg. They were well entertained and visited Berlin, returning 
the following year to their country. 
ca. 1682 or earlier.-The Dutch penetrated" inland from 
Axin1, and built a fortified post some 40 miles above the old 
Portuguese fort Dun1a-over 50 miles from the sea. This was in 
the country of the Aowins, tl1e only Gold Coast people living on the 
coast who were known to have used poisoned arrows. The nan1e of 
this outpost was Fort Ruyghaver and it seems to have been 
destroyed and abandoned not long after its foundation on account 
of the hostility of the Aowins. 
ca. 1697.-0sei Tutu succeeded to the Kingship of Ashanti and 
shortly after founded the town of Kumasi as his capital. His reign 
marks the beginning of the Ashanti Kingdom. 
ca. 1720.- 0sei Tutu killed by the Akims at Akromantin and 
is succeeded by Osei Apoku Wari as King. 
1722.- Serious blow to piracy on the Gold Coast, 52 pirates 
being hanged at Cape Coast Castle on one day. 
ca. 1725.- 0 sei Apoku Wari invades the country of the 
Northern Territories and subjugates the Kingdoms of Ga.man, 
Dagomba and N tao 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 21 
1750.-The 5th English Company fonned: the African 
Company of Merchants. Among its duties was one by ""hich it was 
bound to maintain the forts and settlements on the Gold Coast 
in exchange for £13,000 per annum. 
1752.-Society for the Propagation of the Gospel begins work 
at Cape Coast Castle. 
ca. 1764. -The earliest recorded visit by Europeans to Kumasi, 
the Danes sending Noy to that capital as a special ambassador. 
Throughout the century the Ashanti power had been growing, but 
the kingdom had never quite been consolidated. Rebellions were 
frequent, so that the history of that country is one long account of 
wars and punitive expeditions. In 1792 their assistance was called 
upon by the Danes who become deeply involved in a war with the 
Awuna, and in that year the first direct communication took place 
between Kumasi and an English Governor who sent to request 
them to refuse the help for which the Danes had asked. 
1797.-King of Denmark prohibits hi~ subjects from engaging 
in the Slave Trade. 
1798.-Visit of the famous botanist P. Thonning to the Gold 
Coast on behalf of the King of Denmark to report on the agricultural 
possibilities of his possessions, where coffee in particular had been 
very successful. There were three experimental plantations at 
that time established in the foothills of the Akwapim Range, near 
Aburi, Akropong and Dodowa. 
1807.-Abolition of slavery by Great Britain. 
First conflict between the Ashantis and the British. The 
former attacked the Fort at Annamabo, but were repulsed with 
great slaughter, the reason for the hostilities being the protection 
given by the British to two Assin chiefs who had fled from the ' 
former. 
1809.-A suggestion that spirits from Indian corn might be 
distilled on the Gold Coast in order to replace Hollands gin was 
turned down by the Commit tee of the Company of Merchants, 
who passed a resolution to the effect that it was the duty no less 
than the inclination of the Committee to discourage the introduction 
into Africa of the art of distilling spirits and that the objects of 
the Committee were to promote agriculture and commerce. 
1812.-Murder of Meredith, Governor at Winneba, by the 
people of that place. This was the culminating tragedy of a series 
of assassinations and crimes which had been taking place since 
the abolition of slavery. The fort at Winneba was destroyed 
as a punishment, thereby removing European protection in case 
of an attack by the Ashanti-a measure reproved in London but 
apparent ly one which met the case locally as it brought the Winnebas 
to heel. 
1815.-A school for the education of the children of Cape 
Coast established by the Committee of the Company of Merchants 
under the headmast ership of Rev. Vililliam Phillip who was 
destined to succeed to the chaplaincy of a remarkable African, 
22 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
who had been educated at Oxford. This was the Rev. Phillip 
Quaque who was probably the first of any Non-European ~ace 
(since the Reformation) to be ordamed m the Anghcan commumon. 
He had been sent home to England in 17M and after his return 
to the Gold Coast had succeeded to the chaplaincy at ape Coast, 
which he retained until his death in 1816. 
The earliest record of the successful introduction of cacao into 
the Gold Coast. 
1817.-Cape Coast destroyed by fire, resulting in the first 
attempt at town-planning. The instructions read : " That 
instead of the houses being crowded together as formerly, they 
should be built upon a regular plan alike conducive to the health 
of the inhabitants and the beauty of the place." 
Mission sent to Kumasi, consisting of :Messrs. James, Bo\\'dich, 
Hutchison and Tedlie. A treaty was entered into under which 
the King of Ashanti agreed to a consul being appointed to reside 
in his capital. 
1818.-Joseph Dupuis appointed first British consul at Kllmasi. 
One of the last recorded large shipment of slaves from the 
Gold Coast, seven vessels taking slaves on board close to Cape 
Coast in February of this year. 
1820.-Dupuis enters into a treaty with the King of Ashanti 
at Kumasi, but in spite of the fact that his appointment as consul 
was from the Home Government, the treaty was refused by the 
merchant governor and council at Cape Coast Castle. Dupuis 
returned to England and it is probable that his report influenced 
the decision of the Government to abolish the African Company 
of .Merchants and to transfer their possessions on the Gold Coast 
to the Crown to be placed under the Government of Sierra Leone. 
1822.-Sir Charles McCarthy assumes the Government of the ' 
country, which as a result of many misunderstandings was practically 
in a state of war with Ashanti. The coastal tribes ever since 1807 
had been either actively or indirectly engaged in hostilities with 
that country, and only the exercise of considerable diplomacy 
and patience had kept the European settlements from becoming 
involved in one or other of the disputes. 
Formation of the Royal African Colonial Light Infantry to 
maintain and defend adequately the Forts. 
Seizure of Sergeant Kujo Otetefo stationed at Anamabo by 
the Ashanti on 16th August, his capture ending with his murder 
early in 1823. The Ashantis justify the murder on the ground 
that it "vas an execution, since the Sergeant was guilty of having 
grossly abused the King of Ashanti, a crime punishable in their 
eyes with death. But the greater probability is that the King of 
Ashanti was weary of the undecided policy of the English Govern-
ment and wished to find out one way or another the latter's 
attitude vis-a-vis the coastal tribes if and when the Ashanti decided 
to conquer them finally .. 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 23 
1823.-In order to avenge the murder a force was sent from 
Cape Coast Castle to arrest and bring in the murderers who were 
supposed to be at Dunkwa, some 15 miles inland, where the tragedy 
had taken place. This was the first definite inland punitive 
expedition undertaken by the British and ended in a ~erious reverse, 
the troops being ambushed and forced to fall back on Anamabo. 
The Ashantis invaded the country which was now being regarded 
by the Government at Cape Coast Castle as under its protection. 
Sir Charles McCarthy returns to the Gold Coast at the end of the 
year to assume full charge of affairs there. 
1824--6.-Sir Charles McCarthy after making various tours of 
inspection of the local forces arrayed against tht Ashantis, was 
attacked at Assamacow (Insamancow) in the Wassaw country 
and suffered a complete defeat in ·which he lost his life, 21st February. 
Throughout the major portion of this year the Ashantis 
menaced Cape Coast Castle but owing to an outbreak of small-pox 
which is said to have caused terrific losses, they withdrew so that 
by April, 1825, the Governor, Major-General Turner, C.B., was 
able to withdraw most of the troops to Sierra Leone. But the 
Ashantis returned in force, this time with the intention of inflicting 
punishment on the Accras, who had abandoned their alliance 
with them. The few British troops available together with levies 
from the Akims, Akwamus and Denkeras marched to the assistance 
of the Accras. Issue was joined on 7th August, 1826, at Dodowa 
and resulted in the complete defeat and rout of the Ashanti 
invaders, peace however not being fully restored until 1831. 
1827.-The Basel Mission sent out its first missionaries to 
Christiansborg. 
1828.-The troubles of the late war, its disasters and misunder-
standings, together with the appalling casualities due to the climate 
and declining trade had almost convinced the British Government 
that the abandonment of the Gold Coast was desirable. But the 
merchants trading thither seeing the loss which such action would 
inevitably bring upon them suggested that the affairs of the Forts 
might be handed over to a Committee of London Merchants. 
This plan was adopted, and Cape Coast Castle and J ames Fort 
Accra were handed over to their care but were still to be considered 
dependencies of Sierra Leone. 
1830.-George Maclean appointed as President of the Council 
by the London Committee. 
1831.-Maclean signed a treaty of peace with the Ashantis 
and began to excercise authority and jurisdiction among the pro-
tected tribes, i.e. the former allies against the Ashantis. 
The trade in palm-oil had begun about 1820, but existed only 
to a small extent. The good government introduced and enforced 
by Maclean brought a great impetus to the manufacture and export 
of this commodity, which now became the princpal item of trade 
{rO)11 this country. . 
24 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
1835.-The vVesleyan Church entered the n11SS1On field and 
in 1836 "'as laid the foundation stone of the first Wesleyan Chapel 
in the Gold Coast at Cape Coast Castle, its completion and d dica-
tion taking place in 1838. 
1840.-The Royal African Colonial Corps was disbanded and 
the troops incorporated with the 'West India Regin1ent. 
1841.-Rev. T. B. Freeman of the 'Wesleyan Church had 
visted Kumasi. in 1839 but it was not until this year that he was 
permitted to found a mission station there, the first Christian Church 
to be established in Ashanti. 
In the same year in consequence of reports that the merchant 
government were conniving at the slave trade the British Govern-
.ment sent out a special commissioner to report on conditions obtain-
ing on the Gold Coast. His report resulted in a select committee 
bemg appointed in 1842 and on their recommendation the Crown 
resumed the direct control of the Gold Coast under the Governor 
of Sierra Leone in 1843. 
Commander H. W. Hill was appointed Lieutenant-Governor 
and Maclean was created Judicial Assessor or Stipendiary Magistrate 
in recognition of his work and the firm and just administration 
which had resulted in a great extension of jurisdiction through 
the voluntary acquiescence therein by the people. This extension 
of jurisdiction was formally confirmed in a treaty, locally called 
the Bond, which the chiefs signed on nth March 1844. 
1848.-After a successful punitive expedition against the 
Appollonians, Governor vVinniett left Cape Coast Castle for Kumasi 
on a visit to the King of Ashanti. He \vas accompanied by an 
escort of one company of the 1st West India Regiment and the 
band of that regiment. This was the first occasion on which a 
British Governor and British troops visited the capital of Kun1asi. 
1850.-The forts and settlements on the Gold Coast were 
separated from the Government of Sierra Leone on January 1st 
and Executive and Legislative Councils established. 
On August 17th the Danish Government ceded its forts and 
possessions to Great Britain. 
An attempt was made during this year to grow cotton near 
Cape Coast Castle. But the difficulty of obtaining labour caused 
the attempt to be abandoned. 
1852.-The Poll-Tax Ordinance was passed by the Legislative 
Council, consent thereto having previously been obtained from 
the Chiefs concerned. The tax was one shilling per head of the 
population and the revenue therefrom was to be devoted to " the 
payment of stipends to the Chiefs and the expense of collection, 
and then to the public good in the education of the people, the 
improvement and extension of the judicial system, in affording 
greater facilities of inland communication, increased medical aid, 
and in such other measures of improvement and utility as the state 
of social progress may render necessary." In the first year £7,567 
THE GOLD COAST, I931. 25 
was collected but this amount fell off to £1,552 in 1861 ,vhen the 
Ordinance was allowed to lapse into abeyance. 
1854.-Considerable disturbances took place at Christiansborg 
which was consequently bombarded as well as the town of Labadi. 
1862.-Severe earthquake along the coast in which Accra 
suffered great damage, every stone building being levelled and the 
castle and forts rendered uninhabitable, whilst at Cape Coast Castle 
the shocks were also felt but no damage was recorded. 
In October the Gold Coast Artillery Corps mutinied. This 
regiment had been established in 1851 to relieve the I'mperial Troops 
then forming the garrison of the Gold Coast, and had taken part 
in several minor punitive campaigns. The mutiny lasted from 
the 3rd to 9th when the men surrendered. In the following year 
the corps was disbanded. 
1863.-The Protectorate was invaded by the Ashanti who 
withdrew in face of a demonstration in force during which a camp 
had been established at Prahsu. 
1864.-As a result of this expedition to the river Prah, the 
Home Government decided to send out a special mission to the 
four colonies in West Africa under Colonel Ord to investigate the 
conditions obtaining there and to advise upon the future policy 
which should be observed towards them. On his return to the 
United Kingdom a Select Committee was appointed to consider 
his report. Their opinion was given in 1865 and was to the effect 
that it was not possible for t he British Government to withdraw 
from the settlements, and, what is most interesting in the light 
of the imperial post-war policy: "that all further extension of 
territory or assumption of Government, or new treaties offering 
any protection to native tribes would be inexpedient; and that 
the object of our policy should be to 'encourage in the natives the 
exercise of those qualities which may render it possible for us more 
and more to transfer to them the administration of all the govern-
ments, with a view to our ultimate withdrawal from all except 
probably, Sierra Leone". 
The Committee further opined that in view of steam communi-
cation the central government could be re-established at Sierra 
Leone. 
1866 .-The Gold Coast again attached to Sierra Leone-. 
1868 .- Interchange of territory between the British and Dutch 
Governments, by which the former ceded all their possessions west 
of the Sweet River in exchange for all the Dutch possessions east 
thereof. 
The steamer "Eyo" was the first steam vessel to cross the 
bar of the Volta River and ascend that river. 
1869.-The Ashanti commenced war with the Krepis and 
in the course of their campaign captured the town of Anum where 
since 1864 the Basel Mission had maintained a station. The mission-
aries Ramseyer, his wife and infant son and Kuhne were taken 
26 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
prisoners' and a French trader , Bonnat, '\Vas captured a little later 
at Ho. The prisoners were taken to Kumasi where they remained 
until their release in 1873. 
1871- 2.- The Dutch t ransferred all their possessions on the 
Gold Coast to Great Britain. The former had been invoh'ed for 
some years in wars with the people and the exchange of territory 
in 1868 had in no way added to the peace of the country. Their 
home Goyernment moreover was not prepared to enter upon regular 
hostilities. At the same time the British realised that the respon-
sibility for the hinterland was becoming indubitably theirs, especi-
ally after the capture of foreign subjects who had been dwelling 
with tribes that considered themselves under British protection. 
It was evident therefore that the first step toward procuring the 
latters' release and the re-establishment of peace was to clear up 
the muddle on the coast. The transfer of all possessions and settle-
ments to one or the other of the two powers offered the only possible 
way out. The actual transfer was carried out in February 1872. 
Confederation of all the F anti States was agreed upon by the 
Kings, Chiefs and representatives. The formal constitution was 
drawn up at Mankessim and signed on 18th November 1871. 
But the local government disapproved the movement which was 
forbidden by proclamation in 1872. 
1873-4.-The Ashantis in furtherance of the war started in 
1869 crossed the Prah in J anuary, and the British Government 
decided to put forward a serious effort to settle the disturbed country. 
Sir Garnet vVolseley was appointed Governor and commander-
in-chief and with a select force of European troops amounting in 
all to some 2,500 men invaded Ashanti in J anuary 1874 and after 
several severe engagements entered Kumasi on February 4th, which 
was destroyed the following day. The return to the coast began 
on the 6th and by the 27th except for the special service officers 
and small detachments of the Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers 
the European troops had re-embarked for home. 
A treaty, known as the treaty of Fonunanah was entered into 
at Cape Coast on 13th February, 1874 between the King of Ashanti 
and the Queen of Great Britain by which the fonner agreed, to pay 
an indemnity of 50,000 oz. of gold and renounced all claims to any 
tribute or other homage from his former subjects but now allies 
and under the protection of Great Britain. 
This war had three very important results :-
1. The Gold Coast Government was separated from that of 
Sierra Leone and together with Lagos became the Gold Coast Colony. 
At the same time all the rights and jurisd ction acquired by the 
Crown were transferred to a Supreme Court; provision was made 
fo r the enactment of laws; a police force was created; customs 
duties, licences and the imposition of sanitary rates in towns were 
arranged ; and the establishment of schools and other improve-
ments ou-tiined. 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 27 
2. The final and complete abolition of slavery and the pawning 
of people was enacted thereby putting an end to the continuance 
of domestic slavery in all areas under the protection of the British 
flag. Domestic slavery and the status of slave had not previously 
been made illegal, the practice of the slave trade and traffic in slaves 
alone had been forbidden. 
3. The complete disruption of the former Ashanti Kingdom, 
its component states throwing off their allegiance to the Kumasi 
King in rapid succession in the hope of their being taken under 
British protection. This however could not be given them in the 
circumstances and consequently the immediate hinterland of the 
Gold Coast Colony was reduced to a state bordering on anarchy. 
1876.-Dr. Gouldsbury with a small British mission visited 
Salaga and returned via Krachi and signed with the chiefs of the 
latter place a treaty of friendship and freed6m of trade. 
Headquarters of Government moved from Cape Coast Castle to 
Accra. 
1877.-This year was marked by the revival of the gold-mining 
industry. Since the efforts of the Portuguese, which had not been 
continued by other European nations, gold-mining had been left 
entirely in the hands of the country-people who employed uneco-
nomic native methods of extraction. However Jules Bonnat, 
the Frenchman who had shared the captivity of the Missionaries 
in Kumasi formed the African Gold Coast Company which after 
prospecting the country around Awudua (on the Prestea branch 
of the present railway) obtained a concession at Tarkwa and thus 
were the pioneers in that famous gold field. 
1879.-0wing to the intrigues of the Ashantis, it was deemed 
advisable to send a mission under Mr. John Smith to Sefwhi and 
Bontuku. The mission was not entirely successful and was dis-
approved by the Home Government which looked with disfavour 
on any policy which might be regarded as intervention in native 
affairs outside the Protectorate. 
1881-1883.-Great activity marked this period in the history 
of gold-mining in this country. The reefs at Abontiakoon and 
Abosso were discovered; concessions were taken out in great numbers 
with little regard by their grantors as to whether a previous con-
cession covering the same area had been given or not; labour diffi-
culties caused the engagement of indentured Kru labour ; and 
diggers from all over the world, thinking another Californian strike 
was about to be made, arranged, quite regardless of the climate, 
to flock to the country. 
At the request of the King of Ashanti the Government sent 
a mission to Kumasi under Captain R. L. Lonsdale who had orders 
to do all he could to convince the chiefs and people of the tribes 
neighbouring on Ashanti that the Government wished to preserve 
peace with the latter and were especially desirous of opening trade 
and commerce with them. He visited Salaga and Krachi on his 
return to Accra (1882). 
28 THE GOLD COAST, I 93I. 
In 1881 the Roman Catholic Church re-established its mission 
at Elmina where it had during the Portuguese occupation been 
firmly settled. 
1886.-Submarine cable communication with England was 
completed. 
A survey of the relations between the European Powers in 
regard to African matters must now be made:-
In 1880 the question of the western frontier between the British 
and French possessions, first raised in 1877, was re-opened by Great 
Britain, who wished to transfer it 3 miles west of Newtown, at 
which place it had been fixed prior to 187 1 by a Franco-Dutch Con-
vention. A boundary commission, appointed in 1882, separated 
in 1883 without arriving at an agreement. 
In the following year the Colonial Government owing to a 
great increase in smuggling was considering the annexation of 
Be Beach, on the eastern side 'when it was annexed by the Germans, 
who in July, declared a protectorate over it and Togoland. In 
1885 a conference of Powers interested in Africa was held in Berlin, 
and on the 26th of February, concluded the Berlin Act, which 
provided that the occupation of any newly acquired territory 
should be notified to the signatory powers, and that such occupation 
must be supported by sufficient authority to protect existing 
rights and freedom of trade and transit. An Anglo-German 
Frontier Commission was then appointed, and by March 1886 
had fixed the eastern boundary for 2 ~ mile~ inland. At the same 
time the Germans annexed Agotime, Kawe and Atiwe, a step 
which threatened to divert the Salaga trade from the Colony. 
In consequence, in July, the Colonial Government extended the 
Protectorate over Krikor, and also over Krepi and Akwamu in 
virtue of the former Danish authority over them . These acts 
led to an arrangement as to further extensions which was confirmed 
by the British and German Governments in March, 1888. By 
this agreement a neutral zone was established north of a con-
ventional line drawn on the latitude of the mouth of the River 
Daka, and south of the 10° N. latitude, while the eastern and 
western boundaries were apparently 0° 33' E. and 1° 7' Vv. 
respectively. Both Powers agreed to abstain from acquiring 
any exclusive influence in this zone, but recognized the right of 
either to make treaties with chiefs in it as to territories lying outside 
it. The boundary from the sea to the neutral zone was fixed by a 
later agreement of 1st J uly, 1890, which conceded Heliogolancl to 
Germany. By April, ]892, the demarcation on the ground was 
completed not without considerable opposition on the part of some 
of the tribes to their transfer to Germany. 
Meanwhile on the western frontier an agreement had defined 
the boundary between the French and British possession frem the 
coast to 9° N. latitude. 
THE GOLD COAST, 193i. 
This line of demarcation agreed to in 1889 was more precisely 
fixed by the agreement of the 12th July, 1893, and the British 
claim to Bonduku was at the same time abandoned. 
In 1890 the Brussels Act, which provides for the suppression 
of slave-trading and for the limitation of the import of arms and 
31mTIunition into Africa, was signed by most of the European 
Powers and by the United States. 
In 1892 G. E. Ferguson concluded treaties with five countries 
west and north of the neutral zone, and later with three west 
of it, six north and east of it, and six within it. With certain of 
these countries Germany had made treaties in ] 888. Further 
additions were made in 1894 during Ferguson's expedition of that 
year, while in 1895 France also negotiated treaties 'Nith some 
of the countries to the west and north. 
The struggle between Togoland and the Gold Co~t for the 
trade east of the Volta, which had been accompanied by a lowering 
of tariffs that threatened the financial condition of the former, 
was concluded by the signature of a Customs ConventiCDn at Berlin 
on the 24th February, 1894. 
The acquisition of Ashanti by Great Britain in 1896 and the 
treaties concluded by Ferguson led to great development and 
activity in the neighbouring spheres of influence of Germany and 
France in 1896 and 1897. The latter country was also urged to 
action by the successes which had attended Samory's movement 
towards the Kong country, north of the Ivo~y Coast. 
Eventually the western frontier of the Gold Coast from 9° to 
11 ° N. and its northern frontier were fixed by a convention between 
France and Great Britain, dated 14th June, 1898, and ratified 
on the 13th June, 1899, and the partition of the neutral zone 
between Germany and Great Britain was effected by a convention 
signed on the 14th November, 1899, and ratified in the following 
February, a treaty which provided as well for the settlement of 
the Samoan and other questions. 
1893-4.-In consequence of events which culminated in a 
threatened invasion of Atabubu by the Ashantis, Sir F. Scott 
left Accra in October, 1893, at the head of a force of Gold Coast 
Constabulary, numbering nine European Officers and 364 natives. 
Halting during November at Abetifi, the Expedition received 
more or less definite requests for inclusion in the Protectorate 
from Agogo, Mampon, Kumawo, Jaubin, Nsuta, and Ashanti. 
On the 17th December, headquarters arrived at Atabubu, which 
Ferguson had reached on a political mission two months earlier. 
On the 2lst December, that officer concluded a treaty with Amantin, 
whither a small force was despatched in the following month. 
Meantime the Bandas and Ashantis had attacked the Mos, but 
were defeated: they then turned to the Boles for assistance. But 
the forces of that country fled on the approach of Ferguson's 
mission, and the Bandas were thus reduced to inactivity. 
30 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
By March 1894 treaties were concluded with Nkoranza, Jwan 
(Wiasi), Basa, Nkaneku and Ayinwofi, and the danger of an invasion 
of Attabubu was averted. In the previous month it had been 
decided to send a mission, under Vroom, to Kumasi, with a view 
to induce Ashanti to accept incorporation in the Protectorate. 
The expeditionary forces were consequently withdrawn from 
Attabubu, and returned to Accra early in April. 
Before the departure of the force from Atabubu Ferguson 
had been despatched on an important mission to the tribes north 
of the Black Volta, with which he concluded before the end 01 the 
year treaties of friendship confirming the British claims to the 
country that ultimately became the Northern Territories. 
Vroom's mission arrived at Kumasi on the 17th March, and 
returned to the coast six weeks later without, hmvever, having 
succeeded in its object. No further progress was made in 1894 
in inducing the King of Ashanti, Prer:i1peh, to accept a Resident. 
In December an embassy from Ashanti under Ansa, the King's 
uncle arrived at Cape Coast Castle, and at the end of the same 
month Captain Stewart and Vroom were sent to Kumasi, whence 
they returned in February, 1895, after being insolently received 
by the King. 
1895-6.-1n April the Ansas proceeded on an abortive mission 
to England. By the autumn of 1895 it appeared a strong pro-
bability that military operations would have to be taken against 
Ashanti. A last effort was, however, made to induce, Prempeh 
to conform to the conditions of the treaty of 1874 by accepting 
a Resident and suppressing human sacrifices. Captain Stewart 
and Vroom were therefore sent on a second mission in September 
with an ultimatum, to which no reply was obtained. On their 
return journey they concluded a treaty with Adansi, the country 
south of Ashanti proper. 
By the middle of November, 1895, it was decided to enforce 
the terms of the ultimatum by the despatch of an expedition under 
Col. Sir F. Scott, of a total of 2,042 Europeans and Africans. 
A detachment of 150 men of the Gold Coast Constabulary was 
directed to Atabubu, to form the nucleus of a levy of 2,000 
Nkoranzas, whose country was threatened by the slave-raider 
Samory at the instigation of the Ashantis. 
Meanwhile the Ansa embassy had returned to Cape Coast 
Castle, from England and after two days delay proceeded in 
December to Kumasi, whence envoys were sent on the 11th J anuary 
to treat with Sir F. Scott. But on the 17th January Kumasi was 
reached without opposition and on the 18th the Governor arriv d. 
The next day Prempeh, the Queen-Mother, the chiefs or kings of 
Bantama, Asafu, Ofinsu and Ejisu, the acting king of Mampong, 
and the two Ansas were arrested, and the fetish-groves of Kllmasi 
and Bantama were destroyed. 
The Ashanti captives were removed to Elmina Castle; and 
in 1898, owing to the di:fficulty of preventing communication 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 31 
with Ashanti, they were deported to Sierra Leone, whence they 
were eventually transferred in 1899 to Seychelles, not to return 
to their country for a further quarter of a century. 
The opening up of Ashanti after its occupation in 1896 was 
followed by marked activity in the development of the Colony. 
Capital was attracted by the enterprise of gold, timber, and rubber 
prospectors; old roads were improved and new ones made; in 
1898 the Sekondi-Tarkwa Railway was begun; further impulse 
was given by the settlement of the frontier question with France 
and Germany in 1898-99. 
Legislation thus became necessary to protect both the natives 
and the prospectors in the sale or purchase of land, and found 
expression in various Land Concession Ordinances and the Survey 
Ordinance, No. 8 of 1896, which were followed in 1901 by the 
beginning of a trigonometrical survey of the colony, in conjunction 
with the demarcation of the eastern and western frontiers. In 
1898 the Northern Territories were included in the Government 
of the Gold Coast and in 1901 with the reconstitution of those 
territories and Ashanti, the Colony of the Gold Coast was extended 
so as to include all the tribes embraced in the Protectorate prior 
to 1890. In 1902 the Gold Coast Constabulary was re-organised 
and embodied in the West African Frontier Force. 
After the occupation of Kumasi the administration of the 
former kingdom of Ashanti was vested in a Resident, who was 
installed at that town in March, 1896. A fort was also built there, 
and a garrison of 300 men provided from the Gold Coast 
Constabulary. For the next four years British influence throughout 
the country was effectively extended by a policy which, while 
preserving the Kotoko or Ashanti Council, aimed mainly at 
suppressing all attempts on that part of the Kumasis to re-assert 
their authority over the surrounding dishicts and at opening up 
the trade routes from the latter to the capital. 
For these purposes it was necessary to construct new roads 
and to maintain garrisons in various localities. These measures, 
entailing also the regular provisioning of the garrisons from the 
coast, led to a serious drain on the finances of the Gold Coast Colony, 
for no contribution was levied from the Ashantis except in the 
fom1 of labour. The rapid increase in the trade of Ashanti during 
these years appeared, therefore, to justify the introduction of some 
form of payment by the natives towards the cost of administration. 
Sir F. Hodgson, the Governor of the Gold Coast, proceeded 
to Kumasi at the end of March, 1900, while the Resident was on 
leave in England. On the 28th of that month the proposed 
system of taxation was explained to the assembled kings and chiefs 
who understood appa~ently that they were at the same time to 
surrender the Golden Stool, the national emblem of sovel·eign 
power. The Ashantis, unprepared for these demands, at once 
made secret preparations for revolt, a step to which they were 
32 THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
no doubt encouraged by the prospect of such an important captu re 
as the Governor, and by the weakness of the Kumasi garrison, 
which even with the Governor's escort at that time totalled 150 
rank and file only. 
The first encounter took place close to Kumasi on the 3rd of 
ApriL On tne 11th, matters had become so serious that all the 
troops in the Northern Territories were summoned to Kumasi. 
Four days later the rebellion embraced the following tnbes :-The 
Kumasis, Adansis, Kokofus, Achimas, Ahafos, Nsutas, part of the 
Nkoranzas, the bulk of whom, however, with the queen and the 
Tekimans, remained loyal. The detention of the Mampon and 
Juabin kings in Kumasi decided their wavering subjects, except 
in the case of a few Mampon villages, in our favour. But still 
more important was the fidelity of the King of Bekwai, who e 
capital occupied by a portion of the West African Frontier Force, 
eventually served as an advance base for the relief of Kumasi. 
On the 25th and 29th April, ' deternlined attacks were made on 
the fort, which was closely invested by the 9th May. On the 15th 
of that month the Northern Territories troops arrived, and, with 
a detachment of the Gold Coast Constabulary and the Lagos 
Hausas, which had reached Kumasi on the 18th and 29th Apri l 
respectively brought the garrison up to 12 combatant officers, 
six medical officers and 722 rank and iile. An inadequate reserve 
of ammunition and the difficulty of feeding the large number 
of friendly natives in addition to the garrison culminated on the 
23rd June in the evacuation of the fort by the greater part of the 
force. Two British officers, one medical officer and 115 rank and fi le, 
of whom but 25 were fit for operations in the field, were left, with 
rations for 24 days, while the remainder, viz., ten officers, five 
medical officers and 600 rank and file, accompanied by the Governor, 
nine other Europeans of both sexes, 800 sel vants and carriers, 
and 1,000 friendlies marched out in a south-westerly direction. 
This force, harassed by the enemy for the first three days, moved 
v·ia Takiman, Terebum, Nkwanta, Edubia and Takorassi, reached 
a place of safety at Ofinsu in the Denkyira country on the 30th 
June, and made its way thence to the coast. 
Meanwhile, reinforcements had been arriving from Northern 
Nigeria and Sierra Leone, the latter colonies also furnishing carriers, 
the want of whom had seriously hampered operations. 
On the 13th July a force under Colonel (later Lieut-General 
Sir J.) ViTillcocks, the greater portion of which was concentrated 
at Bekwai, started to the relief of Kumasi. Marching via Peki 
and Nkwanta, the column was frequently sniped at, but did not 
meet serious resistance until 4.30 p.m. on the 15th when the enemy 
was found in a strong stockaded position one mile from Kuma i. 
A heavy shell and Maxim fire was at once opened, and maintained 
for 20 minutes, while the infantry extended on both flanks of the 
guns into the bush. Then " cease fire" gave the signal for a general 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 33 
charge of the whole line which drove the enemy in confusion from 
his position, and some minutes later the Fort was relieved. On 
the 17th the column returned from Kumasi with the old garrison 
and on the 19th reached Bekwai. 
Operations were at once begun with the objects of securing the 
communications from Prahsu to the Ashanti capital, of driving the 
enemy, more particulary the Adansis and Kokofus northward, and 
of ultimately suppressing the rebellion. 
