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 THE LIBRARY 
 
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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
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 West Africa the Elusive 
 
 BY 
 
 ALAN LETHBEIDGE 
 
 Author of «' The New Bussia," ♦' The Soul of the Russian 
 " Germany as it is to-day," &c. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JOHN BALE, SONS & DANIELSSON, LTD. 
 
 OXFORD HOUSE 
 
 83-91, GREAT TITOHFIELD STREET, OXFORD STREET, W. 1. 
 
 1921
 
 
 TO THE 
 
 " GENTLEMEN UNAFRAID," 
 
 WHO FORFEITED THEIR LIVES IN MAKING 
 
 BRITISH WEST AFRICA, 
 
 AND LIE AT REST, UNSUNG, AND FORGOTTEN 
 
 IN ITS SWAMPS, JUNGLES AND DESERTS, 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED. 
 
 1220135
 
 PEEFACE. 
 
 Books of travel may be divided into two categories : 
 those which describe what their writers are meant to see, 
 and consequently paint everything " coulem- de rose," 
 and those which are framed on critical lines. The latter, 
 if moderate and just, should be of practical benefit to 
 the countries concerned, though, as a rule, their authors 
 are not popular with all portions of the community. 
 I have tried in this book on West Africa to balance 
 the scales, and it has not been easy. When one is, so to 
 speak, a semi-official guest, it seems to savour of in- 
 gratitude to comment adversely on matters which attract 
 one's attention. Yet what was the object of my mission ? 
 I was sent by the Daily Telegrai^h, most certainly 
 not for a pleasure trip, but to describe West Africa of 
 to-day frankly and fearlessly, in order that this crowded 
 old England might decide whether the rather neglected 
 West African colonies had openings of which the coming 
 generation might avail itself. Obviously, gilding the 
 pill would be an outrage upon those who, troubling to 
 read what was written, felt drawn to take the plunge 
 only to discover the discrepancy between fiction and 
 fact. This is the worst propaganda conceivable. The 
 patent line of action to follow, therefore, is to point out 
 where abuses exist and show how they might be 
 remedied, and I do venture to suggest that the out- 
 sider, although he be a mere layman, can sometimes 
 grasp the flaw in a system, administrative or mercantile, 
 more quickly than those actually concerned. Moreover, 
 those in subordinate positions of Government depart- 
 ments or trading firms have long since learnt the fact
 
 VI. PREFACE 
 
 that the muzzling order is not confined to the canine 
 world and prefer to take the road of least resistance 
 rather than chance the loss of their livelihood through 
 dismissal. Nominally, those having grievances are 
 invited to ventilate them ; anyone with the slightest 
 West Coast experience knows that to be an amiable 
 legend. 
 
 The recent dissatisfaction in Nigeria, it is admitted in 
 a Government Report, portions of which I quote in 
 due course, showed that the temper of the official world 
 in that great colony had almost reached flash point. 
 Had this condition been ignored there would have been 
 serious trouble, and, as I write, there is still room and 
 to spare for amelioration of the lot of the Nigerian Civil 
 Servant. 
 
 On the Gold Coast conditions are easier ; the average 
 of prices is lower, since the railway is run on more 
 economical lines than in Nigeria and transport charges 
 are less. Liberia, the black man's Utopia, the paradise 
 of the fanatical emancipationist, I have touched upon 
 with the lightest of possible pens. That my remarks 
 gave the maximum of offence and that the local paper 
 described me as a " fit companion for gaol-birds," merely 
 made me smile. This opera-bouffe republic is an ana- 
 chronism in an era of advance when every corner of the 
 world is needed for serious exploitation. If it continues 
 to endure, it will be because of its wealth and the in- 
 evitable international jealousy its occupation by any one 
 Great Power would entail. So much by way of explana- 
 tion of the pages which follow. 
 
 I have certainly attempted to avoid wounding any 
 one's feelings, for at all times my wife and I have 
 received assistance, kindness and much consideration. 
 
 My thanks must first be extended to Lord Burn- 
 ham and the Daily Telegraph, who made the journey 
 possible. Next I must mention His Excellency Governor 
 Wilkinson of Sierra Leone and Mrs. Wilkinson, who, if 
 report be true, are saying good-bye shortly to this 
 flourishing little colony. Their loss will be very real, 
 for, faced with truly desperate difficulties over native 
 affairs, each in a separate manner has contributed to
 
 PREFACE Vll. 
 
 the continuing economic prosperity of what was once 
 " The White Man's Grave." Monsieur Crommelin, the 
 Liberian Minister to the Court of St. James, gave me 
 much friendly advice and counsel. General Guggisberg, 
 during a trying tour to those not regularly accustomed to 
 tropical travel, I grew to know well and learned to 
 appreciate the value of his friendship. A progressive 
 Governor in the broadest sense, the destinies of the 
 Gold Coast are in safe hands. To Major F. N. Jackson, 
 the Military Governor of British Togoland, and to Mrs. 
 Jackson my wife and I owe a debt of gratitude we 
 cannot adequately express. Sir Hugh Clifford, Governor 
 of Nigeria, extended to us official hospitality, for which 
 I thank him. To enumerate the names of all those who 
 showed us sympathy in fair weather and foul would 
 be impossible. They were legion, but I have not for- 
 gotten them and never shall. 
 
 Finally, I cannot close without grateful mention of 
 two great organizations — Messrs. Elder Dempster and 
 the Bank of British West Africa. Messrs. Elder 
 Dempster come in for a good many kicks, and it gives 
 me peculiar pleasure to record our personally happy 
 experiences in their ships. Many circumstances militate 
 against the satisfactory running of these vessels — 
 climate, crews, black labour, difficulties of adequate 
 storage and great length of voyage. So allowances 
 should be made and complainants should remember that 
 they are not the only folk with livers. The Bank of 
 British West Africa has helped many a " Coaster " over 
 a stile and continues the practice. Perhaps the knowledge 
 that strict business does not recognize sentiment and 
 that they break away from tradition to that extent is the 
 best recommendation I can give them, not forgetting 
 their habitual and never-failing courtesy. 
 
 It is unlikely that I shall ever see the West Coast 
 again, but with all its manifest faults it possesses a heart 
 as warm as the sun which shines upon it and holds out 
 a hand ready to shake that of a wayfarer. Let him 
 respond ; he will never regret it. 
 
 It is impossible for me to close this preface without 
 acknowledging the tremendous help I have received from
 
 Vlll. PREFACE 
 
 my wife in the preparation of this book. She accom- 
 panied me during the whole of the nine months I was 
 in West Africa, and the strain and fatigue must have 
 been very great. But on her return she insisted on 
 sharing the responsibilities of this volume, which if it 
 contains anything of value is entirely due to her 
 initiative. 
 
 Alan Lethbridge.
 
 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Why elusive ? The query is a very natural one, and 
 the answer is equally easy : Elusive because, in this 
 world of cramped spaces and increasing labour conges- 
 tion, here lie vast territories which convey practically 
 nothing to the average citizen, who, after all, is the 
 motive power behind the British Empire. True, there 
 is all the machinery of administration to be found there ; 
 soldiers, police, law courts, and schools. There are 
 banks and commercial undertakings of some magnitude. 
 There are mines and factories. Yet development has 
 been slow, very slow, crippled by that one fact that the 
 general public cannot grasp what West Africa means, 
 and might mean had it not been for so long " elusive." 
 
 Every schoolboy is inoculated with the microbe of a 
 superstitious dread of the " Coast." Grown men shake 
 their heads solemnly when it is mentioned. Mothers 
 and aunts roundly declare that their budding sons or 
 nephews shall never seek a living in such a horrible 
 place. Of course, this attitude is extreme. Every spot 
 has its drawbacks and people have been known to die 
 in Piccadilly. A leading London surgeon made a very 
 true remark when we were wilting under a perfect 
 fusillade of prophecies of the bad end to which we were 
 hastening by going to the Coast. It was a farewell 
 family party, and the lugubrity of comment was really 
 very funny. The medical man listened quietly, and 
 then dryly remarked, " Has it ever occurred to you, dear 
 people, that half my practice is obtained by the indis- 
 cretions of those who take liberties with themselves 
 simply because they are at home? Place them in a
 
 2 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 land where they sense latent danger, and, ipso facto, they 
 take every possible precaution, and quite probably their 
 health may even improve." Admiral Sir Reginald 
 Bacon, in his story of the Dover Patrol, puts exactly 
 the same thing in a different way. "However, as is 
 frequently the case, the more awkward a piece of navi- 
 gation the safer it really is, owing to the care and con- 
 centration of attention at the moment which become 
 necessary." And finally, what about the tight-rope 
 walker who was asked how his father died ? " He was 
 a tight-rope walker also,'' was his reply, " and he fell 
 from his rope in a circus and was smashed up." "I 
 wonder you care to follow in his steps ; you might come 
 to the same end," said his questioner. " Maybe, but 
 what happened to your father?" "Oh! he died in 
 bed." "Did he, now? Well, I wonder you aren't 
 afraid to follow in his steps and go to bed ! " This by 
 way of introduction. 
 
 Ships, like people, have individualities. A passenger 
 steamer bound for New York is as far removed from a 
 West African liner as chalk is from cheese. In the first 
 case there is fusion — that is to say, fusion which will take 
 place imperceptibly during and after the voyage. Its 
 logical sequence is the curious conglomeration of peoples 
 who make up the United States of to-day. Upon a 
 West African liner, rightly or wrongly, there is no 
 question of fusion. There are Government officials, 
 there are traders, there are missionaries, and, above all, 
 there are black men. If water and oil never assimilate, 
 then, most assuredly, these equally diverse elements 
 will never do so. There is a good deal to be said for 
 each. The missionary may strike one as extreme in his 
 point of view. The Government official has a different 
 angle of vision from that of the missionary or of the 
 trader. The black man stands aloof from all, and, 
 truth to tell, one wonders whether he is not smiling 
 perpetually at the affection displayed by the white man 
 for his own white brothers. But there is one point of 
 similarity amongst these conflicting elements, and that 
 is a wholesome dislike for the Coast, black men excepted. 
 It has become a sort of cult. Nothing that the Coast
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE d 
 
 can produce or will ever produce is aught but bad. We 
 did hear one officer say that the pineapples in Sierra 
 Leone were passable, while all agreed that the shooting 
 up in the bush was " decent." But otherwise the 
 Lamentations of Jeremiah paled into insignificance by 
 comparison. Now destructive criticism is a very simple 
 matter ; constructive criticism is not so easy. This 
 mental attitude, so common amongst "Coasters," is 
 largely induced by factors capable of alteration. The 
 most important of these factors we propose to mention, 
 and, we might add, in no spirit of malice, but merely be- 
 cause our mission would have been useless were we not 
 to comment with some freedom upon matters brought 
 to our notice. 
 
 No one will gainsay that, by and large, the influence 
 of womanhood is a stabilizing feature in the make-up 
 of manhood. More and more are men realizing that 
 " it is not good for man to live alone," and even a poor 
 specimen of her sex may have a civilizing influence. 
 To emphasize the point, the very fact that a white man 
 feels the responsibility of protecting his own women-folk 
 in a strange land is all for his good. The time has 
 arrived when a man of common sense values the com- 
 panionship of a woman more than her looks, and, to the 
 credit of the woman be it said, it is usually the man 
 who is responsible for keeping her safe in England, even 
 when accommodation is available on the Coast or up 
 country. A great deal has been written about the 
 iniquities, so-called, of those white men who, perforce, 
 make their home or their living in West Africa. No 
 one would suggest that they are plaster saints, and, to 
 their everlasting credit, they would be the first, indivi- 
 dually and collectively, to deny it. But undoubtedly the 
 absence of feminine influence, of those little touches 
 which mean so much and represent " home," must 
 aggravate any tendency towards the common or garden 
 vices to which human nature is ever liable. At the end 
 of a full day's work in a comparatively lonely station, 
 what is there to do ? And it must be pointed out that 
 the white population living in what might be described 
 as "towns" in West Africa is very small. Some may
 
 4 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 find solace in shooting, though that represents expense 
 which many a youngster cannot afford. Sometimes 
 there may be a tennis court, though this is rare. But 
 it is impossible to shoot or to play tennis when it is 
 dark. So what is there to do? The temptations are 
 obvious. An enervating climate and loneliness will play 
 the devil with anyone. The first essential needed to 
 make of West Africa a country where life may be lived 
 under normal conditions is proper accommodation; the 
 second, sufficient salaries to encourage domestic life. 
 Towards this consummation there are no insuperable 
 difficulties. It is as easy to build a bungalow of a 
 proper design, comfortable and commodious — most im- 
 portant essentials in the tropics — in West Africa as in 
 India. Encourage this practice, and the whole aspect 
 of life on the Coast will be altered. Granted that the 
 colonization of this portion of the globe will never be 
 effectually achieved by white men, yet, by the intro- 
 duction of such methods as have been outlined, there 
 appears to us to be no particular reason why West 
 Africa should bear a stigma which is not wholly justified. 
 For too long has West Africa been regarded as a sort 
 of refuge for the destitute, as a species of dustheap of 
 the Empire. Yet I remember that the late Mr. Joseph 
 Chamberlain, when speaking at a Guildhall banquet, 
 made a comment to the following effect : " As long as 
 Great Britain can produce the type of men who are 
 working to-day as administrators, soldiers or traders 
 under the extremely disadvantageous conditions at 
 present existing in West Africa, so long need we have 
 no fear of the future of the British Empire." Those 
 words probably had their little effect as a mental tonic 
 upon the Coaster, whatever his calling, sweating and 
 struggling, doing his best for the commonweal. And 
 it has not been in vain. It would be useless to say that 
 there are not pronounced antagonisms between class 
 and class ; it would be ridiculous to state that the 
 missionary and the trader, the soldier and the political 
 officer always see eye to eye. They do not. And yet, 
 such is the contrariness of nature, there has undoubtedly 
 been born a species of freemasonry which binds these
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 5 
 
 very different people together. It is rather reminiscent 
 of the story told of an Irish soldier who heard a dis- 
 paraging remark made about the late Queen Victoria 
 at a wayside station in, let us say, County Mayo. 
 Having knocked the offender down, and being asked 
 for an explanation, he replied, "Faith, she's my Queen 
 and I can say what I want about her, but it's not for the 
 likes of you, ye spalpeen ! " 
 
 Such is the spirit of the Coast. 
 