On the 20th September the final stage began by the despatch 
of a column of 500 men and a 75-mm. gun to open up the road to 
Kintampo, distant 100 miles, and of another column of 900 with 
two 75-mm. guns to reconnoitre the country to the north-west of 
Kumasi. The first column met with little resistance and returned 
from Kintampo on the 13th October. The operations of the second 
column were of importance, not only in the decisive results which 
they attained, but also from the fact that duriflg them the Ashantis 
abandoned their defensive tactics. For, convinced apparently 
of the uselessness of these against shell-fire and bayonet charges, 
they attacked this column, on the 22nd September, in front and 
all along its left flank, but after a fight of 40 minutes' duration, were 
completely routed. Thanks to their superior mobility, the Ashantis 
made good their retreat, and, being reinforced by all available 
fighting men, prepared-but without stockades-a strong position 
at Obassa on the Berekum road. Here they were attacked on the 
13th September by Colonel Willcocks with 1,200 men and five guns, 
and, after a stout resistance, of which a frontal and flank counter 
attack were the prominent features , were again completely routed; 
the next day they were pursued for 10 miles by a force of 800 men. 
This was the last fight of the campaign, but during October flJOing 
columns searched the country around Kumasi; and in the first 
half of the following month two strong columns, 1,200 men and 
three guns in all, visited Bechem, Ahafo, Odumase and Berekum, 
and on the 19th Mim surrendered. 
On the 23rd November operations closed with the return of 
the columns to Kumasi ; and by the 3rd December that town was 
evacuated by all the troops, except its garrison. 
In March 1901, Major (now Sir M.) Nathan visited the capital, 
and, at a meeting of all the Kings and chiefs of Ashanti, informed 
them of the election of new kings of Kokofu, Nsuta, Adansi, Ofinsu, 
Ejisu and Abodum and new chiefs of the Korentin, Adentin, Chidom 
and Owiku divisions of Kumasi, in place of their disloyal predecessors 
(deported in the same year to the Seychelles) while rewards for 
their fidelity were promised to the kings of Bekwai, Dengiassi, 
Agona, Mampon, Juabin, Berekum, Warn, Takiman, Attabubu, 
Kumawo, and Nkoranza and to the chiefs of Esumeja and Bompata. 
Since that date the country settled down; and entered on its 
present prosperous career. 
With the country to the north of Ashanti the colony had no 
direct relations prior to 1892. 
c 
34 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
In consequence of the occupation of Bontuku by Samory-a 
slave-raider who deyasta ted the French Sudan for many years 
and who in 1895 had tlweatened Nkoranza in virtue of an alliance 
with Prempeh-an expedition was despatched in February, 1896 
to the neighbourhood of Bontuku. It found whole districts and 
towns in Gaman law waste and depopulat d and provisions so 
scarce that the only foodstuff locally available for native soldiers 
and carriers was, with rare exceptions, dried cassada, ground and 
made into flour. Samory, in spite of protestations of friendship, 
could not be induced to leave Bole to meet the officer commanding 
the expedition, which, on its return march, concluded treaties 
with Bechem and Asunafo Ahafo, Borumfo and Wam. 
Samory's slaver-raiders continued to disturb Nkoransa and 
Gaman and to interrupt trade with the norlh throughout 1896. 
Consequently at the end of that year it was decided to occupy Bole 
and Buna effectively since they wen~ considered to have fallen within 
our sphere by the treaties of 1892 and 1894. Lieutenant 
Henderson, R.N., with a party of the Gold Coast Constabulary 
arrived at Bole on the 2nd of J anuary, 1897 and then pushed on to 
Vila and Dokta. At the latter place he was attacked by the Sofas, 
as Samory's fighting men were called, on the 29th March, and after 
four days' resistance fell back to vYa. Here the expedition remained 
three days, when, the force having run short of water it was decided 
to continue the retreat. Lieutenant Henderson, however, 
proceeded first to the Sofa camp with a view to a parley, but was 
detained as a prisoner and sent to Samory, then in Jimini ; here he 
was released and sent back to the coast. Meantime the force began 
its ret reat, and although harassed by the of as en route, succeeded, 
after being succoured by a French force near Leo, in reaching 
Yagaba on 20th April. A most regrettable incident of the last 
stage was the death of Ferguson, whose journeys in the hinterland 
had mainly contributed to the extension of British influence therein . 
. H e was wounded at Dokta and in the retreat from vVa was abandoned 
by his carriers and killed by the Sofas. The rainy season prevented 
further operations, and with the foregoing events British intercourse 
'""ith Samory ceased. The latter was captured by the French 
in 1899 and exiled. 
F erguson was one of the most remarkable Africans born on the 
Gold Coast. The Governor reporting his death to the Secretary 
of State paid the following tribute to his memory :-
" I should not be doing justice to the services of this 
lamented officer if I did not express to you my sense of the 
great loss which the public service of this Colony has sustained 
by his death. The geographical and political work which he 
has carried out under the direction of this Government is well 
known to you and has won for him on several occasions commen-
dation and reward. He was a striking example of an intelligent, 
indushious and trustworthy native officer and was as modest as he 
was able. It will be long before his place can be adequately filled." 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 35 
George Ekern Ferguson was a native of the Gold Coast having 
been born at Anamabu about 1865. He was educated in Sierra 
Leone, and on his return became a teacher in the Wesleyan School 
at Cape Coast. In 1881 he obtained a Government clerkship and 
was employed as junior clerk in the Governor's Office in 1884 when 
he first exhibited a taste for cartography by producing a map show-
ing the divisions of the Gold Coast according to the location of 
tribes and the boundaries recognized among them. In 1884 he 
served an apprenticeship in political ,york with a mission in Krobo 
and Akwamu. In 1889 and 1890 he went to England, receiving 
assistance from the Government to enable him to pursue his studies 
there at the Royal School of Mines. On his return to the Colony 
he was again employed in political work for which he had many 
special qualifications. In 1890 he negotiated a treaty with Kwahu 
and Attabubu and in 1891 he was employed on an expedition to 
Akim and upon the Anglo-German Boundary Commission. In 
1893 he was attached to the Public Works Department as Surveyor 
of Roads owing to his knowledge of surveying. In 1894 he was 
selected for the special service by which he is best known. He 
made a successful journey through that portion of the West African 
Sudan which lies to the North of Ashanti, mapping the country 
and concluding treaties with a number of native tribes. His work 
both as an explorer and as political agent proved to be of the highest 
value and his services to Geography were recognised by the bestowal 
on him by the Royal Geographical Society of the Diploma ·of the 
Gill Memorial and a gold watch . He was specially nominated by 
the Secretary of State for a further mission to the hinterland and 
he was accordingly despatched with Henderson in December, 1896, 
their destination being Buna and Wa. Buna was already in the 
hands of Samory's troops before they could arrive there and their 
temporary occupation of Wa ended with his death. The Governor 
concluded :-
" Mr. Ferguson has lost his life in the performance of his 
duties and in bearing testimony to his ability and devotion 
I am performing a melancholy duty to the memory of a valued 
subordinate. " 
In the same year, 1897, the territories to the north of Ashanti 
were consitituted a separate Protectorate with the title of "The 
Northern Territories" and placed in charge of a Commissioner, 
a grant in aid of the expenditure being voted by the Imperial 
Parliament. 
With the termination of the rising in Ashanti and the fixation 
of the international boundaries the people of the Gold Coast settled 
down to a period of exceptional prosperity. . There had been in 
the previous decade a boom in the mining industry, which whilst 
attracting much attention to the country had also drawn a crowd of 
gamblers and speculators of the most unscrupulous character, and 
there had also been a boom in rubber', which had caused the 
spread of commerce even to the remotest parts of the forest. Such 
9~ 
36 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
was the growth of trade that in 1897 the first bank had been 
estabiished-the Bank of British West AiIica at Accra, which held 
the monopoly of the banking business for twenty years, when 
the Colonial Bank opened its first agency. 
The rubber boom did not last long. The development on 
economic lines of highly organi'led plantations of para soon rendered 
the collection in the forests of the country of the wild rubbers, 
funtumia and llandolphia unprofitable. But as the rubber industry 
was dying, the cacao industry was growing, so that from the dawn 
of the century until the outbreak of the great war the progress of 
the Gold Coast was even and regular, unmarked by any incident 
of real note. 
The war naturally retarded this progress. The Gold Coast 
like all other members of the Empire responded nobly to the call 
of patriotism and her share towards the common need was given 
with no niggard hand. 
The war brought in its train two revolutionary ideas to the 
African of the Gold Coast. the familiarity of and thence the desire 
to travel and the cult of speed. There was one year of rest, the 
year of the influenza plague which killed one in twenty of the 
inhabitants within a period of a little more than a quarter of the 
year. This was in th<:! dry season 1918-1919. But in the following 
year the country went forward in leaps and bounds. The last 
census was in 1921 and since that date, i.e. a decade, the list of 
accomplishments is such that the rate of progress can truly be 
telmed phenomenal. Year by year these events are as .follows :-
1921. 
The Governor of the Gold Coast motored from Kumasi to 
avrongo where a special mission from the Lieut.-Gov~rnor of the 
Haute Volta met him, having motored southward from ~Tagadugu, 
th• .'  capital of that colony. Thus for the first time through motor 
connection was establisked between the Gulf of Guinea and the 
Sudan. This remarkable feat was due to the foresight of Lieut. 
Col. Watherston, a former Chief Commissioner of the Nor'them 
Territories who had died in Tamale in 1909. This officer had laid 
down a policy of road development anticipating the requirements 
of motor traffic in the Protectorate and thereby putting into force 
the scheme which the first Chief Commissioner had expounded so 
long previously as 1899. It is worth while recording the words of 
the latter, since he wrote them actually prior to the freedom of 
the road being granted in England to motor cars. Having dis-
cussed the various methods of transport, head-porterage, draught 
by horse or ox, pack transport by horse, ox or donkey, and railways 
he continued :-
"The recent improvements in motor cars suggest these 
vehicles as a means of transport vastly superior to carriers, 
and as providing some at least of the advantages of railways 
without any of their drawbacks. Roads sl].itable for them 
can easily be constructed, No ambitious bridg-
ing schemes need be thought out, for culverts can easlly be 
made locally to bear the weight of a motor car and its load, 
and the large rivers are so placed t hat they could naturally 
be taken as junctions for the car service, the goods being 
fen-ied across. The original outlay would be relatively very 
small and so also would the number of men employed in the 
working of the line. A fair load wopld be carried each trip 
and would perfo= the journey, in favourable cil cumstances, 
in one-fifth of the time at present occupied." 
It was not quite according to the above plan that the motor 
car invaded the Protectorate and reached its northern limit. As 
the road was obviously in the first instance merely a dry season 
one to the north of Tamale, it was found practicable to cross the 
larger rivers, even the White Volta itself by means of drifts and the 
shuttle cock system outlined by Colonel Northcott was never 
necessary except in the rainy season. 
A second event during the year 1921 was one of considerable 
local historical importance and certainly of intense human interest . 
This was the finding and desecration of the Golden Stool of Ashanti. 
The story as told at the t ime runs as follows :-
In the early years of the reign of Osei Tutu, King of Ashanti, 
about 1700 there came to live among the Ashantis a man named 
Anotchi. He was a clansman of the King of Denkera, then 
paramount over Ashanti, but he had been forced to fly from 
Denkera because he had seduced one of the King's wives. He 
took refuge in the Obi country where he made study 6f fetish 
medicines and practices, and thence he returned to Juaben, Ashanti. 
To the King of the latter place he announced he had a mission 
from Onyame, the sky god, t o make the Ashantis a gLeat and 
powerful nation. This was reported to Osei Tutu who summoned 
a gathering of the people in Kumasi. In their presence Anotchi 
by his magic power drew down from the sky a black cloud, and 
amid the rumblings of thunder and in an atmosphere thick with 
white dust , a wooden stool having three supports and partly 
covered with gold, emerged . 
It did not descend upon the ground but came to rest upon 
the knees of Osei Tutu. Anotchi proclaimed to the King and 
all the people that the Stool contained the Sunsum (soul or spirit 
of the Ashanti nation, their power, their health, their bravery, 
their honour and their welfare. H e warned them also that if the 
Stool were captured or destroyed the Ashanti nation would sicken 
and die. He called upon Osei Tutu and each Ashanti Chief and 
each Queen-Mother to give him some of their hair and some nail 
parings, which he collect ed and ground into powder and mixed 
with" medicine." Some of this compound was drunk and the 
remainder poured over the Stool. The meaning of this rite is as 
follows. When an Ashanti dies away from home and the body 
38 tHE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
cannot be brought back for burial, nail parings and hairs from 
the corpse are carried home, since it is supposed that the soul will 
accompany them. 
The Stool is never supposed to have touched the ea.rth, for 
it was not allowed to come into direct contact with the ground. 
The Stool was placed on the skin off the back of an elephant and over 
which had been spread a cloth of the kind .woven in the north. 
It was never sat upon nor was it the stool of ordinary everyday use. 
On great occasions the King would make pretence to sit upon it 
three times and would th en seat himself upon his o\\"n Stool, his 
arms resting upon the Golden Stool. In its progress once a year 
to Bantama, the burial place of the Kings, th is Stool was carried 
under its own umbrella and was surrounded by its attendants 
who in number and in wealth of adornment exceeded those of the 
King who followed it. Its fu ll title is Sika Gua Kofi " Friday'S 
Golden Stool " for it was on a Friday that the Stool descended 
upon the knees of Osei Tutu. 
The Gyase or bodyguard were custodians of the Golden Stool, 
and the Gyasehene or H ead of the Gyase was responsible for its 
safety. In 1896, when Prempeh was arrested at Kumasi, certain 
of these guards disappeared into the forest with the Stool in their 
possession, and when the escape of the Stool was reported to the 
head of the Gyase orders were given that it should be taken to the 
village Wawase and there to be handed over for safe keeping in a 
special hut built for its reception. 
Some twenty years later a dispute arose over the ownership 
of land at '"Vawase. Before giving a decisiOl~ the Chief Commissioner 
considered it desirable to inspect the land and set out from Kumasi 
fo r that purpose. His intentions were immediately suspected 
and on the eve of his departure th e h ead of the Gyase, Esubonten, 
sent a messenger to Wawase telling the guardian of the Stool to 
remove it at once from 'Nawase and to hand it over to a man in 
the village of Abuabugya for safe keeping. 
In August 1921 a road was being made at Chief Esubonten's 
desire (but under Government supervision) between Abuabugya 
and a neighbouring village. At a certain point a diversion almost 
at right angles was made from the track, as the road overseer 
considered the line easier. I t happened that a labourer's 3..-'Xe 
struck a box, and the youngmen* gathered round. One Danso, 
who was by now the custodian of the stool was present and begged 
them to leave it alone and only succeeded when he had convinced 
them that they had come upon a small-pox fetish. 
This box contained the Golden Stool and its insignia. Danso 
sent to h is house for a tin trunk as the box was rusted, and with 
some old men ,,'aited till dark when they carried the Golden Stool 
in the trunk to Abl\abugya \I'here it was placed in the room o[ 
Yankyira whose duty was to look after the youngmcn. The old 
* The expression" Youngmen" is used to signify the plebs, and tho~e not in 
possession of a Stool or attached directly to the holder of a Slool 
'i'HE Goll) COAS1', 193 1 . 39 
men" swore fetish" that the discovery should not be made known 
to others, but Danso was convinced that the yo ungmen had fully 
realised what was in the box t hey had come upon by chance. A 
certain Seniagya a professing Christian and by descent one of the 
Stool Carriers, seems to have got wind of the discovery, for three 
days later he appeared at Abuabugya. After greeting Danso 
and Yankyira he walked straight into Yankyira's room, where 
he drew attention to the box. H e then persuaded Danso and 
Yankyira to share with him the gold ornaments belonging to t he . 
Stool, and while the distribution was taking place Yogo, an ordinary 
" youngman" happened to pass and claimed a share. The point 
of view adopted by these spoilers of the sacred thing was that the 
Stool itself alone was sacred, whereas the gold around it was not. 
Meanwhile the youngmen of Abuabugya had grown inquisitive 
and eventually the matter came to the ears of the Kumasi Chiefs. 
In the course of their enquiry it was found that the Golden 
Stool had been desecrated and various of its ornaments taken, that 
a certain goldsmith had received one of its bells to melt down, 
that the gold Fetters made in memory of the days when Denkera 
was master of Ashanti had been pawned and that most of the other 
gold ornaments and insignia pelonging to the Stool had disappeared. 
On the evening of Monday, 12th September a message, was 
left at the Chief Commissioner's bungalow that "there was big 
palaver over the Golden Stool ; it had been stolen." The next 
morning at a meeting at Appremesu, the Palaver Hall of the old 
palace and the place where the two cannon captured in the 
Denkera war were set up, Chief Esubonten and Seniagya. were 
accused before the chiefs. Police attended to watch the proceed-
ings, and it soon became necessary to remove to the police stations 
for their own safety the two accused who became the obj ect of 
the hostility of a large crowd. The news of t he desecration of 
the Stool soon spread and the excitement and constemation became 
intense. The Ashantis from neighbouring villages put on 
mourning and poured into Kumasi to find out if the report were 
true. It was not at first believed possible that their own people 
could have violated the sanctity of the Stool. The town" became 
rough and shaky "; no market was held for some days; there 
was a good deal of wild talk and a good many of the foreigners in 
the town left Kumasi . As the facts became known and the 
Ashantis came to understand that they had not become a general 
laughing stock but that the sympathy of all strangers was with 
them in the degradation their national sentiment had suffered, 
their hostility focussed itself more and more upon those accused 
of complicity in the crime. Meanwhile the Chief Commissioner 
had announced that the Govemment had no intention of sei~ing 
the Stool but was prepared to see justice done in accordance with 
the desires of the Ashantis. 
The problem of how to deal with the accused was as perplexing 
to the Government as it 'was to the chiefs among whom there had 
40 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
been a strong party for concealing the whole business from the 
authorities. In that case as one of the chiefs explained :-" The 
two men would have been taken into the bush and lost." On the 
other hand the offence was not one that fell within the four corners 
of the Criminal Code, nor would the punishtnt'jnt for theft have 
been adequate in the minds of the Ashantis. But the procedure 
was settled mainly by the fact that the accused were in the police 
station under Government protection. After several interviews 
the proced ure decided upon was as follows :-
The chi efs were to hold th e Enquiry, not at Appremesu, but 
in the open space behind the police barracks; police were to be 
at the enquiry to maintain order and preserve the peace; the 
accused would attend under armed police escort; witnesses were 
to b e summoned and any further arrests were t o be made through 
the Commissioner of P olice; accused and witnesses were to be 
under police protection ; the enquiry was to be conducted 
according to the principles of British justice; at the concJu ion 
of the enquiry a report was to be made to the Chief Conunissioner, 
who would consider the question of guilt and the nature of the 
punishm ent to be inflicted. 
The chiefs found that Senigya, Kujo Danso, Kwesie Yankyira, 
Yogo and Kujo-Poku (the goldsmith who melted down the bell) 
" being natives of Ashanti and subj ects of the Gold Stool of the 
Ashanti Nation, did expose, steal, destroy, sell and otherwise 
unlav.rfu lly deal with and use the said Gold Stool thereby betr.,-ing 
the said Ashant i Nation and laying it open to disgrace and ridicule, 
and debasing the name and fame of . Ashanti , much to t he 
annoyance and provocation of all people young and old, thereby 
giving occasion for disturbance and bloodshed, but for the inter-
vention of Government." 
In the case of Esubonten the chiefs fo und that he, "being the 
Head Chief who by virtue of his office had t he custody of the 
Golden Stool ", had neglected his duty and he, " gave occasion for 
the exposure and loss of the Golden Stool which has caused much 
commotion and fear not only among th e whole of the Ashanti 
Nation but among other nations on the coast" and further by 
"causing a new and unnecessary road to be constructed from 
Abuabugya to Ahinkro, through the piece of ground in which the 
Gold Stool and the Treasuries of the Ashanti Nation are deposited 
did cause the said Stool to be discovered, exposed and stolen, 
like an officer or soldier sleeping on guard in t ime of war, or 
neglecting to keep watch has suffered the enemy to enter." These 
persons the chiefs recon1mended should be put to death. " In 
the days of the kings of Ashanti a person committing a less serious 
offence than this was put to death with all members of his family." 
At the time the case against Esubonten did not appear strong 
enough to justify his conviction and was pu t back for further 
enquiries. In the case of the others who had confessed their guilt, 
banislunent overseas was substituted for the death penalty. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 4J 
Eight others were convicted of buying the ornaments of the 
Stool knowing that they were stolen and belonged to the Stool. 
The chiefs asked that these persons should be banished and all 
their goods confiscated. F ive of these, however, were convicted 
on the evidence of Seniagya alone-Seniagya had assumed the 
part of Titus Oates and was accusing people one day and the next 
day would confess he had been lying. These five persons, there-
fore, as the evidence of Seniagya was utterly unreliable, were 
acquitted. The remaining three were ordered "to swear fetish" 
before the Kumasi Chiefs. One of them had admitted receiving 
the Gold Fetters in pawn, another admitted purchasing some of 
the Gold from the ornaments melted down and the third admitted 
that he had also purchased some of the gold. 
Fresh evidence was subsequently brought against Esubonten 
which was sufficient to prove at least that he was guilty of 
negligence. The office he held was that of the keeper of the King's 
Keys including the key of the Stool House; he was brother and 
successor of Opoku Mensa who had charge of the Golden Stool ; 
the Stool was found on his land by his subj ects; he knew the 
approximate whereabouts of the Stool and it was on his instmctions 
that the Stool was removed from Wawase to Abuabugya. On the 
other hand he was not immediately responsible for the discovery 
of the Stool and was in no way concerned in the theft of the Gold. 
The chiefs asked that he should be classed with Seniagya and the 
others. His guilt however, was not as heinous as theirs and it 
was decided that his Stool should be declared vacant and that he 
should be banished from Ashanti. 
The attitude of the Government towards the Stool is that the 
Ashantis may, if they so desire keep open custody of the Stool, that 
as far as Government is concerned they need not think it necessary 
to bury or conceal the Stool, that Government will .not interfere 
unless the Ashantis allow its worship to sink into an indulgence 
in vile and impure practices or unless they make use of it for other 
criminal purposes. 
The story of this disturbing event in Ashanti politics cannot 
be closed without paying a tribute to the conduct of t he Chiefs and 
people of Ashanti throughout the crisis. Apart from the first day 
or two, Kumasi at night, in spite of the large crowds coming in, was 
as quiet as if curfew had been instituted. No doubt the embargo 
immediately placed on the sale of spirits in the capital and the 
neighbouring districts strengthened the hands of the Chiefs, yet 
the greatest credit is due to the Chiefs themselves for the manner 
in which they conducted the enquiry and strove successfully to 
preserve the peace. 
1923. 
The railway between Accra and Kumasi; begun in 1909 in 
order to open up the Akwapim country, was formally declared open 
for traffic on 5th July and for the pUiblic on 5th SeptembeF. 
42 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
The Gold Coast Hospital (Korle Bu) was formally opened on 
9th October. This is one of t he largest and best equipped hospitals 
in the tropics. The hospital is for Africans and during the year 
1930-31 admitted 3,345 patients, the daily average of persons 
occupying beds being 221.9. Its construction was begun in 1920 
and completed in 1923. 
Electric Light aJ;ld Power are available in all buildings, and an 
efficient water-borne sewerage system wIth purification works 
discharging tJie effluent into the adjacent lagoon has been provided. 
The grounds which are well laid out form an attractive feature of 
the scheme. The total cost of the buildings, excluding equipment , 
was £254,500. 
The Kumasi telephone service installed and trunk communica-
tion with Accra opened. 
The Church of England entered the mission field of Ashanti. 
1924. 
A Native Jurisdiction Ordinance was introduced into Ashanti 
in order to regularise and control the working of the tribunals held 
by the various chiefs, 
On the 12th November Prempeh returned to Kumasi after 
twenty-eight years of exile. H e was granted an annuity and a 
spacious house was erected for his use by Government. Before 
leaving the Seychelles Islands where he had spent most of tl1i.s long 
period of captivity he was the recipient of many testimonials of his 
character, behaviour and undoubted ability. His reception at 
Kumasi was magnificent. 
Electric Light and Power were installe~ at Accra and at Sekondi. 
As a result of a serious outbreak of plague in Kumasi the zongo 
or foreign section was pulled down and rebuilt on the most modern 
lines. This work which entailed a very considerable outlay in 
money marks the commencement of the layout of the city, which 
is probably the finest and most picturesque in West Africa. 
1925. 
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales landed at Takoradi 
on 9th April. He visited Sekondi, Kumasi and Accra, embarking 
from the latter port on 14th April. During his visit he laid the 
foundation st one of t he school which bears his name at Achimota. 
His reception everywhere was in enthusiasm such that pen can 
hardly describe it. Individuals went from every part to see l1i.m 
and returned happy and content telling their friends: "He saw 
me and smiled at me " ; " I have here a piece of the ground his foot 
trod upon". 
Her Highness Princess Marie Louise stayed in the Gold Coast 
from lOth May to 10th June during which period she accompanied 
the Governor on a tour of the Northern Territories, visiting 
Wagadugu the capital of the Haute Volta. The story of her visit 
she recorded in a volume of letters which relate the trials and 
troubles of the first motor car trip completely round the Northern 
Protectorate from Kumasi and back. 
'fIrE GOLD tOA T, 193I. 43 
1926. 
This year marked the coming into operation of a change in 
the constitution of the country, a short review of which is given at 
the close of this chapter. 
The Forestry Ordinance was passed this year, a meaSUie of 
great importance to the country, having for its object the 
conservation of the forest and the constitution of properly 
administered reserves without interfering with the ownership of 
the land. 
The Honourable W. G. A. Ormsby-Gore, M.P., Under Secretary 
of St ate for t he Colonies, accompanied by the Honourable 
C. A. U. Rhys, M.P., and Mr. J. E. W. Flood and Mr. A. Bevir of the 
Colonial Office, arrived at Accra from Nigeria on the 20th March, 
1926. During the first ten days Mr. Ormsby-Gore paid a visit to 
British Togoland. 
Between the 27th March and the 5th April Mr. Flood visited 
the Northern TerritOlies, making a complete circuit from Kumasi 
via Yeji, Tamale, Navoro, Lorha, Wa, Kintampo, and Sunyani, 
and back to Kumasi, where he rejoined Mr. Ormsby-Gore. The 
latter wit h the remainder of the party motored on the 1st April 
from Accra via Aburi, Mampong, Koforidua and Kibi to Bosuso 
where they entrained for Kumasi. From the 3rd t o the 6th of 
April Mr. Ormsby-Gore visited various places in Ashanti and on 
the 7th and 8th journeyed by train t o Sekondi, visiting the gold 
mines at Obuasi and Aboso and the manganese mines at Nsuta 
en route. 
On the 9th he visited Takoradi Harbour Works and the Seysie 
palm oil plantation, while on the 10th Mr. Rhys, Mr. Flood, and 
NIr. Bevir visited Cape Coast . On the lIth of April the whole party 
embarked at Sekondi for Sierra Leone. A report of the Under 
Secretary of St ate's visit to West Africa was presented to Parliament 
in September, 1926 and has since been published. 
1927. 
A visit of far-reaching importance was made to the Gold 
Coast by Professor Diedrich Westermann. Hitherto the different 
vernacular languages had been reduced to vvriting by the efforts 
of various missionary bodies without any common agreen)ent . 
Each had used its own system of orthography, and published its 
ovm t ext books, from which its own pupils had been taught, with 
the result that Africans of different tribes who could converse 
fluently with each other. were often quite unable to communicate 
in writing excep t through the medium of English. Professor 
\~Testennann , on account of his acknowledged pre-eminence as a 
scholar of Gold Coast languages, was invited by Government to 
undertake the product ion of a script which would be common to 
all the languages and dialects without unduly differing from the 
scripts already in use. This difficult task, in which the local 
THE GOLD COAST. 1931. 
Missions united in giving enthusiastic support, has, it is believed, 
been successfully accomplished, such opposition as existed having 
generously yielded to the demands of the public interest. 
An outstanding political event, so far a~ the Colony proper was 
concerned, was the introduction into the Legislative Council of 
the Native Administration Bill, read a first time on 3rd March, 1927. 
The Bill consolidates the la,,, as it exist ed with regard to Native 
Administration and Jurisdiction, and repeals various Ordinances 
which had dealt with native political and judicial affairs. 
An important provision in the Bill, the introducer and seconder 
of which were Paramount Chiefs, was that by which the Provincial 
Councils created by " The Gold Coast Colony (Legislative Council) 
Order in Council 1925" were given jurisdiction to decide disputes 
of a constitutional nature between two or more Paramount Chiefs, 
or two or more Divisional Chiefs of the different States in the Province. 
Provincial Councils also were given power to decide disputes 
relating to the ownership, possession or occupation of lands or to 
jurisdiction , arising between two or more Paramount Chiefs or 
between two or more Divisional Chiefs of different States in the 
Province, with an appeal to the Full Court of the Supreme Court 
of the Colony 
Where Paramount or Divisional Chiefs or States belonging 
to different Provinces were in dispute the matter was to be decided 
by the Provincial Councils of each Province sitting jointly. 
The Bill also gave the Governor power to refer any question, 
matter or dispute to a Provincial ~ouncil for hearing and 
determination . 
The Native Administration Bill was received with some 
opposition mainly from the educated classess residing in the coast 
towns, whose fear appeared to be that too much power was being 
placed in the hands of the Chiefs . This opposition has died down 
now that the people realize the very genuine step forward on the 
road towards self-Government which its introduction marked. 
In Ashanti Prempeh was installed as Head-Chief of Kumasi, 
or Kumasihene thereby involving the abolition of the Kumasi 
Council of Chiefs which since the ri<;ing of 1901 had so successfully 
and loyally advised Government on all matters concerning the 
welfare of the people of Ashanti. 
1928. 
The Harbour of Takoradi was ceremonially opened on the 
3rd April by the Right Honourable J. H. Thomas, M.P., who, when 
Secretary of State for the Colonies, had taken a keen personal 
interest in its construction. The remarkable development of the 
country, especially in regard to the bulk and nature of its exports, 
had been such that the existing ports on the Gold Coast were not 
capable of adequately dealin.g with the traffic. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 45 
The principal port, i.e. the one responsible for the hauling 
of the produce of the greatest trade basin was Sekondi, which had 
been selected as the coastal terminus for the railway in 1898. 
At the time a report was submitted recommending Sekondi but 
at the same time pointing out that if it were ever a question of 
making a deep-water harbour, Amanful would be the best place. 
The Surveyors termed Amanful that locality where precisely 
Takocadi now stands. 
Early in 1919 those responsible for the manganese mining 
interest foreseeing the inevitable increase in their shipments of 
ore became anxious about the capability of the resources of Sekondi, 
and their enquiries eventually led to the whole question of the Gold 
Coast ports being re-opened by Govemment. At the time there 
were the following coastal settlements used as ports: Axim, 
Dixcove, Ajua, Sekondi, Elmina, Cape Coast, Anamabu, Saltpond, 
Winneba, Accra and Ada. They were all exposed to the Atlantic 
swell with its resultant surf which breaks immediately on the shore 
especially during the period from July to December and according 
to the native more particularly at the time of the full and the new 
moons. This latter point has no reason in theory to support it 
but it has often been noticed to be t rue. Careful observations have 
shown that this swell depends neither on wind, atmospheric pressure 
or any other meteorological conditions obtaining in the locality 
where the surf breaks, but is probably the result of disturbances 
taking place at a very great distance from the coast of Guinea, 
an explanation which in sailing-ship days gave to the very heavy 
surf the name "Ascension rollers", i.e. waves from the stormy regions 
south of Ascension Island. 
The surf itself or swell does not impede to any great extent 
traffic movements in the ports, nor can it be considered of any real 
danger. In 1911 the S.S. Monta~,k went ashore on the Sherbro 
reef outside Sekondi and ten years later her hull was still showing; 
many of the native villages are built in close proximity to the sea, 
oft en being only four feet above its leveL Those two facts seem 
to prove that the surf can never be considered excessive. 