 Las Palmas, capital of Grand Canary, may well be 
 called the gateway to the West Coast. Were statistics 
 available it would be interesting to know how many 
 " Coasters," outward and homeward bound, pass through 
 here in a year, while it might be saddening to discover 
 the number who have made this their final resting place. 
 Time was when it was the popular thing, in order to 
 avoid giving the Coast an unnecessarily bad name, hastily 
 to ship off the very ill to Las Palmas, there to let them 
 die or recover as fate ordained. At least, so legend has 
 it. Things have altered now, since Elder Dempster 
 maintain a certain number of direct sailings between 
 Liverpool, Sierra Leone, and Lagos, which means a 
 saving of some days if nothing else. A little practice in 
 the gentle art of deduction and it is quite possible to 
 differentiate between the outward bound " Coaster " and 
 the homeward bound. The former is spick and span 
 in beautiful new clothes, but usually is hard up, while 
 the latter is badly in need of additions to his wardrobe, 
 but is distinctly " flush." Those from the West Coast 
 form a curious and transient community of their own 
 in Grand Canary, seldom mixing with the tourists, who 
 under normal conditions throng the island. Undoubtedly, 
 time permitting, the best plan is to stay in the interior 
 of the island, where, at Monte, is an excellent hotel, run 
 by an Englishman, and greatly patronized by jaded 
 " Coasters " who are trying to recover from the effects 
 of the West African climate, which not only saps their 
 vitality, but often upsets the nervous system. What 
 could be a more delightful contrast to their usual environ- 
 ment than semi-Alpine scenery, a garden brilliant with
 
 b WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 subtropical flowers and plants, cool and invigorating 
 breezes from the hills, and — absolute quiet ? 
 
 Getting to Monte is quite an experience. The road 
 is steep and tortuous, and Spanish chauffeurs are not 
 too reliable, though, to be sure, there is no speed limit 
 on the island. Our car broke down just as it grew 
 dusk, and since we were about six miles from our 
 destination, and the driver conclusively proved himself 
 no mechanic, the position did not appear promising. 
 We had no Spanish, and he knew no English ; neither, 
 for that matter, did those who were to prove friends in 
 need. The inevitable " Ford " approached, stopped, 
 and four men and a child simultaneously alighted. Then 
 ensued a perfect pandemonium, everyone talked at once 
 and gesticulated wildly. Our motor gave an excellent and 
 prolonged imitation of a Maxim gun. In the intervals 
 of this concert the family history of the owners of the 
 "Ford" was given us in broken French by the only 
 linguist of the party. One was an engineer, another a 
 lawyer, another a widower and the father of an extremely 
 shy " Carmencita," who viewed us with great suspicion. 
 At last our car was pronounced by the engineer and his 
 chauffeur to be capable of proceeding. We all shook 
 hands and bowed solemnly. Our driver climbed into 
 bis seat to the accompaniment of more farewells. There 
 was more Maxim-gun noise, and — the car refused to 
 move ! After that everything was begun all over again, 
 and the skies grew dark. Finally, the engineer, by dint 
 of the most vivid pantomime and a torrent of words, 
 started our car himself, and we continued on our way 
 with no lamps, up a winding road to Monte. 
 
 It may seem that we have harped too much upon 
 questions of health, but the fact is that this particular 
 source of conversation is never long left untapped. There 
 are the pessimists who regard this tour of service as 
 their last, and there are optimists who aver that the 
 Coast is " all right." One of those best qualified to 
 speak with authority on the point told us that he had 
 lived in Sierra Leone on and off for 20 odd j^ears. 
 He had had blackwater fever eight times — that, surely, 
 is a record — enteric twice, and had been actually carried
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 7 
 
 on to the ocean steamer four times, so grave was his 
 condition. Yet he looked as hearty and jolly as a sand- 
 boy, and was returning in our ship with never a quake 
 for the future. Moreover, he was accompanied by his 
 wife, a fragile, charming woman, who had been with 
 her husband most of those trying years. That speaks 
 for itself. Pluck goes a long way towards good health, 
 a deal farther than many realize.
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Liberia is included in this volume for two reasons. 
 Its unexplored riches, accounts of which reach England 
 in vague whispers from sources reliable and otherwise, 
 the tales of "big game," its agricultural productivity, 
 all stimulate the imagination and the desire for gain or 
 sport. Therefore, it is as well that the venturesome 
 should realize the difference between this Black Republic 
 and the Colonies which form its boundaries. Also, we 
 were fortunate to witness at Monrovia the inauguration 
 of the new President, a ceremony which takes place — as 
 it does in America — every four years, and our description, 
 slight though it may be, may give pause to those 
 enthusiasts who seem to think that "all men were 
 created equal," and that that equality includes mentality 
 and the ability for self-government. 
 
 Liberia is a curious little State. It is situated in a 
 sort of backwater ; it is seemingly forgotten by the 
 hurrying liners wending their way to British, French, 
 or Spanish West African Colonies, as also by the giant 
 ships trading to South African ports. Mails arrive 
 rarely and irregularly,* and, in consequence thereof, trade 
 and commerce must suffer. Now, granted that its 
 geographical situation renders it rather difficult of 
 access, granted that the war has hit it mercilessly, owing 
 to tonnage sunk and consequent paucity of vessels, yet 
 the fault of this seclusion cannot be said to rest solely, 
 or even mainly, upon these two factors. Ever since 
 1848, when Liberia was recognized for the first time in 
 history as an independent republic — let it be noted that 
 this recognition came first from Great Britain, secondly 
 
 * Thanks to the enterprise of Messrs. Elder Dempster, this has 
 recently been much improved.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 9 
 
 from France, and finally (fourteen years later) from 
 America — it appears to have been the policy of her 
 Government to discourage all outside enterprise. Instead 
 of choosing as a motto "Advance Liberia!" they 
 apparently adopted the old parrot cry, "Liberia for 
 the Liberians." This, no doubt, is a very pleasant- 
 sounding phrase, very gratifying to the self-satisfied 
 Liberian citizen — though an outsider w^ould at first be 
 under the delusion that to discover such an individual 
 would be an impossible task. But a little investigation 
 soon show^s that most of the Liberians — be they frock- 
 coated or barefooted — come under this head. Thus^ 
 during the seventy-two years of her independence^ 
 Liberia has been content to sleep instead of watching 
 closely the march of events, whatever these might be — 
 social, economic, scientific, or international. Vast areas 
 of her territory remain unmapped and even unexplored. 
 There are no roads, no railways, no internal telegraphic 
 communication, no steamboats on her rivers, no system- 
 atization of her agriculture, no practical exploitation of 
 her undeniable mineral wealth ; truly she has remained 
 a hermit Eepublic. Offers of outside aid have been 
 accepted — on paper. Attempts have been made to open 
 up trade in the interior ; the Liberian Legislature 
 promptly passed ordinances forbidding any foreigner to 
 possess real estate except at certain specified locations 
 on the coast. In 1908 the Liberian Frontier Force was 
 to be reorganized ; at the request of the then President, 
 Barclay — in the opinion of many the most astute 
 President Liberia has yet had — Major Mackay Cadell 
 and two other ofiicers of the British Army were 
 appointed for this purpose. That they carried out their 
 task extremely well, that they were beloved by their 
 soldiers, recruited from the actual native tribes, such as 
 the Mandingoes and Vais, that they instilled discipline 
 and esprit cle corps into the Force has been asserted to 
 us by the late Commandant, Major Anderson, a coloured 
 officer from the United States Army, whose time of 
 service in Liberia has now expired. Their success, 
 however, apparently irritated the Legislature, and was 
 the cause of their undoing, and they were forced to 
 resign.
 
 10 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 The finances of the Republic were in a very pre- 
 carious condition; money must be had at all costs, or 
 national bankruptcy, internal rebellion, and rioting 
 would result. Yet the Liberian of the governing class, 
 with a superb indifference to common-sense finance, 
 refused to allow the thesis that the creditor has an 
 unquestionable right to demand some form of monetary 
 security upon cash advanced to a borrower. After 
 interminable argument, the Customs was pledged, and 
 €ven to-day this fact is a very real thorn in the flesh of 
 the so-called Liberian patriot. 
 
 At length the time has arrived when a change must 
 be made. Liberia has only two alternatives. Either 
 she continues her career of stagnation and indifference, 
 in which case she will undoubtedly merit her then 
 unavoidable fate of obliteration from the list of inde- 
 pendent States, or she may advance and develop along 
 normal lines, guided by friendly and sympathetic help 
 from the great outside world, in which case there is 
 every possible reason why she should become an 
 immensely rich, thriving, and prosperous country, with 
 a teeming, happy population, the Utopia of those 
 coloured philanthropists who, without ulterior motives, 
 have fought for the betterment of the native races. 
 This is the legacy which has been bequeathed to the 
 new President, the Hon. Charles King, to whom the 
 eyes of the world will now turn. What of him, then ? 
 
 Let us first describe him at home as we originally saw 
 him. President King is a man of marked individuality. 
 Of medium height and spare frame, he has whiskers of 
 the Prince Consort type, which probably make him look 
 older than his years. His experiences in Paris at the 
 Peace Conference and his subsequent visits to England 
 and America, have without doubt robbed him of any 
 illusions he might have originally possessed. He is 
 outspoken, surprisingly outspoken, for, as a rule, the 
 man of colour plus education is on the defensive, as 
 though he were trying to peer behind one's eyes and 
 read what lies beyond. Gifted with a keen sense of 
 humour, he could smile without bitterness at the 
 idiosyncrasies of his fellow-countrymen, and also at the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 11 
 
 very manifest intrigues which took place daily amongst 
 the pseudo-international diplomats who suddenly arrived 
 at Monrovia in remarkable quantities. So much for the 
 man. The President's wife is a woman of really rare 
 charm. Although a native-born Liberian she was 
 educated at Washington, and combines with a most 
 musical speaking voice and spontaneous smile the 
 ability to say the right thing at the right time and in 
 exactly the right way. The keynote of their home life 
 was evidently simplicity. Though the President-elect, 
 as he was when we first saw him, was garbed in the 
 conventional frock coat and white waistcoat of the upper- 
 class Liberian, the room in which we were received 
 might well have belonged to one of his humbler country- 
 men. Two or three easy chairs, an upright piano, and 
 a few framed photographs ; nothing here to support the 
 tales of extravagance which one had heard of other new- 
 comers to the Executive Mansion. 
 
 After the customary greetings, we were told that, as 
 far as he knew, we were the first representatives of a 
 great daily newspaper ever especially to visit the 
 Eepublic, that he fully realized the value of publicity, 
 particularly to a small State like Liberia, and that he 
 hoped that since this attention had once been extended 
 it might continue, and that the Daily Telegraph would, 
 in the future, voice Liberia's needs. We then made 
 some comments of a trivial nature upon Monrovia. 
 
 " It is pretty," he said, "but, of course, it is merely a 
 jumble of bungalows and houses put down without 
 method in the bush. I must have roads, proper roads, 
 and that is one of the first things I am going to see to ; 
 that and the building of a new capital on modern and 
 up-to-date lines, right away up country." 
 
 This was an eye-opener, indeed, for us. Certainly 
 here was advance, and no mistake. 
 
 "You see," continued the President-elect, "this is a 
 ridiculous situation for the capital of a country like 
 Liberia, with great depth of hinterland. Up country 
 we have many different tribes speaking different 
 languages. They seldom or never come to Monrovia, 
 partially, no doubt, because they cannot spare the time
 
 12 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 to make a tedious journey, of, maybe, fourteen or 
 fifteen days in order to pay their respects, while obtaining 
 no commensurate advantage. Hence we never get to 
 know each other, and, as you will readily understand, 
 bad feeling may thereupon ensue, leading ultimately to 
 acts of violence and aggression necessitating the employ- 
 ment of armed force to restore peace. If we are going 
 to develop, as develop we must, we must wake up to 
 facts, move the capital, as I say, and as a start, until we 
 can have a railway, make a really good motor road." 
 
 " You are evidently a behever in motor transport," 
 was our comment. 
 
 " Certainly. If an army in the field can be fed by 
 such means, then undoubtedly, as a start, and pending 
 the completion of a railway, which must take time, and 
 also costs a great deal of money, here is a solution. Get 
 started ! That is the whole point. 
 
 " Then the question of finance. Liberia is enormously 
 rich. She has rubber, timber in the upper regions, 
 piassava (our chief export), palm oil and kernels, 
 ginger, rice and coffee, and Calabar beans. Not so bad a 
 list, is it ? Oh ! and then — yes — I had forgotten ivory. 
 Even in 1917, when everybody's energies had been 
 employed in a different direction, we exported nearly 
 two tons weight." 
 
 Here we interrupted : " But Sir Alfred Sharp, in a 
 recent speech, said he had been miles through a Liberian 
 forest and had never seen any game." 
 
 " Then he must have gone to the wrong locations,, 
 since ivory does not grow upon trees," was the dry 
 reply. "And as a matter of fact, in the north-easterly 
 portion of the Republic, which is seldom if ever visited 
 by Europeans, there are plenty of elephants and many 
 other wild animals besides." 
 
 " Gold? " we queried. 
 
 "An industry requiring development. Chiefly from 
 alluvial washings, we managed to export, in 1917, about 
 £6,500 of the raw article. And, considering that we 
 have no modern apparatus nor appliances and no skilled 
 engineers, that speaks for itself." 
 
 We then turned to the question of immigration.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 13 
 
 " There are three classes of people we do not want," 
 said Mr. King, with a rather grim smile : " first and 
 foremost, we don't want coloured politicians. We have 
 plenty of them here. Secondly, we have no need of 
 unskilled labour. Of that also we have plenty. Thirdly, 
 it is quite useless for anybody to come here with a view 
 of settling down, unless possessed of a certain amount of 
 capital. Monrovia itself is congested, and if people come 
 out they must be in a position to build their own houses 
 and stock their own stores, and wait patiently until, the 
 country having finally awakened, as it certainly will if I 
 have anything to do with it, they see their profits 
 assured. 
 