But the great inducement, which out-weighed every other 
argument, to construct a deep-water harbour was the elimination 
of the lighter, with the resultant speeding up of traffic and therefore 
increased capability in handling a growing and very considerable 
bulk of produce. At every coastal port lighters and surf-boats 
were necessary and often steamers would layout at a considerable 
distance from the shore, so that the time and labour wast ed were 
very great. 
Work on the construction of Takoradi began in 1921 and on 
8th November, 1926, the first ship entered the harbour. She 
was the S.S. Agnete Naerst flying the Norwegian flag and carried 
coal for the contractors. In the year 1930, two and a half years 
after the opening of the harbour and in Spite of the decline in trad~ 
46 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
which had already become manifest, there entered 371 vessels 
of a nett tonnage of 1.042,726 tons and there cleared 326 with a 
tonnage of 943,08l. 
The Harbour which cost £3,133,366 is composed of two 
breakvvaters, some 2,500 feet apart running from the shore in an 
easterlv direction. The south or main breakwater after a distance 
of 4,60'0 feet curves to the northward for 2,300 feet, the total length 
being approximately It miles. The north or lee breakwater 
has a length of about 4,500 feet. The area of water enclosed by 
these two breakwaters is approximately 220 acres. 
The lee breakwater which is provided with rail and road 
facilities. has four wharves of a total length of 1,000 feet. Two 
of these wharves each having its own transit shed and cranes are 
allocated to imports. The third is for the export of manganese, 
behind which is situated a dump capable of holding 25,000 tons 
of ore, together with a handling plant which is on the endless belt 
principle and can load up to 1,000 tons per hour. The fourth is 
for coal traffic and is provided with cranage facilities. 
An open dump for bulk cargo, provided with cranes and a 
shed for t he storage of salt, etc., is situated to the west of the coal 
wharf. On the northern or outer side of the lee breakwater 
there is a mooring berth for vessels carrying bulk petroleum. A 
lO-inch pipe line which can be connected to vessels discharging 
petroleum leads to the storage tanks 2t miles away. There are 
also six mooring berths provided for ocean-going vessels in the 
deep water portion of t he Harbour. 
At the inner end or base of the Harbour wharves are provided 
with road, rail and cranage facilities for lighters for the shipping 
of cacao and mahogany. A transit shed, and cacao sheds which 
are leased to the various firms, are situated behind these wharves. 
The Harbour is provided with a slipway and moorings fo~ 
lighters and has its own Signal Station. The Administration, 
Customs, Immigration Offices and a Disinfecting Station are 
situated within the Harbour area. 
It is of interest to compare t he conditions provided at Takoradi 
Harbour with t hose which existed at Sekondi where all cargoes 
were taken through the surf in lighters and surf-boats to vessels 
lying two to three miles from the shore. Manganese vessels which 
had to lie off Sekondi for periods up to three weeks now clear from 
Takoradi in from three to five days and the length of stay in port 
of general cargo vessels has been very considera1Jly shortened. 
Another great advantage at Takoradi is t hat cargoes are not 
damaged by the surf and that practically all r isk of damage and 
loss which occurred when cargoes were transferred to or from lighters 
at Sekondi has been eliminated. Passenger vessels in many 
instances come alongside the import wharves and the majority 
of such vessels now put in at Takoradi and Accra the same day. The 
storage facilities for general cargo and cacao at Takoradi are more 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 47 
commodiolls and acces<;ible than those provided at Sekondi where 
the majority of cacao was stored in the open. 
Shortly after the opening of the port Sir Alan Cobham landed 
in the harbour in tlle seaplane with which he had flown from 
England, crossed Africa from North to South and had coasted 
homewards from Cape Town. His was not the first aeroplane 
to have visited this country as foreign planes had been seen both 
on the coast and in the extreme north-east corner of the Northern 
Territories, at Bawku ; but it was the first British machine and 
the first seaplane. 
1929. 
On 12th January, Captain R. S. Rattray, C.B .E., arrived in 
the Gold Coast at Tamale, having flown from England. This 
successful flight was followed in the autumn by a Royal Air .Force 
visit from the Egyptian Sudan, when it was possible to uSe the 
newly constructed aerodrome at Tamale. 
The final departments of the Prince of Wales College and 
School at Achimota were opened during this year. It had been 
intended that this institution should wntain within its borders 
kindergarten, primary and secondary education, together with 
the training of teachers. The first had been opened in J anuary, 
1927, and the last had taken over the Government Training College 
which formerly existed at Accra. This year saw the opening of 
the Upper Primary, Secondary and University Departments. 
On 1st April the Northern Territories Constabulary was 
disband€d and the force amalgamated with the Gold Coast Police 
Force. The Corps had originally been recruited from the 2nd 
Battalion of the Gold Coast Regiment which had been disbanded 
at the time of the replacement of the military government of the 
Protectorate by a Civil one in January, 1907. The change made 
little or no difference but marks the end of an epoch and a milestone 
on the path to progress. The first ten years of British occupation 
of the Nortern Territories had been a period of pacification and 
the restoration of order. Not only had British and French troops 
faced each other in the Builsa country, at Wa and at Buna without 
a breach of the peace it is t rue but certainly with a most disturbing 
effect, but the whole country from Navrongo to Kintampo had been 
the hunting ground of two slave-raiders, Samory and Babatu. 
The former has already been referred to . His raids and expeditions 
were along the present western frontier and it is difficult now 
to realise their extent and the appalling loss inflicted by them on 
the country. One example of this raider's feats may be given. 
At Bole there are three mounds rather more pyramidal than the 
usual middens and of a very unusual size. When the first British 
troops entered the precincts of that town in 1897 they found the 
gtound strewn with the headless bodies of t l).e unfortunate 
inhabitants, and their first task was to get r id of these human 
relics. The mounds of dead were covered with earth and remain 
to-day as silent evidence of that cruel past. 
48 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
It is not out of place to give in brief the history of the other 
raider, Babatu. In the '60's of the last century a dispute had 
arisen as to the succession to the Mamprussi " Skin" or throne, 
and civil war had broken out. One of the parties to the disput 
had invited to his help a band of Bazaberimi or Zaberma horsemen, 
whose military prowess brought him success. He was then faced 
with the problem of getting rid of his allies, and after great difficulty 
persuaded them to take up their abode in the Grunshi country 
between the Mamprussi and Moshi countries. (The word Grunshi 
is the plural of Gurunga, a Moshi or Dagomba word and is the 
equivalent of the term barbarian as used by the ancient Greeks: 
it was and is applied to all those natives not wholly tamed or under 
the dominion of the Moshi or Mamprussi) . The leader of this wa.c 
one Gazari and he settled with his followers at Sati in the Nunuma 
country just within what later became French territory. He turned 
quite naturally to the task of creating a kingdom for himself but 
died before he had attained success. His method was the one typical 
of all these Sudanese raiders . A village would be attacked, the 
menfolk either became soldiers of the marauder or were sold into 
slavery, and the women and children were divided among his 
adherents. On the death of Gazari the leadership was disputed by 
Amrahiya and Babatu. This coincided with the arrival of the 
Europeans. Amrahiya made himself out to be t he King of the 
Grunshi and as such allied himself with t he French under whose 
protection he placed himself. Babatu came south and battles 
between him and the French were fought on what is to-day British 
soil, at Kanjaga and at Ducie. He was defeated and finding no 
sanctuary with the British fled to Yendi where he died. But he 
left behind him a land completely devastated and almost denuded of 
population. The ruins of villages and homesteads, wasted farm-
lands and overgrown fields mark to this day the routes of his marches 
and the scenes of his maraudings. There are still many survivors 
of those he sold as slaves, dwelling as freemen and women in the 
neighbourhood of Krachi and in the Ada-Keta area. The maps of 
the former area based on a survey made in 19017 show numbers of 
small villages which no longer exist. They were the hamlets in 
which the slaves sold by Babatu used to dwell and are deserted now 
as their inhabitants, the few who survived, returned to their original 
home when the pax europaica was established. 
After 1907 the civil administration had to face a period of 
unrest throughout the Protectorate. The people were peaceful 
enough; but the petty chiefs, the so-called sons of chiefs, continued 
in the old fashion, and caravans and traders afforded them 
comparatively easy prey. A semi-military force was necessary 
and it was actually not until 1918 that highway robberies on,a 
large scale ceased. 
After t hat date the troops ret urning from the war, almost all 
recruited from the wilder parts, and the determined opening up of 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 49 
the country ensured a more law-abiding attitude, and the need for 
a constabulary as distinct from a police force ended. 
1930. 
The West African Court of Appeal Order in Council came into 
force on the 1st March, 1930, and the first session of the Court was 
held at Freetown in Sierra Leone on 10th March. 
CONSTITUTION. 
The constitution of the country is as follows . 
At the conclusion of peace with Ashanti in 1874, measures 
were taken for placing the government of the Gold Coast upon a 
footing of efficiency and security. 
A new charter was issued, dated the 24th of July, 1874, 
separating the settlements of the Gold Coast and Lagos from the 
government of the West African Settlements, and erecting them 
into one colony under the style of the Gold Coast Colony, under a 
Governor-in-Chief, with an Administrator at Lagos. . There was 
one Executive Council and one nominated Legislative Council for 
the two settlements and one Supreme Court. 
This charter was superseded by Letters Patent, dated the 
23rd of J anuary, 1883, and 13th January, 1886, respectively. 
By the latter instrument Lagos was separated from the Gold 
Coast and formed into a distinct colonv. Provision was made for 
an Executive and Legislative Council, 'the members of both being 
nominated by the Crown. Four unofficial members were appointed 
to the Legislative Council. 
By Royal instructions, dated 20th September, 1916, under 
Letters Patent of the same date, all previous instructions were 
revoked and the Executive and Legislative Councils were 
re-constituted. The Executive Council was constituted by the 
Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Director 
of Medical and Sanitary Services, and the Secretary for Native 
Affairs with the Governor as President . The Legislative Council 
was constituted by the members of the Executive Council and, 
in addition, the Comptroller of Customs, the Director of Public 
Works, the General Manager of Railways, and the Commissioners 
of the Eastern, Central and Western Provinces, as ex-officio 
members, and such unofficial members as might be appointed by the 
Crown. By an Order in Council, dated 8th April, 1925, Letters 
Patent and Royal Instructions, dated 23rd May, 1925, the Legislative 
Council was re-constituted. It is now composed of the Governor, 
fifteen Official Members and fourteen Unofficial Members. The 
newly-constituted Legislative Council for the first time contained 
an elective element, provision having been made for the election 
of six Head Chiefs as Provincial Members of the Council, three 
Municipal Members to represent the towns of Accra, Cape Coast, 
and Sekondi, respectively, a Mercantile Member, and a Mining 
Member, 
D 
50 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
The above alteration did not affect Ashanti of which the 
constitution is as follows :-
"Ashanti was annexed by Order in Council of 26th 
September, 1901, which came into operation on 1st January, 
1902." 
This Order in Council and Royal Instructions of the same date 
gave the Governor of the Gold Coast Colony power to exercise all 
powers and jurisdiction on His Majesty's behalf in Ashanti subject 
to His Majesty's instructions communicated through a Secretary of 
State. The Governor was given power to provide by ordinance 
for-
(a) the administration of justice; 
(b) the raising of revenue; 
(e) generally for the peace, order and good government of 
Ashanti. 
Ordinances are " enacted by the Governor of the Gold Coast 
with respect to Ashanti ", and are subj ect to the Crown's power of 
disallowance. In making ordinances the GoveI;nor must respect 
native laws by which chiefs', tribes' or populations' relations are 
regulated if they are not incompatible with the exercise of the 
powers of the Crown or injurious to the natives. 
By subsequent Orders in Council of 6th July, 1907, 8th May, 
1919, and 14th July, 1922, the Order in Council was amended in 
respect of the grant of pardons and the suspension of officers; and 
by corresponding Additional Instructions given in the same years 
the Royal Instructions were similarly amended. . 
Of the other two dependencies of the Gold Coast, the Northern 
Territories of the Gold Coast were proclaimed a British Protectorate 
by Order in Council of 26th September, 1901, which came into 
orce on 1st January, 1902. When the boundaries of the Colony, 
Ashanti and the Northern Territories were defined in 1906, certain 
portions of the latter were included in and annexed to Ashanti. 
Under the Order in Council of 1901, and subsequent Orders in 
Council of 6th July, 1907, 8th May, 1919, and 14th July, 1922 (with 
the accompanying Royal Instructions), the Governor of the Gold 
Coast Colony was given the same powers for the Northern Territories 
Protectorate as for Ashanti. 
The following Orders in Council have also been applied to the 
Northern Territories :-
British Protectorate Neutrality Order in Council, 1904. 
British Protectorates (General Convention) Order in Council, 
1917. 
The Northern Territories Administration Ordinance, 1902 
(No.1 of 1902), and subsequent amending ordinances provided for 
the administration of the Government. The provision relating to 
Ashanti as to the application of various ordinances of the Colony, 
and the administration of the law, also apply to the Northern 
Territories, 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 51 
TOGOLAND. 
The Gold Coast is responsible for the administration under a 
mandate of the League of Nations granted to Great Britain, 
of certain portions of the former Gennan Colony of Togoland. 
The partition as between the French and British mandatory areas 
is contained in an agreement between the two powers dated lOth 
July, 1919, and this instrument defines the boundaries. 
On the 20th July, 1922, the Mandate for that portion of the 
fonner German Colony of Togoland which is now known as t he 
British Sphere of Togoland was conferred upon His Brit annic 
Majesty. The particular territory which is the subject of the 
Mandate is declared in t he mandatory instrument to be that part 
of Togoland lying to the west of the line agreed upon in the Franco-
British Declaration signed on 10th July, 1919. The territory is 
now administered under the British Sphere of Togoland Order in 
Council, 1923. Under this instrument the British Sphere is divided 
into two portions named the Northern Section and the Southern 
Section respectively. The Northern Section is administered as if 
it formed part of the Northern Territories Protectorate; the Southern 
Section is administered as if it fonned part of the Gold Coast Colony 
and until other provision is made by Proclamation of the Governor 
it is to be administered as if it formed part of the Eastern Province. 
The law for the t ime being in force in the Northern Territories 
applies, so far as it is applicable, to the Northern Section but the 
Governor may by Ordinance modify or amend any provision in 
such law, or exclude any provision from its application to t he 
Northern Section. The law for the time being in force in the 
Colony applies, so far as it is applicable, to t he Southern Section, 
but the Governor may, by Ordinance, exercise t he same powers of 
modification, amendment or exclusion, as he may in respect to the 
law applicable to the Northern Section. The Governor may also 
by Ordinance make all such provision as may from time to time 
be necessary for the administration of justice, the raising of revenue, 
and generally for the peace, order and good government of both 
sections. If any applied law or any Ordinance enacted by the 
Governor be repugnant to any provision of the Mandate it is void 
and inoperative to the extent of such repugnancy. The jurisdiction 
of t he Chief Commissioner's Court of the Northern Territories 
extends t hroughout the Northern Section; the Supreme Court of 
the Colony exercises throughout the Southern Section the like 
jurisdiction as it exercises in the Colony and as if the Southern 
Section formed part of the Eastern Province. 
The powers and authorities conferred on the Governor by the 
British Sphere of Togoland Order in Council are governed by the 
provisions of any existing or future Order in Council relating to 
the Northern Territories or to the British Sphere, and by any 
existing or future Royal Instructions relating to t he Northern 
Territories or to the British Sphere. 
Dl 
52 THE GOLD COAST, I931. 
JUDICIAL SYSTEM. 
The judicial system of the country was altered in 1930 as 
mentioned by the creation of a West African Court of Appeal. 
This Court deals with appeals from the Courts of the Colonies of 
the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone and the Gambia ; from the Chief 
Commissioners' Courts of Ashanti and the Northern Territories of 
the Gold Coast; from the Courts of the Protectorates of Sierra 
Leone and the Gambia; and from the Courts of Togoland under 
British Mandate. 
The Supreme Court of the Gold Coast consists of the Chief 
Justice and six Puisne Judges. The Chief Justice and the Puisne 
Judges of Nigeria are also ex officio Puisne Judges of the Gold Coast. 
Its jurisdiction is limited to the Colony. In Ashanti and the 
Northern Territories there is a Circuit Judge who presides over the 
sittings of the Courts of the Chief .Commissioners with practically 
the same jurisdiction in civil and criminal cases as the Judges in 
the Colony. 
There are divisional courts at Accra, Cape Coast and Sekondi ; 
criminal assizes are held quarterly in the same towns and special 
divisional courts are irom time to time held in the larger centres. 
Police Magistrates and Commissioners are ex officio Commis-
sioners of the Supreme Court in the Colony and of the Chief 
Commissioners' Courts in Ashanti and the Northern Territories. 
The Law of the Colony is the Common Law, the doctrines of 
equity, and the statutes of general application in force ·in England 
on the 24th July, 1874, modified by a large number of local 
Ordinances passed since that date. The Criminal Law was codified 
in 1892 and the civil and criminal procedure are regulated by the 
Supreme Court and Criminal Procedure Ordinances, both passed 
III 1876. . 
tHE GOiD COAst, i93f. 
CHAPTER III. 
ETHNOGRAPHICAL. 
Divisions of the Gold Coast Peoples-Theil' religions-Sky, 
Earth, Animism, Ancestors and Fetish Worship-Inflttence of 
Christianity-Cult of St. Anthony-Sir James Frazer's S~tmmary 
of the Gold Coast Religions-Earth-gods and Land Tenure-Con-
stitution of the Tribes-A Tnte Democracy-The Common People-
Asaf~t-Despots and Priests. 
In an ethnographical survey of a people numbering more than 
three millions divided into four distinct groups, it is not easy to be 
brief. Therefore in this chapter I have not hesitated to quote in 
extenso the various summaries of these different ethnographical 
divisions written by others whose published works are considered 
authoritative. 
The areas occupied by the four groups mentioned cannot be 
clearly defined as their boundalies overlap , but for convenience 
they have been recognised as follows ;-
Group A. Agni-Twi or Akan or Kwa. 
Tribal Divisions ... Ashanti Guang Gbanye 
Brong ... J aman Chakosi 
Fanti ... Nchumuru .•• Bowiri. 
Locality. 
(i) All Ashanti excepting in the north-west comer where t h e Mo and Band a 
people (not yet classified) are found. 
(ii) All the Western and Central Provinces of the Colony. 
(iii) In the Eastern Province the following states-
(a) Akim-Abuakwa 
(b) Akwamu 
(c) Akwapim 
(d) Kwahu. 
(iv) In Togoland-
(a) Portion of Gbanye 
(b) Krachi 
(c) Buem 
(d) Nkonya and a few small states which seem to be in process of 
a malgation. 
(v) In the Northern Territories the greater part of the Southern Province .:-
the Gbanye State or Gonja. 
Group B. Ga-Adangme and Ewe. 
Tribal Divisions ... Ada ... Ga 
Awuna ... Krobo. 
Locality. 
(i) None in the Northern Territories, Ashanti, Western and Central Provinces 
of the Gold Coast Colony. 
(ii) In the Eastern Province, Gold Coast Colony-
(a) Ada (f) Osudoku 
(b) Awuna (g) Peki 
(c) Ga (h) Prampram 
(d) Manya Krobo (i) Shai. 
(e) Yilo Krobo 
54 THE GOLD COAST , 1931. 
(iii) In the Southern portion of Togoland a number of very small states 
which it is to be hoped may consider favourably amalgation in the 
near future. 
Group C. Moshi-Dagomba or Gu.y. 
Tribal Divisions Builsa I(usasi Nankanni 
Dagomba Mamprusi T alansi 
Dagarti ... Nabdam ... \Vala. 
Locality. 
All dwell in t he Protectorate of the Northern Territories where the kingdoms 
of 
(i) Dagomba 
(ii) Mamprusi 
(iii) Nanumba 
(iv) Wala 
have been easily recognised. In other parts of the country the precise character 
of the states has not yet been ascertained. 
Group D. Unclassified. 
Tribal Divisions ... Ade]e 
Akpafu Issala Mo 
Banda Kassena N tru bu 
Bimoba Konkomba Nunuma 
Busansi Lobi ... Santrokofi 
Locality. 
These tribes inhabit almost the whole length of the frontier of the Gold 
Coast from north of I{intampo to the mountain areas of the international 
boundary which divides former Togoland. 
The above classification is unfortunately based on linguistic 
areas and may in due course be found erroneous, since it is 
now-a-days commonly admitted that language has not necessarily 
any signification ethnically. In this country there are two distinct 
language movements which bear out this . contention. The growth 
and spreading of Twi, the language of the Akan peoples, is such 
that the old mountain languages of Togoland are rapidly dis-
appearing and at the san1e time with the increased facilities of 
communication and therefore trade this language, almost unheard 
in 'the Northern Territories a decade ago, is now rapidly becoming 
the principal lil1g1<a jra1,ca of the commercial traveller in those 
parts. 
The second language movement is to be found in the rapid 
opening of the country, the revolutionary changes in the methods 
and objects of trade, the unquenchable thirst for luxuries and the 
intensive campaign of education both by the Government and 
the missionary bodies. -This has resulted in a great increase in 
the use of English both in its" pidgin" and its correct forms whilst 
at the same time it has tended to act as a preserver of languages 
which ordinarily would have disappeared and the preservation of 
which it is now generally admitted have neither the justification of 
evidence as to nationhood nor usefulness in the business of to-day. 
But if these groups and tribes do not yet meet on the ground 
of a common language they do meet on that of a common religion. 
Except for the followers of the exotic faiths of Christianity and 
Mohammedanism, the people of the Gold Coast are animists, whose 
religion has been defined by Sir James Frazer, O.M., as " a childlike 
'tHE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
interpretation of the Universe in terms of man. Whether or not 
it was man's earliest attempt at solving the riddle of the Universe, 
we cannot say. The history of man on Earth is long; the evidence 
of geology and archaeology appears to be continually stretching 
the life of the species farther and farther into the past . It may be 
that th~nimistic hypothesis is one of many guesses at truth which 
man has successively formed and rejected as unsatisfactory. All 
we know is that it has found favour with many backward races 
down to our own time." 
And Sir James Frazer includes among those backward races 
" also the uneducated classes in civilized countries, and especially 
the peasantry, among whom ancient modes of thought and of 
practice commonly linger long after they have disappeared from the 
more enlightened members of the community." 
The hypothesis itself is one by which man attributes to all 
things, animistic and in animistic alike, the thoughts and feelings 
to which he himself is subject. The word "soul" is difficult to 
define; a precise meaning for it has not yet been generally 
accepted; but by animism is meant that religion in which man 
attributes to all things the possession of a soul. It is the religion 
of that country which Schiller calls Dichterland. In details the 
religions of the Gold Coast people differ to a certain extent, but 
the broad principles are the same. The belief is general and 
absolute in the existence of a Supreme Being. He is, as might be ~ 
expected, identified or possibly confused to a certain extent with 
the sun and sky. To him are erected by the Akan and Grunshi 
(i.e. the dweller in the extreme north) alike the three-pronged I 
stick on which a bowl is set. The northerner identifies with him 
also the Thunder-God though the latter is, among the hierarchy, ,!  
retained as a separate conception. Thus in the north, where 
the well-being of the country and the livelihood of the individual 
depend so greatly on the elements, sun, wind, rain, thunder and 
sky are manifestations of the Supreme Being, whereas in the f 
south, where a kinder climate has caused man to cease to worry on 
the inclemencies of weather, the need of prayer and propitiation 
to these great elements is not so necessary. 
Second to the Sky-God is the Earth-Goddess. Her worship 
in the north is perhaps the most striking feature of the religion 
of those parts, but equally in the south it is realised that from her 
spring all the foodstuffs on which man relies. In the absence of 
the written word, religion is inclined to be individualistic and 
among primitive people except for national or tribal or family 
observances even doctrine is elastic. There is no hard and fast 
set of rules such as the maturer religions have evolved; there is 
no doctrinaire caste of priests, no fear of heresy. The practices 
of religion are therefore not necessarily identical, although their 
creed may be the same. 
Village life or community meetings amongst the southern 
people is a marked feature of their existence. Without it, an 
56 tHE GOLD COAST, 193!. 
Akan village is inconceivable. But in the north this is far from 
being the case, and except in towns where there are zongos or 
strangers' quarters it can almost be said to be non-existent. This 
reacts on the religion of the people, so that public observances 
are rare among the latter whilst common among the former. For 
instance among the Akans a characteristic of their religious tribal 
life is the system of " adae "; the northerner apparently has no 
such practice. The adae system may be briefly summarised as 
follows :-The word itself possibly means a day of rest for no one 
is supposed to work or go to his fields on t hose days. The adae 
ceremony is held in order to propitiate, solicit or worship the spirits 
of the dead, and is a rite observed twice in every successive period 
of forty-two days. The first of the ceremonies occurs on a Sunday 
and is followed twenty-four days later by a Wednesday adae, 
which in turn is followed by a new Sunday adae, six weeks after 
the first. 
It is interesting to observe that this period of forty-two days 
is made up of the multiple of six and seven. There are respectively 
the seven modern days of the week and six week-days or market 
days, commonly found among the northern people but not existing 
among the Akans. It is possible that the former six-day week has 
been combined with a later seven-day week, to which the writer 
is inclined to attach a Christian origin. Possibly some later 
student will be able to trace in the names of the six week-days 
the six market places whence they were derived. 
These days of adae are real village holidays of the fiesta type 
common in the Mediterranean; but no trace has yet been found 
among the northern tribes of any such practice. 
There are many other details in the religioJ:f of the Akan and 
southern tribes which are lacking among the Moshi group. In 
Ashanti there is the making of a godling, the transference as it 
were of the godling's spirit to a shrine or some receptacle. Captain 
Rattray gives an account of the procedure by which this is 
effected-
" Before passing on to a detailed account of the ceremonies 
I witnessed in connection with certain of the Ashanti gods, 
I propose to give a brief description of the origin and nature 
of these deities and of the composition and consecration of 
their shrines. 
" The word shrine is used, in this particular context to 
designate the potential abode of a superhuman spirit. It 
consists (generally) of a brass pan, or bowl which contains 
various ingredients. This pan, upon certain definite occasions, 
becomes the temporary dwelling or resting-place, of a non-
human spirit or spirits. 
" At the present day it is perhaps hardly necessary to 
state that such an object or shrine (' fetish' is what every 
English-speaking West African and most Europeans would 
tHE GOLD COAST, I93i . 51 
wrongly term it) is spiritually an empty nothing until the 
particular spirit for which it has been consecrated, prepared, 
and made acceptable thinks fit to enter it. It possesses, it 
is true, a certain sanctity, by virtue of its being the potential 
abode of a spiritual being." 
Captain Rattray, after showing how the Ashanti regard rivers 
and water generally as one of the essential attributes and property 
of the Supreme Being, quotes the saying "As a woman gives 
birth to a child, so may water to a god," and gives the following 
details of the making and consecration of one of these shrines, 
which held the spirit of one of the River Tano's sons :-
" A spirit may take possession of a man and he may 
appear to have gone mad, and this state may last even some-
times for a year. Then the priest of some powerful god may 
be consulted and he may discover, through his god, that it is 
some spIrit which has come upon the man (or woman) . The 
one upon whom the spirit has come is bidden to prepare a 
brass pan, and collect water, leaves, and' medicine' of specific 
kinds. The possessed one will dance, for some two days, 
with short intervals for rest, to the accompaniment of drums 
and singing. Quite suddenly he will leap into air and catch 
something in both his hands (or he may plunge into the river 
and emerge holding something he has brought up). He will 
in either case fold this thing to his breast, and water will at 
once be sprinkled on it to cool it when it will be thrust into the 
brass pan and quickly covered up. The following ingredients 
are prepared ; clay from one of the more sacred rivers, like 
Tano, and the following plants and objects: afema (Justicia 
fiavia) , Dama Bo (Abras precatorius); the bark of odum, a 
creeper called hamakyem, leaves and bark of a tree called 
domine, another creeper called hamakyerehene, any root 
that crosses a path, a projecting stump in a path over which 
passers-by would be likely to trip, also roots and stumps from 
under water, the leaves of a tree called aya-those are chosen 
which are seen to be quivering on the tree even though no 
wind is shaking them-the leaves, bark and roots of a tree 
called Bonsam dua (lit. the wizard's tree), a nugget of virgin 
gold (gold that has been in use or circulation must not be 
used) , a. bodom (so-called aggrey bead) , and a long white bead 
called gyanie. The whole of these are pounded and placed 
in the pan along with the original object already inside, an 
incantation or prayer is repeated, and the various sacrifices 
are made, the blood being allowed to flow upon t he content s 
in t he brass pan ." 
Captain Rattray then continues :-
" It will be noted that other minor spirits, or powers of 
nature, are not wholly ignored or neglected, and that all are 
considered as able in some manner to help the greater spirit 
that is to be called upon to guide and assist mankind." 
THE GOLD COAST, i:931. 
The priests told him that at times, when this greater emanation 
of God was not present, the spirits of some of the lesser die ties would 
flash forth for a moment and disclose their presence. For example, 
a priest would suddenly burst for th, singing, "odomce, die ado me 
omera" (" I am the odoma tree, let him 'who loves me come hither. " ) 
It would seem that priests and priestesses, when in this ecstacy, 
are subject to many spirit infiuences, a priestess having been heard 
to talk in a different dialect from her own, a fact which did not at 
all surprise the onlookers, who merely said" Oh, that is the spirit 
of So-and-so' '-mentioning a dead priestess of the god, who had 
come from another district, and had used that dialect . 
An old priest with whom Captain Rattray remonstrated for 
not trusting to the one spirit of the Supreme God replied as follows: 
" We in Ashanti dare not worship the Sky-God alone, or the Earth-
Goddess alone, or anyone spirit . vVe have to protect ourselves 
against, and use when we can , the spirits of all things in the Sky 
and upon Earth. You go to the forest , see some wild animal, fire 
at it , kill it, and you find you have killed a man. You dismiss your 
servant but later find you miss him . You take your cutlass to 
hack at what you think is a branch, and find you have cut your 
arm. There are people who can transform themselves into leopards; 
the grass-land people are especially good at turning into hyenas. 
There are 'witches who can make you wither and die. There are 
trees which fall upon you and kill you . There are rivers which 
drown you. If I see four or five Europeans, I do not make much 
of one alone, and ignore the rest, lest they too may have power 
and hate me." 
Such brass pans or shrines are not found among the Moshi 
or other tribes of the northern group. Nor is the almost-worship 
of the Unknown God or power, which the preceding paragraph 
seems to indicate, a feature of their religious practices. This is 
probably because in the north the people's condition of life has been 
for so much longer firmly established and settled, the proof of which 
will be found later in this chapter in the paragraphs dealing with 
their constitution. 
Possibly one of the most prominent features of the northern 
form of religion is the never-ceasing inter-mixture of ancestor-
worship with that of the Earth and Sky. In Ashanti or among the 
other' and kindred races this ancestor-worship exists and is by no 
means the least important part of their religion. In the north it is 
always part and parcel of the whole, whilst in Ashanti it is to be 
noted chiefly in the adae ceremony and is kept apart from the wor-
ship of the Sun and Earth. In Captain Rattray's description of the 
former he notes that throughout the ceremony there is no apparent 
invocation or mention of any power or spirit other tha.n that of 
ancestors. He remarks that no gods or fetishes are called upon, 
whereas, in northern Ashanti in marked contrast these spirits are 
invoked. And still further north they are invariably included in 
every prayer or offering. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 59 
There is no reason to suppose that the mythical and traditional 
migrations of the inhabitants of the Gold Coast Colony are not 
based on historical facts, and the fact that ancestor-worship in 
the north is closely connected with that of the earth seems to indicate 
this. The Earth is a goddess. She harbours the dead, and since 
the dead are within her bosom from time immemorial, these latter 
have become, as it were, an essential part of her. Now the Ashanti 
in his migrations did not carry his dead with him. Therefore he only 
had the Earth to worship. And when he came to pay respect to his 
dead, they were of too recent a departure to have become mingled 
with the Earth. Moreover it is also more than likely that the 
spirits of the dead once in the bosom of the Mother Earth were 
inclined to wander in that bosom back to the haunts of their 
ancestors so that they would return home rather than sojourn in 
the neighbourhood of their wandering children. All native history 
emphasises this nomadic character of the early Akan arrivals, so 
that it is permissible to conjecture that they considered that the 
recent dead were nomads too and would rather wander in the land 
of the departed than take up a permanent residence in some fixed 
place, where their spirits would become commingled with Mother 
Earth. Thus prayer to his ancestors could be offered apart and at 
a separate occasion. 
At the same time as sky-worship, earth-worship and ancestor-
worship are practised, there is the lesser cult of charms, amulets, 
medicines, philtres, etc., together with the complementary body 
of witches, sooth-sayers, medicine-men and others who seem rather 
to be the remnants of an earlier faith than parasites of later growth . 
So prominent a feature in the every-day life of the people was this 
that it came to be regarded by the European strangers as the 
principle part of their religion and thus the word fetishism was 
adopted as a correct term by which to designate that religion. 
The religion of the Gold Coast people can thus then be 
summarised. Animism; worship of the Sky and Earth; the cult 
of the lesser deities, sons and children of the former; ancestor 
worship and fetishism . 
There is however always to be remembered as was pointed 
out in the chapter dealing with history the fact that not in historical 
times have these people been ever out of touch with the so-called 
higher cultures. There is yet to be traced the several influences 
of Egypt, of Greece, of the East, of Rome and of the great church 
of North Africa, of the Berbers and of the Moors, of the Arabs and 
their several invasions. Not least is that of the Catholic Church 
which was the inseparable companion of the early Portuguese 
invaders. 
That this last did influence and still influences local religion 
the following summary of a note provided by the present Assistant 
Secretary for Native Affairs, Mr. J. C. de Graft Johnson is good 
testimony. 
60 THE GOLD COAST, I931. 
The principal yearly festival in E lmina is Baka Tuei, which is 
the annual ceremonial opening of fishing in the small River Benya 
at t he mouth of which s tands the famous Castle San Jorge del Mina. 
It takes place about the beginning of July and is preceded by the 
festival of Nana Ntuna, the titular deity of Elmina. Ntuna is a 
corruption of St. Anthony, an old statue of whom is looked upon as 
the Shrine of Nana Ntuna. According to the local tradition this 
statue was brought to Elmina before the Castle was built and it i 
said that until recently there used to be an old Bible in the Ntuna 
Bum, the hut in which the statue is kept . The Ntuna rites 
associated with the cult of Ntuna begin about the time of Passion 
Week. On the liVednesday before Easter a sacrifical offering, 
consisting of dog's flesh, plantain and' rum, is made to Brafu Kweku 
or Brafu Wednesday, a subordinate obosum (god) supposed to be 
the devoted attendant and executive officer of 1 ana Ntuna. Brafu 
K weku is represented by a small stone at the entrance of the N tuna 
Bum. The sacrifice to Brafu Kweku is probably a present to 
persuade him to use his services to put Nana Ntuna into the proper 
frame of mind to give his children, the Elmina people, his annual 
blessing. Following the offering to Brafu Kweku, the festival of 
Isa is celebrated on Easter Day. Isa is the name given to what 
appears to be the powdered residue of very ancient wafers or 
communion bread left in a receptacle, possibly a Monstrance, still 
kept in the Bum. The name Isa is suggestive and is probably a 
form of J esus. N ana N tuna himself is represented by the statue 
of St. Anthony, already referred t o, a rosary and a crucifix. Nana 
Ntuna, Isa and Brafu Kweku constitute tRe trinity of the Antoni-
Bum worship during the celebration of which lighted tapers or 
candles are placed round t he statue and incense is burnt. 
After the service in the Bum into which no one is allowed wearing 
shoes or sandals, the monstrance with Isa or what represents Isa 
in it and ana Ntuna and the symbols representing him are 
reverently carried out and publicly exhibited in a solemn manner, 
similar to that with which the Catholics at Elmina and elsewhere 
to-day carry out the Host during the celebration of the Feast of 
Corpus Christi. 
The very obvious connection between this cult and former 
Roman Catholic worship gives considerable food for thought and one 
is justified in wondering how much influence that Church wielded in 
the century and a half during which tlus country was kept a sealed 
book to the rest of the world by the Portuguese. There is no doubt 
about the intense desire of the Portuguese rulers to evangelise the 
countries over which they held dominion ; it is proved beyond 
question that the hinterland was visited by and known to them; 
and the example of the Catholic Kingdom which they founded in 
the Congo area is well known . Moreover possible traces of 
Christianity in the use of the sign of the cross, the baptism of children 
and the practice of confession in its earlier form are to be found 
throughout the North. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 61 
Traces there may be but the religion of t he people to-day is 
far removed from Christianity. No better summaries of the 
fundamental religion can be given than that of the worship of the 
Sun and Earth written by Sir James Frazer, O.M., who has collected 
and collated all that is so far known in his" Worship of Nature" 
(1926). 
Among the northern tribes the worship of the Earth-gods is 
however the most important cult for the community, whilst that 
of ancestors is pre-eminently essential for the individual. Nothing 
can be done without a sacrifice of some sort, generally a fowl, to 
one's ancestors. In every courtyard there stands a mound which 
marks the founder's grave, and outside or near it are little pyramids 
representing others of the family's dead. Each pyramid is capped 
wit h a stone, whereon are laid blood and feathers from the sacrifices. 
And when a family migrates, earth from the pyramids is carried to 
the new abode, and theFe the sacrifices to the dead are offered as 
before. 
Of the Akan and Ewe group, Sir A. B. Ellis wrot e :-
" The general bias of the negro mind has been in favour 
of selecting the firmament for the Chief Nature-god, instead 
of the Sun, Moon, or Earth; and in this respect the natives 
resemble t he Aryan Hindus, Greeks, and Romans, with whom 
Dyaus pitar, Zeus, and Jupiter equally represented t he 
firmament. The Tshis and Gas use the words Nyankupon 
and Nyonmo to express sky, rain, or thunder and lightning, 
and the Ewes the word Mawu. The Tshi people say Nyankupon 
bom (Nyankupon knocks). 'It is thundering'; Nyankupon 
aba (Nyankupon has come). 'It is raining'; and the Ga 
peoples, Nyonmo knocks (thunders) 'Nyonmo pours', 
, Nyonmo drizzles " etc., while in just the same way the Ancient 
Greeks ascribed these phenomena to Zeus, who snowed, rained, 
hailed, gathered clouds, and thundered. Nyankupon has' for 
epithets the following: Amosu (Giver of rain); Amovua 
(Giver of sunshine); Tetereboensu (Wide-spreading Creator 
of water) , and Tyaduampon, which seems to mean' Stretched-
out Roof' Tyo, to draw or drag, dua wood, and pon, fiat 
surface)." 
The Supreme Being of t he Ashantis dwells aloof in his firmament 
too far away to be concerned directly with the affairs of man. Some 
of his powers he has delegated to his son, t he lesser gods (abosom), 
who act as his vice-gerents in different places or for different purFoses 
here below-a const it ution strikingly similar to the almost feudal 
kingdom of the northern peoples. However in every courtyard in 
Ashanti there stands an altar to the Sky-god in the shape of a three-
forked branch cut from a certain t ree which the Ashantis call 
the Sky-god tree (Nyame dua). · Between the branches, which are 
cut short, is fixed a basin or a pot ; in this receptacle t he offerings 
are placed, and in it is generally to be found a neolithic celt, one 
62 THE GOLD COAST , I931. 
of the Sky-god's axes. Precisely similar altars are to be found 
in the compounds of the north. 
" The late Sir A. B. Ellis was form erly of the opinion that their 
Sky-god, whom he calls Nana Nyankupon, " the Lord of the sky", 
was borrowed by them from the Christians and was in fact little 
more than J ehovah under a new name and a thin disgui e. But 
this opinion he afterwards saw reason to retract. Discussing the 
nature of Mawu, the Sky-god of the Ewe-speaking peoples of t he 
Slave Coas t, he observes: " While upon the subj ect of this god, 
I may as well say that, from additional evidence I have since 
collected, I now think that the view I expressed concerning the 
origin of Nyankupon, the parallel god of the Tshi-speaking peoples, 
was incorrect; and that instead of this being the Christian God, 
borrowed and thinly disguised, I now hold that he is, like Mawu, 
the Sky-god, or indwelling spirit of the sky; and that, also like 
Mawu, he has been to a certain extent confounded with J ehovah. 
I t is worthy of remark that nyankum means' rain', and nyankonton , 
, rainbow', while the word yankupon itself is as frequently used 
to express sky, firmameut, thunder, or rain , as it is as a proper 
name." 
" The name of Mawu is known throughout the whole of the 
country, wherever the Ewe language is spOken, from the coast far 
into the interior, and is of importance in the daily life of the people. 
The idea of the Sky-god is not of foreign origin, a reflection of 
missionary teaching; it IS an ancient possession of the .race and is 
said to have formerly occupied an even higher place in the popular 
religion than it does at the present day. ,The conception seems to 
have been moulded directly on the sight of the celestial vault . 
When the morning clouds are seen encircled with a rim 
of light and the blue sky peeps between the rifts, the natives say 
" Mawu has donned his coat of many colours". The proper name 
for the visible sky is dzingbe, but the visible sky is also called Mawu 
ga, " the Great God". In a native assembly a man has been heard 
to say, " I have always looked up to the visible sky as to God and 
when I spoke of God I spoke of the sky, and when I spoke of the 
sky, I thought of God ". Another man observed, " Wherever the 
sky is, there is God; for the sky is God". 
In the interior of Togo there live a number of tribes speaking 
languages which differ from Ewe. But among them also we find 
the worship of the same great Sky-god under different names. 
Thus the Akposos worship him under the name of Owulowu, which 
they regard as equivalent to the Mawu of the Ewe-speaking peoples .. 
The same word Owulowu is used to designate both the firmament 
and its personification. Among the Krachi, he is Wulbari, among 
the Konkomba O'wunbuor, and among the Gbanye he is known as 
Ebuore. The similarity in name is striking. 
" The Ashantis of the Gold Coast regard the Sky and the Earth 
as their two great deities. The worship of the Earth-goddess is 
less well known, than that of Nyame perhaps because it is not quite 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 63 
so obvious. No temple, no image is reared in her honour, but her 
power is none the less universally acknowledged. From the Earth, 
according to one of their most famihar myths, sprang some of the 
noblest of the Ashanti clans, for example the Oyoko, from which 
the later Ashanti Kings were descended. The Ashanti name for 
Earth is Asase Ya, this Old Mother Earth. The day dedicated to 
her worship was Thursday, and even now the Ashanti farmer will 
not till or break the soil on that day; down to some thirty years 
ago a breach of the rule was punished with death. To this day the 
Ashanti farmer makes an offering to Old Mother Earth every year 
on the day when he begins to till his land. He goes to the field, 
taking with him a fowl and some mashed plantain or yam which 
his wife or sister has cooked for him. Arrived at the field where 
work is to begin, he wrings the fowl's neck, and letting the blood 
drip on the mashed yam and the Earth he speaks as follows: 
" Grandfather so-and-so, you once came and hoe-ed here and then 
you left it to me. You also Earth, Ya, on whose soil I am going 
to hoe, the yearly cycle has come round and I am going to cultivate; 
when I work let a fruitful year come upon me, do not let the knife 
cut me, do not let a tree break and fall upon me, do not let a snake 
bite me ". He then cuts up the fowl and mixes the flesh with the 
yam. After that he throws portions of the mixture to the four 
points of the compass; and some of the remains he places in a leaf 
and deposits on the spot where he stood in making the offering. 
" Among the inhabitants of the Northern Territories of the 
Gold Coast there prevails a worship of the Earth like that which is 
characteristic of the inhabitants of the Upper Senegal and Upper 
Volta or the French Sudan, and the resemblance is natural enough 
since, as has already been pointed out, the boundaries between the 
two countries is not racial but merely political, the same tribes 
being settled on both sides of it. While the natives of the Northern 
Territories of the Gold Coast all recognize the existence of a great 
Sky-god or Supreme Being whom they call Wuni, Weni, or We, 
they in practice pay much more attention to the gods of the Earth 
for, like the ancient Chinese, they have not risen to the general 
conception of a single Earth-god, the personification of the whole 
Earth, but believe in the existence of a great number of Earth-gods, 
each presiding over his own particular territory, like a human chief. 
For the most part every community possesses at least one Earth-god, 
and the names of the Earth-gods vary from place to place. They 
are not visible. but abide in natural objects, such as clumps of trees, 
rocks of large size or remarkable appearance, and ponds; but 
clumps of trees are their favourite homes. At Kanjaga, for example, 
there are two such sacred groves. One of them is a small cluster 
of fan palms surrounding a single tall one, all of them growing out 
of a white ants nest. The other is a group of short, long-leaved 
raphia palms such as grow in the marshes of the Ashanti forest. 
This latter grove, situated in a small dale otherwise bare of trees, 
presents a striking appearance, all the more so because these palms 
64 THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
are elsewhere unknown in the district. The propitiation of the 
local Earth-god is deemed of the utmost importance, for were it 
neglected, famine would surely follow as a consequence of the wrath 
of the offended deity. His righteous indignation is excited by the 
spilling of human blood on the ground, and by the commission of 
incest, for such acts are thought to pollute the soil. Even so 
seemingly trivial an act as the shooting of an arrow in anger suffices 
to disturb th~ equanimity of the sensitive deity. vVhen such a deed 
has been done, or indeed anything untoward has happened, the 
particular Earth-god in whose domain the event took place must be 
appeased. The duty of making atonement devolves on the religious 
chief or priest who bears the title of tindana, tengyona, or tengsoba, 
meaning in every case the Owner of the Land or Chief of the Earth, 
as the corresponding official is commonly designated in Upper 
Senegal. It is his office to intercede between the people and the 
deity who gave them the land on which they live and the food which 
they eat. They say that no place is without its Chief of the Earth 
(tin dana) , and to this day, if people migrate into an uninhabited 
country in the hope of finding there a less niggardly soil than the 
one they have left behind them, they must obtain a grant of land 
from the Chief of the Earth who happens to dwell nearest to the 
new settlement. As usual, the atonement takes the form of 
sacrifices, which are ordered by the Chief of the Earth to be 
performed as the occasion arises. He also appoints the day when 
the new crops may be eaten by the community; in short, he 
regulates all matters that concern the religion of the ' Earth -god. 
"The requirements of the deity are revealed from time to 
time by a soothsayer, who ascertains them by means of certain 
magical stones, which he shakes out of a bag. The divine wishes 
announced by this form of soothsaying are regularly gratified, or 
if not, so much the worse for the Chief of the Earth who is responsible 
for the ommission. For example, the Chief of the Earth at Issa 
was informed by the soothsayer that his Earth-god desired a market 
to be re-established on the spot. The Chief delayed to comply 
with the divine injunction, and in consequence his son was badly 
mauled by a leopard as a warning to the Chief himself to be in future 
less dilatory in obeying the deity. Through the communication 
which the soothsayer thus maintains with the higher powers his 
services are indispensable not only in religious matters but in the 
conduct of everyday life; practically nothing is done without 
consulting him; the whole structure of society is in his hands. 
Yet the stones by which he works his wonders are neither rare nor 
beautiful: they are just hard, smooth stones whlch may be picked 
up in the fields. The natives believe that the stones have fallen 
from heaven, so they gather and pile them on the ancestral graves, 
or rather on the little pyramids of mud which are set up to serve 
as altars in the worship of the dead. But sceptical Europeans 
are of the opinion that these stones are simple disused hand-
grinders. 
THE GOLD COAST , 1931. 65 
"The E\ye-speaking people worship the Earth as a goddess 
under the name of Anyigba. One of the epithets applied to the 
goddess is lVIother of the little children for she it is who bestows 
offspring on people. She also makes the yams to grow and trade 
to prosper; she gives good luck in hunting and victory in war. 
I t is in her power too, both to inflict and to heal ~ickness and disease. 
One day of the week, named asiamigbe, is her rest-day or sabbath ; 
therefore on that day it is unlawful to hoe the ground, t o dig yams, 
or to thrust a stake into the earth, because such acts are clearly 
calculated to disturb her divine repose, if not to do her bodily injury. 
Anybody who hoes the ground on her sabbath will surely die." 
The above summary of the religion of the Gold Coast people 
is based on extracts from Sir James Frazer's work and quotations 
from all the authorities on the religion and customs of the various 
sections of the people dwelling in this country. It is to be noted, 
however, that in the survey there is omitted all those t ribes dwelling 
between the Ashanti and the North. As yet no exhaustive treatise 
has been published to cover the lore of the tribes living in this zone. 
However it is well known that the main characteristics of their 
religion are similar to those of the people to their north and to their 
south, and the close relationship of the Dagomba with the lVIoshi 
enables one to obtain a good view of the religion of the former from 
the wori{S of lVI. Tauxier, the authority on the latter. 
Enough has been writt en and quoted to show the bases on 
which the faith of the Gold Coast people is founded . But apart from 
these general characteristics, there remain the individualistic worship 
of ancestors, charms, home and local gods-a mass of spirits and 
deities that have often confused animism with pantheism. There 
is no need to enlarge on these phases, provided we remember always 
that the people here live in Dichterland before the licence of the 
poet has washed away the sordid conditions and roughnesses of 
savagedom. 
Arising from the religious outlook of the people there is the 
question of land tenure which has become involved with 'the 
constitution of the country to no small extent. It is a question 
about which much has been written and is of so large an importance 
that one must, in order to understand the native of the Gold Coast's 
attitude of mind towards the land, be permitted to enter into 
considerable detaiL 
Of the four groups outlined above, it may be stated at the 
outset that nothing reliable is known about the system of land 
tenure among the Ewe or the unclassified groups. The Ga-
Adangbe system has become so fogged through contact with various 
European syst ems that its first form is no longer recognisable. 
But since the religion of all groups is based on the same premises, 
and since the land is among all considered part and parcel of that 
religion, and thirdly because the origin from some individual hunter 
is common to all tribes and families, it is certainly not unreasonable 
E 
66 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
to presume that the evolutionary development of the systems of 
land tenure among the groups h as followed along similar lines. 
No better outline of this process of evolution is available than 
that by Captain Rattray in his' Ashanti Law and Constitution', one 
of the reports submitted to the Gold Coast Government during 
his tenure of the office of Anthropologist. He points out how in 
the Akan group the Ashanti were originally a nation of hunters. 
They have Ci saying: " In olden times the tribes all resided in 
one town", but this is to be explained by the usual exaggeration 
of a large family of nomads whose sons are forced by the circum-
stance of over-crowding to seek for other realms in which to roam. 
The t radition of various clans record an era when game, fish, wild 
herbs, berries and roots were the sole food of the people, and it is 
logical to deduce that as a family grew larger, so the area, over 
which the collection of the food required had to be made, increased. 
But there is a limit to that area, viz. ,-the distance a man can cover 
in safety from his hom e. That limit was undefinable, but within 
the area of that roughly-known boundary the family would naturally 
have com e to regard the food obtainable therein as theirs. Only 
by might could this right b e wrested from them. 
The family in course of t ime might reach a numerical strength 
sufficient to warrant its being termed a tribe, but there is no reason 
to suppose that the nomad Akans were ever of any great number. 
The advent of agriculture brought about the first revolution . 
So far all the Gold Coast tribes are known to have more or less 
followed along these lines, but when agriculture actually came 
is not determinable. There is no doubt .but that the grain-eaters 
of the Moshi group as well as the unclassified tribes of the North 
advanced more quickly than the southern tribes at this point of 
evolution. The introduction of guinea-com and millet was probably. 
from the East and is certainly of considerable antiquity. On the 
other hand the Akan and Ga-Adangbe groups owe practically all 
their foodstuffs to European introduction from the West Indies. 
The possible exception is that of yams which to this day are sought 
for in their wild state among the hills of Ajati to be planted and 
cultivated, when th ey lose their bitterness and coarseness, in the 
richer soil of the lowland plains . This revolution in the manner 
of living gradually brought about, although the process is not yet 
complete among the Brong and Guang tribes, a stabilization. 
The nomads began to set tle and as settlement required cultivation, 
there grew up the idea of a family right in the land as distinct from 
over the land which was to supply them their livelihood. 
Captain Rattray opines that a previous idea of family interest 
in the land had existed. "These ancient hunters possibly regarded 
one locality in their wild forest hunting-grounds as being more 
particularly their very own, namely, the spot where their ancestors 
had been laid after death Their dead men used it; they 
continued to use it-for ever. The spot marked by the grave was 
regarded a~ the particular property of his kinsman ." 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 67 
Although that theory is open to debate since on the surface 
it seems incompatible with the nomadic life, the idea of the land 
belonging to the dead or being so permeated with them that the 
Earth and the dead are almost inseparable as ideas is certainly a 
sound supposition and would in time lead to that intensive cult of 
ancestors which being observed by Captain Rattray enabled him 
to write: "It is not, however, the Sky and the Earth deities who 
in Ashanti are held to be the prime factors in shaping and influencing 
the actions and destinies of mankind. These great unseen powers 
are generally too remote and perhaps too mighty to be concerned 
very intimately with the individual dan, much less with the 
individual member of the clan, and the predominant influences in . 
Ashanti religion are neither ' .Saturday Sky-god' nor' Thursday 
Earth-goddess', nor even the hundreds of gods (abosom), with 
which it is true the land is filled, but are the samanfo, the spirits of 
the departed forebears of the clan. They are the real land owners 
who, though long departed, still continue to take a lively interest 
in the land from which they had their origin or which they once 
owned. The Ashanti land laws of to-day appear but the logical 
outcome of a belief which, in the not very remote past, considered 
the living landowners as but holding as it were t enancies at will 
from the dead as being the trustees of the latter. ' , 
The Akans who were in the closest contact with the Europeans 
were not allowed however to evolve along natural and therefore 
slow lines. With the introduction of agriculture necessitated by 
the Slave Trade there were also introduced fire-arms by the use of 
which the slaves could be caught and kept. The nomad family 
having ceased its wanderings had acquired a patch to cultivate for 
the use of the famIly. Not every member of the family was now 
necessary; free labour was obtainable lor the newly introduced 
form of obtaining food; the young men were at liberty to go abroad 
to hunt for slaves or to act as middlemen for the merchants. And 
in the interior they became available as organized bands, later to 
become formidable armies. 
Land thus came to be regarded as belonging to the family, 
the offspring of which no longer had to seek their own food collecting 
zone, but could stay near the paternal roof. The slaves required 
housing and wives. The village came into existence, and family 
lands became village or community lands. 
The actual area required for the cultivation of food stuffs was 
small, but the hunter spirit had not disappeared, so that from the 
focus of the village hunters would issue forth and claim as the and 
over which they had a right all that area within their reach 
and within their power of defence against all possible claimants. 
This theoretical process of evolution in the system of land 
t enure is not different to that actually observed in other places in 
the world. But locally on the Gold Coast it may possibly account 
for the apparent lack of zeal in agricultural pursuit of the coast-
dwellers. They evolved from nomadic hunters t o citizens of 
El 
68 THE GOLD COAST , 193I. 
towns, merchants and middlemen, without themselves passing 
through the intermediate st age of farmers or cultivators, At the 
same t ime it offers an explanation of the willingness of the outherner 
to employ northern labour on his fields and in his plantations and the 
readiness of the lattet who has for centuries been a land labourer, 
to undertake that work. 
In the extreme North, hat is t o say throughout the Protectorate 
of the Northern Territories and the Northern Section of Togoland, 
the system of land t enure did not reach that of village lands to the 
same extent . The permanence of cultivation led to an intensive 
form of family ownership and even t o one approximating our own 
idea of individual ownership . An understanding of this explains 
the difference in the constitution of the two areas, the Protectorate 
and the Akan system. 
But further leaps in evolution were to be made in the coastal 
areas. After the 1873-4 war with Ashanti and the establishment 
of a protectorate by Great Britain over the tribes, 'who had been 
our allies in that campaign, there ensued a period of keen 
exploitation of the minerals of the country. Concessions with 
recognised titles were necessary if capital wa" to be persuaded to 
flow into Gold Coast channels. There quite logically and 
undoubtedly legally followed the idea that the head of the 
community could act fo r the community, and in consequence there 
has grown up the conception that the Omanhene with the 
concurrence of his counsellors were trustees of the land .over which 
the community exercised collecting and hunting rights. The 
voice of the family was not to be heard above the acclamation of 
the village or community . Still less could the individual make 
his claims upheld. Moreover there was plenty of land, the system 
of cultivation was not of a permanent character and the immediate ' 
compensation in money or gifts made acquiescence ea,sier. 
However less than forty years later a fresh revolution in thought 
occurred. There was suddenly thrust upon the country the quite 
new idea of permanence in agriculture. The amazing possibilities 
of the cacao market made individual effort so remunerative that 
farming for the family became secondary t o farming for the 
individual. The evolution was complete and the system of land 
tenure in its aspect vis-a-vis a cacao plantation among the Akans 
is practically the same as that vis-a-vis the guinea-corn and millet 
fields of the Northerner. 
The communal idea, hitherto tacitly admitted and acquiesced 
in, is receding far into tradition, not without considerable resistance 
by the Chiefs who not only see their trusteeship and its concomitant 
perquisites disappearing, but also see the day is not far distant 
when the old-time tribal organisation must inevitably disappear. 
This organisation has almost been outlived already ; the 
individual hunter, the small family, the growing family mixed with 
<l,li~n <l,dherents, the village, the community, the state and tribe. 
THE GOLD COASt, I931. 
It is evident that the constitution of a community evolved in such a 
manner must be along family lines ; and such has been the case 
in the Gold Coast. 
It was probably owing to the rivalries ot the different European 
powers along the coast that the various families or clans or tribes 
dwelling thereon never reached the stage of unification, such as was 
attained in Ashanti, but the constitution was practically identical. 
The head of the clan is the Omanhene and he is assisted by 
counsellors who include every village head-man and every family 
chief although in practice delegates represent this rather unwieldy 
witenagemote. 
In Ashanti where the release of the young men from their 
family duties by the introduction of slave labour and where the 
non-interference by Europeans enabled one branch of the tribe to 
organise an army which succeeded in imposing its overlordship over 
its neighbours this familial constitution had given way to a more 
elaborate quasi-feudal system with a recognisable king at its head. 
But the head of the various families or clans who had been forced 
to admit this supremacy never lost sight of their right to be consulted 
and there remained in being the right of the family, that is 
the common people, to direct the family heads in those consultations. 
That is a very fine form of democracy and has provided a 
vent through which discontent and ill-usage, grievance and 
complaints could be remedied. To a certain extent this natural 
manner of airing wrongs and obtaining redress has been concealed. 
Unexpected and extremely raFidly acquired wealth by the people 
accompanied the evolution of the chief from family head into king-
ship, but to-day there is no doubt that there is a healthy sign of 
effervescence by which it is clear that the people are beginning to 
take no small interest in their communal affairs and well-being and 
are no longer content to leave state matters in the hands of chiefs 
who are becoming further and further removed from the 'plebs' 
out of which they sprang. This movement is not only to be observed 
in the Gold Coast, it seems to be spread almost all over the world. 
Fortunately in this country the movement is based on the old family 
right of the members to be consulted by their head before he 
represents them at the tribal witenagemote. It is therefore under a 
properly constituted leadership and forms an important part of the 
Akan constitution. 
The movement is generally termed that of the Asafu. In the 
past the history of the Asafu as known to Government has not been 
happy. It orginated in the grouping of the young men in clans 
based on paternity as opposed to the matrilineal organisation usual 
to the Akan people. As village life grew, the creation of quarters 
developed, so that while each member belonged on his mother's 
side to the village or tribe as a whole, he belonged through his father 
to the quarter where his father's family belonged. In Ashanti the 
system was of great military value, but in the coast towns the natural 
rivalry between quarters increased since the Europeans made use 
70 THE GOLD COAST, I93t. 
of such an obvious method of maintaining order. The result 
however was not so orderly and to this day quarter-fighting or 
company riots are still all too frequent. 
The African 's mind is supTemely sensitive; and he will often 
accept insult, where none whatsoever is intended. Moreover he 
can convey disapproval, or make mockery of the acts of otheTS in 
ways, most shrewd and cunningly devised. It is not usually 
recognised, so subtle is the act, that drumming or whistling, even 
the manner of shaving one's head or the fashion of wearing one's 
cloth can convey the deadliest of insults. Em blems are therefore 
easily made to indicate derision, to throw taunts, to ca~t aspersions 
and to recall events which had better be forgotten. 
Th e companies 01' quarters in the coast towns have been all 
too ready to adopt th is method of annoying their rivals, with results 
that in many cases have been tragic beyond words. One such 
occurred in 1930 at the village of Appam and over 40 people lost 
their lives, most of th e houses were burnt and extensive damage 
done. The cause of the trouble was insignificant. But this was 
no new occurrence. In f849 the Dutch Government had entered 
into an agreement with the people of Elmina with a view to the good 
administration of that town, and among the clauses of that 
convention there appears the following :-
"ART 11. 
" The old agreement with the E lmina Government of the 
second November, 1840 respecting the Customs flags to prevent 
their being the cause of any palavers, are inserted in this 
contract as follows :-
1st.-That all Customs flags of the different quarters shall 
be done away with, and that the pendant above the 
flag of quarter No.4 shall no more be used; the said 
Customs flags being the general cause of all 
disturbances and in this Contract forbidden to be 
used-thus after this meeting the Elmina Government 
has given the said flags to the Netherlands Government 
to deposit . 
2nd.-That in the place of the above-mentioned Customs 
flags, shall be given them by the Government a 
National Dutch flag-three colours; the flags marked 
as follows :-
For quarter No.1 with the number 1. 
2 2. 
3 3. 
" 4 4. 
5 5. 
" 6 6. 
7 7. 
No.7 with the letter K signifying that this is the King's 
quarter. 
TIIE GOLD COAST, 1931. 71 
The Broker's quarter shall be distinguished by the 
letter M. 
The Volunteer quar ter by the letters VB. 
For the Government workmen the letters L.S., whilst 
the field marshal shall be allowed to use the pendant, 
3rd.-Each of the above-mentioned quarters, volunteers 
or Government workmen, who shall overstep the 
above-mentioned rules, shall be fined in a sum of 
five ounces (Oz. 5) gold for the benefit of the King of 
Elmina and the landholders, who shall use this for the 
trouble they take in the strict performance of their 
duties, whilst other expenses shall make good to the 
Government that they have incurred from the non-
fulfilment of this contract." , 
That phase of the development of the Asafu movement is 
exotic. Its true lines of evolution have been traced, as the result 
of the Appam riot, by the Assistant Secretary for Native Affairs, 
Mr. J. C de Graft J ohnson, whose report summarised is as fo llows:-
The power and position of the Asafu in its relation t o t he state can 
hardly be disregarded or minimised. In its wider sense it embraces 
even the Omanhene and the principal chiefs themselves; in its 
narrower it definitely constitutes the third estat e, the common 
people without whose assistance no native government in the Akan 
country is 'possible, the saying being: Ohin na ni mpanimfuo na 
Asafu (the Chief and his Elders and Asafu). The Omanhene as a rule 
appreciates the rights and privileges of the Asafu and their unique 
relation to the Paramount Stool. In Ashanti it is fully recognised 
that Chiefs, paramount or other, can only be elected and installed 
after the wishes of the " youngmen " have been consulted. Where 
this has been ignored the Chief so elected has sooner or later come 
to grief. Moreover, in the old Ashanti regime, when a Chief has 
been elected and installed by his people he is at first regarded as a 
mere Nkwankwahin (a leader or Captain of the" youngmen ") until 
his appointment is confirmed by the Paramount Chief or Supreme 
Council. And further, no member of the Stool family is ever 
appointed as a real Nkwankwahin of the "youngmen " lest with 
the Asafu behind him he should drive away the ruling Ohin and 
take his place. This shows that the power behind the Stool rests 
with the" youngmen ", not with the Elders. By whatever name 
it is called, the fact remains incontrovertible that both in the Cblony 
and Ashanti the Asafu forms part and parcel of the Oman that 
more often than not its representatives serve on the Oman Council 
and take part in its deliberations; that every person, prince or 
peasant, virtually belongs to the Asafu ; and that a man only ceases 
to identify himself with its activities when he is elevated to occupy 
a stool or appointed a Councillor. The Asafu is therefore essential 
if the position and authority of the Chiefs are to be maintained. 