 " Similarly, we must have steamers for the produce of 
 the agriculturists ; we must arouse interest, by one means 
 or another, in our mineral deposits ; in fact, we must 
 awake a healthy curiosity as to what can be done in 
 Liberia with competent aid, and then I feel assured that 
 the future of this country, of which I am the chosen 
 leader, is safe." 
 
 With that our interview came to an end, Mrs. King in 
 her soft voice adding, as we descended the stairs, that 
 she looked forward particularly to seeing us at the cere- 
 mony of the inauguration, and they both assured us of 
 their keen regret that we were obliged to leave the 
 country so soon after that event. 
 
 Like a good many other places, Monrovia is distinctly 
 attractive when viewed from a distance, but this attract- 
 tion diminishes in the same ratio as the distance de- 
 creases. Seen from a steamer, one has the impression 
 of a green, hilly promontory, dotted with red-roofed 
 bungalows. One's first disillusionment comes with the 
 landing, which is made in surf boats owing to a 
 dangerous bar which must be crossed to reach the town, 
 and which annually takes a heavy toll of life and 
 property. For the benefit of the uninitiated, it may be 
 explained that the average surf-boat is from six to seven 
 feet deep, struts, to give additional strength, taking the 
 place of seats. Hand luggage and passengers are 
 literally thrown in without discrimination, and one 
 stands, very possibly, on one's kitbag while steadying
 
 14 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 oneself by clutching at the shoulder of one's next-door 
 neighbour, while the thermometer registers 110 in the 
 distant shade. 
 
 The Customs House is typical of the Liberia of to- 
 day. It is an edifice composed of corrugated iron and 
 kerosene tins ; it is also the playground of all the small 
 Monrovians, and it is only the fact that but few travellers 
 arrive at one time which prevents the loss of luggage. 
 Needless to say, lodgings are practically non-existent, 
 with the exception of one hotel, so-called, the advertise- 
 ment for which, taken from a native paper, really must 
 be quoted in full : " Faukner's Hotel and Ice Cream 
 Parlor. Ice Cream, Cakes and Candies, Cold Drinks. 
 You Owe It To Yourself To Satisfy That Thirst. So 
 Don't Forget To Drop In At Faukner's. Boarders and 
 Lodgers Received At Fairly Reasonable Rates." The 
 latter part of the advertisement is certainly naive. 
 
 Be it said that Mr. Faukner is the Mayor of Monrovia. 
 He is an enterprising negro from North Carolina, and 
 has latterly become a Liberian for business purposes. 
 His idea of a fairly reasonable price is anything from 
 a pound to thirty shillings a day for food and accommo- 
 dation which one would hesitate to offer to a steerage 
 passenger. A gentleman of resource, this ! He runs an 
 ice plant, and in this thirsty land people will part with 
 almost anything in exchange for this precious substance ; 
 hence his profits are gigantic. His "Hotel and Ice- 
 Cream Parlor" were formerly German property, which 
 being estreated, had been handed over to him free of 
 rent and all charges on the understanding that he should 
 keep it in repair.* When the whole Liberian navy sank 
 at its moorings — in other words, the septuagenarian 
 gunboat Lark, a gift from the British Admiralty in the 
 middle of the last century — it was Mr. Faukner whose 
 mechanical skill was consulted. If a ship runs short 
 of coal Mr. Faukner will supply unlimited wood — at a 
 price. Naturally, he arranges the official and municipal 
 
 * In justice to Liberia this statement is open to question ; at the 
 same time I have not equivalent evidence to contradict it " in toto." 
 —The Author.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE !& 
 
 banquets, and since he is always present at both, one 
 may be certain that the menu will be suitable to the 
 occasion. He has something to do with the post office 
 and is a police court magistrate. In fact, this remark- 
 able man, starting from nothing, has made himself 
 the Eockefeller of Liberia. The fascinations of the 
 ubiquitous Mr. Faukner (who always greeted us warmly,, 
 in spite of the fact that we did not patronize his " Hotel 
 and Ice-Cream Parlor ") have caused this digression. 
 
 We were fortunate in finding accommodation with 
 Messrs. Elder Dempster's agent. Captain Beard, who 
 was the possessor of an airy bungalow looking down over 
 the mountain paths and empty tins which represent the 
 streets of Monrovia. The only creature in Monrovia 
 who enjoyed the tins was Cuthbert, Captain Beard's fox- 
 terrier. Cuthbert was a very original person and no 
 account of Monrovia would be complete without him. 
 To begin with, he had selected his own name : no 
 " Spot," or " Dash," or " Jack " for him. He heard the 
 name of Cuthbert one day, liked it and answered to it 
 ever after. His fondness for tins grew a little wearisome 
 at times, for he demanded that they be thrown for him 
 and he would then start in pursuit with shrieks of joy 
 which never ceased until he had retrieved the identical 
 tin from its resting place and brought it back, panting,, 
 to the verandah. Tins were his obsession. On one 
 occasion we were invited out to tea, Cuthbert accom- 
 panying us. 
 
 "There are no tins here," said his master, "and 
 we may enjoy a little peace." 
 
 Hardly were the words out of his mouth when we 
 beheld Cuthbert, his eyes pleadingly searching for a 
 likely victim, his long undocked tail wagging, and one 
 slender paw placed on a tin so antique that it made it& 
 presence known of its own accord. Where he had found 
 it no one could say. He was an excellent dog in every 
 other respect, devoted to his owner and a good guard,, 
 and we trust that when he goes with the other good dogs 
 to the Dog Star he will find plenty of tins to make him 
 happy. 
 
 Our "boys," fresh from Sierra Leone, did not enjoy
 
 16 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Monrovia with its unfamiliar population and its scarcity 
 of food. One came to us with a very lugubrious face 
 and announced " Plenty bad place this ; I go chase 
 chop, I no catch urn." In spite of the fact that they 
 both adopted the latest Liberian fashion in hair cutting 
 <the head closely shaved with the exception of a chaste 
 rosette of wool in the middle of the front), they were 
 very glad to move on to a land where " chop " was more 
 easily " caught." Also they were for ever cutting their 
 feet on the broken glass which is sprinkled on the roads. 
 
 These chamois tracks which take the place of streets 
 .are in a bad condition, which may be gathered from the 
 following excerpt from an editorial in the Liberian 
 News. "It is truly a great blessing to us here that 
 there are but few snakes and poisonous reptiles in the 
 xiity, for if there were, many of us would often suffer 
 from their bites. The time has now come for us not 
 only to adorn and beautify our houses, but also to adorn 
 and beautify our city." There are absolutely no sanitary 
 arrangements of even the most primitive sort, and 
 there is no hospital. Seven years ago, in a burst of 
 enthusiasm, the Government decided to build one and 
 sent for an European doctor to advise. In due course 
 he arrived and happily is still there, enjoying, as might 
 be expected, a tremendous practice, but the hospital has 
 never been built. 
 
 There are no horses on account of the tsetse fly, no 
 motors, rickshaws, or other wheeled vehicles, for obvious 
 reasons, and the only hammock is that possessed by the 
 officer commanding the Liberian Frontier Force. Natur- 
 ally, there is no street lighting. There is no drinking 
 water, and not infrequently food supplies for the Euro- 
 pean colony run out and strict rationing is the order of 
 the day until a ship arrives. When we were there, there 
 was no sugar, milk, meat or eggs in Monrovia. But in 
 spite of this happy-go-lucky state of affairs the dignity 
 of the Senate, consisting of nine members, and of the 
 House of Eepresentatives, consisting of fourteen mem- 
 bers, is such that any member of either arriving at Par- 
 liament House not properly attired is liable to a fine of 
 5 dollars, or £1. Proper attire consists of a black frock
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 17 
 
 coat, patent leather boots, white waistcoat and a top hat. 
 Truly, Monrovia is a city of extremes ! 
 
 The largest house in the place, as might be expected, 
 is the White House, or Executive Mansion as it is more 
 frequently called. It is a three-storied building with 
 verandahs on all sides, and was originally intended for 
 an hotel. It looks comfortable, but President King told 
 us that, in his opinion, the rooms were too small. This 
 doubtless will be remedied, like a great many other 
 things, once he gets into his Presidential stride. The 
 Bank of British West Africa have a fine building also, 
 but it lacks verandahs and stands low, which in a place 
 such as this is a mistake. For the rest, all the good 
 houses owe their genesis to German effort ; they have 
 now been taken over and given away to officials, which 
 is one way of solving the housing problem. 
 
 It must be remarked that Liberia was the only State 
 at war with Germany which expelled every German from 
 within its gates and sequestrated all their property. 
 Before the war there were about 100 German citizens 
 in Monrovia alone ; Liberia was rapidly becoming a 
 German Protectorate. They controlled a giant wireless 
 plant there, and had evidently made all the necessary 
 arrangements for using that country as a very vital link 
 in the chain of their Colonial possessions. No wonder 
 then, that when Liberia made her fateful and, for her, 
 fortunate decision, German fury boiled over, and the 
 outrage was committed of bombarding the unfortunate 
 little unarmed town of Monrovia. 
 
 We asked a Liberian official "What did you do? " 
 
 ''What could we do?" was the answer. "We had 
 no cannon, no arms of any kind that could reach them, 
 so we just waited for help to come." 
 
 And yet, is it possible that a subtle infiltration of 
 German influence has already made itself felt ? No one 
 has ever accused the Spaniards of a marked preference 
 for tropical exploitation for many centuries. Why, then, 
 this sudden influx of Spanish traders thither, an influx 
 which seemed to cause a certain amount of malaise to 
 the authorities, and which provided ample food for 
 thought to British and French traders already upon the 
 2
 
 18 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 spot? It really was most remarkable. Prior to the 
 war there were not half a dozen Spaniards in all Liberia. 
 In 1919, every steamer was landing several, and if the 
 average should continue it will not be long before Spain 
 will be numerically the most influential foreign colony. 
 Can it be, then, that Germany, realizing her lost chances 
 in this land of budding opportunity, in this land which 
 must and will, we are sure, emerge from the slumber of 
 over half a century, is using as her agents aliens to 
 German soil? The suggestion is not far-fetched. On 
 the contrary, it is uncomfortably probable. Hence the 
 necessity for Britons to study this little hermit Republic ; 
 that is to say, if they desire to profit while there is yet 
 time. Given resource, patience, perseverance, and, above 
 all, tact, anything may be accomplished here. Mr. 
 Mitchell, the Comptroller of Customs, gave us informa- 
 tion which confirmed this. He is a native of Virginia — 
 " a white man " in every sense of the word — and knows 
 his black brethren thoroughly. During his stay in 
 Liberia he had visited portions of the country where no 
 other foreigners had ever penetrated, and the great 
 untapped mineral wealth in certain districts had vastly 
 impressed him. Should it be Liberia's desire, the period 
 of her stagnation is over. But she will have to change 
 iier motto before real prosperity is hers.
 
 19 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 On the day of the Inauguration we began by wishing 
 temporary deafness had been vouchsafed to us. The 
 Liberian National Anthem heard, not once but a hun- 
 dred times, on an extremely hot morning, screamed, 
 shouted and yelled to the accompaniment of a number 
 of drums and an intermittent fife or two, is enough to 
 try the patience of a saint. And there are few saints 
 in West Africa — until they are dead, at any rate. The 
 Liberians take their patriotism very seriously and enjoy 
 enormously the sentiment of this poem, of which we 
 give the first verse : — 
 
 " With heart and hand our country's cause defending, 
 We meet the foe with valour unpretending. 
 Long hve Liberia's happy land, 
 A home of glorious liberty, by God's command." 
 
 But to return to our piece de resistance^ the In- 
 auguration, It took place in what is known as the 
 " Square," flanked on one side by the Congressional 
 Building — used on Friday nights as a cinema hall — on 
 another side by the United States Legation, while 
 facing the presidential chair, as it was arranged for the 
 ceremony, are the "Dutch House" and War Depart- 
 ment, the latter the old Executive Mansion. A clump 
 of trees afforded some shade to the platform upon which 
 we were seated, but the heat was stupendous and it 
 was obvious that even the President felt it. Nominally 
 the ceremony was fixed for ten o'clock, but, in point of 
 fact, there was considerable delay, and the choir did not 
 break into Mozart's " Let us with a joyful mind " until 
 well past eleven. 
 
 The interim, however, had not been uninteresting. 
 First and foremost, a detachment of the Liberian 
 Frontier Force claimed our attention. They really are
 
 20 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 an efficient corps, even if, as the Australians remarked 
 about a certain American regiment, " they are a bit 
 rough." Their uniform consists of the conventional 
 khaki shirt and shorts, with a red fez, and they look as 
 if they meant business. They are recruited from the 
 native races of the interior, and let it be written quite 
 frankly, that is all in their favour. Then there was the 
 Militia, a heterogeneous body — gaiters of leather or 
 canvas, buttoned, laced, or tied with string; brown boots, 
 black boots, white shoes, black shoes ; pink shirts and 
 khaki ones : stiff collars protected by handkerchiefs, or 
 no collars at all. Majors and officers of superior rank 
 wore sporting uniforms, which, at a hazard, were dis- 
 carded by the United States Army before 1860. The 
 Militia also possessed several bands — bands of a wonder- 
 ful type, composed mainly of brass instruments of great 
 size and volume, and of drums. That their repertoire 
 was not extensive mattered not one whit. A Liberian 
 crowd is not highly critical in the musical line, and noise 
 compensates for many shortcomings. Finally mention 
 must be made of the navy. Though the Liberian navy 
 lies at the bottom of the ocean, its personnel still exists, 
 and its commander is the ex-President's brother. Captain 
 Howard, who wears a uniform similar in many respects 
 to that of a captain, R.N. He has under his command 
 some thirty or forty bluejackets, whose duties we were 
 never able to ascertain, though they certainly lent colour 
 to the inaugural proceedings. 
 
 Thanks to the courtesy of the President, we had ex- 
 cellent seats on a line with the presidential chair, and 
 just behind the Corps Diplomatique. Behind us were 
 banked the choir, consisting of about sixty men and 
 maidens under the conductorship of a most versatile 
 personage, who, in private life, was a bar tender. There 
 being no carriages or other means of conveyance, the 
 President must, perforce, walk ; and thus he made his 
 appearance, preceded by the inevitable band and heralded 
 by the Marshal of Ceremonies, who wore a uniform not 
 dissimilar to that of a British Admiral of the Fleet. 
 Then the choir sang and the inauguration began in 
 earnest.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 21 
 
 The administration of the oaths of office to the Pre- 
 sident and Vice-President, virtually the most important 
 portion of the proceedings, occupied a very few moments. 
 But not so the Presidential address. President King 
 had a good deal to say. It took him approximately an 
 hour ; and if he be strong enough to insist upon the 
 legislation he outlined therein, then Liberia really will 
 advance, and will leave behind her the stigma of unpaid 
 debts, corrupt administration, and a national policy which 
 the most charitable can only describe as laissez-faire. 
 The President spoke under great disadvantage. There 
 was an incessant noise from the people outside the stand. 
 Occasionally some playful spirit would let off a firework, 
 and there was one gentleman who wanted all and sundry 
 to know that he could blow a bugle. These distractions 
 were not helpful, and it says a good deal for the Pre- 
 sident's determination that he managed to make us all 
 hear what he had to say. The salient features of his 
 address were, in the first place, his repeated — one might 
 almost say affectionate — reference to Great Britain. It 
 happily occurred that the captain and some of the officers 
 from His Majesty's Ship " Thistle " were present, and 
 there can be no doubt that their attendance was very 
 highly appreciated by the President. Other matters 
 upon which he touched were, particularly, international 
 relations. The United States have lent to Liberia 
 £'1,000,000 sterling,* on the condition that all outstanding 
 international loans, together with the interest^ shall be 
 paid off, and that Commissioners shall be appointed by 
 the United States to advise the Liberian Government 
 upon such questions as roads, the exploitation of Liberia's 
 natural resources and the augmentation of the revenue. 
 
 In parenthesis, one of these Commissioners, evidently 
 not a born diplomatist, made a most illuminating remark 
 to us. 
 
 " We have virtually got a Protectorate," said he. 
 
 And our reply was, " Oh ! is it as bad as that ? " 
 
 President King supplied a much better answer in the 
 
 * This apparently, though promised, has not yet been actually 
 paid.
 
 22 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 very plainest language. In effect, he said — these are, 
 naturally, not his exact words — " We welcome assistance 
 from all the great countries of the world and particularly 
 from the United States, whence we sprang. But I 
 should like to make it quite clear that the advent of some 
 American advisers does not bespeak American control 
 in any sphere whatsoever. There will be no uncrowned 
 king in Liberia, and Liberia will remain an independent 
 nation, under God's will." 
 
 At this particular moment the American Commissioners 
 looked self-conscious, and small blame to them. 
 
 He did, however, add that the progress of Liberia was 
 dependent upon the interest shown to her by the Great 
 Powers, Great Britain and France — the greatest Powers 
 in the world, as he emphasized over and over again ; and 
 that, single-handed, Liberia was lost in the present and 
 ever-insistent struggle for advancement. Then he dealt 
 at some length on the need for education, and, inci- 
 dentally, he made some very wise and subtle comments 
 thereon. He explained that the native population of 
 Liberia exceeded the Americo-Liberians by at least fifty 
 to one, that it needed intellectuality of no small order to 
 grapple with this great and ever-present native problem, 
 and that the keynote of success was to be found in 
 mental training and education. In effect, " tout com- 
 prendre serait tout pardonner." Not a bad policy, if it 
 can be carried out. As might be expected, the liquor 
 question came in for consideration, and while the drastic 
 measures of the United States are not contemplated, an 
 effort is to be made by which the vast sugar-cane 
 industry of Liberia is to be diverted from the manu- 
 facture of alcoholic drinks to the more utilitarian 
 purposes of augmenting the world's supply of sugar, 
 which even here is deplorably short. Sanitation — most 
 terribly needed, hospital accommodation, roads, transport, 
 removal of the capital, to all of which we have referred, 
 received attention. And, let it be reiterated, if President 
 King has character enough to carry out all his contem- 
 plated reforms, then there is no reason why Liberia 
 should not grow up a vigorous, prosperous and pro- 
 gressive Kepublic.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 23 
 
 The proceedings concluded, lunch was served at the 
 Executive Mansion. It was no fault of the President 
 himself that confusion reigned supreme. Democracy, 
 somewhat held in check at the previous ceremony by the 
 height of the platform and the presence of the Frontier 
 Force, now ran riot. Never was such a scramble seen. 
 Many of us gave up the attempt to obtain a mouthful of 
 food. Be it added that the most tired people present 
 were the President and his wife. To describe the mob 
 would be literally impossible. Diplomats jostled with 
 Kru boys. Cabinet ministers received no more attention 
 than the riff-raff from the river side, and the man with 
 the strongest voice and the quickest hand was the best 
 served. And this function actually lasted from about 
 three until six o'clock. No wonder people were weary 
 and tempers frayed. Again, the band must not be 
 forgotten. It played one tune with a persistence worthy 
 of a better cause. True, it introduced variations, a 
 peculiar sort of tremolo preponderating : but it was far 
 from being restful and some of the European community 
 visibly wilted under its effect. But, in a paradoxical 
 country like this, one must take things at their face 
 value and undoubtedly the presence of the orchestra was 
 very kindly meant, while the unfortunate performers 
 apparently suffered as acutely as their audience. 
 Blowing an enormous trombone in a temperature of 
 approximately 120° F. must be a strain upon one's 
 nerves, temper, and constitution generally. 
 
 In the evening there was a dance, an equally charac- 
 teristic spectacle. There was the same crush, the same 
 orchestra, playing automatically by this time, the same 
 perspiring crowd translated into young women waiting 
 for partners who apparently were otherwise occupied ; 
 and there were, what we have never seen before at any 
 dance, tables covered with exhausted human wreckage 
 fast asleep. Let it be understood, these folk had not 
 drunk too much ; but they had come a considerable 
 distance and they were tired, just tired. Any port in a 
 storm is a good motto, and there was no particular 
 reason why the supper tables should not serve a dual 
 purpose on this occasion. Dancing was very difficult.
 
 24 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 What with the crowd, the heat, and the eccentricities of 
 the band, it was not surprising that a goodly portion of 
 the invited guests found their way on to the verandahs, 
 where a faint breeze told one that it came from the 
 north, maybe from England, the homeland of so many 
 of us exiles. 
 
 And so the evening wore on, and it was with no regret 
 that we paid our final respects to the Presidential party. 
 Kindly friends — and out here one makes friends quickly 
 — saw to it that, in spite of precipitous paths, we reached 
 our temporary home in safety. 
 
 In all truth Liberia is a remarkable country ! 
 
 We went up the St. Paul river as far as navigation 
 allows. White Plains, at the commencement of the 
 rapids, is a place which other people besides ourselves 
 seemed to have imagined might have a future. There is 
 a forlorn narrow-gauge railway, long since overgrown 
 with weeds, and never operated even in the hey-day of 
 its prosperity. There is one road over which Nature 
 has assumed control. There are bridges across which it 
 is unpleasant to walk, mementoes of well-meaning but 
 ill-judged effort on the part of the Liberian pioneer. It 
 will all have to be scrapped, and in the future under- 
 takings of this sort will need to be conducted along 
 rational, scientific and well-comprehended lines. It is a 
 false philanthropy which throws into the bush material 
 and money, which must be lost unless there is the 
 human element to watch over it and to guard it. 
 
 As we were coming down from White Plains we 
 struck a first-class tornado. The lightning flashed, the 
 thunder boomed and the rain was simply torrential. At 
 least we were in a motor launch with some sort of 
 canopy to shield us from the elements. As we shot 
 down stream we came upon three large surf-boats, full 
 to the gunwale with sweating, rain-streamed militiamen. 
 Of course we gave them a tow, and then occurred one of 
 those little things which make one swallow violently, 
 and make one realize that, hidden away deep down, 
 there is a chord of human sympathy which extends far 
 beyond all barriers of race, nationality or colour. The 
 boats had a band, such as it was, and over the waters of
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE - 25 
 
 the St. Paul river floated the strains of "God save the 
 King." Never have we appreciated a melody more ! 
 Then they sang a hymn which is very popular in these 
 parts, one of Moody and Sankey's, called " Over There." 
 They sang it extraordinarily well, much better, truth 
 compels us to say, than the Presidential choir did their 
 anthems. Somehow it brought to us all something of 
 the realities of life. 
 
 Undoubtedly Liberia is not a health resort. We have 
 described it as being one of the forgotten spaces of the 
 globe. But there are people here, Europeans, who are 
 doing their little bit towards the building up of their 
 respective countries. In this community at present 
 British influence and prestige are predominant. It 
 depends solely upon the powers that be in Great Britain 
 whether this continues to be the case. And we recall a 
 very tired-looking man who, with his wife, said good-bye 
 to us, and whose parting words were, " I am going to do 
 all that I can." If he can advance the Liberians to the 
 stage of civilization which brings with it a sense of 
 responsibility, which substitutes a genuine love of 
 country for greed and " graft," or even if he can induce 
 them to walk a little way along the road where that 
 stage is, he will have accomplished much. Time alone 
 will show, but, unfortunately, time has an awkward 
 way of refusing to wait while our good intentions are 
 transformed into acts.
 
 26 
 
 CHAPTEK IV. 
 
 When we speak of the Gold Coast in these days we 
 include Ashanti and the Northern Territories and, along 
 the littoral, a portion of the old Slave Coast. Histori- 
 cally it has been known, more or less definitely since 
 the time of the Phoenicians, those indefatigable mer- 
 chants and seafarers, but the honour of establishing the 
 first settlements on the Gold Coast proper lies between 
 the French and Portuguese. The former claim to have 
 begun their trading operations in the fourteenth century 
 while the Portuguese did not reach this coast until 1741, 
 but the pretentions of the French to priority of discovery 
 are based upon slender proof and are usually set on one 
 side. In any case they must have arrived hard upon one 
 another's heels, and have given rise to the African belief 
 that Europeans were people of no country who were 
 forced to voyage over the world in ships until they could 
 find a spot where they could settle to the detriment of 
 the native populations. 
 
 Elmina was the first settlement of any importance, 
 and then followed trading stations at Axim, Accra, 
 Shama, Christiansborg and Cape Coast, established under 
 the aegis of the Guinea Company with John II of 
 Portugal as chief shareholder, and the benediction of 
 Pope Sixtus IV to guarantee it. This last, which was 
 in the shape of a Bull, effectually prevented the arrival 
 of other nationalities and it was not until the Keforma- 
 tion that this monopoly began to totter. English, French 
 and Dutch adventurers then thought to turn their ships' 
 bows towards the spot which their minds had long 
 coveted, and spent their time in trading trinkets for gold, 
 ivory and slaves, and in the equally congenial pursuit of 
 making war on each others' little colonies. 
 
 The first English effort was made by Captain Thomas
 
 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 27 
 
 Windham and a Portuguese named Pinteado in 1553. It 
 does not seem to have been a peculiarl}^ happy voyage. 
 Windham proved to be a violent tempered man with no 
 business sense and his death, which occurred at Benin, 
 was the salvation of the remnant of the crew, already 
 depleted by the climate. Pinteado also died, heart- 
 broken by Windham's treatment, and out of the 140 men 
 who had sailed from Portsmouth only forty returned 
 alive. They brought back a rich cargo, however, and 
 others, too numerous to mention, soon followed them to 
 Guinea. It was Sir John Hawkins who was first among 
 the English to engage in the West African slave trade 
 in 1562, although other nations had pursued it for many 
 years, and in or about 1563 an Act was passed legalizing 
 this occupation. The English, however, were not seri- 
 ous competitors of the Portuguese at this time in any 
 respect ; it was the Dutch who threatened their supre- 
 macy by the different attitude they assumed towards the 
 native chiefs and their peoples. Whereas the Portuguese 
 policy had ever been to terrorize and to intimidate by 
 acts of the grossest cruelty, the Dutch were scrupulously 
 fair and just in all their dealings, and assisted friendly 
 chiefs in their wars against aggressive neighbours. 
 Eventually the Portuguese drove their rivals from the 
 Gold Coast, taking possession of the stout fortress of 
 Elmina and of the other strongholds of the once flourish- 
 ing Guinea Company. Then came Swedes, Danes and 
 Prussians, attracted by the lucrative results of the slave 
 trade, who founded their little settlements, built their 
 forts and added their quota to the confused squabbles 
 which were for ever breaking out between the Dutch and 
 English. Natives were bribed to take sides and contri- 
 buted to the barbarity of the quarrels to no small degree. 
 In fact the whole history of the Gold Coast from the 
 early part of the seventeenth century until the end of 
 the eighteenth is nothing but a recital of aggressions 
 and retaliations which are only to the discredit of all 
 concerned. 
 
 In 1751 the Eoyal West African Company sent out its 
 first Governor, and it must be remembered that other 
 nations had their Factors or Governors in the same towns
 
 28 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 at the same time. It was not until 1822 that the Gold 
 Coast became a Crown Colony, and it was at one period 
 under the Governor of Sierra Leone, and at another 
 joined with Lagos, now a portion of Nigeria. It would 
 be interesting to know how in those days of slow com- 
 munication proper administration was achieved. 1872 
 marked the ratification of the treaty between England 
 and Holland, whereby the Dutch handed over their 
 settlements, and in 1886 the Gold Coast became a 
 separate entity under the Crown. Some traces of the 
 Portuguese occupation still remain. There are words in 
 common use in "Pidgin Enghsh," corrupted from their 
 original Portuguese. Amongst these are : palaver 
 (palabra), fetich (feitico), piccaninny (picania), and dash 
 me (das me), this last now meaning " give me a tip." 
 Amongst names, Cape Coast has wandered farthest 
 from its first significance, as the correct translation of 
 Cabo Corso is " cruising cape." The name of the Volta 
 Biver is unchanged and Elmina was formerly San Jorge 
 del Mina. The Portuguese forts at Axim, Elmina, and 
 the Dutch forts at Beyin, Elmina and Seccondi still 
 exist, some of them ruins, others even now in use. 
 