It has a voice in putting a Chief on and removing him from a Stool. 
As the Berekum Nkwankwahin pointed out the" youngmen " can 
72 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
object to an Omanhin's order if they consider it is not right. In 
other words, the Asafu collectively can countermand the Omanhin's 
order. The Omanhin is first and last the servant of the Oman 
and t he Mbrantse or Asafu form the bulk of the Oman. 
That a similar organisation exists among the Ga-Adangbe and 
Ewe tribes is known, but it has not yet been definitely identified 
among the ortherners of the l'I'Ioshi and unclassified groups, where 
the constitution differs from that of the Akan tribes. However 
the terms Kombenaba, Kefrinaba, Kadema\\'ura which seem to 
mean leader of the young men tend to show that such an institution 
is in being, even if it has hitherto fai led to reveal itself. 
The true democratic character of the Akan constitution cannot 
fail to have been noticed, based as it is on the Family. Among 
the Ewe and Ga-Adangbe the constitution is even more closely 
connected with the institution of the Family, and the people haye 
not had to the same extent to assert their inherent rights. In the 
Northern Territories however the constitution is far from democratic 
and is almost despotic. 
The land tenure system was stabilised much earlier in the No, th 
than in the South as has already been remarked, and in a 
generalisation may be termed almost identical with that now 
obtaining among the Akans. But there are two most important 
considerations to be made; hitherto there has been no interference 
by Europeans who in order to exploit the country must either 
reconcile the local system with their own or alter it entirely, and 
secondly the head of the family, clan or tribe is not the political 
head, this latter being an alien to the family, clan or tribe who has 
placed his authority over the people vi et annis. 
There are therefore existing in the Northern Territories, the 
one imposed on the other, two distinct constitutions. There is the 
F amily constitution which regulates the intimate life of the people, 
orders the worship when due of the ancestors, keeps in touch with 
the spirits of the Earth-gods and stands as the conn cting link 
between the Supreme Being and the insignificant plebs. At the 
head of the family is the house-master, the community-master, the 
interceder between the family and the gods. H e is called tindana 
in Dagomba country, and under other names he is readily 
recogJ;)isable in every tribal or group division in 'the Protectorate. 
So similar has been the process of evolution, and so impossible 
is it to conceive that a cultural boundary could have existed between 
the migrants into the Forest and the people who dwell to-day where 
they formerly dwelt, that it would seem logical to conclude and 
certainly most reasonable to suppose that the Dagomba word 
" tindana " (lord of or one who has power over the " tenga ") is 
identical with the Akan word" Omanhene " (lord of or one who has 
power over the " Oman ") . Ordinarily" tenga " is translated Earth, 
and" Oman" as tribe, but when the latter has resided for centuries 
THE GOLD COAST, I931. 73 
in one place, and has saturated the Earth with the numbers of his 
dead, the failure to discriminate between tenga and Oman becomes 
readily intelligible and probably inevitable. 
Secondly, however, imposed upon this Family or clan constitu-
tion is the despotic rule of the political chiefs. They are to be found 
in every part of the Northern Territories excepting among a few 
of the unclassified tribes, where the Family system of the tindana 
still exists untouched. These political chiefs as has been shown in 
the chapter dealing with history are of absolutely alien stock and 
they introduced with them a form of government in which are to 
be found many similarities to oriental administrations. 
The rulers of the Gbanye or Gonja divisions came, tradition 
has it, from the West, whilst those of the Mamprusi, Dagomba, 
Wala and in all likelihood the Dagarti divisions from the East and 
North-East. The first-comers seem to have been composed of 
warrior bands who seized not the over-lordship of the land but the 
suzerainty over the dwellers thereon. Their male offspring did 
not descend to the plebs but remained marauding princelings who 
lived by banditry and raiding. Some were given small divisions 
of the people to rule over. They were and are indifferent as to 
the land on which their people lived, provided their own household 
was never lacking in food, nor did it matter to them by what means 
the food reached their corn-bins. 
They were mounted and clothed; they had or the people II 
believed they had the magic power by which they could seize and 1 
maintain dominion. The naked tiller of the fields, the peasant 
whose toilsome life left no time or opportunity to organise ~I 
resistance, acquiesced in their exactions which the common sense 
of the rulers did not make onerous and were content to win from II 
the soil that which the Earth-gods consented to yield. j 
The administration of the country except in the organisation 
of raiding expeditions was left to an artificial body of men, born 
of the land but no longer interested therein, a group of eunuchs. 
These were slaves and many of them actually sons of t he people 
over whom their masters ruled. To each division of the admini-
stration of the country and in particular of the towns in which 
they resided one eunuch was allotted. These head-eunuchs formed 
as it were a council and they alone were able to tender advice to 
the Na or Chief contrary to the latter's inclination. 
The E unuch regimen was similar to that of the sons of chiefs. 
They were classified in age-groups and received promotion by 
merit or what amounted to the same thing, willingness to give 
presents to those in authority, which in our candid manner we 
term bribery. Thus a slave-boy eunuchized at the age of seven 
could rise in course of time to the eminent post of chief of all the 
eunuchs, as it were, to be Grand Vizier. Similarly a chief's son 
could rise from the lowest grade of page to a rank equal to that 
held by his fat her. That regimen existed unt il our advent int o 
the area of the Northern Territories. The last of the eunuchs 
74 THE GOLD COAST, I93X. 
who held high rank died during the last decade and with him the 
time-honoured administrative system of the Dagomba Kingdom. 
At the same time there disappeared, at our coming, the opportunity 
for the sons of chiefs to raid and plunder the peasantry. Occasional 
attempts to carryon the pleasant pastime have occurred but the 
people no longer acquiesced quietly therein and brought their 
complaints to the European. Retribution was usually swift and 
certain. 
The disappearance of the eunuch system, the forced abandon-
ment of banditry, the complete lack of administrative knowledge 
or indifference thereto among the chiefs, a fuller understanding 
of the family life of the people and their history, and finally the 
rapid opening up of the country during the past decade introduced 
a problem for Government not too easy to solve. 
It is not possible to summarise here details of the intimate 
life of the people, be they Akan, Ewe or Dagomba. Birth, 
marriage and funeral rites, observances at seed and harvest 
time, clan and family customs are too numerous, and vary too 
much in minor details to permit even a resume. There are many 
works available on these subjects, as a reference to the bibliography 
accompanying this work will show. Above, a sketch of the religion 
and the constitution of the people has been attempted, and the 
great underlying simil arity between the various tribes has been 
emphasised. It is the same with the minor customs and in that 
fact lies the great possibility that the artificial Gold Coast may 
one day attain united nationhood. 
tHE GOLD COASt, i93:l:. 75 
CHAPTER IV. 
ECONOMIC. 
Economic Development of the Country-Gold-mining-Iron 
and Manganese-Diamonds-Romance of the Cacao I ndustry-
Economics of that Industry-Problems arising therefrom-Forestry 
Problems-Minor Agricultural and Sylvan Products-Imported 
Foodstuffs-Internal Trade-Cattle Breeding-Meat Consumption-
Transport. Problems-Nan-distribution of Overhead Charges-Tile 
National Income. 
The preceding chapter will almost certainly give to the reader 
unfamiliar with the country a somewhat misleading picture of the 
Gold Coast. That impression this chapter is intended to rectify. 
It must I think be admitted by all that an ethnographical survey, 
especially a curtailed one, of Great Britain would deal almost 
exclusively with the remoter parts, where folk lore, folk custom 
and folk traditions still are found, with Northumbrian and Cornish 
peasantry rather than with dwellers in suburdan Croydon or Acton. 
One of the most prominentfeatures in the history of this country 
has been its persistent advance in cultural progress by leaps rather 
than by the process of gradual and continuous evolution. Since 
the beginning of the twentieth century these leaps have been even 
more exaggerated and the past decade has witnessed a rate of 
progress which might even be considered dangerous. 
The sudden acquisition of very great wealth may upset the 
equilibrium of an individual but in the Gold Coast it seems to 
have acted over the nation as a most potent stimulant for greater 
effort, even the set-back of over-production and the disappearance 
of markets having had but little effect. It is probable that the 
nation is advancing faster than may seem good to the Government, 
who actually has had occasion to act as a brake rather than as an 
accelerating force. For instance the anxiety of the people to 
procure access to their villages by means of motorable roads has 
often overlooked the necessity of their maintenance. 
The accompanying table of exports and imports during the 
past decade will show the amount of money turned over by the 
nation. 
76 THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
Exports of 
I Imports. Domestic Total External Produce. Trade. 
I 
£ £ £ 
lQ21 I 6,816,757 5,532,113 12,348,870 1922 I 6,501,205 
6,632,349 13,133,554 
1923 7,727,561 7,543,612 15,271,173 
1924 7,207,433 8,715,113 15,922,546 
1925 ... 8,820,568 9,786,206 18,606,774 
1926 ''' 1 8,44.3,660 10,OD9,103 19,4·12,763 
1927 11,703,667 13,458,721 ~5,161,388 
1928 11,301,811 12,944,318 24,246,1~0 
1929 .....  \ 9,625,592 1l,530,760 21,156,352 
1930 8,507,458 8,855,054 17,362,513 
I 
I 
I 
£86,654,712 £95,097,349 £182.65~,061 
The African population of the COUIltry including its dependencies 
is 3,160,386. It will be seen therefore that if one accepts as a 
round figure for the adult population during the decade 2,000,000, 
the individual average turn-over during ten years is £9 1 or £9 per 
annum. In terms of per capita to the revealed population it 
amounted to £5 5s. approximately in 1930, a year when values 
had fallen to a very considerable extent. The great characteri5tic 
of the Gold Coast is (so insignificant are the areas under European 
exploitation), that the greater part of this wealth can be reckoned as 
obtained and used by the native-·an economic situa.tion difficult 
to reconcile with the anthropological survey just recorded. 
The resources of the country from \I'hich the people draw 
this wealth are mines and agriculture. To the former the country 
owes its name. Originally gold was the sole mineral exported. 
To-day manganese, and diamonds almost rival that valuable 
product, and to-morrow there promises to be bauxite and tin and 
even petroleum. 
GOLD. 
From the earliest days of Portuguese settlement gold has 
been exported. There is no reliable inIormation at present 
available as to the quantity of this mineral which has been taken 
out of the country nor any certain date as to when it was first 
extracted. One of the earliest estimates is that of Barbot who 
considered that in 1660 the annual value was £240,000 in modern 
sterling. The first reliable records date only from 1903 so that 
during the period 1483-1~03 at the moderate estimate of £50,UOO 
per annum, this country yielded some £21,000,000. Since lhat 
date accurate statistics have been kept. These show 
1903-1910 1,579,940 oz. exported . 
1911-1920 3,679,531 oz. exporled. 
or a total in 18 years of 5,259,471 ounces. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 77 
During the past ten years the annual output decreased but 
towards the end of the period a revival in this industry became 
mo~t marked. 
The figures are :-
I No. of Companies. No. of Labourers. 
Ye:lf. -------- Oz. won. I Value. 
I Fine. 
Mining. IP roducing. European. African. 
£ 
1921 ... 14 I 10 252 10,313 203,395 863,979 
1922-3 ... 15 12 265 10,083 259,738' 1,103,326' 
1923-4 ... 16 12 257 10,025 200,703 852,548 
1924--5 ... 15 9 229 10,338 210,301 893,359 
1925-6 ... 13 11 190 9,135 198,083 841,394 
1926-7 ... JJ 9 195 8,240 189,117 803,369 
1927-8 ... 10 8 202 7,831 168,933 711,833 
1928-9 ... 9 7. 209 7,792 167,115 709,903 
1929-30 9 5 200 7,386 218,494 928, 161 
1930-31 6 I 4 181 7,121 246,075 1,045,327 
, Covers a period of 15 months 1st January, 1922-31st March, 1923. 
The mining areas are classified under three headings, quartz, 
conglomerate and alluvial. To the first belong the mines at P restea, 
Bibiani and Kaviankor in the Western Province of the Gold Coast 
Colony and at - K ibi in the Eastern Province. This group also 
includes the famous Obuasi mine in Ashanti, one of the richest 
gold mines in the world. 
The Tarkwa area, opened up first by the F rench in 1880, is 
in that in which the conglomerate mine~ are being exploit ed. 
Whilst the alluvial were chiefly the Ofin, Ankobra and Pra rivers 
but these are not at present being worked. The six companies 
at work on 31st March, 1931, were :-
Company. Area working. IT ons crushed. Fine oz. won. 
--
J. Akoon Syndicate, Limited Abontiakoon ... 482,55 19,552 
2. Tarkwa and Aboso Mines Aboso and 118,589 44,884 
Limited. Adjah Bippo. 
3. Ariston Gold Mines (1929), Prestea .. - 57,637 22,619 
Limited. 
4. Asba.nti • Goldfields Cor- Obuasi ... 133,284 159,019 
poration, Limited. 
5. Bibian i (1927), Limited Bibiani ... - -
6. Lyndhurst Deep Level, KonQngo ... - -
Limited. 
There are no companies at present working in the Northern 
Territories nor in Togoland. In the former considerable prospecting 
has been done in the past and two companies once worked a small 
area in the present Western Gonja District where gold undoubtedly 
78 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
exists. Gold has also been located in the north-west of the 
protectorate but the cost of transport at present militates against 
any probability of development in the near future. 
The story of gold-mining in this country is one of great human 
interest. In ancient times gold was washed for in every stream 
and even in Cape Coast gold dust could be found in the off-scourings 
of the streets after heavy rains. In many parts of the country 
there are to be seen deep pits, clrcular in shape and of small diameter. 
The native miner descended these shafts using hands, knees and 
back. The rock extracted by his primitive hoe was crushed by hand 
grinders and the dirt then washed. Such are now no longer worked, 
as with the disappearance of slave labour the results would not 
possibly be sufficient to cover the expense. 
The Portuguese were the first to exploit mines in a more 
economic fashion and their efforts ended in tragedy, a mining 
disaster which stands alone in its magnitude in the history of mining 
in this country. Before the founding of Elmina Castle a mine 
had been opened up by Fernando Gomez at a place called Abrobi, 
not far from Komenda. That mine was worked almost without 
cease fmm about 1485 to the early part of the seventeenth century. 
Somewhere about 1620 the hill was so honeycombed by tunnels and 
borings tha.t it collapsed and buried numbers of workers beneath it. 
A second mining area was opened by the Portuguese some 
distance inland from the mouth of the Ankobra River, at a place 
called Aboasi. To protect the workings, a fort was built, known 
as Fort Duma. Some dozen years after the opening cif this mine, 
which is said to have been of extraordinary richness, an earthquake 
caused it to cave in, and only seven Tnen escaped. They were 
not underground at the time, but the entire number of men so 
engaged perished. 
When the Dutch had wrested their holdings on the Gold Coast 
from the Portuguese the former made an attempt to exploit the 
gold fields discovered by the latter. Little is known of this 
endeavour, beyond its tragic end wherein the fort erected to protect 
the mine was blo'wn up during an attack by the natives. Since 
then until after the Ashanti war of 1873-4 the mining industry 
was left entirely in the hands of the local population. 
Modern mining on the Gold Coast owes its b.eginning to the 
French, and especially to the enterprise of J. Bonnat, the agent 
for the Gold Coast Company. It was in 1877 that he and his 
companions landed at Axim and, proceeding up the Ankol1ra River, 
took up concessions on that river and also on a range of hills to the 
West of Awudua in the vicinity of what is now known as Prestea. 
In the following year Bonnat took up a concession at Tarkwa, 
and later another concession at Aboso, and it is of interest to record 
that on each of these two concessions an important mine was 
developed; that at Tarkwa having been worked continuously until 
1928, while that at Aboso is still an active producer. 
THE GOLD COAST, I931. 79 
Several concessions were also taken up by English companies 
about the same time, and modern mining was thus started on the 
Gold Coast. 
Bonnat who was one of the captives in Kumasi in 1869-1873 
died at Tarkwa and lies buried there on the scene of his labours 
and enterprise. 
The gold at Prestea is won from a quartz reef, which is the 
most usual form of a gold deposit, but that at Tarkwa and Aboso 
is obtained from a conglomerate bed of muc~l the same nature as 
that being mined on the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and now 
universally known as "banket". It is worthy of note, however, 
that the discovery of the Tarkwa goldfield took place some ten 
years before that of the Rand. 
Except for short interludes, as the result of shaft collapses 
or lack of funds, mining has been carried on at Prestea ever since 
Bonnat's time, but so far no dividends have been paid; now that 
gold is at a premium, however, the prospects of operating at a 
profit are greatly increased. 
The Tarkwa goldfield has been more fortunate than that of 
Prestea, though for quite a number of years the mines here were 
also failing to yield dividends. During the last two years, however, 
what with ample labour and reduced costs, the mines have shown 
a profit, and an expansion in mining on this field is a topic frequently 
discussed. 
IRON MANGANESE. 
The industry of iron-mining is one of the oldest industries 
carried on by the peoples of the Gold Coast. I t stretches back to 
the period before history began in these parts and seems to have 
been universal in the distribution of localities. Iron ores of various 
types are to be found almost everywhere and to have been used 
for the production of iron by the neighbouring inhabitants, although 
among most of the tribes of the Gold Coast neither iron-smelting 
nor iron-production are known to-day. Evidence however of the 
wide distribution of this industry is abundant in the existence of 
heaps of iron-slag and bf0ken tuyers, which are found in great 
quantities practically everywhere north of the forest zone. 
Inside that zone such heaps have also frequently been seen but 
owing to the denseness of the jungle not to the same extent as in 
the Savannah country where they are readily visible. 
This iron was used chiefly for weapons but the memory still 
exists of an iron monetary system which had reached the stage of 
conventionalized token money. From time to time pots containing 
this money are discovered; only last year (1930) one such was 
unearthed in the Akan country near Abetifi. The fact that iron 
tokens were used as money would seem a further proof of the recent 
migration of the Akan peoples from outside the forest zone. Their 
tradition is that iron money was older than standardised weights 
of gold dust, the use of which as a monetary system dates subsequent 
to the advent of the European. 
80 THE GOLD COAST, 193 1. 
To-day iron is smelted by most of the tribes belonging to the 
unclassified group, particularly those dwelling along the northern 
and eastern frontiers. 
An interesting fact which possibly may throw some light on 
the movements of the people is that the Busanga and Bassari people 
who live mostly on the F rench side of the front ier make seasonal 
migration into British territory in order to work the iron ore, and 
at the same time it seems significant that the black-smith although 
not the iron miner almost invariably belongs to the traditionally 
oldest established family in the country. 
Mining for iron by European methods was not considered 
economically pract icable until in 1915 a deposit of manganese of 
great value and extent was discovered close to the Sekondi-Kumasi 
railway at a place where the station of Akyem has since been built 
a few mil es south from Tarkwa. The Geological Survey Depart-
ment m ade t he discovery on land ·over which a mining company 
already had a concession, and this, together with the great demand 
for high-grade ore owing to the war, enabled operations to be begun 
without any delay. 
In 1916 over 4,000 tons were exported and annually there-
after until recen tly shipments have been increased manifold. The 
return of shipments and other figures relating to this industry 
during the past decade are :-
Year. No. of Campa- Na. of Europeans No. of Africans Total Tons 
nies working. Engaged. Engaged. Exported. 
1921 2 12 805 7, 195 
1922-3 2 12 632 83,153' 
1923-4 1 21 1,222 181,623 
1924-5 1 43 1,934 276,905 
1925-6 1 61 3,114 36 1,838 
1926-7 1 51 1,355 398,551 
1927-8 1 43 1,53 1 I 334,535 
1928- 9 1 40 1,607 376,913 
1929-3\l 1 47 1,740 496,486 
1930-31 1 37 1,535 I 396,044 
, For the period 1st January 1922-31st March 1923. 
The decline in the last period is due to the universal slackening 
in t rade which unfortunately affected the labour engaged. The 
average for the year showed 1,535 Africans at work in this industry, 
but for the first quarter of the twelve months there were 2, 11 9 so 
employed as against only 845 in the last quarter. 
DIAMONDS. 
For some considerable time the existence of di amonds in the 
Gold Coast had been suspected, the first reasoned report being one 
submitted by F erguson , the same man mentioned previously as 
the founder of the Northern Territories Protectorate. He had 
tHE GOLD COAST, i93I. 81 
been trained in metallurgy and mineralogy in England and in 1891 
was directed to proceed on an exploring trip to Attabubu via Kibi 
and Abetifi. 
He reported that in his opinion the Akim-Abuakwa district 
would be found to be diamondiferous; but it was not until 1919, 
thirty-eight years later, that the first diamonds were discovered. 
The late Director of the Geological Survey, Sir Albert Kitson, 
C.M.G., C.B.E., was their discoverer. 
They were alluvial diamonds of small size but good in colour 
and quality; they were found in considerable numbers in the pebbly 
gravels of the Birim River at a place called Abomoso. Since then 
other discoveries have been made south of Tarkwa, near Enchi in 
the Western Province, in the Obosum River basin in northern 
Kwahu and in the Mampong District of Ashanti. The area at 
present being worked is the Akim-Abuakwa district in the neighbour-
hood of Kade Akwatia. So far the largest diamond found in this 
country weighed 9 carats and was valued at £15. 
The statistical return of this industry is as follows :-
I No. of No. of No. of Carats 
Companies (and Europeans Africans Exported. Value. 
Year. Individuals) Engaged. Engaged. 
Mining. 
£ 
1921 ... 1 2 125 1,788 4,476 
1922-3 ... 1 2 214 8,410' 10,292' 
1923--4 ... 2 3 748 30,419 34,223 
1924--5 ... 2 14 824 61,381 69,054 
1925-6 ... 2 15 978 152,148 171,167 
1926-7 ... 2 23 1, 139 340,020 420,119 
1927-8 ... 3 23 1,357 501,455 474,220 
1928-9 ... 5 35 1,954 686,068 598,454 
1929-30 ... 5 39 3,014 716,898 628,877 
1930-31 ... 4 40 3,392 848,199 595,079 
OTHER MINERALS. 
No other minerals are at present being worked in this country 
of which the mineral wealth as known already is exceptional. The 
first discovery of bauxite was made on the Kwahu plateau at Mt. 
Ejuanema and it is estimated that there are some 4,000,odo tons 
of are available. This is within easy reach of the railway between 
Kumasi and Accra, being only some two miles away from the station 
at Nkawkaw. 
Other discoveries of bauxite have been made notably in the 
Affo Hills 50 miles from Dunkwa on the Kumasi-Takoradi line. 
Here a conservative estimate of available are reaches the colossal 
total of 50,000,000 tons containing approximately 58.26 per cent 
alumina. Bauxite has also been located in considerable deposits 
west and north-west of Kumasi in the Yenahin area and near the 
Mie Hills. 
F 
32 THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
The British Aluminium Company obtained last year certificates 
of validity for two concession in the Affo area, so that the bauxite 
mining industry may very shortly be begun. 
Oil has been foqnd between Axim and Half Assinie, and tin 
in the vVinneba District. Valuable clays, marble, lime-stone have 
also been located and it is of interest to note that steamers calling 
at Accra usually take in enough locally quarried sandstone for the 
holystoning of their decks homeward and return-a small mining 
industry to which but little attention has been paid. 
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS. 
The accompanying map shows how the approximate area of 
greatest productivity coincides with the approximate zone of dense 
forest, and curiously enough includes the mineral as well as the 
agricultural products. The people dwelling in this area , have 
reached since the beginning of this century a degree of wealth of 
quite unprecedented height, due to the extraordinary growth in 
the development of the trade in cacao, but agricultural encroach-
ment on the forest began at some date considerably earlier than 
the introduction of that valuable commodity. 
Of the cultivated agricultural products the Gold Coast exports 
cacao, coffee, maize, pepper, fibres, coconuts, copra, groundnuts, 
palm kernels and palm oil; whilst of the non-cultivated agricultural 
and forest products the country despatches copal .gum, rubber, 
kola nuts, sheanuts, shea butter and various woods and timbers. 
By far the most important export is that of cacao, the local history 
of which is probably unique in the annals of husbandry. 
Cacao, or more popularly cocoa, which is indigenous to South 
America, is first mentioned as having been grown in the Gold Coast 
in a Dutch book published in 1815, but these early essays were 
rendered futile by the prolonged and general internecine warfare 
which was waged more or less throughout the country during the 
first thirty years of the nineteenth century. 
In 1843 the Basel Mission began their second invasion of the 
country and carried on their work under the aegis of the Danish 
Government. They were thus brought into the closest contact with 
the early efforts of that power to introduce agriculture of an 
exporting character and were so to speak the natural inheritors of 
the plantation started by the Danes at the foothills in the neighbour-
hood of Dodowa. In 1856 the Mission were farming an agricultural 
station at Akropong growing chiefly coffee and fruits as well as 
experimenting with grasses for thatching. One of the missionaries, 
Rev. Johannes Haas of Sissach, near Basel, received in 1857 some 
cacao seedlings from Surinam, but these appear to have died. 
A further consignment, however was more successful, as ten trees 
were in existence by 1861. Two years later these were reduced to 
two only, but these flourished and in 1866, it is recorded that the 
U 
111-......,....--,-4 
i .Tumu 
i, 'Han 
\ Lawra 
Wahabu-
\pObO I N o 
IO'1-__~ \ __~ c.~w.~a~ __ ~ ______ ~ ______ +-__ ~ __ +-__ ~ __ ~ ____ +-~ __ ~IO 
\ &qo' 
H 'J 
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-< \ 
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>-< 
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Yeji • ( ,_"(",, j 
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~--?=~~~ __+ -------~----~==L----+---~~f=~---+~--'8· 
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N T 
r-~~~~~~~--~~~~~~------~----~------~--~~ 
o~, _~'O_ _4~ O __6 ~O_~_~J~O M ILES 
Cape Three Points ,. 
SURV EY H. Q.ACCRA t93z-
Area of Maximum Proc/uctivity_ __________ _ 
Ca cao Area ___ _ _ _ _ ___ ___ __ ___ __ 
Cola __ _ _ _ ___ ___ _ __ __ ____ ___ _ 
...... ______- 'M"","' '''e''r' a/s (Diamonds, Gold, Ma nganese), _ _ __ .0 .G.M  
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 83 
first ripe cacao pods had been gathered, some of which were replanted 
at Akropong and others distributed to other stations of t he Mission, 
Aburi, Mampong and Odumase. 
For some unknown reason tjle trees attracted t he at tention 
of the local inhabitants who purloined the pods, obviously fo r 
cultivation. To such an extent was t his practice carried on 
that fences had to be built round the trees and even these were 
broken. 
Agricultural pursuits were of course, somewhat checked by 
the Ashanti troubles between 1868 and 1874, but the people of 
Odumase still remember the old cacao tree outside the Mission House 
from which pods were act ually sold to the people both of t he neigh-
bourhood and even of Akwapim. 
The value of the plant, as an article of export was further 
brought home to the people of the Gold Coast by the return of one 
Tetteh Quarshie who had been working in the island of Fernando 
Po where he had witnessed the intensive cultivation of the t ree. 
He brought with him some seedlings and apparently distributed 
them amongst his relatives. That was in 1879 or thereabouts. 
A few years later a fresh stock of seed was introduced from 
Sao Thome by the then Governor of the Gold Coast and nurseries 
made at Aburi, whence seedlings were distributed to the local chiefs 
and to the Mission. 
These three introductions were successful and resulted in the 
present important indust ry. The first shipment of cacao as an 
exportable product was in 1891, when 80 lbs. were sent out of t he 
country. Since that date the export in quantit y in quinquennial 
periods has been :-
Quinquennial Period. Total Shipments Average per year. 
tons. 
1892-1896 62 12 
1897- 1901 1,644 329 
1902-1906 23,855 4,771 
1907-1911 104,669 20,934 
1912-1916 291,528 58,306 
1917-1921 591,451 118,290 
1922-1926 1,029,292 205,858 
1927-1931 1,128,662 225,732 
The value of this crop depends of course upon the market .. 
but the Gold Coast has been extremely fortunate in practically 
seizing the control of that market since it pn>duces the great er 
portion of the world's t otal out put of cacao. 
84 THE GOLD COAST, 193t. 
But the most interesting feature of this industry lies in the 
fact that it is almost exclusively in the hands of the native popu-
lation. Moreover, although Government encouraged, in some 
places quite brusquely, the making of nurseries and the planting 
out of the seedlings, the development of t he industry has been 
practically spontaneous on the part of the inhabitants. 
The inevitable result of the rapid increase of the people's 
wealth has been to bring about what almost amounts to a 
revolution. The communal ownership of land is being largely 
repudiated for individual ownership ; the sale of land, an almost 
unheard of practice, has become a matter of every-day life; the 
tendency for the maker of a cacao plantation to leave his property 
to his son rather than his sister's son has almost brought a change 
from matrilineal to patrilineal descent; the industrious planter 
has been forced to hire labour in order to cope with the fruits of 
his industry and is gradually ceasing to be a working farmer with 
the inevitable result that in course of time he will be a non-working 
landlord; an influx of strangers drawn as it were to EI Dorado 
has opened up the country t o an extent no man could have 
foreseen as possible within so short a period; fresh problems of 
the gravest nature, such as preservation of forests, slum conditions, 
unemployed, spread of disease, transport and shipment, and a 
people which has learnt to gallop before it could crawl have been 
set for Government to solve. 
Before considering some of these problems and relating the 
methods being adopted to compete with them, it ' is perhaps 
desirable to portray the conditions obtaining in the area of greatest 
productivity. 
Farming, before the introduction of this quasi-pernlanent 
crop, was carried out by the system known as that of "shifting 
cultivation." The menfolk selected a small portion of the forest, 
cleared the undergrowth and cut the lianes. This work was carried 
out at the beginning of the dry season, and towards the end of 
that period they set fire to the dried refuse. The larger trees were 
left but the smaller ones usually perished. Then the womenfolk· 
took possession, planted plantains, mai;ce, groundnuts, yams, 
onions, ginger, coco-yams in a seemingly haphazard manner, 
according to what they considered the soil was most suited to 
produce. In five years or even less the patch would be abandoned 
and a new one selected. The old farm was exposed to the sun and 
became jungle so that that particular area was lost to the forest. 
This ruinous syst em of cultivation has been termed " land 
robbery" and with the huge demand on the forest made by the 
requirements of the cacao industry has become a serious menace 
not only to the agricultural value of the land but to the cacao 
industry itself. 
The introduction of a crop exclusively grown for export 
brought a great change in the economics of farming by the methods 
of shifting cultivation . For the purpose of food production to 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 85 
meet the requirements of the family the old system continued, 
but the fields which formerly had been abandoned and allowed 
to return to jungle were now required for the young cacao trees 
originally planted amongst t11e plantains and other crops. The 
care of these rapidly became impossIble physically to the owner 
and planter. He had to engage labour and the peasant small-
holder, semi-nomadic by inclination and heredity, evolved quite 
suddenly into a settled and landed working farmer. 
Fortunately for the prosperity of the Gold Coast labour was 
readily available. The country at no time in its history had been 
able to develop by the work of its own native labour. This latter 
had invariably been immigrant, and there existGd even in the 
remoter recesses of the Sudan the knowledge that a market for 
labour was available in this country. The news that the market 
was a "bull" one soon spread and immigrants flocked to the 
fabled land where mere work in the fields was rewarded with wages 
almost incredibly high. 