 But the Gold Coast is too progressive to waste time 
 on sentiment over these relics of the past. Once their 
 usefulness is gone and there is the labour and material 
 available to construct newer and better buildings, they 
 are either demolished or the rain, and sun, and sand do 
 the work of house-breakers and only lizards scuttle over 
 the crumbling stones and mortar. From the drowsy 
 backwater of Liberia to up-to-date, husthng Accra is, 
 indeed, a transformation. In Monrovia time is for- 
 gotten, and Eip van Winkle-like, it would be easy to sleep 
 the years away and remain oblivious to the world's pro- 
 gress. In Accra the hour has sixty minutes, and woe 
 betide the man, be he official or trader, who forgets that 
 fact. This city, for it is a city, is unlovely, truth com- 
 pels one to say as much. Vegetation is scarce. There 
 is a certain sameness about the streets with their uniform, 
 bungalow-built houses bordering monotonously excellent 
 roads which extend in all directions for many miles. 
 That, surely, is the keynote of Accra — the recognition
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 29 
 
 in practice of the well-being of both white and native 
 population. Here the fact has been grasped that it is 
 false economy to house Europeans in any sort of hovel, 
 as was too often the case in the old days, and expect the 
 best out of them. These commonplace bungalows are 
 comfortable and roomy, with v/ide verandahs, hygienic 
 lavatory accommodation and bathrooms, and equipped 
 with all the conveniences which go to make for health 
 in a climate which is far from perfect. 
 
 In effect, Accra is utilitarian and so far has not striven 
 after the beautiful or indulged in the gentle extravagance 
 of the pursuit of the picturesque. Its atmosphere is 
 that of a young American town. No one, apparently, 
 has time to walk. The aforementioned excellent roads 
 teem with motor cars — nearly all of American make — 
 and motor-cycles. Occasionally one encounters a rick- 
 shaw, and it is then safe to hazard that the occupant is 
 a retired native merchant who has made his pile out of 
 cocoa and now finds that he can dawdle as much as he 
 will and enjoys so doing. In 1911 the population was 
 approximately 30,000. To-day it is probably not far 
 short of double that figure and there is no sign of any 
 limit having been reached. Accommodation is at a 
 premium and as difficult to obtain as a room was in 
 London during the period when the Government occupied 
 practically every hotel. 
 
 It is an anachronism that of all places along the West 
 Coast the landing at Accra should be the worst, with 
 the exception of that at unimportant townlets like Addah 
 and Saltpond. But here, with steamers for ever loading 
 and discharging cargoes, passengers and mails, every- 
 thing in the way of communication with the shore has 
 to be done by surf boat, and, be it added, the landing 
 at the best of times is extremely unpleasant. During 
 the rainy season it is frequently impossible, causing 
 congestion of shipping and a good deal of criticism of 
 an adverse nature upon the enterprise of the responsible 
 Colonial authorities. This, though natural, is not en- 
 tirely justified, as it is even beyond the task of the 
 master mind to dam the Atlantic, though the effort was 
 made by the construction of a breakwater at enormous
 
 30 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 cost. This promised some sort of protection for landing 
 boats, but the sea was not to be baulked and the em- 
 bryonic harbour has silted up until it is now useless. A 
 Naval Commission, however, has been out to the Gold 
 Coast examining the coast carefully, with a view to 
 finding a location where a really practicable port can 
 be constructed, which will be an inestimable boon to the 
 colony, and will hurry on with ever-increasing speed the 
 almost abnormal growth of prosperity and development 
 which it is already enjoying. 
 
 Perhaps the adjective " abnormal " does not accurately 
 represent the remarkable change which has taken place 
 during the last four or five years. It is not simple of 
 explanation but it is a fact that the native has at last 
 realized that agriculture can prove a direct pathway 
 towards considerable affluence. The natural resources 
 of the country are infinite. During the war vast 
 fortunes were made from cocoa. There appears to be 
 no reason why this trade should not become a regular 
 staple industry for the whole of the eastern portion of 
 the colony, which is rapidly being opened up by means 
 of motor roads. Palm oil and palm kernels are other 
 steadily increasing exports, and there seems every likeli- 
 hood that, in the Northern Territories, ground-nuts 
 should prove an extremely profitable investment. But 
 of this more anon. 
 
 The one really picturesque spot in this severely 
 hygienic town — and in West Africa the picturesque and 
 the hygienic are usually sworn foes — is Government 
 House. It is the old Danish castle of Christianborg, a 
 white, irregular pile of masonry, turreted and battle- 
 mented, for all the world like one of Edmund Dulac's 
 illustrations. In its inner courtyard stand the guard, 
 bare-legged soldiers of the West African Frontier Force, 
 with red fezzes and red-and-gold zouave jackets, which 
 repeat the colours of the alamander and flamboyant 
 flowers climbing above their heads. The living quarters 
 are spacious and lofty, overlooking the ever-restless sea, 
 the monotonous roar of whose surf is always in one's ears. 
 With the exception of punkahs and mosquito nets, life 
 is lived as though this stage castle were on the Devon
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 31 
 
 coast. One dines in the conventional dinner jacket at 
 the conventional hour, in a most beautiful though 
 modern dining-room, where only the breeze of the 
 punkah and the soft voice of the black butler saying, 
 " White or red wine, please? " makes one realize that it 
 is Africa and not Europe, 
 
 To those who may possibly exclaim, "How fright- 
 fully uncomfortable it must be to wear black clothes 
 and a ' boiled shirt,' " there is a very good reply. White 
 mess kit is rather an expensive luxury, particularly for 
 those who come out here to replenish their exchequer 
 rather than further to deplete it, and it is most essential 
 that one makes some sort of change in one's clothes for 
 dinner, otherwise the dry-rot of slackness sets in. The 
 note struck at Government House is imitated, con- 
 sciously or unconsciously, throughout the town and from 
 there throughout the colony. Therefore, let the Har- 
 mattan blow furnace-like from the Sahara or let the air 
 reek with moisture, but do not discard the dinner-jacket 
 or the tail coat. Another antidote to slackness is sport, 
 and of this Accra has its full share. There are two golf 
 links, innumerable tennis courts, a racecourse, polo 
 ground, and cricket club. The Governor is himself a 
 well-known cricketer and an all-round athlete, and his 
 enthusiasm is infectious. In some respects the Governor 
 of a colony can be said to resemble, should he so desire, 
 the father of a large family. Actually this is as it should 
 be in British Possessions of moderate size, for in these 
 days of democracy it is futile as well as injudicious to 
 insist too much upon the prerogatives of position. A 
 touch of human nature now and again works wonders in 
 all departments of life, and the Governor who can find 
 the time and show the inclination to enter into the 
 relaxations and recreations of all classes of the com- 
 munity to the exclusion of none is indeed a very valuable 
 asset. Everyone is genial, hospitable, and ready to 
 help, even at personal inconvenience. And this tone is 
 directly attributable to Government House. 
 
 The manager of one of the banks emphasized the 
 point for us, " Yes, we are lucky," he remarked ; " I know 
 a place in the bush where there are only three white
 
 32 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 women and there are, if you will believe me, three 
 separate and distinct cliques. Here there is no such 
 thing. The older members of the European colony have 
 their nicknames of affection, pure and simple. We 
 have "Aunt Betty," who looks after the newcomers, 
 and " Mother," who honestly is a sort of mother to all 
 the naughty boys, and so on. It really is wonderful, and 
 so restful." 
 
 Now this sort of atmosphere is not only healthy tem- 
 peramentally but also physically. Worry kills more 
 people in a climate such as this than fever directly 
 derived from the unwelcome "Anopheles" mosquito. 
 Weariness of mind quickly begets weariness of body, 
 appetite goes, insomnia sets in and there is another 
 patient for the Government doctor, and, as likely as not, 
 another passage to be booked for home. This should 
 be grasped by all those who may make up their minds 
 to come and risk the present with a view to the future. 
 For there is so much to be done here by the man of 
 enterprise, especially if backed with a minimum of 
 capital. This country as a whole is not a residential 
 one. A year is amply long enough at a stretch, but 
 following certain regular principles there is no reason 
 why health should necessarily suffer. After avoiding 
 worry and taking a sufficiency of exercise comes the 
 question of food. We have visited many bungalows, 
 both of officials and traders, and we were struck by the 
 excellence of the dinners we enjoyed. There could be 
 no doubt about it, these people were doing themselves 
 uncommonly well and one and all told the same tale. 
 The days of incessant tinned food, served upon dirty 
 tables and minus the accompaniments which are common 
 to all at home, are gone for ever, and there can be no 
 doubt that that lack of comfort was responsible for 
 many a physical breakdown blamed upon the climate. 
 
 As for the upper-class natives, the plutocrats of the 
 Gold Coast, who make of Accra the Mecca of their 
 endeavour, they are enormously instructive to those who 
 have the eyes with which to see. An example : A large 
 case fell overboard from the slings of the ship in which 
 we arrived as cargo was being loaded into the surf-boats.
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 33 
 
 The chief mate looked quizzically at the disappearing 
 package, and then remarked : " That's done it. No silk 
 stockings for the ladies." We asked to see the manifest 
 out of curiosity, and there it was : " One case silk 
 hosiery. Accra. New York Pure Silk Hosiery Com- 
 pany." Further inquiry, and we were told that the 
 native ladies of the Gold Coast are very partial to such 
 luxuries, and that price is no deterrent to their desires 
 in that direction. On the other hand, they do not 
 appear to indulge to any great degree in jewellery in 
 spite of the fact that the Gold Coast goldsmith is a 
 craftsman of the finest order, excelling in the most 
 delicate and intricate branches of his calling. Clothes 
 possess the fascination, and it is illuminating to wander 
 along the streets wherein are situated Accra's most 
 up-to-date stores, and study the latest creations for 
 afternoon or evening wear. And what applies to the 
 native in a lesser degree may be said to apply to the 
 bojia fide citizen of the country, untouched by European 
 custom, who adheres to time-long tradition as regards 
 clothing. The women wear the most gorgeous raiment, 
 which would have made Solomon envious ; silks em- 
 broidered in gold and silver thread, borne with all the 
 grace of a Koman toga, surmounted by elaborate turbans 
 of all the colours of the rainbow. Whatever the 
 buildings of Accra lack in distinction is more than 
 made up by the eddying crowd of native women intent 
 upon their shopping and proving themselves at the same 
 time no bad business hands at a bargain. 
 
 Prices rule high here, and what with the incessant 
 demands from all classes of the working community for 
 greater wages, presumably they will soar yet higher. 
 Cocoa is in the main responsible. When the export of 
 this commodity reaches such a figure as four million 
 sterling, when it is remembered that it is practically a 
 weed here, and when it is further recalled that the 
 export has never reached the limit of possibility, it 
 can be understood what a magnet it represents to 
 labour. The work is arduous as regards collection, and 
 it is unsuitable to Europeans. But the profits are so 
 immense that the plantations can afford to pay the 
 3
 
 34 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 highest wages, and are prepared to go up in an increasing 
 ratio commensurate with the difficulty of obtaining the 
 necessary hands. Small wonder, then, that there has 
 been a veritable exodus of what one may call the coolie 
 class, that longshoremen for shifting cargo are as scarce 
 as the great auk's egg, that servants are non-existent 
 unless they have been brought from afar, and that even 
 the chauffeurs of well-to-do people are deserting their 
 situations to drive the inevitable Ford motor lorry with 
 the equally inevitable load of cocoa.* One suspects that 
 all this development is being watched with jealous eyes 
 by those who were first upon the scene — and, in fact, 
 hearsay is quite prepared to aver that the newcomer 
 stands the chance of either accepting the offer of the 
 big man and being bought out or being crushed under 
 the heel of a combine. How much truth there may be 
 in this asseveration it is hard to say, but, if in the least 
 correct, measures should be adopted to abolish once and 
 for all a system which must prove in the long run 
 absolutely disastrous to the best interests of the colony. 
 
 • These prices have now dropped considerably. Central Europe, 
 and Russia are no longer purchasers. Still upon a stabilized base 
 cocoa has a long and prosperous future before it after the collapse 
 of the boom.
 
 Mate Kola, a Gold Coast Chief who gave an aeroplane to the British. 
 
 Note the staff.
 
 35 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The following is a true cocoa story. Those concerned 
 are well known to us, and if in this old world merit ever 
 meets with just reward, they deserve just what they are 
 meeting with, namely success beyond the dreams of the 
 ordinary citizen who governs his day by the train which 
 takes him to his office and by the train which takes him 
 therefrom. In their own way they are pioneers ; maybe 
 their ancestors made history in some portion of the 
 Empire ; with that we are really not concerned. Both 
 members of the firm, a very baby of a firm just 
 five months old, naturally played their part in the great 
 game of war, and both emerged captains with medal 
 ribbons and distinctions which cause them either to 
 blush or to swear if mentioned in their presence. Both 
 were Public School men — this in parenthesis. Also, 
 perhaps more important, neither knew anything of the 
 intricacies of account keeping. But they possessed 
 energy, enterprise, and pluck in unlimited quantity. 
 So they put their heads together, faced a different 
 music from that to which, maybe, they had grown 
 accustomed, bought steamer tickets to the Gold Coast, 
 and started in as Cocoa Planters. The capitals are 
 deserved. Common sense appears to have done it. After 
 five months only — five months as a time limit sounds 
 absurd, but it is strict truth — they were when we saw 
 them millionaires in the making — that is to say, if cocoa 
 keeps up to its present price. They are suffering from 
 no illusions. Also they are doing something infinitely 
 more difficult — they are keeping their heads. The senior 
 partner, aged about 26, was on the point of going home 
 to buy machinery and motor cars, and, let us hope, also 
 to have just the good time he deserved. 
 