A second result of this change in the economic life of the people 
was brought home to nearly everyone by the realization of the 
fact that labour was in itself merchantable and that the fruits 
of labour not only rewarded monetarily the labourer but also 
enriched his hirer. No better example of this can be given than 
that of the ordinary Gold Coast peasant himself. 
Formerly he and his family could and did grow with com-
parative ease enough food for themselves. They invariably grew 
a little more than was enough, just as the wives always cooked a 
little more than the family required so that a stranger who might 
drop in could be fed to his content. The actual cost of such 
farming was in money nil. The first cacao plantation grown 
among the food-crops equally cost nothing in money. In fact 
money was scarcely required at all. There were no markets in 
the forest zone except those established in the non-productive 
towns of the European or along the main trade routes to the 
interior. Everyone grew enough for himself or as a member of a 
family received, when sick or too old to work, the food to which 
that membership entitled him. 
But when labour came to be hired, that labour had to be 
fed, and more labour had to be hired to produce that food. Thus 
the system grew until labour is now hired to perform the first 
essential of every cacao-field, the cleaning of the forest. To such 
an extent has this system grown that the area available for and 
capable of producing cacao is the only limit of the country's 
productive powers, providing the labour supply continues to flow 
freely. 
The cost of cacao production originally a pure peasant's or 
small-holder's crop now became a part of the economics of 
an organised system dependent on hired labour. To such an 
extent indeed has this become the case that the vice of absentee 
landlordism actually exist:;;. So great was the extent of the land 
6 THE GOLD COAST , i 931. 
available and so limited in numbers the indigenous people that 
practically any unoccupied land could be t aken by one of t he 
latter and claimed as his or his family's own by vi rt ue of t he right 
which issued from the act of clearing, a claim now recognised when 
that clearing is performed by proxy . It has t herefore become 
possible to arrive at an estimate of considerable accuracy in regard 
to the cost of cacao-production in t he Gold Coast and t he p rofit s 
accruing t o the people. 
The cost of a cacao plantation is dependent on a variety of 
causes, the degree of suitability of the soil , proximity to distribut ion 
centres, availability of labour and so forth . The trees usually 
bear frui t in their fourth or fifth year, when a considerable yield 
may be expect ed . It is t herefore assumed that the plantation 
is established in five years and represents in m onetary costings 
approximately £9 per acre. The following is a table showing 
how this sum is reached. It is based on the cost of labour being 
reckoned at I s. per diem, a wage which is general bu t in a few 
centres ra ther below the average :-
£ s. d. 
Original clearing of small trees and brushwood 
at 15 man days per acre ... 0 15 0 
Felling and chopping large timber at 60 man 
days per acre 3 0 0 
Burning and final clearing a t 15 man days 
per acre 0 15 0 
Stumping at 6 man days per acre 0 6 0 
Cocoa seedling at 2s. 6d. per 100 say 400 o 10 0 
Planting of seedlings 1 man day per acre 0 1 0 
£5 7 0 
1st Y ear. 
Three weedings a t 4 man days per acre £0 12 0 
Coll ecting Akate,* filling vacancies, and 
miscellaneous 6 man days per acre 0 6 0 
2nd , 3rd, 4th and 6th Y ~a1'S. 
Two weedings per annum a t 4 man days 
per acre 12 0 
Collecting Akat e, filling vacancie and 
miscellaneous 6 man days per acre 1 4 0 
£3 14 0 
- - --
Total .. . £9 1 0 
'Insect pests. 
There is of course considerable variation in t hese costs ; for 
example the felling and chopping may reyuire very much more 
0 1 much less labour t han the above, since those depend upon th e 
number of large trees on the selected site. When the latter is 
found to contain man y large trees of hard wood, clearing is often 
not attempted because of the heavy demand on labou r. 
1'HE GOLD COAST, 1931. 87 
Again the six man days per acre for stumping are estimated 
for the removal of some of the smaller stumps only, the larger 
ones being allowed to decay in sit,.,. Further the cost of temporary 
shade for the nurslings has been omitted since that shade is 
provided by the food plants required either by the family or the 
labour. No permanent shade is planted, but a few of the original 
forest trees are usually left for this purpose. 
The establishment of a cacao plantation represents therefore 
approximately in money the sum of £9 per acre and in labour 
170 man days. 
It is generally acknowledged that the size of the average 
cacao-plantation is somewhat in the neighbourhood of four acres, 
and the costings of such a plantation have recently been worked 
out on the assumption that a four acre plantation represents the 
capital outlay incurred to bring it to production. The estimate 
is based on a farm in Ashanti. Although the crop is 0: too recent 
introduction to allow any definite statement to be made, it is 
generally estimated that the average useful life of a cacao tree 
in the Gold Coast is about thirty years. Plantations in suitable 
situations in the Colony have shown that this figure may be too ' 
low but it will probably prove a high enough average for trees in 
Ashanti. 
If one accepts a thirty year life and a capital value of £36 for 
the plantation farm, depreciation should be allowed for at the 
rate of £1 4s. per annum or 6s. per acre per annum. Other costings 
are :-
Interest on capital.-As the planter has tied up a certain 
amount of capital in the plantation he is entitled to interest on 
that capital. The average value of the farm during its life is £18, 
interest on this sum at 5 per cent is 18s. or 4s. 6d. per acre. 
Rent.-A stranger wishing to take up farm land in Ashanti 
is required first to obtain the consent of the Chief and then to 
make a present to him or his Stool. This usually takes the form 
of a sheep and a bottle of gin, and if he is granted land no further 
payments are made until the cacao trees come into bearing when 
a rent of 1d. per tree is usually paid to the stool. 
Planters who establish cacao on lands belonging to their own 
stool pay no actual rent as such but are expected to contribute 
to stool funds and to help in maintaining roads, paths, etc., and 
in the general upkeep and sanitation of the village. As these 
payments and services can be practically considered as a return 
for the use of the land they are legitimate charges against the 
production costs of cacao. It is not easy to estimate the value 
of such services, and to allocate a proper proportion against the 
cacao crop is less so, but it may be assumed that a man farming 
in his own village land only pays one quarter of what a stranger 
would pay, i.e. ld. per tree or approximately 5s. per acre or £1 on 
his four acre farm. 
88 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
As probably 90 per cent of the cacao is produced by planters 
on their own stool lands that figure is used in compiling costs of 
production. 
Total fixed charges.-What may be described as fixed charges 
on the plantations are therefore as follows :-
£ s. d. 
Depreciation .. . at 6 /- per acre 140 
Interest on Capital at 4 /6 o 18 0 
Rent at 5 /- 100 
15 /6 £3 2 0 
N ote.-The figure of five cwts. per acre generally accepted by the 
Agricultural Department has been used though this is probably too 
Iow a figure on plantations which have been carefully established, 
a condition assumed in the foregoing estimate of costs of 
establishing thereby adding to the conservative nature of those 
costings. . 
Annual Labour.-Labour is usually of the family type and 
therefore its cost is difficult to calculate, but when labour is hired, 
a fair estimate would be a wage of £5-£7 per year together with 
land for his food and t ime to cultivate it . This last is yet another 
factor against accuracy in the computation of true costs. 
The number of man days per annum per acre may be considered 
to be on a well managed plantation as follows :-
Weeding .. . at 10 ~1an days per acre 
Pruning at 2t " " " " 
Picking and Breaking at 8 
Fermenting and Drying at 3 
Sorting and Bagging at t 
Total 24 man days per acre or 96 
man days per annum per plantation of four acres . 
Wages for unskilled labour in Kumasi at present are Is. 3d. 
per day but outside that town Is. per day would appear to be more 
usual. Thus the annual labour bill amounts to £4 16s. or 24s. 
per acre. 
Miscellaneous Charges.-I mplements.- The chief implement 
used is a cutlass made of hoop iron that can be purchased from the 
local blacksmith for 6d. Hoes, pruning knives and pickers are 
also required but annual depreciation on tools will scarcely amount 
to more than 5s. 
Fermenting boxes are very rarely used. A drying rack 
complete with mats can be made from local materials at a cost 
of two or three days labour, say 2s . 6d. If cocoa is stored this is 
usually done in the farmer's dwelling house so that no charge can 
fairly be made. 
THE GOLD COAST , 1931. 89 
Total cost at Village of production.- Fixed Charges £3 2 0 
Labour 4 16 0 
Miscellaneous 0 7 6 
£8 5 6 
Yield from four acres at 5 cwts per acre = 1 ton. 
Cost of production to farmer £8 5s. 6d. per ton . 
Cost of production t o farmer 4s. 5d . per load of 60 lbs. 
Transport.-The average charge for transport of cocoa in 
Ashanti is 9d. per ton mile. Assuming that the average distance 
from Kumasi is 30 miles the cost per ton would be £1 2s. 6d. 
Merchants' Expenses.-(a) Bags.-Cocoa is exported in 140 lb . 
bags, therefore sixt een bags are required nor one ton; 
these bags can be purchased wholesale at Is. each . 
(b) Brokerage is usually paid at the rate of 6d. per load or lOs. 
per ton. A bonus may be paid above this. 
(c) When cocoa is brought to the merchants' stores at rail 
head it is usually re-dried, re-bagged and re-weighed and 
often stored for some time before being put on rail. 
Estimated cost to merchant 5s. per ton. 
(d) Overhead expenses £1 per ton. 
Total Merchants' Expenses.- Bags £0 16 0 
Brokerage o 10 0 
Re-drying etc. 0 5 0 
Overhead ... 1 0 0 
£2 11 0 
Total cost on Rail at Kumasi. 
Cost in Village of production £8 5 6 
Transport 1 2 6 
Merchants' expenses 2 11 0 
£11 19 0 
The above costings have been arrived at by the Department 
of Agriculture and the general accuracy of their calculation was 
supported independently by the owner of a large plantation in the 
Akim-Abuakwa country. In the 1930--31 season he obtained a 
crop of 1,400 loads and paid £400 in labour. No member of his 
family was employed, the whole plantation being worked by hired 
hands. The cost per load was 5s. 8td. to which must be added 
the interest on the capital outlay, based on the previous estimated, 
which would amount to Is. a load. That owner was an absentee 
planter and undoubtedly his labour charges were unnecessarily 
high and not efficie~tly supervised. 
90 'tHE GOtD COAST, 1931 . 
A second independent authority, also African, supplied the 
following figures of costings to a peasant farmer, whose labour was 
estimat ed at Is. 6d. per diem ;-
Collecting 2,500 pods .. . Is. 6d. 
Breaking 2,500 2 3 
Fermenting 2,500 pods 0 6 
Drying, bagging, etc. ... 6 0 
or lOs. 3d. for 2,500 pods or three loads. The load on this calcu-
lation cost 3s. 5d. and with the Is. for the interest on the capital 
outlay 4s. 5d. 
The average yield of an acre has been estimated to amount 
to 9 loads per acre. These loads are 60 lbs., so that a ton of cacao 
requires 4.15 acres of land. This area represen ts a capital cost 
of £37 7s. in accordance with the above calculation so that the 
annual production of 240,000 tons approximately of cacao in the 
Gold Coast has required 1,556 square miles of land and a capital 
cost which in terms of money may be reckoned to have totalled 
approximately £9,000,000, although the expenditure in actual 
money could not have amounted to one-tenth of that sum. 
Originally the whole of this considerable industry could have 
been attributed to the work of peasant proprietors or small-holders, 
but to-day this is no longer the case. The demand for cacao forced 
the introduction of hired labour, but the majority of the plantations 
are still peasant-owned and peasant-worked. There are no data 
at present available as to the proportion of the whole crop produced 
by the working small-holder, but it is evident that his share is 
decreasing annually. ' 
The figures given above show that 23,900,160 man days are 
required annually to carry out the necessary plantation work. 
This labour is supplied by a population of approximately one and 
a half million persons of whom there are available as adult males 
capable of labour 400,000 approximately. This body of labour 
therefore has to supply individually 60 man days per year on the 
production of an export crop the value of which amounted to 
£6,970,385 in 1930 and had at one time reached the annual value 
of £11,727,566. 
The handling of so large a crop harvested from a great number 
of separat ely owned and widely scattered plantations brought into 
being a quite inordinately large force of middlemen. The business 
of these latter was no new introduction into the economic system 
of the Gold Coast. From the earliest days of the slave trade 
middlemen had been essential to the easy working of commerce, 
so that the supply was ready at hand and quite adequate to deal 
with an ever increasing trade. 
However it is precisely this excessive employment of middlemen 
in the marketing of produce that is one of the principal disadvan-
tages and probably the most uneconomical feature of small-holdings. 
The usual solution and remedy is the formation of co-operative 
tHE GOLD COAST, 1931. 91 
societies and on the Gold Coast their need is all too apparent i-f the 
producer is to receive the full reward of his production. Fortunately 
the natives of the Gold Coast possessed already in their civic system, 
which was and is in reality nothing more or less than the intensive 
family culture common to most races in the earlier stages of develop-
ment, the foundation on which to erect such societies. 
In 1921 , when the exportation of cacao had reached the figure 
of 133,195 tons of a value of £4,764,067, the Gold Coast Agricultural 
and Commercial Society had been inaugurated. It was formed 
in order to enlist the active support and sympathy of all sections 
of the community directly interested in the economic development 
and prosperity of the country. Although non-official it received 
financial assistance from the Government as the objects of the 
Society were in the first instance essentially of an educational 
nature. Its activities were perforce limited to the Gold Coast, 
Ashanti and the Southern Section of Togoland, and although 
covering the whole agricultural field were mostly confined to the 
problems presented by the main and most important crop. 
The movement begun by this Society was consid.erably more 
widespread than would appear from the membership of its various 
branches and through the dissemination of its ideas into almost 
every village made the peasant farmers and small-holders begin 
to think in terms of co-operation. 
The Society itself came to an end in 1928 but the subject 
of rural finance had been brought into prominence three years 
previously by a number of Africans ;vho had submitted a proposal 
to the Government for the establishment of an Agricultural Bank. 
At a general meeting of the Society to which the whole scheme 
had been referred for consideration and discussion a counter 
proposal, suggesting the formation of co-operative societies as 
existing in Ceylon and India, was made. This suggestion was 
eventuplly accepted by the Government and an Ordinance enacted 
to regulate and control the operation of co-operative societies in 
1929. 
It is as yet too early to give details of the progress of the 
movement nor is it an auspicious moment, in this period of general 
depression in the world markets, to review the financial position 
of these societies, which have been only two years in operation. 
But it is of interest to record that although the idea of co-operative 
societies in the economic conditions of European markets has 
proved its value, here in a country of a cultural status which might 
almost be termed primitive that value was recognised spontaneously 
by the people and prior to the enactment of the ordinance or the 
mooting of the official Co-operative Scheme, there had already been 
formed associations of a similar nature. 
In Ashanti there were formed in 1918 three co-operahve 
societies for the sale of cacao, and they are to-day the most 
prosperous of all the registered societies. Their joint paid-up 
capital amounts only to £177 l Os. and the membership to 145, 
92 THE GOLD COAST, I 93I. 
but they handled approximately 80 tons of cacao and returned a 
dividend of 7t per cent. 
The above figures show how much the indus try is still in the 
hands of the small-holder and it is of interest to record here, since 
the destiny of the industry seems to be in the direction of land-
lordism and to an organisation based on a more economic system, 
some statistics of very close accuracy obtained by officers of the 
Agricultural Department in a survey conduct ed under the Plants 
(Injurious Pests) Ordinance. 
The area covered by the survey was typical of the greater 
portion of the cacao producing country and is situated in the South-
eastern portion of Ashanti, almost in the centre of the productive area. 
In extent it covered 65.32 square miles, and every cacao 
plantation therein was visit ed and surveyed. The data collected 
showed that of the total acreage approximately 7.25 per cent 
had been taken for cacao production. 
It was found that over 25 per cent of the population as based 
on the figures of the 1921 Census could be classified as cacao planters 
and that there were actually 2,184 plantations or orchards owned 
by some 1,249 persons. Of these latter there were 278 or 22.3 per 
cent women owners. 
The average size of the area was larger for those owned by 
males than those owned by females, the former being 2.8 acres 
whilst the latter was only 1.13 acres; but the average acreage of 
the plots was 1. 7 acres, so that most of the planters were cultivating 
more than one plantation. . 
The attached table is of considerable interest as it shows the 
preponderance at present of the small-holder and if in ten years' 
time the same area were to be surveyed the return would be of un-
doubted value in showing whether that preponderance is maintained. 
Number of Male Female 
Size of Farms. Total Farms. Owners. Owners. Owners. 
ACRES. 
Up to 1 acre ... 1,299 359 198 557 
Between 1 and 2 476 240 43 283 
acres. 
2-3 192 172 20 192 
3- 4 79 70 9 79 
4-5 43 42 1 43 
5- 6 32 29 3 32 
6- 7 21 17 4 21 
7- 8 13 13 - 13 
8- 9 7 7 - 7 
9-10 7 7 - 7 
10-15 8 8 - 8 
15-30 7 7 - 7 
Total ... 2,184 971 278 1,249 
THE GOL]) COAST, 193i. 
A table showing the number of plots per farmer is as follows :-
Persons having 1 plot ... 795 = Approximately 63.66 per cent. 
2 plots 232 = 18.50 
3 106 = 8.50 
4 48 = 4.00 
5 32 = 4.50 
6 16 = 1.25 
7 9 = 0.75 
8 7 = 0.50 
9 1 = 0.08 
10 2 = 0.16 
11 1 = 0.08 
Of the total area under cacao, 2,713 acres were owned by 
males and 314 acres by females. The size of the plantations varied 
from a fraction of an acre to 27 acres; approximately 60 per cent 
were less than one acre, and a further 20 per cent were less than two 
acres. 
It is worthy of note that in this area the largest plal'ltation 
was merely 27 acres in extent whilst above mention has been made 
of a plantation situated not very much farther to the south in Akim-
Abuakwa which covered some 144 acres. 
These larger farms are not necessarily the result of a single 
peasant's efforts. Inheritance occasionally, hired labour most 
often, the taking up of mortgages frequently and straightforward 
purchase may have enabled an individual to acquire a plantation 
area of considerable size. 
The marketing of the cacao beans is almost exclusively carried 
on through the agency of middlemen, and as usual that method of 
trading brought about the introduction of land sales, land transfers 
and mortgages, thereby hastening the process of westernizing a 
peasantry who had only just emerged from the era of nomadism. 
Mention has been made before of this recent change from nomadic 
life to a settled one. Proofs are many and obvious. The continual 
shifting of village sites, the demand often made for new sites to be 
laid out, the absolutely willing acquiescence when such moves are 
ordered for sanitary or other reasons, the immediate migration of 
a family, even of a tribe, when redress to wrongs cannot be obtained, 
'show conclusively how little in reality the peasant of the cacao 
producing area is attached to the land. Great indeed is the contrast 
in conditions to be found further to the north. There a man will 
die rather than abandon the ancestral home and even when the latter 
has fallen into ruins will erect a hovel in their midst . The pathetic 
return of the whilom slaves to their houses which Babatu had 
destroyed and from which he had driven them into captivity is 
witness sufficient of the northerners' true attachment to the land 
of his fathers. 
The demands of business had shown the possibilities of 
obtaining money by the mortgage of land . There followed in 
94 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
rational sequence the idea of personal ownership, and quite logically 
there has followed the next step in evolution that of patrilineal 
inheritance rather than the more warrior-like and nomadic system 
of matrilineal descent. The Government Survey Department 
entered at once intimately into the life of the people and as shown 
in Ferguson's case (vide sl.lpra page 35) the work of surveying seems 
one of great attraction to the youth of the Gold Coast. No mortgage 
could be raised without a plan of the property to be mortgaged; 
therefore plans and accurate plans had to be made. It was easy to 
foresee the next step, the formation of a department wherein matters 
concerning land will eventually be registered. Thus in the last 
decade the Survey Department gave birth to the Lands Department 
and both have become factors more and more vital in the economics 
of the Gold Coast. The maintenance of the cacao crop as the 
property of the peasant-farmer depends on the restriction of the 
usurer's activities, and registration .of title to land is, though rarely 
possible, one of the best means by which such restrictions can be 
effected. No information is at present available as to the growth 
of the-practice of mortgaging lands, but it is safe to conclude from 
similar conditions elsewhere that the practice must be widespread. 
Of all the difficulties at present facing the industry of cacao-
planting, that of transport is perhaps the most acute as it is the 
most obvious. It is the difficulties which this problem presents, 
that strike at the root of any defence of small-holders. The 
uneconomic method of handling produce for marketing that must 
perforce prevail for the small-holder can be defeated only by 
co-operation but in a situation such as that shown above 
in the south-eastern corner of Ashanti, even co-operation will not 
overcome these difficulties. 
It has been seen that out of 2,184 plantations, 1,299 were less 
than an acre in extent, or approximately 59 per cent. The yield of 
cacao per acre has been estimated at 9 loads of 60 lbs. each; so that 
these small plantations scattered in an area of 65.32 square miles 
produced probably 10,000 loads, which at least would have to be 
carried as head-loads to the village of the owner. No system 
of lanes, in spite of its magnificent system of roads, has yet been 
adopted in the Gold Coast. The obvious difficulties and expense 
of the porterage of this quantity of cacao, difficulties and expenses 
which would certainly be encountered in practically every part of 
the count ry, are an additional safeguard against the destruction of 
the present unique position the Gold Coast peasant-proprietor 
enjoys and his decline to that of a hired labourer. 
However, the system of peasant culture in a forest zone presents 
a problem of no small dimension. The minute patches taken by 
the peasants from the forest are similar to the small perforation in 
a plate of iron where rust has set in . They must spread; there 
sets forth from the centre of every patch or hole an eroding influence, 
so that if no steps are taken the forest as the plate must perish. 
In the Golcj Coast this problem of deforestation has for many years 
THE GOLD COAST, 1 93I. 95 
been recognised and unless directly tackled means without the 
slightest doubt the disappearance of the forest and with it t hat 
wonderful soil to which the prosperity of the country to-day alone 
can be attributed. 
The following extracts from a memorandum by the Acting 
Conservator of Forests, 1'11'. H. 'vV. Moor, are of such value and 
indicate the dangerous position in which the industry finds itself 
to-day that no apology is required for the length of the quotation :-
"Deforestation presupposes a forested area. The late 
Major T. F. Chipp, M.C., Assistant Director at Kew and 
formerly a Forest Officer in the Gold Coast, on botanical 
evidence, states that formerly the Southern portion of the 
Gold Coast was included in an undivided forest belt stretching 
from Sierra Leone eastwards across the continent of Africa, 
reaching as far north as the seventh parallel of latitude, and 
probably considerably further. To-day the western portion 
of this forest belt has shrunk to an island extending from 
western Liberia to the middle of the Gold Coast. The eastern 
portion has its western boundary to the east of Lagos. The 
intervening area is characterised by an intrusion of Sudanese 
vegetation containing comparatively insignificant patches of 
original Guinea Zone forest. The area which has been 
deforested in the course of years and which now exhibits an 
altered type of vegetation includes the whole of t he Ho district 
of British Mandated Togoland, about three quarters of the 
Eastern Province and a third of the Central Province of the 
Colony and portions of Ashanti. When it is considered that 
the agricultural value of the forest or Guinea Zone is infinitely 
greater than that of the Sudanese Zone the loss to the country 
becomes appreciable. 
" It is uncertain whether the original cause of this alteration 
in vegetation is a progressive climatic desiccation but there 
is no doubt whatever that the major secondary cause, 
cumulative in its effect, is the customary system of shifting 
cultivation. 
"Africa is not unique in its adoption of this system. 
I t is still practised in Ceylon, India, Burma and other portions 
of the East, and was formerly customary, and is claimed t o be 
the origin of the heaths of to-day in Great Britain, Scandinavia 
and Northern Germany. It is the primitive man's labour-
saving device, when land is plentiful and population scanty. 
"The manner in which this deforestation has been 
accomplished is the principal factor in its effect. No one can 
suggest that agriculture should have ~ny but the first place 
with a purely rural population and, given intelligent leadership 
in the past, it is conceibable that even the form of agriculture 
designated 'shifting cultivation' could have been carried 
on , on a limited scale, for ever in certain portions of the country, 
without involving the wholesale destruction and sterility that 
THE GOLD COAST, 193i. 
have actually occurred. In actual fact, it has been 
concentrated over a long period of years in a section of the 
country which appeared to be subject to a delicately adjusted 
balance of natural conditions; and the net effect is that not 
only has a large portion of the country been rendered barren 
but that the fertility of the rest of the country is endangered 
by its continuance. The system is a pernicious one, its only 
redeeming feature being the ease with which results are attained. 
This same ease, however, reacts on the moral fibre of the people, 
engendering a life of sloth and entirely obscuring the claims of 
posterity to an inheritance which is being rapidly dissipated 
by succeeding generations. 
" In passing from the general to the particular effects of 
deforestation it must be remembered that this is a country of 
heavy rainfall; not only heavy in the actual volume of annual 
precipitation but heavy in the manner of fall. A vegetative 
cover interposes a natural barrier between rain and the soil. 
The removal of this barrier permits the rain to beat with 
undiminished force on the soil and, whatever the character of 
the soil, erosion occurs. Two examples may be quoted. The 
township of Begoro stands on heayy red clay; a photograph, 
taken in about 1870, shows a still existing tree outside the 
chief's house, the roots of this tree being shown as exposed 
to a depth of about 1 foot. To-day, sixty years later, about 
3 feet of the roots are exposed. In this town two feet of surface 
soil has been sheet-eroded in sixty years, with ah average 
annual rainfall of only 68 inches. Na.tural depressions around 
this town have formed the run-offs and are gully-eroded to 
depths up to 8 feet. The site of this town forms part of the 
catchment area of the town's water supply. The two holes from 
which the water is obtained are silted up, necessitating damming 
in 1930, in spite of the fact that one of these places is said to 
be an " elephant hole", and was said to be over ten feet deep 
within the memory of some of the older inhabitants. The 
other example is from Koforidua where the average annual 
rainfall is 51t inches. The soil here is a sandy loam overlying 
a sandy clay; erosion to an average depth of six inches is 
plainly marked on the 30-foot front of a public building erected 
sixteen years ago on a slope of 1 in 12. 
"Closely connected with the subj ect of erosion is the 
question of the absorptive properties of the soil and stream 
flow. It is obvious that the proportions of the rainfall that 
are absorbed and contribute to stream flow, and those which 
run-off, are influenced by the nature of the soil, the Jength 
and nature of the fall and the mechanical obstructions to 
run-off. A forest covering provides a humus layer which is 
not only highly absorptive to water in itself but also provides 
suitable conditions for colonies of burrowing soil fauna which, 
by their activities, permit a greater degree of percolation. 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 97 
The foliage, while intercepting and re-evaporating some of the 
actual fall, breaks its force-a considerable factor in regions 
characterised by heavy, tropical downpours-and not only 
promotes a less erosive form of drip but spreads the amount 
which does eventually reach the ground over a far greater 
period, a fact which favours percolation at the expense of 
run-off. The mechanical obstructions to run-off and aids to 
percolation are the tree-roots themselves and the mass of 
ground litter always associated with forests. Deforestation, 
particularly of hill slopes, removes these aids to water-
conservation and affects stream flow by producing torrents in 
the wet season and dry stream beds in periods of drought . 
\i\Torld-wide examples are well known; locally, mention may 
be made of streams that have dried up in the Eisa area within 
recent years as the result of wholesale deforestation. Another 
glaring example is that of the town of Sra which is dependent 
on an adjacent stream for its water supply. Until about 
twenty years ago water was obtainable all the year round, but 
since then the hills at the head-waters of the stream have been 
deforested and now, during the dry season, the town is 
dependent on a very scanty supply obtained from holes scraped 
in the dry stream bed, eked out by water from the Volta River, 
12 miles distant. 
"The question of the influence of forests on rainfall is 
a much-debated one and has been the subj ect of considerable 
generalisation but of little scientific observation. The so-called 
tornadoes of the Gold Coast come under the category of 
instability showers and this type of rain is of great importance 
in affecting rainfall distribution. If this rain, coming as it 
does during what would otherwise be a very long, dry season, 
were to be affect ed one would naturally expect to see a change 
in the type of vegetation. And one does see that change in 
the transition from the wet monsoon forest type to the drought-
resistant savannah type. Coffee is a crop requiring what 
might be termed a forest climate and to-day one would be very 
surprised to see coffee plantations in the savannah country 
at the foot of the Akwapim Hills. Yet the Scientist Thonning 
was sent out from Denmark to report on some very successful 
plantations in that locality about 1788. Cacao is even more 
exacting than coffee in its climatic requirements and since its 
production is the one agricultural industry of any real 
importance in the' Gold Coast, it is on the manner and extent 
of deforestation that the future of cacao farming depends. " 
The need for protection of the Forest Country has indeed been 
long realised, but lack of understanding and knowledge among the 
people made the introduction of protective measures useless, since 
it is obvious that public opinion must be behind any rules and 
regulations Qf the nature required by Forest Reserves. However 
G 
98 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
during the past decade, after a period of intensive education of the 
people concerned, a Forests Ordinance was passed in 1927 . 
Under this Ordinance it became possible to constitute reserves 
in the Forest Zone and to make rules and regulations for their 
proper administration and control. The principle, however, that 
public opinion must be behind the enforcement of such legislation 
was preserved and these reserves were to be constituted on the 
advice of the Forestry Department by means of bye-laws enacted 
by the Native Administration. The Government of course reserved 
to itself the power to constitute these reserves under the Ordinance 
if the Native Authorities refused to create them themselves or to 
exercise proper control over them. 
At the end of 1930-1 there were 61 such reserves, of which 
55 with an approximate aggregate area of 1,643 square miles had 
been declared such by the Native Administration. The remaining 
six consisted of three ovmed outright by the Government of a total 
area of 53.2 square miles, and three of an area of 16.9 square miles 
had been proclaimed reserves under the Ordinance. There is thus 
. a total area of 1,713 square miles under protection. It is not yet 
possible to judge if any progress in the propagation of the idea of 
forest preservation has been made, for such ideas which presuppose 
forethought and foresight are almost completely foreign to the 
African. 
In addition to minerals and cacao the Gold Coast export a 
variety of other tropical products both agricultural and sylvan, 
The following table indicates the quantity and value exported 
during 1930 :-
Agricultural. Sylvan. I Value. ---
£ 
Coffee ... ... lbs. 7,620 - 154 
CopaI, gum .. . ... lbs. - 450 4 
Cotton, lint ... '" Ibs. 239,719 - 1,837 
Fibre ... ... tons. 287 - 6,802 
Grains, various .. . lbs. 5,326 - 65 
Mahogany ... ... cu. ft. - 855,532 90,954 
Other timbers .. . cu . ft. - 1,981 9,144 
Maize ... ... Ibs. 347 - 2 
Coconuts ... ... nos. 58,024 - 124 
Copra ... ... tons. 917 - 15,671 
Groundnuts ... tons. 1 - 14 
Kolanuts ... ... lbs . - 8,441,311 138,322 
Palm Kernels ... tons. - 5,470 69,018 
Oil, palm .. . ... tons. - 489 11,392 
Pepper ... ... lbs . 1,120 - 45 
Rubber .. . ... Ibs. - 539,696 21,987 
THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 99 
of a total value of some £365,535. Other raw products were hides to 
the value of £18,924, ivory worth £1,374 and salt from the lagoons 
to the value of £301. 
A table comparing the value of the total exports showing the 
overwhelming proportion of the trade which cacao holds and 
covering a period of ten years indicate the peculiar position of this 
country in its relation to world trade. The exports include the 
value of all minerals shipped as well as that of the products of 
agriculture, husbandry and the uncultivated lands. 
Value of Other Total Percentage Percentage 
cacao. Exports. Exports. of Cacao. of other 
I Exports. 
£ £ £ 
1921 4,764,067 1,623,143 6,387,210 74.58 . 25.42 
1922 5,840,743 1,680,810 7,521,553 77.65 22.35 
1923 6,566,973 1,827,310 8,394,283 78.23 21.77 
1924 7,249,878 2,340,243 9,590,121 75.6 24.4 
1925 8,222,263 2,404,468 10,626,73 1 77.4 22.6 
1926 9,181,235 2,667,910 11,849,145 77.48 22.52 
1927 11,727,566 2,458,337 14,185,903 82.67 17.33 
1928 11,229,512 2,399,621 13,629,133 82.39 17.61 
1929 9,704;493 2,696,130 12,400,623 78.26 21. 74 
1930 6,970,385 2,940,303 9,910,688 70.33 29.67 
If the value of the minerals exported is deducted it will be 
seen how insignificant is the export trade other than that of cacao. 
The reason for this is not far to seek. So easy is cacao to grow 
and so renumerative that a false idea of commercial values has 
been forced upon the native peasant. He has yet to learn to think 
in pence instead of pounds, and once that lessoI). has been thoroughly 
learnt, the only limit to his continued prosperity is that of the 
supply of labour. 
Coffee, a proved successful crop in this country, could, with 
the complete elimination of overhead charges such as the European 
plantation system' involves, compete with such great coffee-producing 
countries as Brazil; the same can be said of cotton and fibres, copra 
and palm-nuts, always provided world conditions return to what 
hitherto has been considered the normal and that transport can 
be obtained at a sufficiently cheap rate. But the Gold Coast peasant-
farmer if he is to survive must remember and be taught always 
to remember that the crops which produce small but certain profits 
are those on which his existence depends, since they do not draw 
upon him the envious eye of the usurer or the greedy one of the 
capitalist. 
In this connection the internal trade of the country in domestic 
produce offers a rare opportunity for the continued prosperity of 
the small-holder. The value of this has as yet never been estimated 
in spite of the fact that the trading inclination or market-sense of 
t he people is one of their most strikin~ characteristics, 
100 THE GOLD COAST, I931. 
The food-bill for 1930 paid by the Gold Coast to outside 
countries was as follows :-
£ 
Biscuits, bread and cakes 92,143 
Butter and substitutes 19,398 
Cheese 7,667 
Coffee 4,254 
Confectionery 14,504 
Fish-Tinned 182,426 
Fish-Dried, Salted, etc. 83,687 
Fish-Fresh 2,340 
Fruit-Fresh 2,312 
Fruit-Dried 5,754 
Grain-Rice 207,824 
Other varieties ... 11,102 
Flour-'Wheaten 216,586 
Maize meal 837 
Other 4,883 
Beans and Peas 4,950 
Pulse-Other kinds 139 
Other farinaceous preparations 20,877 
Jams and jellies and preserved fruits 5,777 
Lard and substitutes ... 14,256 
Meat-Pickled and salted 81,872 
Tinned and in glass 104,431 
Fresh 21,948 
Smoked 4,014 
Other ... 502 
Milk 43,937 
Provisions unenumerated 28,604 
Oils edible 26,959 
Pickles, Sauces, condiments 3,590 
Salt 29,094 
Spices 32,380 
Sugar 111,047 
Tea 7,156 
Vegetables-fresh 9,235 
dried 8,288 
Total £1,414,773 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 101 
Of this total the Gold Coast itself could have provided more 
than 50 per cent of the salt and fresh fish, rice, maize and other 
meal, beans, salted and fresh meat, edible oils, salt, spices and fresh 
vegetables or in other words have saved £200,000. 
That sum may seem insignificant enough to the cacao producer 
who has been used to an annual marketing in the neighbourhood 
often million pounds, but fortunately the peasant outside the cacao-
growing areas has not overlooked the home market, and in those 
parts where the latter is not beyond reach through excessive charges 
for transport he has in recent years been increasingly occupied 
with production of vegetable and food stuffs. An interesting 
survey made in the Krachi District showed that a yam field of an 
acre would yield approximately £10 per annum if the price of yams 
by the road-side were 2d. a yam of about 4t to 5t lbs. The cost 
of delivery by motor to the market in Accra was estimated at 6.27d. 
per yam, so that the peasant farmer of Krachi was easily able to 
place his yams on the Accra market at 9d. and compete with other 
yams which were at the time valued at 2s. 6d. This latter price 
was not one fictitiously reached by profiteers, but was due to a 
long chain of middlemen who each required a profit, to the fact 
that the Accra market seemed too remote to be a business possibility 
for the producer himslf and to the lack of capital, i. e. ready cash 
with the first buyer. • 
Similarly high prices and the concomitant conditions have 
tended to drive off the market the salt producers of the Ada-Keta 
area. For hundreds of years probably the people of those lagoons 
have held a monopoly of t he salt trade in the interior. Their canoes 
still penetrate as far north as Yapei, but competition with salt 
from Europe has almost put an end t o their business. This 
industry will certainly revive as soon as the people concerned are 
content with small profits, no longer look back to those halcyon 
days when an 80 lb. bag of salt fetched as much as 40s. or even 
more at Yeji, where to-day it is only worth some 4s. 6d., and are 
prepared to market the produce on an economic basis. 
Considerable efforts have been made in the last ten vears to 
place on a sound footing the internal t rade in cattle and meat. 
Cattle are not found in every district of this country as there are 
but few areas suited for them but the following table shows their 
distribution and the number of head of cattle per 1,000 of the 
population . The principal Veterinary Officer considers that the 
estimate of the cattle can be considered ·as being fairly accurate, 
but that the figures for the other live-stock can all be considered 
as being of a degree of accuracy great er t han has been possible 
heretofore. 
102 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
Number of I Number of 
Number of Cattle per Number ofl Sheep and 
District_ Population. Cattle_ 1,000 of Sheep and Goats per 
Population. Goats. 1,000 of 
Population. 
--
I. Colony ... ... - - - 220,000 -
Eastern Province 
Accra .. . .. , 136,696 3,000 22 - -
Akwapim ... 86,380 5,000 58 - -
Keta-Ada .. . 243,671 25,000 102 - -
Volta River ... 162,100 3,000 18 - -
2. Ashanti ... ... 578,078 1,500 26 10,000 -
3. Northern Territories 
and Togoland. 
Northern Province 
Kusasi ... 151,715 15,000 99 70,000 460 
Lawra-Tumu ... 93,125 11,000 129 50,000 537 
Mamprusi .. , 61,520 2,000 33 10,000 164 
Navrongo .. , 120,870 23,000 190 70,000 578 
Wa ... .. , 72,323 11 ,000 153 40,000 555 
Zuarungu ... 133,981 12,000 89 40,000 298 
Southern Province 
Eastern Dagom-
ba ... ... 91,523 10,000 109 50,000 549 
Western Dagom-
ba ... ... 100,433 11,000 110 70,000 700 
Eastern Gonja 23,683 500 22 20,000 833 
Western Gonja 15,723 500 31 20,000 1,250 
Kracbi ... ... 20,521 300 15 14,000 700 
From the above table it can be seen that the true cattle-raising 
districts are Keta-Ada in the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast 
Colony and in the Northern Territories, which in this instance 
include the Northern Section of Togoland, the Dagomba country 
and all the Northern Province with the exception of the Mamprusi 
District. 
These areas are also those carrying the largest district 
population, but the ratio as shown of the number of head of cattle 
per 1,000 of the population indicates that ownership of cattle 
is a distinctive feature of the economic life of the people living 
in those areas. A comparison of similar statistics taken from other 
countries is of interest-
No. of cattle No. of sheep and 
Country. per 100 of goats per 100 of 
population. population. 
---------------------1------------1------
Northern Nigeria 25 53 
Uganda ... 40 37 
Tanganyika 92 100 
Nyasaland 9 22 
Lawra-Tumu District ... 13 54 
Wa District 15 55 
Navrongo District 19 59 
Eastern Dagomba District 11 55 
Western Dagomba District 11 70 
rHE GOLD COAST, I931. 103 
and shows how the Northern Territories compare favourably with 
similar conditions in Northern Nigeria in regard to sheep and goats 
but not so favourably in regard to cattle. This is to be explained 
by the fact that the population of the Protectorate although owners 
of cattle are not in any way breeders or herdsmen. 
A further table showing the area of the district, the density 
of the population, number of cattle and number of sheep and goats 
per square mile, 
Density of Head of No. of sheep 
District. Area. population cattle per and goats per 
per sq. mile. sq. mile. sq. mile. 
--- -
Keta-Ada ... ... .. . 2,146 1I3.55 1I.6 -
Kusasi* ... . .. ... 1,227 131. 79 12.2 57.0 
Lawra-Tumu ... . .. 3,840 24.25 2.8 13.0 
Navrongo ... ... .. . 1,551 77.96 14.8 45.1 
Wa ... .. . . .. .. . 3,462 20.89 3.1 11.5 
Zuarungu ... ... . .. 781 171.55 15.3 51.2 
Eastern Dagomba ... 5,503 16.63 1.8 9.0 
Western Dagomba ... 6,754 14.87 1.6 10.3 
J I 
shows clearly how the possible area of development in the cattle 
farming industry is confined alm'ost exclusively to the Dagomba 
districts. 
The value of the meat market of the Gold Coast is considerable 
and to-day depends almost entirely on imports of livestock 
overland from the French Sudan and through the seaports from 
Nigeria. The supply is increased very largely by the importation 
of salted, dried, smoked and tinned meats. 
The figures of this import trade are as follows and have been 
reached by an estimate of 350 lbs. as the average weight in meat 
of cattle, and 60 lbs. for the sheep and 40 lbs. for the goat. The 
year 1930-31 has been taken, and the annual rise and fall in the 
trade can be discounted as it is comparatively insignificant 
No. Imported No. Imported Total in 
by Sea. Overland. lbs. 
-
Cattle ... ... 2,798 5Q,434 18,631,200 
Sheep ... ... 14,323 54,608 4,135,860 
Goats ... ... 1,356 14,261 624,680 
or a gross weIght of 23,391 ,740 lbs. of meat. 
. To this must be added the number of pigs, an estimate of 
which cannot be reached and the only available figure being that 
of pigs slaughtered in certain towns. These number 7,750 and 
averaged at 75 lbs. weighed 581,250 lbs. 
'Includes the Kusasi District of the Northern Section of Togoland. 
i04 THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 
Imports of fresh, salted, smoked and tinned meats totalled 
9,795,452 lbs. 
A very conservative estimate of one per cent of the total must 
be added to account for the meat from the local herds and game 
shot . The final figures are :-
Live imports 23,391,740 
Dead imports 9,795,452 
Pig meat 581,250 
Game, etc. 337,684 
Total 34,106,126 
This total distributed over a population including non-Africans 
numbering 3,163,568 gives an average meat consumption of 10.78 
lbs. per capita. This compares favourably with other countries 
in Africa. But a closer analysis would show that the per capita 
consumption of meat is infinitely greater in the larger centres than 
in the rural districts where the people cannot be classified in any 
sense as meat-eaters. The returns from the four principal munici-
palities show the following consumption of fresh meat only, no 
account being taken either of imported smoked or salted or tinned 
meats or of the consumption by the non-African population. 
No. of animals slaughtered. E stimated Tot al 
Municipality . Popula- ------- - - - -- Ibs. of Ibs. per 
tion. Cattle. Sheep. Goats. -'Swine. nleat . capita. 
-----------
Accra ... 60,726 2,386 2,584 2,941 3,132 1,328,460 21.88 
Cape Coast 17,685 28 479 1,601 1,902 245,230 13.81 
Sekondi ... 16,953 293 662 1,903 2,552 409,790 24.17 
Kumasi ... 35,829 2,148 5,857 3,965 164 1, 266,120 35.34 
Total ... 131, 193 4,855 9,582 10,410 7,750 3,249600 24.77 
The value of this trade excepting for pigs is at present lost to 
the Gold Coast people, and it is estimated to be worth £5 per head 
of cattle, 7s. 6d. each for sheep and goats or a total for imported 
animals on the hoof of £296,685. 
There are certain disadvantages and difficulties to be overcome 
before this trade can be changed into a home indu try. The 
continuous prevalence of rinderpest and the fact that the people 
of the cattle areas are in no single instance pastoral and therefore 
have no idea either of breeding or droving must be taken into 
account. 
The former difficulty can be and is being tackled by 
Government . From the earliest days of our knowledge of the 
Protectorate epizootics have devastated the herds, and in the past 
decade most active measures have been taken to combat their 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 105 
ravages, to control and eventually to eradicate t hem. Quarantine 
stations have been erected at every inland port of entry, and 
imported cattle may only use routes controlled by the Veterinary 
Department. A continuous campaign has been carried on with the 
intent to educate cattle owners in the elements of cattle husbandry. 
E xperimental farms for the improvement of the local cattle have 
been organised, and a training centre for teaching Africans 
veterinary work, a laboratory for the preparation of sera and 
vaccines and for research work have been made and built, the 
headquarters being some 21 miles north of Tamale; and finally 
throughout the decade efforts have been made to control rinderpest 
by immunisation with varying degrees of success. 
The greatest difficulty, however, is the successful education 
of the cattle owner. He is an excellent farmer and in that respect 
differs from the peasant of the cacao-producing area. Conditions 
however are not identical in the two provinces of the Protectorate. 
In the extreme north the population of the districts depend mainly 
on cereals and leguminous plants, whilst in the southern province 
although cereals are an important item in the daily menu yams 
are the predominant foodstuff. 
The northern system of agriculture is unique in the Gold Coast 
and no full account of it has so far appeared. The general conditions 
of life in the Province are extremely primitive, and the religious 
beliefs of the people play probably the most important part in 
agriculture. The most striking feature of farming, whereby it 
differs from the practice usual in the Colony, is that permanent 
cultivation is employed to a greater extent than shifting cultivation. 
The cause of this is pressure of population and its distribution and 
to the fact that the people have been long settled. No compact 
villages exist and each dwelling is surrounded by its own farm 
land which often is not sufficiently extensive even to allow of the 
usual rotation, and since each field touches on neighbouring fields 
no extension is possible. The crops cultivated are exclusively 
annuals, of which millet and guinea-corn predominate (75 per cent). 
Year after year these are grown in a system of mixed farming with 
other crops. Each year a small portion of land is manured with 
household refuse and animal manure, and a small portion is periodi-
cally fallowed. Many people also work subsidiary farms in the 
"bush ", always some distance from their homes; on these shifting 
cultivation is sometimes practised, but often these" bush" farms 
are after a proving period built upon by the overflow from the house 
which originally started them. 
The average size of farm has been found to be about 4.28 acres 
in the more congested areas, and about 5.51 acres where pressure 
of population was not so severe. The number of people per 
compound averaged 10.2 and 14.9. The area of cultivated land 
per head of popUlation was between 0.4 acre and 0.8 acre. Two 
cereal crops per year wen~ grownJ and the mean grain yield for the year 
106 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
was 16.4 cwts. per acre. Yield of groundnuts was estimated at 
630 lbs. per acre and of coleus potatoes about 3,050 lbs. For five 
to six months in the dry season, no cultivation takes place, and 
the people live on foodstuffs stored after harvesting. Storage 
provision is made for about 250 lbs of dry grain per head to outlast 
this quiescent period. 
Such are the conditions prevailing in the Navrongo, Zuarungu, 
Kusasi and to a certain extent the Lawra-Ttill1U Districts. 
Elsewhere the thinness of the population permits of a system 
approximating that known as shifting cultivation. It is reasonable 
therefore to deduce that if the people can be taught to become 
cattle-breeders the area where success is most likely to be attained 
is that of the Dagomba Districts, and possibly a portion of the Lawra 
Tumu District. 
The two Gonjas although offering a greater area are to a large 
extent swampy ground and infested 'with tse-tse. 
The development of an industry in sheep and goats is possible, 
but the destructive nature of the latter is so well known that 
Government can hardly encourage the breeding and rearing of an 
animal to whose activities such irreparable damage has been done in 
Cyprus and elsewhere. 
The type of cattle both in the Northern Territories and in the 
coastal zone of the Eastern Province of the Colony is the un humped 
taurine. The animals are small symmetrical and compact and 
resemble miniature short-horns. They are slow in development 
and reach their full size only at the age of from six to eight years. 
Heifers reach the age of puberty from eighteen months to two years, 
and the cows do not usually calve every year but appear to do so 
about every eighteen months. It would seem that the cattle are 
of such ancient introduction that they might be termed indigenous 
in spite of the fact that their owners possess no cattle-sense and 
whenever possible allow them to be herded by immigrant Fulani 
from Nigeria or the French Sudan. 
Other items of internal trade are fibres, mattresses, mats, hats, 
baskets, string, rope, calabashes, pots, leather work, a certain amount 
of iron-work, gold ornaments, brasses, stool-carving, furniture, 
canoe-making, kola, tobacco, fish, snails and poultry. The value 
of these is considerable and an attempt to arrive at an estimate is 
made below. 
Transport and its problems. 
It is evident that this volume of trade both external and internal 
has brought the problems of transport into great prominence. 
Here in the Gold Coast as elsewhere in the world there has arisen 
the question of the competition between road and rail. 
During the decade since 1921 there has taken place an almost 
complete revolution in the carrying trade. Head porterage formerly 
so distinctive a feature of African life is fast disappearing and except 
for short passages entirely so in the handling of the export traffic. 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 107 
It still persists to a certain extent in the inland trade and also in 
the export towards the North. Often this old method of carriage 
has been termed degrading, but it is as natural to the African as, 
and no more degrading, than carriage by hand is to the European, 
and it will persist here for short distances just as the latter does in 
Europe for an indefinite period. 
A comparison of the mileage both rail and road year by year 
shows a remarkable march of progress. 
--------------------------
Miles of Motorable Roads. 
Year. Miles of Colony. 
R'wyOpen.----------Ashanti. N.T. Total 
W.P. C.P. E.P. 
1921 ... 276 mean ·[--85--:3---:-----:----:---;241 
1922-3 ... 334 " I 97 - 1,015 532 1.200 -
1923-4 ... 379 " II  140 - 1,057 721 1,200 -1924.-5 ... 394 " 156 477 1,266 836 1,242 3,977 . 
1925-6 ... 394" 214 - 1,306 1,019 1,785 -
1926-7 ... 457" 259 521 1,319 1,080 1,931 5 110 
1927-8 ... 480" 354 587 1,444 1,142 2,000 5:527 
1928-9 ... 495" 390 - 1,506 1,158 2,300 -
1929-30 ... 500 443 633 1,525 1,175 2,335 6,111 
1930-31 ... 500" 500 713 1,525 1,228 2,772 6,738 
The figures for the mileage of motorable roads are almost 
spectacular, especially in the total shown forthe Northern Territories 
But it must be remembered that although a policy of development 
by motor traffic had been put into force by t he earliest of the 
administrators of that country, the connecting links along which 
motors could reach the protectorate were only completed in 1921, 
a fact alreadv referred to. 
Other st~tistics of the development of motor traffic show how 
phe:t;lomenal the progress has been. 
Net No. of Net No. of 
Year. Motor Cars Motor Cycles Petrol (galls.) 
and Lorries Imported. Imported. 
Imported. 
1921 ... ... 283 187 986,230 
1922 ... ... 243 52 1,055,781 
1923 ... ... 542 142 1,705,941 
1924 ... . .. 783 125 1,832,388 
1925 ... . .. 1,284 207 2,799,205 
1926 ... _ .. 1,432 165 3,615,014 
1927 ... . .. 2,891 219 4,818,887 
1928 ... ... 2,482 165 5,752,670 
1929 ... ... 2,096 115 6,011,318 
1930 '" ... 1,772 72 7,305,525 
108 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
Of the total number of 13,808 cars and lorries imported in the 
decade there were licenced during 1930 an aggregate of 8921. No 
estimate is at present possible of the extent of the motor traffic, 
but averaging the value of the cars at £250 each there was on that 
basis a sum of £2,230,250 invest ed in the industry. 
The petrol consumption per head of the population has 
increased from 0.42 galls. in 1921 to 2.31 galls. in 1931, approximately 
450 per cent. 
In 1921, the more important trade roads were surfaced with 
gravel, or to give the material its more correct name, with laterite. 
This material is soft when freshly excavated, but it hardens on 
exposure to air, and forms a very satisfactory surface for roads on 
which the traffic is light. When saturated by rain, however, it 
exhibits all the disadvantages of a clay, and loses its bearing capacity 
almost completely. The increase in motor transport during the 
last decade has been so great that it became at times impossible 
to maintain the more important roads in even a fair state of repair. 
In wet weather the surface was so cut up by traffic that it rapidly 
degenerated into mere quagmire, which after a continuous spell of 
dry weather, formed a very friable surface that was subjected to 
rapid attrition by the incessant hammering of high speed and heavy· 
vehicles. This attrition, moreover, took the form of corrugations 
which had a m ost shattering effect on motor vehicles. 
The problem of producing an improved surface. was difficult 
but very urgent. 
The method adopted to meet the above conditions was to lay 
a 4-inch coating of broken stone on the old gravel surface, and to 
finish this off, after consolidation with road rollers, with a water-
proofing coat of tar or bituminous preparation. Approximately 
430 miles of the more important roads have now been treated by 
this method, to which the name of" tarmet " has been given. The 
improvement effected has been most noticeable and .has 
resulted in an increase in the permitted carrying capacity of motor 
vehicles. In the last year of the decade a programme of further 
improvement of the" tarmet " roads had been commenced, but 
this work and also any further extension of the" tarmet" surfaces 
was unfortunately held up owing to financial difficulties. 
The total cost of maintaining the Trade Roads rose from 
£53,400 in 1921 to £144,840 in 1930-31, oran increase of 171 per 
cent. The cost of maintenance by the Public Works Department 
per mile rose in the same period from £60 per mile t o £75 per mile, 
a very low rate of increase considering the greatly increased traffic, 
whilst the grants made by Government for the purpose of 
maintaining village and pioneer roads rose from £4.8 per mile 
in 1921 to £7 .96 per mile in 1931. The amount spent during the 
decade on new roads and on improvements to existing ones was 
approximately £1,800,000, about 2.21 per cent of the value of the 
cacao exports during the 10 years. 
THE GOLD COAST, I931. 109 
In 1925, a Temporary Roads Department was created for the 
purpose of expediting the survey and construction of new roads. 
The Department had a military personnel, and during its life of close 
on six years, some 777 miles of road were surveyed, and 358 miles 
were constructed. The Department was closed down early in 1931, 
owing to the unavoidable holding up of the road extension 
programme, but many important roads such as the Insu-Enchi 
Road and the Wiawso-Krokosua Road, both in the Western Province 
had been completed by it. 
In addition to improvement work in respect of the road surface, 
the last decade has seen a very considerable advance in connection 
with the conversion of bridges having wooden decks into permanent 
concrete structures, the most noteworthy example of this work 
being on the road from Kumasi to Tamale, on which all bridges 
have been so converted. 
The figures given above show that the railways have progressed 
equally during the decade. In 1921, the railway ran from Sekondi, 
through Tarkwa and Obuasi to Kumasi on the Western side and 
from Accra to Tafo on the Eastern side. The extension of the line 
from Tafo was then in progress, and in September, 1923, the line 
from Tafo to Kumasi was opened to through traffic, enabling trains 
to be run through between Sekondi and Accra, a distance of 362 
miles. In 1923 the construction of a new line tapping the Central 
Province was begun and gradually opened to traffic, until in 
December, 1927, the whole line from Runi Valley to Kade, a distance 
of 99 miles was opened, thus giving an outlet by rail from the 
Central Province to Takoradi and up-country stations. 
As a result of these extensions the number of stations has 
increased from 51 to 74; and in order to give greater facilities for 
passengers from outlying villages the management of the railway 
introduced a system of halts, i.e. stopping places for the picking 
up and setting down of passengers. These halts number 25, so 
that there are 99 stopping places in a railway stretch of 500 miles . 
In connection with the installation of the halts a service of 
" Rail Motors" has been introduced. The Sentinel-Cammel type 
of Rail Motor was obtained for this purpose, each having a self-
contained engine unit which operates at a very low cost per mile 
as compared with an ordinary locomotive. By means of these rail 
motors, it is possible to maintain frequent local services and it is 
hoped will prove useful in the development of passenger traffic. 
The line between Sekondi and Kumasi has been considerably 
improved by deviation and by the elimination of excessive curves 
and heavy grades. This, coupled with the laying of 80-lb. track 
through from Sekondi to Kumasi (completed in 1930) has enabled 
heavier and more powerful engines to be used and the through 
passenger t rains to be speeded up. In 1921 the journey from 
Sekondi to Kumasi took 10 hours and 35 minutes but in 1931 the 
t rip was accomplished in 8 hours 27 minutes-a saving of over two 
110 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
hours. Since the initial opening of the through line from Accra 
to Kumasi in 1923 timing of the train has been tightened up with 
the result that the journey has been reduced from 12 hours to 10}. 
In spite however of these real improvements and increased 
facilities the response from the public has been a disappointing 
surprise to the management. 
The accompanying t able shows how in spite of increased mileage 
open to the public there has been no corresponding increase in the 
passenger traffic. 
Total Miles I Total No. of Average per 
Open. Passengers. Mile. 
--
1921 .. . ... . .. 276 mean 1,228,434 4,451 
1922 (Jan . I- Mar. 31) 306 I 344,880 -
1922- 3 ... ... ... 334 " 1,345,694 , 4,029 
1923- 4 ... .. . ... 379 " 1,334,756 3,521 
1924-5 . . . ... .. . 394 " 1,347,916 3,421 
1925- 6 ... ... .. . " 394 1,487 ,164 3,774 
1926-7 ... . .. " ... 457 1,452,915 . 3,179 
" 
1927-8 . .. ... ... 480 1,728,493 3,601 
1928- 9 ... ... ... 495 " 1,875,002 3,788 
1929- 30 ... ... " 500 1,846,665 3,693 
1930-31 ... ... 500 " 1,336,489 2,673 
" 
The decrease of passenger traffic, whi(:h appears in the column 
of average number of passengers t o the number of miles of railway 
open, cannot be satisfactorily explained solely by the factor of t he 
competition from motor traffic. The 1921 figure was reached 
chiefly through the Sekondi-Kumasi section of the railway, and 
that has not been affected by any road competition. The figures 
for the average mileage travelled by passengers are in order of date 
as follows beginning with the year 1921 :-26.81 ; 27.52; 29.24; 
30.14; 28.07; 29.95; 30.69; 30.54; 28.99; 27.52 and indicate 
that short distance travelling by train is not favoured by the African 
population. A possible explanation for the decrease in traffic may 
be that it is to a certain extent due to the universal trade depression 
but this must be discounted by the fact that even in the boom years 
the average passenger traffic per mile never attained the height 
of 1921. A more probable explanation may be found in the 
stabilisation of labour in the mining and cacao-producing areas, 
its t endency to permanence rather than seasonal occurrence, the 
failure of the Central Province Railvvay to attract passenger traffic 
and road competition against the Kumasi-Accra section of the 
main railway. 
At the same time the following table of the goods tonnage 
calTied by rail shows with the except ion of manganese, an essentially 
THE GOLD COAST, I931. 111 
railway goods item, the same tendency to decrease per mile of 
railway open. 
Year. Manganese. Cacao. Other Total. 
Goods. 
--- -
1921 ... ... 7,099 109,114 241,791 258,004 
1922-3 ... 83,242 143,074 252,828 479,114 
1923-4 ... 189,604 164,32~ 241,724 595,657 
1924-5 ... 273,796 156,148 273,159 703,103 
1925-6 ... 372,527 150,281 273,452 797,260 
1926-7 ... 394,079 149,189 262,362 805,630 
1927-8 ... 297,526 131,517 321,113 750,153 
1928-9 ... 330,366 165,629 309,812 808,807 
1929-30 .. . 507,075 139,462 285,692 932,229 
1930-31 ... 39@,895 132,499 228,494 758,888 
~ 
Reduced to a common factor the decrease in rail-borne traffic 
compared to the mileage on the railways is even more apparent. 
If the returns for the year 1921 be given the index figure 100 the 
following comparative results are obtained :-
Mileage Tons of Tons of Tons of No. of 
Year. Open. Manga- Cacao. Other Passen-
nese. Goods. gers. 
----
1921 ... ... 100 100 100 100 100 
1922-3 ... . .. 121 1,172 131 104 109 
1923-4 ... ... 137 2,670 150 100 108 
1924-5 '" ... 142 3,856 143 112 109 
1925-6 ... ... 142 5,247 137 113 121 
1926-7 ... ... 165 5,551 135 108 118 
1927-8 ... ... 173 4,191 120 132 140 
1928-9 ... ... 179 4,653 151 128 152 
1929-30 ... ... 181 7,142 128 118 150 
1930-31 ... ... 181 5,590 121 94 108 
-
It will be readily seen that excepting for manganese and the 
years 1922-23, 1923-24, 1924--25 for cacao the freight and passenger 
calTied have' never shown a proportional increase to the increase 
of open lines. At the same time the increase in population during 
the decennial period has not been taken into consideration. In 
1921 t he total number of passengers was 52 per cent of the total 
population, whereas in 1931 that ratio had fallen to 42 per cent. 
112 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
This competition between road and mil is clearly indicated by 
a return showing the decline in the percentage rate of rai l-borne 
cacao to the full export . The figures are :-
Total Cacao Total Cacao Percentage of 
Year. Exported. Carried by Total Cacao 
Rail. Exported. 
--- ---
1921 ... ... .. . 133,195 109,114 81.9 
1922 (1st Qr.) ... 72,942 63,557 87 .1 
1922-23 ... .. . 179,513 143,074 80.7 
1923- 24 ... ... 197,434 164,329 83.1 
1924-25 ... '" 219,867 156, 148 71.0 
1925-26 .. . '" 214,250 150,281 70.1 
1926-27 .. . ... 241,295 149,189 61.8 
1927-28 ... ... 207,311 131,517 63,4 
1928-29 ... ... 240,113 165,629 68.9 
1929- 30 '" ... 206,585 139,462 67.5 
1930-31 ... ... 227,185 132,499 58.3 
For the calendar year 1930 the shipments port by port 
show that of the total crop exported, approximately 22 per cent 
went from ports not within the sphere of the railway, so that in 
direct competition with the railway some 20 per cent was shipped. 
The opening of the Central Province Railway, in spite of its cutting 
the inland communication of the old ports of Cape Coast, Winneba 
and Saltpond, has apparently had no effect on the latter, and 
reasons for what would seem an uneconomic state of affairs must 
be sought for. 
The return of the port shipments are of a certain interest and ' 
are as follows :-
Other 
Year. Accra. Ada. Cape Coast. Saltpond. Sekondi. Takoradi. Winneba. Ports inclu- Total. 
ding over 
land. 
--
1921 ... 61,620 2,169 5,362 7,282 42,662 - 12,287 1,814 133,195 
1922 .. . 78,974 2,686 6,230 6,412 45,400 - 16,092 3,511 159,305 
:;l 
f;l 
1923 ... 90,494 2,707 8,194 10,618 60,516 - 21,009 4,126 197,664 <;) 
o 
r< 
1924 ... 107 ,078 1,166 8,612 12,851 65,409 - 23,028 5,185 . 223,329 t1 
() 
o 
1925 ... :> 
105,328 1,122 8,999 13,466 60,890 - 22,739 5,607 218,151 ~ 
1926 ... H 101,535 860 7,194 12,897 80,478 - 22,039 5,837 230,840 ~ w 
~ 
1927 ... 97,868 610 5,532 13,790 66,117 - 20,517 5,476 209,910 
1928 .. . 91,403 199 7,751 15,845 70,508 8,571 24,501 6,299 225,077 
1929 .. , 100,136 748 8,598 16,095 - 86,086 19,819 6,586 238,068 
1930 ... 80,251 1,240 6,272 12,558 - 67,912 18,132 4,215 190,580 
::Il ...... 
...... 
- --- - - ----- - -- <:.» 
114 THE GOLD COAST , 193I . 
"" hen the Railway was built its ra tes were such as materially 
to cheapen transport as compared with head loading, and it was 
then economical to forward goods in the highest class of th e Railway 
classification by rail at 2s. 6d . per t on mile. But with in the b st 
six or seven years the costs involved in the provision and the running 
of internal combustion engines have decreased to such an extent 
that m any lorries can convey goods at 6d. per ton m ile. The very 
large increase in road mileage open t o motor traffic in the Colony 
and in Ashanti has created the m eans for keen competition with 
the railway at various points. The whole length of the Accra-
Kumasi section is parallelled by a road which for the greater par t 
of the distance is in excellent condition . Roads al oin som e 
instances provide a short rou te to a port as against a long haul by 
a railway such being the case in the roads to Cape Coast, Saltpond 
and Winneba from Foso and Oda on the Cent ral" Province line. 