 But, surely, what these two youngsters have accom-
 
 36 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 plished others can do. This is written with the fullest 
 idea of the responsibility attaching to the printed word. 
 It does not necessarily mean that every Dick, Tom, and 
 Harry can find in cocoa the wherewithal to buy a mansion 
 in Park Lane. And there is always the question of 
 mental stability — most important — and general health. 
 Some folk could not live lives divorced from all the 
 creature-comforts of England, emphasized by climatic 
 demands which are ever insistent upon the strongest 
 constitution. One's life has to be governed by certain 
 laws of daily hygiene, and those who find such discipline 
 irksome should undoubtedly keep away. On the other 
 hand, there appears no reason to us why the man of 
 enterprise could not go out and take his chance with the 
 rest, and, to use an Americanism, " make good." One 
 of the chief factors, as we have seen it, is the proper 
 understanding of how to handle the native, which 
 means, of course, native labour. Scientific knowledge of 
 the most advanced type is quite lost unless the possessor 
 thereof realizes that the mainspring of the machine is 
 actually the black man. To obtain your labour, to rent 
 the land, or buy it, to do anything and everything, it is 
 essential that it should be remembered that, no matter 
 who your father was or where you went to school, the 
 black man was here long before you counted in the 
 statistics of the British Empire, and that he will exist 
 long after you figure in the obituary notices in the daily 
 papers. That is the chief element of success, given 
 normal business training of the most rudimentary type. 
 Also, it must be added that the black man is no fool ; 
 he understands kindness very well — much better than 
 people seem to imagine — and, in addition, he has as good 
 a head for business as any one in Lombard Street. He 
 is quite aware that great fortunes (the adjective is used 
 after consideration) are being made and will be made 
 from cocoa. Hence he is inclined to be cautious over 
 the disposal of property which may or may not be worth 
 the collection of supertax upon income. 
 
 Cocoa here is practically a weed. It crops three times 
 a year, and if the undergrowth is cleared there is little 
 to fear from disease. Naturally, there are cocoa diseases ;
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 37 
 
 SO there are potato diseases ; but the cocoa plant has 
 what in insurance parlance is called "a good life." It 
 likes moisture ; as a matter of fact, this colony has the 
 lowest moisture average of any cocoa-growing country 
 in the world, and if afforestation is not resorted to it is 
 possible that cocoa may suffer, but that will not be 
 within the life of anyone who reads the above. Hence 
 it seems fair to state that here is an opening, and a 
 legitimate one, for a man with confidence in his own 
 capabilities. 
 
 The Omanhene, or Chief, of Koforidua, is probably 
 one of the richest of the cocoa magnates. As special 
 correspondents of the Daily Telegraph, he was good 
 enough to receive us in audience. We were accom- 
 panied by Colonel Colin Harding, C.M.G., D.S.O., the 
 Chief Commissioner of the Eastern Province of the Gold 
 Coast, while the Omanhene had assembled many of his 
 chiefs and ministers to greet us. The reception took 
 place in his palace, a fine airy building, constructed upon 
 European lines. It was an unexpectedly impressive sight. 
 Under a red umbrella with heavy yellow fringe, was 
 seated the Omanhene, upon a leather throne so studded 
 with brass nails that it appeared to be gold. On his head 
 he wore a species of crown composed of plaques of alter- 
 nate silver and gold, laced together with green velvet. 
 The sandals on his feet were of similar plaques, while 
 his robe, which he wore like a Roman toga, was of 
 Ashanti silk, a shimmering glory of red and green and 
 gold, which had taken six months in the making and 
 had cost £100. After our introduction had been made 
 he extended to each in turn a slim brown hand covered 
 with gold rings of extraordinary size and shape. One in 
 particular was about 3 in. in diameter and resembled 
 nothing so much as a golden pincushion full of long, 
 blunt, gold nails. Conversation was carried on through 
 the medium of an interpreter, although the Omanhene 
 is able to speak very fluent English. On the other hand, 
 however, his suite knew no language but their own, 
 hence the interpreter, in order that no doubt might exist 
 as to what transpired. 
 
 The gist of our conversation was as follows : We
 
 33 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 explained that we had come to his country in order to 
 make it better known amongst the British public. This 
 pleased him. He then pertinently asked what was the 
 circulation of the Daily Telegraph. We gave him some 
 idea and he was visibly greatly impressed. He asked 
 whether the great White King would ever send one of 
 his sons here, to which we replied that of that we had no 
 direct knowledge, but that we sincerely hoped so. He 
 then told us that he had collected £1,200 towards 
 the purchase of an aeroplane for the British Army in 
 France. Our official conversation ended, we were intro- 
 duced to all the members of the suite in turn, after 
 which we adjourned to the private apartments, where 
 ^champagne waSv,Brp4ftfi.fe4; ^'^^ King's health was duly 
 lonoured and was followed by that of the Omanhene 
 himself. The interpreter was now dispensed with, as 
 the conversation had ceased to be official. 
 
 We then paid a visit to his six wives, handsome 
 women, all of them. Then we were shown the Eoyal 
 porcupines and the Koyal racehorse, the latter rather a 
 fiasco, from a sporting standpoint, as it always comes in 
 last in every race. The visit terminated with the gift 
 to us of his photograph and also one of his famous 
 carved Ashanti stools. 
 
 Koforidua itself is an example of what the cocoa in- 
 dustry can den' Six years ago it was a small bush village ; 
 to-day "it is a flourishing town where land sells at £X5i) 
 an acre. It has good roads and the motor traffic, particu- 
 larly that of motor lorries, is relatively speaking very 
 large. The European population is numerous, included 
 in which may be noted three ladies. It would be untrue 
 to call Koforidua a health resort, but, with care, life can 
 be endured there for a year at any rate. One learns 
 many lessons upon the Coast and one unlearns many 
 preconceived conceptions. But of all matters pertaining 
 to health the greatest enemy is undoubtedly the sun. 
 Why "this should be so' ts' something of a mystery, for 
 there are many other places upon the globe nearer the 
 Equator where the sun might be expected to be more 
 deadly. This is not the case, however, and for the 
 unacclimatized it is little short of madness to attempt to
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 39 
 
 do anything between the hours of noon and four. Even 
 motoring with a sun hood up arid wearing a solar topee 
 will terribly tax the strength. 
 
 It was at Koforidua that we had our first introduction 
 to "white man's justice" dispensed for the benefit of 
 the black man. The court room was open at one end to 
 the outside world, and behind the sprinkling of police in 
 their blue uniforms one caught glimpses of interested 
 faces whose rolling eyes spoke of curiosity, personal or 
 impersonal, as the cases came up for trial. One man 
 especially attracted our attention. His melancholy coun- 
 tenance was partially hidden by a swathing of immacu- 
 late white bandages, underneath which his brown spaniel- 
 like eyes gleamed pathetically. His right hand and arm, 
 also bandaged, was in a sling. A victim of some das- 
 tardly outrage, we thought, and looked at him with 
 commiseration. It was in the nature of a shock to 
 discover that he was the example of the " biter bit." 
 This battered and dejected specimen of black humanity 
 was in reality a highwayman, a brigand. He had way- 
 laid on a lonely road two men whom he knew would 
 have several hundred pounds in their possession. What 
 he did not know, however, was that they also carried 
 matchets — long and weighty knives. They defended 
 themselves so stoutly with their matchets that he had 
 for ever lost the use of his right hand, and, patched 
 and stitched and sore, he was only awaiting the 
 doctor's certificate before he was despatched to Accra 
 to serve his sentence. Meanwhile he attended court 
 daily under guard as a relaxation ; a novel kind of 
 " busman's holiday." 
 
 On the occasion of our visit the cases were of the 
 " petty " type, but the District Commissioner devoted as 
 much care and attention to them as though they were 
 of vast importance ; following the native ruling where- 
 ever possible, taking into consideration the black man's 
 susceptibility on points which would leave the European 
 cold, using tact and oh ! such patience in that heated 
 and rather odoriferous atmosphere. Four men, all 
 scoundrelly-looking creatures, were accused of brawling 
 and disturbing the peace. To the casual observer there
 
 40 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 was not a pin to choose between them save that one 
 looked angry and the other three phlegmatic. In less 
 than five minutes the angry one was discharged and the 
 rest fined " five shillings or five days." Another pleaded 
 guilty with a virtuous air to riding a bicycle after dark 
 without a lamp. He was promptly fined ten shillings or 
 ten days, paid the fine and departed, still preserving his 
 virtuous expression, only rather enhanced if possible. A 
 third case : a man who, on the principle that robbery 
 begins at home, had stolen a tin of sardines from his 
 brother-in-law's stall in the market. The chief witness 
 was a minute and bow-legged boy of 10, obviously terri- 
 fied and overawed. In due course the evidence became 
 so conflicting, and also so complicated by the constant 
 popping, up like a jack-in-the box of the injured owner 
 of the tin, that the case was adjourned to the following 
 day. 
 
 We were fortunate, or unfortunate, according to one's 
 point of view, to be present when the offences were of so 
 light a character. The advent of great prosperity in 
 this region has brought with it a corresponding degree 
 of crime, and, in one quarter, there were over 350 
 criminal cases to be judged. It is difficult to say 
 whether the ability to buy spirits lessens or increases 
 such disasters. Certainly, the negro, when inflamed by 
 drink, is not a pleasant object to encounter. But one 
 cynical youth who was administering justice in another 
 part of the country put the matter in a different light. 
 
 "Much better if they get drunk," he said. "The 
 black man usually does that sort of thing so thoroughly 
 that, however much he may want to murder, he is 
 physically incapable of doing much damage. A few cuts 
 and bruises — some of them on himself — are all he can 
 achieve. But if a man is sober and really sets about it 
 properly, he can mess things up past the doctor's skill to 
 repair." 
 
 Convicted prisoners are sent to gaol at Accra and 
 many are the amusing stories told about them, one of 
 which must be related. It is customary for gangs of 
 prisoners to be sent out about the town to clean paths 
 and suchlike. It happened that a gang was sent one
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 41 
 
 Christmas Day to the quarters of the Chief Inspector of 
 Police. Work proceeded along the usual lines (needless 
 to say it was not at the pace which kills), and at noon, 
 the regular " chop " hour, no food had arrived. Time 
 passed, and nothing came. The Police Inspector 
 chanced to be sitting on his verandah and could not help 
 but notice the anxious glances cast at him by his in- 
 voluntary guests. Being the most kind-hearted of men 
 he asked the cause and was told in the best West 
 African pidgin English, " Chop no live." 
 
 "Why?" he asked. "It ought to have been here 
 ages ago. What's the warder about ? " 
 
 "No be warder fault," answered the spokesman of 
 the party. "We go tell um we be asked out for chop." 
 
 History does not relate what their luncheon consisted 
 of that day, but, knowing the inspector personally, we 
 can imagine that they did not fare badly. 
 
 Dealing with a white prisoner is, indeed, a problem 
 in a country like this, where the prestige of the white 
 man must be maintained at all costs, and where, there- 
 fore, it is impossible for a white man to be put into a 
 native gaol. In point of fact, such an occurrence was 
 giving the Koforidua authorities many an anxious 
 moment while we were there. However, even an 
 unpleasant happening such as this may possess its 
 humorous side, as the following story will show. A 
 white man, under grievous provocation, caused consider- 
 able bodily harm to one of his personal servants. In due 
 course the case came up for trial at the assizes, where, 
 everything being taken into consideration, the climate 
 particularly, which is liable to produce great irritation, 
 he was sentenced only to two years' imprisonment. 
 The question arose of what to do with him, and eventu- 
 ally quarters were assigned to him in the house of one of 
 the European warders. In spite of his proven reputa- 
 tion for temper he was actually not at all a bad fellow 
 at heart, and the fact that he was known to be a first- 
 rate cricketer was the cause of the commencement of the 
 comedy. Owing to the sudden illness of one of the 
 members of the local eleven, he was told to play. This 
 he did, making top score for his side. After that he
 
 42 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 was habituall}^ smuggled into the team, became a most 
 popular member, and in due course was elected to the 
 sergeants' mess where bygones were tacitly allowed 
 to be bygones. Had it ended there probably nothing 
 would have been said, for in these parts officialdom 
 is easygoing and things not absolutely essential are 
 frequently looked upon with a paternal eye. But alas ! 
 one day a senior officer of the West African Frontier 
 Force found the sentries saluting the delinquent with 
 great gravity. And that ended his cricket days and 
 his evening cocktail at the sergeants' mess until his 
 release. 
 
 Leaving Koforidua before the sun was unpleasantly 
 high in the heavens, we motored to Kibbi, and from this 
 journey of only thirty-six miles we can begin to speak 
 with positiveness of the trials of motoring in tropical 
 heat. It is exhausting. The sun beats down upon the 
 canvas hood of the car and even when going at as rapid 
 a pace as the condition of the roads permit, the atmos- 
 phere beneath the hood is that of a furnace. Woe 
 betide the reckless man who takes off his topee in the 
 mistaken conviction that the hood is sun-proof, for it 
 is not ! 
 
 Although the road surface left much to be desired 
 the scenery was beautiful. Upon either side lay mile 
 upon mile of unexplored jungle, so dense that it was 
 impossible for the eye to penetrate more than a few feet 
 into its depths. Cocoa trees, palms, climbing, swaying 
 vines, which burst now and then into riotous colour, 
 formed the undergrowth. And over all towered the 
 stately odum trees, with their straight, pale trunks and 
 crowns of feathery leaves. The odum is the principal 
 tree of the country in these parts. It is a species of 
 mahogany and makes excellent furniture which will 
 survive everything save the attentions of the white ant. 
 
 Kibbi itself is really only a straggling village with a 
 Commissioner to look after affairs, the sole white repre- 
 sentative. It must be a very lonely post, and yet our 
 host was as cheery as a sandboy and opined that bush 
 life was far preferable to working in towns such as 
 Accra and Coomassie. One imagines that the evenings
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 43 
 
 must pall when reading by lamplight becomes almost a 
 torture on account of sand flies and other insects. But, 
 on the other hand, these junior commissioners are all 
 youngsters with an instinct for adventure, and are 
 usually armed against ennui with some hobby connected 
 with native affairs. We encountered one who had taken 
 up the study of the nomenclature of native villages, and 
 had already obtained interesting results. Thus he found 
 one little town which was named in English " The 
 home of good men." It seems this was something of a 
 misnomer, since its chief is now undergoing imprison- 
 ment for life. Another village owes its name to the fact 
 that it is peopled by Ashanti immigrants, who, however, 
 arrived too late in the day to secure the pick of the 
 land ; to be precise, they secured the worst, and bad at 
 that, hence its name of "We have settled in vain." It is 
 evident that the etymology of these curious names forms 
 a study which conceivably might result in far-reaching 
 consequences, since light might thereby be thrown upon 
 the original location of tribes of the most obscure 
 origins but obviously with a great historical past, such 
 as the Cow Fulanis. Mention will be made of these 
 later. 
 