The road m otor vehicles are t o a very great exten t owned 
by Africans or Syrians who usually obtain them on the hire purchase 
system and who in many cases actually live in them . Their over-
head cost is to all inten ts nil, with the result that even the larger 
m otor transport organisations find it difficult t o compete with 
them. It is therefore pract ically inlpossible to quote rates in 
competition with them since they are able to charge anything they 
can get and whenever an instalment on their cars falls due their 
rates are lowered to the smallest possible sum in order to obtain the 
necessary funds to m eet its paym ent . 
At the same time there enters a human factor which would 
upset any calculation based on the usual western business methods. 
The African in spite of his rapid development during the past few 
years retains the age-old manner of commercial thinking common 
t o t raders both of his own continent, eastern Europe and Asia. 
H e has not yet passed beyond the stage of barter , and to him cer tain 
goods readily exchangeable are as 'much currency as legally 
permitted coins. Thus petrol, cigarettes, matches and similar 
articles are as good as money to him so that when he is unable t o 
borrow the latter he is almost invariably able to obtain the former 
on credit. This traffi c is on the border line of criminality, but has 
long been recognised and it might even seem that some of the larger 
firms to a certain extent have come to acquiesce therein. In the 
case of African lorry owners a trader who has advanced them cases 
of petrol can soon recover the advance by receiving free use of the 
lorry to the owner of which he has given the petrol. This sense 
of barter and disregard of monetary values is even noticeable when 
changing m oney. Five half-pence are 9ften, especially away 
from the principal centres, offered for 3d., and fifty one-tenths 
of a penny for sixpence. The commonest form , noticeable parti-
cularly in the la rge markets such as Accra, is the use of cigarettes. 
In the stores they cost say 2s. 6d., but in the market place a similar 
tin, just as fresh and in every way identical, can be bought for 2s. 3d. 
110 
The apparent loss of 3d. is recovered on other goods, and if this 
cannot be done then the cigarettes are repaid by cigarettes of the 
same quality and quantity, which have been" borrowed" from 
some other merchant. 
NOlmally these methods would result in the complete elimina-
tion from the transport industry of any such owner, and would only 
occur in time of stringency or when the number of motor vehicles 
available as common carriers was greater than the demand required. 
But conditions are different in Africa. The lorry owner who is 
quite frequently his own driver can always rely on his family and 
his friends for shelter and sustenance; his clothing needs can be 
reduced to a minute sum; he does not necessarily work every day. 
He is almost entirely without overhead charges, and except to meet 
the payment of the instalments on his lorries and running charges 
has no need for money. 
To a certain extent this is true of the African owner of a large 
transport organisation. He employs his sons, nephews, cousins 
and other members of the family, who are quite independent of the 
usual expenses required for housing and food, since he will, if they 
have none of their own provide that for them. A return of all 
receipts to the owner is not strictly enforced nor expected, since 
the laws of "meum" and" tuum "are not usually observed totheletter 
in African family matters, and in exchange the owner has the 
satisfaction of being regarded as an important person by his family 
into whose chest most of the money derived from the business 
will in the long run usually be poured. Until this family system 
disappears, the apparently uneconomic method of the African lorry-
owners will enable them to fear no competition and to enter the 
lists against the larger European Transport Firms with the benefit 
of having no overhead charges to burden them or to impede their 
activities. 
Government itself has contributed to this state of affairs in 
obedience to popular demands. The railways are completely 
state-owned whereas the motor transport is generally privately 
owned and makes use of state-constructed and state-maintained 
roads. The latter moreover are heavily subsidised out of annl).al 
revenue whereas the former is presumed not only to provide interest 
on the capital outlay in this country, some £9,305,607, but to 
provide for sinking fund and renewals. 
Comparative figures showing over a quinquennial period, 
1926-30, the relationship in the Gold Coast and other tropical African 
colonies of motor traffic expenditure and revenue compared to the 
revenue of the country, and the expenditure on roads are as 
follows :-
HI 
116 THE GOLD COAST, 193 1 . 
! IP ercentage 
Revenue IP ercentage Percentage of Revenue 
deri ved of Motor I Total of Expen- from ~rotor 
Total from Traffic Expendi- diture on Traffic 
Colony. Revenue. Motor IRevenue toI  ture on Roads to Expendi-traffic. Total Roads. Revenue. ture on 
Revenue. Roads . 
------ '--
N igeria ... 33,306,0 11 688,351 2.1 1 1,272,257 3.8 54.1 
Nyasaland 1,847,301 51,971 2.8 135,966 7.4 38.2 
Kenya ... 15,069,369 892,047 5.9 998,988 6.7 89.3 
Uganda ... 7,296,344 203,33 1 2.8 616,175 8.4 3~.0 
Tanganyika 9, 24,1,285 202,216 2.2 662,748 7.1 30.5 
Gold Coast 23,094,791 716,434 3.1 1, 164,165 9.3 33.1 
Another great factor which assists naturally the expansion 
of motor traffic as against rail traffic is to be found in the conditions 
which govern almost the whole of commerce in the Gold Coast. 
These conditions are chiefly traditional and may be summarised 
briefly as a t endency from time immemorial to regard the coast-line 
as the market area for imported goods whilst the inland market has 
been almost entirely left to develop itself . The possibility of buying 
motor lorries on the hire purchase system has encouraged the petty 
trader and the middleman at the expense of the retail purchaser; 
and had it not been for the inordinate amount of wealth poured into 
the country not only in the cacao boom but also in the preceding 
rubber and concession selling booms, there is no doubt but that a 
system of developing the inland market on an economically sounder 
basis would have had to have been put into force. It is a curious 
anomaly that the non-productive areas , of the coast-line enjoy 
greater amenities than can be obtained in the prodnctive centres. 
This pernicious system, if the world-wide trade weariness of 
1930- 31 persists, must act as a serious brake on the rate of progress 
of the country. It would seem unfair and apparently poor business 
to sell a cloth at the coast-line fo r 17s. 6d., charge £1 I s. for it at 
Kumasi, £l 6s. at Tamale and £1 7s. 6d. at Navrongo, when the 
purchasers with most money or in the great est numbers live close 
to the distributing points of Kumasi an d Navrongo. The 
elimination of the middleman between the coast-line and the 
distributing centre (or his disguised equivalent the local distribution 
of local overhead charges), together with the spreading over the 
whole market of the total transport costs of an article, instead of 
making the single item bear its own individual charges, would 
probably do more to revive trade and speed up development in 
the Gold Coast t han any other measure . The sale of European 
manufactured goods at a cheaper rate in the inland markets will 
not only enable the productive population of the country to purchase 
more, but will also bring their Co-operative Societies into direct 
touch with the produce-buyers and at the same time increase to 
an enormous extent the radius in which the middleman and petty 
t rader can work. 
'tHE GOLD COASt, 1931. 117 
This distribution of transport charges over the 'whole market, 
which presents enormous difficulties before being possible, 'would 
be facilitated by the standardisation of values in the essentials of 
distribution. With a standardised price for an article such as 
petrol, it is self-evident how even distribution of transport charges 
can be attained and those costings made to appear as ordinary 
overhead charges, The first step towards this end was the 
installation of the bulk reception of petrol at Takoradi in 1930, 
and as soon as facilities for bulk delivery at the inland centres are 
available the inevitable cheapening of imported goods will assuredly 
bring about not only a great trade revival but a very rapid speeding 
up of the march towards a higher cultural standard of living among 
the peasant population, 
Yet another factor which is often overlooked although it has 
an important bearing on the attraction t owards the use of motor 
cars rather than railways is the development of internal 
communication by telephone. The effect would be noticeable 
chiefly among passengers using the more expensive class of railway 
accommodation, particularly 2nd class as the majority of the fi rst 
class passenger are Government Servants or European non-officials . 
Mileage No, of 1st No, of 2nd 
Year. (railway) Class Index, Class Index, 
Index, Passengers. Passengers. I 
--
1921 ... 100 11,100 100 , 21,600 100 
1922-23 ... 121 9,600 , 86 18,200 84 
1923-24 ... 137 14,302 128 27,643 128 
1924-25 ... 142 14,200 128 23,911 110 
1925-26 ... 142 14,851 133 21,988 101 
1926-27 ... 165 14,927 134 18,751 86 
1927-28 ... 173 14,8 14 133 20,9 13 96 
1928-29 ... 179 16,468 148 15,533 72 
1929-30, .. 181 16,176 146 13,0 18 60 
1930-31, .. I 181 12,213 110 8,306 38 
Finally the general speeding up of trade has tended to divert 
passengers from the railways. It has done much to abolish 
the" dead" time wasted in long railway journeys and is shown 
in the increase of the use of the telegraph and telephone systems, 
and the accompanying table shows how Government has been 
assisting this phase of the country's general development. 
Telephone. 
No. of Inland 
Year. Exchanges. Public Paid Cable. Radio. Su bscribers. Offices. Telegrams. I ---
1921 4 258 14 308,911 19,3 18 1,434 
1922-23 7 452 - 301,924 21,43 1 1,719 
1923-24 8 464 - 293,091 21,542 1,701 
1924-25 14 519 33 288,937 20,907 1,708 
1925-26 17 578 41 321,960 20, 185 1)725 
1926-27 24 628 54 3~4,298 22,418 2,292 
1927-28 33 no 65 381,000 27,100 1,926 
1928-29 49 926 87 392,441 29,400 2, 185 
1929-30 59 J,051 95 410,859 27,600 3.053 
1930- 31 71 1,152 115 337,226 25,000 2,772 
118 THE GOLD COAST, I931. 
Post Office Figures. 
A close analysis of the above figures shows qui te clearly that 
these facilities are used to a far greater extent by the African 
population than by the non-African, and it is an interesting sidelight 
on modern life in \~Test Africa that a telegram can be sent to an 
African driver of a motor car directing him to consult the fetish 
priest in the Tong Hills. It is difficult at times to reconcile things 
in this country, the savage and his bow and arrows in all the wild 
panoply of nakedness an d beads and coloured strings standing 
side by side with the latest model of a car from Europe own d and 
driven by, possibly, his own brother who is familiar alike with wire-
less and cinemas. The monetary transactions of the Post Office are 
usually indicative of the prosperity or otherwise of a country and 
in spite of the difference in the economic view-point of the Africans 
t hey are so in the Gold Coast. 
Money Orders. Postal Orders. 
Year. 
I ssued. Cashed. I ssu ed. Cashed. 
> 
£ £ £ £ 
1921 ' " ... 116,031 90,085 135,666 82,268 
1922- 23 ... . .. 138,283 87,789 171 ,912 _ 95 ,816 
1923- 24 ... ... 138,539 96,565 181,813 80,587 
1924-25 ... . .. 141 ,439 101 ,0($1 199,760 91 ,953 
1925- 26 '" .. . -155,629 115,396 208,828 98,729 
1926- 27 ... .. . 175,481 128,840 229,612 110,827 
1927- 28 ... . .. 225,711 171,044 285,135 129,625 
17 28-29 ... ... 223,539 176,663 272,581 139,949 
1929- 30 ... . .. 220,478 181,869 275,079 146,499 
1930-3 1 ... ... 158,441 131,757 211,194 128,892 
It has been usual to believe that the African of the Guinea 
Coast has always been inclined to hoard his money. So frequen tly 
has this been asserted that it has become generally accepted that 
he is a miserly person. The figures of the Post Office Savings Bank 
would not seem to bear this contention out, moreover there are 
certain facts which seem to show that the contrary is the case, and 
that in so far as money is concerned he is by no manner of means 
a hoarder. It was and is only rational to presume that with no 
pockets, no safes, no banks the easiest and most obvious place in 
which to keep money was earth. Hence he buried and hence arose 
the supposition that he was a hoarder if not a user. 
The Savings Bank returns through the past decade of 
,"xtraordinary prosperity are as follows :~ 
THE GOLD COAST, I93I. 119 
No. of 
Interest With- Accounts 
Year. Deposit. on drawals. Open at Balance. 
Deposit. end of 
year. 
£ £ £ £ 
1921 28,070 1,371 30,324 6,267 51,231 
1922 30,328 1,393 31,386 5,253 51,ll6 
1923 34,ll8 1,410 35,684 5,798 50,961 
1924 39,620 1,436 37,310 6,317 54,707 
1925 45,478 1,548 40,865 7,299 60,870 
1926 50,692 1,702 44,759 8,369 68,505 
1927 72,617 2,030 59,173 9,989 83,979 
1928 76,762 2,299 72,280 ll,199 90,761 
1929 81,260 2,489 76,149 12,361 98,361 
1930 66,356 2,533 78,134 13,372 89,ll5 
There are in 1931 seventy-five post-offices where banking 
facilities are offered and these are established all over the country. 
The sum of £89,ll5 does not indicate any great t endency to thrift 
amongst a population of over 3,000,000 people. The idea of a 
Savings Bank is not a new one. It was first established in 1887 ; 
but the progress of the idea of saving money does not seem too 
rapid. The same story is told by the two Banks which function 
in the Gold Coast, but figures of the amount held on deposits by 
them are of course not available in so far as local savings are 
concerned. 
Currency in Circulation. 
The coinage in use in the Gold Coast is issued by the West 
African Currency Board and consists of paper notes to the value 
of 20s. and lOs., alloy coins of 2s., Is., 6d., and 3d., and nickel 
coins of the value of Id., td., and 1/ 10d. 
Silver was withdrawn from circulation in 1921 and has been 
gradually sent to Great Britain to the total value of £2,590,000' I 
leaving a balance in the country of some £3ll,200 (estimate) . There 
has been issued a total of alloy coins to the value of approximately 
£9,068,054, of which it is estimated there are some £4,240,584 in 
the country, whilst the amount of nickel coinage in the Gold Coast 
has been valued at £57,889. 
Of paper money an estimate is difficult to reach. A very large 
percentage is withdrawn from circulation as soon as issued; and 
the amount in circulation varies according to seasons, so that the 
figures taken in December and in September differ to a very large 
extent. For instance in J anuary 1928 it was estimated that there 
wa:; £7,112,763 in circulation as against £4,9H,742 in Se:ptembeJ; 
120 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
' 1928 and in December 1928, £6,578,201 as against £4,200,228 in 
September of the following year. The explanation of this movement 
up and down is to be found in the fact that the African population 
not making use of the banks does not take advantage of the cheque 
system, and thrs in spite of the large volume of business he handles. 
However it can b e assumed that there is a sum approximating 
£500,000 paper money in circulation, so that the total currency 
required by the Gold Coast people for ordinary purposes amounts 
to some £5,000,000. • 
National Income. 
It is permissible from the precedmg data to form an estimate of 
the National Income of the country. Hitherto no such valuation has 
ever been undertaken, nor until recently was it possible in a country 
where monetary values were largely unknown. The following 
estimate is admittedly tentative and is in every respect formed 
on the most strictly conservative basis. It is an attempt to compute 
in terms of sterling th e sum total of the joint incomes of all the 
inhabitants of the Gold Coast and its dependencies, and being the 
first ,,,,,ill probably for some time to come form the basis on which all 
such estimates will be formed. The year 1930-31 is taken but the 
value of the imports and export are mostly those of the calandar 
year 1930. The usual divisions into two parts of such calculation 
are observed, viz., the liberal professions and the productive agencies. 
Estimate of the National Income of the Gold Coast 1930-31. 
A.-External and Internal Trade: 
£ 
1. Value of Domestic Products exported 9,910,688 
2. Value of Imports less coin and bullion ... 8,507,458 
3. Customs Receipts on Imports 1,854,435 
4. Estimate of trading profits on 2 and 3 at 15 per 
cent 1,554,283 
5. Estimate tum-over through petty traders, 
middlemen, etc., of 2, 3, 4 at 50 per cent 5,958,035 
6. Railway receipts, goods and passengers 949,142 
7. Posts, Telegraphs and Telephone receipts 11 3,824 
8. Customs Receipts on Exports ... 258,892 
9. Transport other than by rail of imports 250,000 
10. Transport other than by rail of exports 100,000 
11. Transport other than by rail of passengers 100,000 
(9, 10, and 11 based on 50 per cent of value 
estimated of 4,500 lorries at £200 each). 
12. Inland trading not based on Import and Exports 
(Building, local improvements, petty trading, 
confectionery, etc.) 100,000 
£30,556,757 
THE GOLD COAST, 193]:. 121 
B.-Liberal Professions: £ 
1. Government Servants 1,657,906 
2. Government Servants, unskilled labour 350,000 
3. Bankers, Dentists, Doctors, Lawyers, etc. 250,000 
4. Missions (calculated on returns of expenditure) 250,000 
5. Domestic Servants, etc. 50,000 
Total Liberal Professions £2,557,906 
C.-Agriculture and Forestry: 
1. Cacao-labour estimate at 24,000,000 man days 
at Is. 3d. to handle an annual crop of 240,000 
ton 1,500,000 
2. Cacao-brokerage at lOs. a ton ... 120,000 
3. Cacao-handling at 5s. a ton 60,000 
4. Other export crops-estimate 50 per cent of the 
value of other crops exported. 182,500 
5. Estimate of value of vegetable consumption at 
2d. per diem per capital of population 
3,160,386 9,612,640 
6. Local consumption of timber estimated at 
1,500,000 cu. ft. (Public Works 493,816) at 
3s. per cu. ft. 225,000 III 
7. Estimate of Labour for (6) at 20 per cent 45,000 
8. Firewood (rail and mines) 96,000 tons at 20s .... 96,000 Ii 
9. Fuel for local consumption at 1d. per diem per il 
capita 4,806,320 
10. Palm-wine and millet beer at 1d. per adult male 
per diem (974,457) 1,471,900 ~ 
11. Calabashes at 3d., pots at 4d. at two per each 1 
adult female per annum (931,726) 54,673 
12. Mats, mattresses, fruits, hats, leatherware, ~ 
stools, furniture, shea-butter, dawa-dawa, etc., *I i 
at 2s. per annum per capita of the population 316,038 
£18,509,398 
-----
D.-Fishing: 
1. 3,000 canoe-loads (2,032 enumerated at principal 
ports). 3 men per canoe. 200 days at lOs. 
each 900,000 
2. Sale of fish in markets, as above, + 20 per cent 1,080,000 
3. New Canoes-income to makers thereof at 600 
per anuum at £5 each ... 3,000 
£1,983, 000 
122 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
E.-1Vleat Trade: 
1. Value of Livestock imported overland 359,878 
2. Sale of 23,391,740 Ibs. of locally killed meat 
at Is. 1,169,587 
3. Estimate of cost of droving and handling 35,987 
4. Snails at td per diem per 'capita Ashanti popula-
tion 439,460 
5. Fowls at 4 per capita of total adult popUlation 
valued at Is. each 381,036 
6. Local meat at 1 per cent of imported 11,695 
£2,397,643 
F.-Mining: 
267 Europeans at £500 per annum 133,500 
12,380 Africans at 2s. 6d. per diem 564,377 
£697,877 
G.-lltfoior Ind~tstry: 
""'ages of 8,192 licensed Africans at £4 per month 393,216 
Passengers carried at 10 per day each lorry 
average fare 2s. about 4,000 lorries 1,460,000 
£1,853,216 
H. -MHnicipal Expenditlwe and Revenue abo,ttt 250,000 
Abstract, 
A. External and Internal Trade 30,556,757 
B, Liberal Profession 2,557,906 
C. Agriculture and Forestry 18,509,398 
D. Fishing 1,983,000 
E. Meat trade 2,397,643 
F. Mining 697,877 
G. Motor Industry 1,853,216 
H. Municipal Revenue and Wages". 250,000 
Total National Income ". £58,805,993 
That total represents on an obvious under-estimate an average 
income of £19 per head of the total population of the country. 
It compares not unfavourably with the most recent estimate of the 
national income of Great Britain £3,842,000,000 among a population 
of approximately 43,500,000 or £88 pel," capita of the people, 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 123 
CHAPTER V. 
THE CENSUS, 1931. 
Preliminary Survey-Assistance freely given-Census 
Ordinance-Date fixed-Cost of Census-Comparison with previous 
Censuses-Abnormal increase due to immigl'ation-Reasons for this 
movement-Density Returns-Zone of depopulousness-Sex and Age 
Statistics-Marriage conditions-Status of women-Occupational 
R eturns-A nalysis of Occupations-Female Occupations-Religion 
and Education of the people. 
The 1931 census was t he fifth census to be taken in the Gold 
Coast. The ealliest took place in 1891 and had been followed by 
further censuses at the end of every decennial period. Of these 
the 1891 and 1901 censuses cannot fairly be compared with the 
later ones as they covered only a portion of the present area of the 
Gold Coast and its dependencies. 
In 1891 the interior of the country was little known and a 
considerable section had not been visited by Europeans 
whilst in 1901 the rebellion in Ashanti could scarcely have assisted 
so paciiic an undertaking as the enumeration of the population. 
In each census report a greater degree of accuracy has been 
claimed for the accompanying statistics than for previous figures. 
The present is no exception; and it is only rational to presume that 
the complete opening up of the country, its settled and prosperous 
state, the absence, or nearly so, of suspicion of t he intentions 
behind Government's desire to count the people and a greater 
understanding of what was required have combined in the obtaining 
of a result which can be considered as nearly accurate as possible 
in a country where conditions are similar to those on the Gold Coast. 
A majority of the c.ensus officers were of the opinion that the 
figures collected by them are lower than they should have been 
by from 2 per cent to 10 per cent . No particular reasons were given 
for reaching this conclusion but it is probable that the knowledge 
that reluctance to count any valuable property is common througn-
out the Gold Coast and that the necessity of taking the count over 
a period of time automatically causes an error in the final compu-
tation prompted the expression of this fear. At the same time it 
must not be forgotten that there was a certain inducement for chiefs 
especially in the Colony to exaggerate. Not only do population 
figures form the basis of representation in the Provincial Councils, 
but they also usually provide the numQers on which 1;he issue ot 
124 THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 
gun permits, etc., are based and at the same time to certain chiefs, 
especially the northern ones, an exaggeration of the number of 
of one's subj ects adds glory and power to the monarch . 
It may be safely assumed that the accuracy of the 1931 census 
in so far as the actual numbers are concerned is greater than that 
of any previous census. This cannot however be said of the details. 
The analyses made lat er in this report will show how inaccurate 
these latter unfortunately remain. • 
The coun ting of the people appears to have been far simpler 
in its execution than at previous censuses. It is interesting in this 
respect to record the letter addressed at the time of the first census-
taking in the Gold Coast, in 1891, to the Chiefs whose people it was 
desired to count and compare it with the laconic method of 
announcing the same wish in 1931. 
At the former date the Governor addressed the following 
letter :-
" King, 
The Queen has expressed a wish to know how many subjects 
she has in the Gold Coast Protectorate, and has instructed 
you to obtain this information for her and send it t o the District 
Commissioner. 
I ask you, therefore, to number the people of all the towns 
and villages in your country, and when you have done this to 
let the District Commissioner of . . know how many 
males and how m any females you have in your country. 
I understand the wa,y you couIlt your people is to divide 
each town or village into companies, which are again sub-divided 
into families. The heads of families are then directed to drop 
into a calabash, or similar article provided for the purpose, a 
grain of corn or a cowrie, according to the number of their 
people-and that these calabashes are then collected and the 
contents counted. You will, therefore, I know, have no 
difficulty in doing what I ask you. 
I wish you to clearly understand that I am not asking 
you to do this in order to tax your people, or for any purpose 
but your good. The Government in requiring this information 
has no intention to tax you or interfere with your country, and 
I only want the information to give to the Queen. As a loyal 
King you will, I am sure, help me. You will see that it is for 
your advantage that I should !rnow how many people belong 
to your country in the same way that a shephered counts his 
sheep to know how many look to him for protection and care. 
In those of your towns where you have Hausas living, 
you must not forget to include them in the numbers. 
In order that you may be able to say how many males and 
how many females you have, I wish you to give instructions 
THE GOLD COAST, 1931. 125 
that when the numbering takes place different ar ticles are t o 
be used for each sex-that is to say, Indian Corn for males, and 
CO\Hies or Kernels for females. 
I am, King, 
Your good Friend, 
W. BRANDFORD GRIFFITH, 
Governor. " 
This method of counting by cowries or stones or similar 
convenient articles WaS still in force in 1921 in certain areas but the 
census recently taken seems to have dispensed with t hese substitutes 
and educated persons 'were employed in their stead. All that was 
considered necessary, apart from the usual courtesy letters to the 
paramount chiefs, to inform the public of the intention of 
Government was the following proclamation, which in order to 
ensure its widest publicity was printed on red paper with black 
lettering :-
No. 22. 1930. 
NOTICE. 
A Census of the Colony, Ashanti, the Northern Territories 
and Togoland under British Mandate will be taken on Sunday, 
the 26th April, 1931. 
Similar arrangements will be made as in 1921, and full 
particulars will be published in due course. Further 
information can be obtained from Captain A. W. Norris, 
Provincial Commissioner, P.O. Box No. 560, Accra (Telephone 
No. 266 Accra). 
G. C. DU BOULAY, 
ACCRA, Acting Colon'ial Secretary. 
14th October, 1930. 
At the same time that this notice was published there began a 
preliminary campaign to ascertain the number of houses there were 
in every village and to locate t he smaller farm or hunting villages 
which being more often than not of a temporary character are not 
usually known to the commissioners of the districts wherein they 
have been erected. 
This early but very necessary enumeration of houses was 
undertaken mainly by emissaries of the local Native Authorities 
but in some cases by specially engaged clerks, who sent in their 
returns on a form known as Form E which was drawn up as follows :-
FORM "E" 
RETURN OF I NHABITED HOUSES OR COMPOUNDS AND ESTIMATED 
POPULATION. 
Province ........... ................. . Division .............................. . 
Town or Village .. ... ... ... . .. ..... . District ....... ................. ..... .. 
i26 THE GOLD COAST, 193 I. 
, 
Name of Occupier. Type of Building. 1_ __R_ e_m_a_rk_-s_. __ 
The printed instructions to these enumerators were at the 
back and read :-
I NSTRUCTIONS. 
(1) This form is to be used fo r all Towns, Villages and Hamlets 
of all sizes. 
(2) In the "Remarks" column should be shewn a fi gure, 
estimating what is the population of the house or 
compound: this need only b e shewn against each house 
in the cases of towns which will be counted on census 
day under Fonn " B " or Special Form " B." 
In the cases of small villages and hamlets whi ch 
will be taken on Form " A " a total figure may be shewn 
for the whole lot, and m ore than one hamlet can be shewn 
on a page. 
(3) Enumerators in compiling Fonn " E " should, at the same 
t ime, submit a rough estimate as to how many copies 
of Form " C " and" D " will be required. 
(4) A " compound" is to be taken as a building having its own 
external or party wall s, no matter how it is divided up . 
The Forms "c" and " D " referred to those which it was 
intended to use ror Non-African statistics and the returns 
employed for the registration of the religions of the people 
respectively. Considerable difficulty was experienced, which for 
some time to come it seems will be inevitable, about the defini-
t ion of the word "compound". In the Gold Coast and its 
dependencies this term covers the whole gamut of inhabited houses 
from the Castle of the Governor to the fortified buildings containing 
possibly 100 or more persons, of the north, from the modern 
bungalow of the rich African to the grass tent of the herdsmen. 
The value of the return in its conception as a medical one to 
ascertain housing conditions, over-crowding or otherwise, is in 
the conditions prevailing on the Gold Coast, nil, but it forms the 
only possible preliminary factor on which a census could be taken 
in this count ry. Not only does it serve to familiarize the 
enumerators with what is wanted from them, but it also enables 
the district census officers to learn the whereabouts and the size 
of the hamlets hidden off the beaten path. 
r"HE GOLD COAST, 193I. 127 
Hitherto a t each census an enabling ordinance ad hoc had 
been enacted, but it was considered that from now on a definite 
ordinance should be placed among the Statutes of the Colony and 
with this end in view Ordinance No. 21 of 1930 was passed. 
AN OR.DINANCE to make provision for taking a Census 
of the inhabitants and livestock of the Colony as and 
when required. 
[19th D ecember, 1930. ] Date of com· 
mencement 
BE IT ENACTED by the Governor of the Gold Coast Colony, 
with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council 
thereof, as follows:-
1. This Ordinance may be cited as the Census Ordinance, Short title 
1930 . 
2. The Governor in Council may from time to time as Power to 
he may think fit by Order direct a census to be taken of order census 
the inhabitants and livestock of the Colony or any part 
thereof specified in such Order. 
3. (I) I t shall be lawful for the Governor to appoint a Appointment 
of census 
census officer, who, subject to the control of the Governor, officer, enume-
rators and 
shall have the general supervision and management of the other officers 
census, and shall a ppoint a sufficient number of persons duly 
qualified to act as enumerators for taking the census and 
also any other officers necessary for the purposes of carrying 
this Ordinance into effect. 
(2) Notice of the appointment of such en umerators and Gazetting of 
appointments 
any other officers shall be published in the Gazette. 
4. The census ~fficer shall cause to be prepared and Preparation 
printed, for the use of the persons to be employed in taking and issue of forms 
a census, such forms and in struction s as he may deem and instructions 
necessary, and in particular schedules to be filled up with 
such details as the Governor may consider necessary in 
order to insure, as far as possible, the completeness an d 
accuracy of the census returns. 
5. The enumerators and other persons employed under Penalty for 
this Ordinance shall have authority to ask all persons all refusal to give infor-
such questions as may be necessary for obtaining any of mation 
the particulars required by this Ordinance, and every person 
refusing to answer , or knowingly giving a false answer 
to any such question shall for every such refusal or false 
answer be liable to a fin e not exceeding fi ve pounds. 
6. Every person who- Penalty for" 
(a) without lawful excuse refuses or neglects to fill in refusa l to fill in schedule 
any schedule of deta il s as and when he may be of details 
required by the census officer or any officer acting 
on his behalf so to do; or 
128 THE GOLD COAST, 193I. 
(b) fills in a ny such schedule with detai ls which 11e 
knows to be false; hall be liable to a fine not 
exceeding five pounds. 
Submission of 7. Upon the completion of any census, the census officer 
an abstr;lct 
of returns shall cause an abstract of the return to be furnished to the 
to the 
Governor Governor. 
Similar Ordinances, Ashanti No. 9 of 1930, Northern Territories 
No.5 of 1930 and British Sphere of Togoland No.4 of 1930 were 
enacted to apply mutatis m~ttandis to these dependencies. 
In accordance with sections 2 and 3 of the above Ordinance a 
Government Notice to the effect that a census would be taken was 
published on 23rd February 1931, couched in the following terms :-
No.2. 1931. 
GOVERNMENT NOTICE. 
A census of the Colony, Ashanti, Northern Territories and 
Togoland under British Mandate, will be taken on Sunday the 
26th April, 1931. Each occupier, or head of a house, will be required 
to furnish a return of all people who slept in his or her house or 
premises on that night. 
2. imilar arrangements will be made by the Census Officers 
as in 1921 and the forms on which the Census will be taken are as 
follows :-
Form" A " for villages and small towns (Africans only) 
Form" B " for certain selected large towns (Africans only) 
Form" C" for all non-Africans • 
Fonn " D " for collecting data as to Religions 
Form " E " for inhabited houses. 
3. F oods#tffs.-District Census Officers will take a Census 
as to the price of the principal native foodstuffs on Census day, viz. , 
26th April. 
4. Captain A. W. Norris has been appointed Census Officer, 
with office at Accra (P.O. Box 560), and further information may 
be obtained from him, or from any District Census Officer. 
By His Excellency's Command, 
W. J. A. JONES, 
Acting Colonial Secretary. 
COLON IAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 
ACCRA, 
23rd Febr~tary, 1931. 
The forms referred to in the notice above were drawn up in the 
following terms :-