 The Omanhene of Kibbi is a man of considerable 
 standing, a member of the Legislative Council and a 
 C.B.E. One gathers that his task has not been an easy 
 one, since the villages within his territory are small, but 
 cover a very large area, and over every conceivable 
 topic they squabble amongst themselves. It is naturally 
 easier to administer a large and closely populated com- 
 munity. Upon hearing of our arrival the Omanhene 
 sent his messenger with congratulations and presents of 
 a sheep, yams and eggs. Now here let it be emphasized 
 that the face value of a " dash," as it is called, has 
 nothing to do with its significance. In happier days 
 the Mayor of a Kussian town, irrespective of size or 
 importance, always offered visitors of whose presence he 
 had heard the traditional bread and salt, emblems of 
 hospitality and welcome. This was a similar case and 
 we felt very pleased that the Omanhene had remembered 
 our journey, though, to be sure, it was the Daily
 
 44 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Telegraph he had in mind. After proceeding with the 
 necessary formalities we were received by him and the 
 majority of his chiefs. The Honourable Nana Ofori 
 Atta, C.B.E., is not at first sight so intelligent a looking 
 man as his "brother" of Koforidua. He is older and 
 his features are heavier. But when he speaks or gives 
 any matter his silent attention one sees that here is not 
 merely intelligence but intellect of no mean order. All 
 speeches were translated from English into Twi or vice 
 versa, by the interpreter, despite the fact that the 
 Omanhene knows English so well that he was able to 
 prompt the interpreter when the latter was searching 
 for " le mot juste.'' This tedious business of translation 
 is customary in order to avert suspicion from the minds 
 of the less well educated that something may be said or 
 done, suggested or arranged, of which they are not 
 cognizant. 
 
 And a lengthy process it was ! Under the oppressive 
 shelter of the mud roof, seated on a platform crowded 
 with chiefs and attendant satellites, the conditions were 
 well-nigh unbearable. One of the chiefs was a woman, 
 we were interested to observe, and the Queen Mother 
 (properly speaking Queen Aunt, as the succession goes 
 from uncle to nephew) was a wonderful old woman with 
 a turban headdress which wobbled precariously and 
 gave rise to much speculation on our part. We were 
 later told that she was quite bald and wore a pad of 
 wool, which was never in the right place, beneath her 
 turban. These Queen Mothers are generally mines of 
 information concerning rites and ceremonies and are 
 always consulted where a question of etiquette is in- 
 volved, their opinion being the last word on the subject. 
 As usual the explanation of our mission was received 
 with enthusiasm, and we then thankfully adjourned to 
 the Omanhene's private residence, where we were 
 offered the traditional champagne. This time we 
 ventured, with thanks, to refuse it, for with the heat 
 and the sun the results might have been disastrous. 
 Nana Ofori Atta is a subscriber to the Daily Telegraph. 
 He likes books, eschews cards and gambling, and with 
 a smile remarked that he had quite enough on his hands
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 45 
 
 in looking after his administrative family of some 
 hundreds of chiefs. The female chief or chief tainess, 
 was doing well, he told us, though it was an innovation. 
 He is a " fetish " worshipper, strange as that may seem, 
 but were he anything else he undoubtedly could not 
 exercise the control he does over his community, 
 which would not only be a local loss but an Imperial 
 one, as the Commissioner frankly told us. 
 
 Kibbi possesses a curious climate. The heat at noon is 
 terrible and enough to try the temper of an ostrich : 
 night brings an atmospheric coolness which makes it 
 possible to sleep with one blanket or even two. Our 
 "boys" informed us that it was "cold past all place," 
 and were not cheered when they heard that M'Praiso, 
 our next stop, might be even colder, although the 
 Commissioner vehemently denied this. There is a 
 certain amount of friendly rivalry between Kibbi and 
 M'Praiso in the thermometric line, each claiming lower 
 temperatures than the other. Certainly, fever is not 
 prevalent at Kibbi and the agricultural station there 
 flourishes satisfactorily. 
 
 M'Praiso is situated on the western boundary of the 
 great Afram plain, and were it in a more accessible part 
 of the globe would speedily become the haunt of those 
 in search of beauty spots. Getting there from Kibbi 
 was something of an undertaking. True, the distance 
 was not great, some sixty miles, but mileage means 
 nothing here. It is the character of the road and 
 transport which tells. In this instance we were 
 provided with a Ford car, worthy of a museum, in 
 which to cover the first forty odd miles of the journey. 
 It must have left the Ford works when that great 
 undertaking was in its infancy, and if ever these lines 
 catch the eye of the illustrious gentleman whose name is 
 immortalized in these cars, he might like to purchase 
 that particular car as a curio to be erected in the town 
 of its origin. Its component parts were string, nuts 
 which came off in showers, rust, wheels which wobbled 
 ominously, and a chauffeur who frankly admitted he was 
 learning. Incidentally also, there was no horn or hooter, 
 a disturbing factor upon a road full of curves and
 
 46 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 unexpected, narrow, rickety wooden bridges, along 
 which, at full speed, rattled lorry after lorry — Fords, all 
 of them — packed to the fullest capacity with cocoa. 
 Under the circumstances the only thing to do was to 
 imitate as nearly as possible the cry of the old-time 
 London fireman and shout " Hi, hi, hi ! " at the top of 
 our voices, to the immense amusement of everyone 
 except ourselves. At every slight rise our car stopped, 
 and the villagers had to be commandeered to push it 
 uphill, and then to shove it along for a hundred yards or 
 more in order to encourage the engine which was 
 distinctly peevish. The scenery, which we had been 
 told was lovely, was lost upon us, and all that we longed 
 for was the termination of as tempestuous a land voyage 
 as we had ever experienced. Of course, one of the 
 springs went, for even the best intentioned Ford ever 
 put upon the road objects to steeplechasing downhill 
 over ruts and rocks and then being dropped into a hole a 
 couple of feet deep ! But we arrived at length at Jajade, 
 a village beyond which no road runs for vehicular traffic, 
 and where we found carriers and hammock boys 
 awaiting us. 
 
 Hammocks vary ; so do hammock boys ! In a ham- 
 mock of the chair variety, with trained boys, a journey 
 is bearable ; with untrained hands and a hammock in 
 which one must more or less recline, fourteen miles 
 appear more like fourteen hundred. The interest is 
 heightened when, as in our case, it is impossible to 
 explain what one wants done. Our police escort orderly 
 manfully attempted to interpret our desires with the 
 assistance of a very handy-looking little whip, but the 
 fact remains that when the moment arrived and we had 
 to continue on shanks's mare we were not sorry, especially 
 as the rope of the hammock conveying the lady of the 
 party broke, and its occupant enjoyed an unexpected fall 
 in a particularly rocky portion of the path. 
 
 M'Praiso is approached by a winding track up a scarp, 
 2,500 feet high, and which rises sheer out of level 
 country. To get to M'Praiso this must be surmounted 
 willy-nilly ; there is no other approach for many, many 
 miles. Moreover, the track, which is unsuitable, if not
 
 f 
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 47 
 
 impossible, for hammock boys, mounts at least 2,000 ft, 
 in under a mile. Add to that a tropical sun and, as 
 foothold, slippery rock or loose gravel, and it can be 
 imagined that, at present, people do not visit M'Praiso 
 except upon business. Once there, however, one forgets 
 the trials of the way thither in delight at the panorama 
 spread before the eyes. On a clear day it is possible 
 to see the highlands of Togoland, nearly 300 miles 
 distant. Between lies the Afram plain, sparsely popu- 
 lated, portions of it unmapped, rich in game of all kinds 
 and with soil which should render a good return if 
 scientifically farmed. It would be an ideal cattle 
 country, were it not within the tsetse-fly belt. But it 
 will be developed in time, of that there can be no 
 manner of doubt, since there is a magnet which shortly 
 will draw labour thither. 
 
 That magnet is " bauxite." Situated not far from the 
 District Commissioner's bungalow in which we stayed is 
 a hill, 2,150 feet in height, which rejoices in the name 
 of Mount Edjuanema. It is composed of nothing but 
 " bauxite," and without further delay it may be explained 
 that " bauxite " is the basis of aluminium. At a moder- 
 ate estimate, we were informed that the value of this 
 provincial asset cannot be less than twenty million pounds 
 sterling. Bauxite, as we saw it, is a species of hard, red, 
 clayey substance which can be polished and fashioned 
 into quite pretty necklaces or bracelets, much sought 
 after by the native women. The machinery for the 
 reduction of this material into the aluminium of 
 commerce is not over costly, but at present the difficulty 
 in the way is that dreadful though beautiful scarp. 
 A railway has been proposed, and, indeed, has been 
 surveye'Sr to connect Accra with Coomassie, and this 
 would pass along the base of Ihe scarp" up which there 
 would be erected an aerial railway for the conveyance of 
 the raw material to trucks or to the smelting works 
 near by. That is, as near as may be, the proposal ; it 
 can only be a question of time and expediency before 
 work commences. 
 
 The word expediency requires some explanation. 
 Very wisely it is the policy of the Administration to
 
 48 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 encourage native chiefs to understand the value of their 
 possessions and to allow them to benefit rightly and 
 reasonably thereby ; in other words, it is discouraging 
 the ephemeral company promoter, who only looks to his 
 own pocket and cares not a rap about the good of the 
 people and of the country which he is farming. 
 Administration of this type is common-sense policy, for 
 it cements ruler and ruled by a bond of mutual trust and 
 feeling of security, and, moreover, the Gold Coast in the 
 past has been the happy hunting-ground of so many 
 fraudulent schemes that its reputation has been 
 undoubtedly smirched. This is now all being altered, 
 and the surest way to that consummation is the educa- 
 tion of the Chief regarding the potential value of the 
 resources at his disposal. Then let him grant conces- 
 sions by all means, with the advice of capable people 
 behind him, and there will be a plentiful reward for 
 both parties and satisfaction all round.
 
 49 
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 We left M'Praiso with a certain amount of regret. 
 Cool nights, such as we had there and at Kibbi, act 
 as a tonic to the jaded mind and body after the trying 
 heat of the day. Our personnel was increased at 
 M'Praiso by the gift of a monkey, christened by us, 
 on account of her perpetual melancholy, with the name 
 of that most dreary of heroines, Clarissa Harlowe. 
 Her one delight was to clap on her small head an 
 empty cigarette tin, and then stagger, with the vague 
 gestures of one blinded, the length of her chain. 
 Raising the tin she would take her bearings, push it 
 down again and recommence her game. Would that all 
 her existence had been spent in so harmless a manner ! 
 Accompanied by Clarissa we retraced our steps to 
 Koforidua and parted without reluctance or regret 
 from our antique Ford car. Striking away eastward 
 from Koforidua, this time in a car in first-rate condi- 
 tion and with an excellent driver, we reached the town 
 of Akuse. The road wound up over mountainous ridges 
 and down into valleys, and gradually we left behind the 
 squat plantations of cocoa trees with their glistening 
 leaves and quaint fruit growing on the trunks, and 
 passed from roads which shake our bones in retrospect 
 to a flat well-made surface on which we could go at a 
 fine speed. 
 
 Between the towns of Sunyana and Akuse there rises 
 out of the plain a hill with a sinister reputation. In 
 days gone by, Krobo Hill was undoubtedly the scene of 
 many human sacrifices, and even now no native likes to 
 pass it on foot within easy reach of its base. We 
 have heard it said that the pluckiest act of that 
 plucky woman, Mrs. Gaunt, was when she was carried 
 in her hammock by terrified " boys " close to that spot. 
 4
 
 50 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Now the motor road is at a safe distance and the old 
 road is closed, but it is only some nine years ago that a 
 native clerk set out from Accra on his bicycle to take up 
 his duties at Akuse and had to take the old road. Days 
 elapsed and he did not arrive. Inquiries w^ere made to 
 no purpose. Finally his bicycle was discovered in the 
 scrub which grows timidly and sparsely, as though itself 
 affected by the revolting stories, a few yards up the hill. 
 Of the man himself there was no trace, nor has there 
 ever been. And Krobo stands evil and brown in the 
 midst of the lighter brown of the plain, waiting patiently 
 for its next victim. 
 
 Akuse possesses the unenviable reputation of being the 
 hottest place in the Gold Coast. Whether this is 
 deserved or not it is difficult to say, but certainly never 
 have we felt the heat so much. The official settlement 
 or cantonment is situated at a distance of about a mile 
 and a half from the town. It is as ugly a place as could 
 be found. In order to prevent mosquitoes, shrubs have 
 been cut down, grass burnt, and the surroundings turned 
 into a miniature Sahara. Time appears to have been 
 when a numerous official population was anticipated, but 
 for some reason that anticipation has not been fulfilled, 
 and a few gaunt, uninhabited bungalows, the home of 
 white ants and rats — millions of the latter, as we know 
 to our cost — lend a sense of desolation and decay to a 
 thoroughly unprepossessing place. Even the kindness 
 of our hosts did not allay the feeling, and that is to say 
 a good deal, since everything possible was done for our 
 comfort. And most surprising of all, Akuse is not an 
 unpopular station with those who reside there. As 
 usual, we visited the paramount chief of the neighbour- 
 hood, a fine old man with a sense of humour and a vein 
 of matter-of-fact honesty which was rather refreshing. 
 The Konor (Chief), Mate Kolo, has been a good friend to 
 Great Britain, having fought on the right side in the 
 Ashanti War, a fact which has not been forgotten, and 
 which is testified to by the number of framed auto- 
 graphed photographs of bygone Governors which 
 decorate the walls of his room. As before remarked, 
 it was dreadfully hot, and the Konor did not offer us
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 61 
 
 champagne, much to our delight. But he did offer us, 
 and we did accept with gratitude, large bumpers of ice- 
 cold beer. 
 
 For the rest Akuse is merely a stopping place for 
 those, like ourselves, journeying further afield, though it 
 is the centre of a large administrative district, whence 
 it derives such importance as it may possess. In 
 addition, the River Volta flows near by, an important 
 highway to the sea when there is sufficient water. We 
 chanced upon it when navigation was at a standstill 
 practically, owing to long-continued drought. In the 
 rains, however, it taps all the immensely rich districts 
 bordering its left bank as far as the Togoland frontier, 
 and then small ocean steamers can reach Akuse without 
 serious difiiculty. Our road lay down stream to the 
 river mouth, Addah. Owing to the exigencies of the 
 situation, we did the nine hours' journey in a minute 
 shallow-draught motor launch, formerly German pro- 
 perty. It boasted one microscopic cabin, seven feet by 
 four at most, which we shared with an enterprising 
 young Frenchman, bound for Lome. Outside seethed 
 a noisy, thoroughly happy, black multitude. That 
 sitting accommodation was insufficient mattered to 
 them not a whit. "Mammies" with their babies 
 squatted on the roof of our cabin and dangled their legs 
 over our portholes. Our servants went promptly to 
 sleep on the deck and over all floated that pungent 
 perfume known as " Bouquet d'Afrique." It certainly 
 was not travelling " de luxe," but for those possessed of a 
 sense of humour it was quite entertaining. Moreover, 
 we had Clarissa, the surest banisher of ennui. A West 
 Coast wag once remarked that one of four things must 
 inevitably happen to a sojourner in these parts. He 
 either becomes neurotic, hypochondriacal, or a dipso- 
 maniac, or else he would keep a monkey. To the last 
 we have already pleaded guilty. Clarissa was presented 
 to us by a weary-looking District Commissioner. We 
 now understand the source of his weariness — Clarissa. 
 Coupled with her expression of permanent melancholy, 
 Clarissa possessed the fertile imagination of an inventor 
 and the trickiness of Puck himself. She never slept ;
 
 52 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 also she had a great penchant for matches, red-hot 
 cigarette ends, and anything which tinkles when it 
 breaks. Clarissa, on our down-river voyage, most 
 successfully depleted our supply of crockery and enjoyed 
 herself immensely. That is all that need be written 
 upon a very painful subject. 
 
 The Volta Kiver, between Kpong, where we embarked, 
 and Addah, does not possess any striking characteristics. 
 It is simply very wide and very shallow — at this season 
 — with low-lying banks on which grow rough scrub, a 
 monotonous landscape indeed. There are crocodiles to 
 be found here in great number, but it is only in the 
 early morning or late evening that one has any oppor- 
 tunity of shooting them. At the best it is poor sport, 
 and it is worth notice that, in contradistinction to 
 popular idea, the only portion of a crocodile's skin useful 
 for commercial purposes in the making of bags, purses 
 and such-like, is that which is found upon the stomach. 
 
 The small port of Addah, for some unknown reason, 
 has a bad name. Possibly the surf, the worst upon the 
 coast, has something to do with it. Yet history recounts 
 only one steamer being wrecked actually upon the bar, 
 though others have been driven ashore, with the inevi- 
 table toll of human life. But to us it appeared a 
 delightful place. The official bungalows are situated 
 close to the shore, and one can sniff the good Atlantic 
 breeze during the entire twenty-four hours. Bathing is 
 dangerous owing to undertow, but otherwise the fore- 
 shore might well be backed by a promenade and a band- 
 stand, and one might imagine oneself at a Devon seaside 
 resort. That is as Addah appealed to us. The town is 
 clean and well laid out ; it may have been incorrect, but 
 the inhabitants seemed exceptionally courteous, in spite 
 of an overwhelming curiosity on the part of the ladies to 
 see a white woman. Plenty have passed through, but 
 there is a large floating population from the hinterland, 
 and to these a white sister is a novelty to be treated 
 with respectful toleration, commensurate only with a 
 certain surprise that one so placed should ever deem it 
 desirable to wander so far afield. Addah is one of the 
 candidates in the running for portship, if such a word
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 63 
 
 may be coined, of the Gold Coast. There is a good deal 
 to be said for and against the proposition. To the out- 
 sider it would appear that from a practical point of view 
 it is too remote from railway and main road communi- 
 cation. Further it is tucked away in the far east of the 
 colony, whilst the trend of development is westward and 
 central. Moreover, in the event of the Accra-Coomassie 
 Railway materializing, time and labour would be saved 
 by sending goods through by that line to Coomassie and 
 thence to Secondee or such other harbour in that portion 
 of the Colony as may be found to offer safe anchorage. 
 The fact is that there is room for two good ports, were 
 finance available. Development should bring that con- 
 summation, and then trade will increase with the rapidity 
 ever attendant upon facility in handling inward or out- 
 ward bound merchandise.
 
 54 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 We were told by various cheerful pessimists at Addah 
 that the road from Attititi to Quittah was the worst that 
 the mind of man could possibly conceive, so, with recol- 
 lections of other awful roads, we set our teeth and pre- 
 pared for something truly terrible. Like many other 
 anticipated horrors, however, it turned out to be much 
 better than we had pictured it. From Addah to Attititi 
 one goes by launch, and in the early hours of the morning 
 we found this really exquisite. The sun rolled up the 
 dense sea fog like a curtain and we could see the man- 
 groves reaching their long brown arms into the slime of 
 the Volta swamps with enormous oysters clinging to 
 them, while flashing in the sun or darting back into the 
 shade were innumerable bright coloured birds. The 
 sluggish water teemed at one place with small jelly fish ; 
 opaque, they looked a cross between mushrooms and 
 soap bubbles and bobbed serenely about a few feet 
 beneath the surface. Everything was calm and — as yet 
 — cool. Consequently we climbed into a Ford, the distant 
 cousin of our antique acquaintance of Kibbi, with serene 
 minds. This was the car concerning which we had 
 received the following communication the day before : — 
 
 "Dear Sir, the car and lorry in which you are in- 
 destitute of for to-day at 2 p.m., I beg to state that the 
 differentia has got damaged and we are renewing the 
 washers. It cannot be ready at 2 p.m., unless to-morrow 
 morning. Yours sincerely," and then followed a quite 
 unreadable signature. 
 
 We then learnt that the Fia, or Chief, of the Awunas, 
 particularly desired to greet us and we were not slow in 
 accepting the invitation. It must be explained that this 
 chief occupies a position of peculiar prominence and that 
 his kinsfolk are to be found all over the western portion
 
 Sri 1 1. Fia of Auna.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 55 
 
 of Togoland. In the Great War he displayed wonderful 
 energy and helped the British to such an extent that he 
 was honoured by the gift of a very finely chased sword 
 from King George together with a huge silver medal 
 commemorating succinctly Britain's gratitude. Not a 
 man to be overlooked, this ! Our road to Awunagah lay 
 along the sea-shore, fringed with palms which looked 
 delightful. In places there were bumps but there are 
 many worse roads than this in the Colony. 
 
 Upon reaching Awunagah we were conducted to the 
 Fia's residence, in front of which were stationed the 
 pupils of the local school, boys and girls, who sang " God 
 Save the King " as though they meant it. Undoubtedly 
 they did. 
 
 The native population in this part of the Gold Coast 
 is intensely loyal and appreciates at its fullest value the 
 justness of British rule. Following upon the National 
 Anthem came introductions, and then we were invited 
 to the Council Chamber, a handsomely furnished apart- 
 ment, and an address was read to us, the following being 
 its purport : — 
 
 The Fia, who incidentally belongs to the Legislative 
 Council of the Colony, together with his advisors pro- 
 tested (a) that Togoland should not be handed over in 
 any circumstances whatsoever to the French. He main- 
 tained that racially they belonged one to the other and 
 that the cleavage was unnatural. Further, he remarked 
 that his race who had helped the British in the Togoland 
 Campaign had done so largely from sentimental reasons 
 because they believed Britain would unite them with 
 their Togoland brethren once again as a family ; (b) it 
 was asked that a railway might be constructed from 
 Attititi to Lome ; (c) that gunpowder might be sold at 
 a reasonable price and not be subject to trade fluctuations 
 caused by profiteering. He reminded us that at funerals 
 the firing of guns was a regularly recognized custom 
 without which the dead were not properly honoured ; 
 (d) he complained of the currency being paper which in 
 such a climate and carried by natives in their loin cloths 
 quickly deteriorated, became torn and was rendered 
 useless.
 
 56 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Now for some consideration of the points raised : 
 Regarding Togoland there can scarcely be much differ- 
 ence of opinion. This former German colony was the 
 first tangible asset of victory for the Allies in the war. 
 That it was so lightly secured was in no small measure 
 due to the action of the Fia, who not only found soldiers 
 and transport but indirectly influenced his kinsmen 
 across the border to lay down their arms, thus embarras- 
 sing the Germans to such an extent that they were 
 ultimately obliged to surrender. To hand over all that 
 portion of Togoland referred to in the address is little 
 short of lunacy apart from the doubtful, very doubtful,- 
 political sense of honour incurred thereby. To divide 
 a tribe in two after the specific declarations of statesmen 
 of all the allied nations is wrong policy and it may very 
 likely lead to consequences not yet appreciated in 
 Downing Street or the Quai d'Orsay, but certainly well 
 understood by all upon the spot, whatever their position 
 or calling. Plain writing is essential. The French 
 have no legitimate local claim upon Togoland. Frankly, 
 the subject peoples would prefer to remain under German 
 rule than be switched off and placed under the govern- 
 ment of the French whom they neither like nor under- 
 stand. This is nothing derogatory to France or French 
 rule any more than there is anything derogatory to the 
 individual when someone prefers Jack to Tommy. It is 
 a matter of temperament, and while the British are most 
 popular with the natives of Togoland, and of that there 
 is no doubt, the French are disliked and distrusted. 
 Natives have told us time and again, " If not the British, 
 let us go back to our old masters." In any case the 
 division of a large and wealthy tribe into two sections by 
 a stroke of a pen is an act of such an arbitrary character 
 that it is hardly conceivable that a British statesman 
 with intelligence and the fact before him would agree to 
 such an act. That is one aspect of the affair. 
 
 Then there is the commercial point of view. Togoland 
 was the one German African colony which could boast 
 of an annual credit balance. Moreover, this was in- 
 creasing and the Germans had schemes without number 
 for developing the latest resources of this wealthy little
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 67 
 
 country. Considering that it was British enterprise and 
 blood which secured it to the AlHes, then assuredly and 
 in view of the preceding statement of native desires, 
 Britain should derive whatever commercial benefit is 
 obtainable. Of its resources we shall have occasion to 
 refer to at a later stage when we shall have visited 
 Lome, and personally inspected the up-country districts 
 wherein are carried on such profitable enterprises as 
 sisal growing — from sisal is made rope — coco-nut 
 plantations, from which are obtained copra and so on. 
 For the nonce all that we desire is to bring to notice the 
 very just and reasonable claim put forward in the Fia's 
 address, backed up by impressions formed upon the spot 
 and hazarded not without the most careful consideration. 
 The second point made by the Fia is really one of 
 local interest. Contingent upon Britain retaining Lome, 
 then assuredly a railway must be built upon the Volta 
 Biver thither. From many viewpoints Lome is in a 
 sadly neglected condition at present. Mails are irregular 
 to the 71^^ degree. No one ever knows when or how 
 a mail is to arrive ; an elusive branch boat may bring 
 one having taken six days en route from Accra. Or else 
 the postmaster at Accra may decide that it is worth 
 while for the official and trading community to hear from 
 home, and a runner is sent. But there is no system and 
 that in itself is deplorable. To get away from Lome 
 means one or two alternatives. One may retrace the 
 track we have followed and go to Addah, launch up 
 stream to Akuse, and then motor, if one has the where- 
 withal to pay for it plus the automobile, to Accra, a 
 distance from Akuse of over fifty miles. The other pro- 
 position is equally alluring. Upon certain high days and 
 holidays, Elder Dempster honour Lome with a visit from 
 two dear old boats called the Si7' George and the Bida. 
 Reference has been made to these even in the Chief 
 Justice's speech of welcome to the present Governor of 
 the Gold Coast, General Guggisberg, upon his arrival at 
 Cape Coast. The Chief Justice spoke quite plainly, and 
 therefore the subject needs no further notice from my 
 pen, except that if the best is to be made of Lome and 
 the contiguous towns of Quittah and Addah, then
 
 58 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 speedily must be constructed a light railway linking the 
 three as far may be ; that is to say, a flat-bottomed 
 steam carrier would feed railhead at Attititi with goods 
 from Addah, and thence a service of inestimable value 
 would be maintained with Quittah and Lome. It would 
 pay quickly upon capital outlay, especially if constructed 
 upon the Decauville system, as was carried out by the 
 Germans in many portions to Togoland. From Lome 
 the ocean ships could be fed, more especially as at Lome 
 there is no surf difficulty, that having been overcome by 
 the construction of a pier at which passengers may land 
 in comfort and cargo handled in safety. That disposes 
 of the traffic question. 
 
 As regards powder, we are not in a position to make 
 much comment with the exception that it has been 
 brought directly to our knowledge that profiteering on 
 an enormous scale is going on, as the Customs ledgers 
 show. The amount of money coined out of a barrel of 
 gunpowder after paying Customs dues, freightage and 
 labour, would make the mouth of the greediest pawn- 
 broker in the East End of London water. The Dis- 
 trict Commissioner at Quittah, Captain Poole, M.B.E., 
 rendered a valuable service to the native community 
 when he read the Eiot Act and threatened to import 
 the article himself and retail it officially to the popula- 
 tion. The funeral customs referred to are quite harm- 
 less and bear the same relation to the funeral ceremony 
 as the use of incense in a Catholic church. To pro- 
 fiteer over the necessity of such a commodity is a blot 
 upon West African trading firms. 
 
 Paper currency also requires the minimum of atten- 
 tion if the question is studied without prejudice or 
 commercial " arriere pensee." It stands to reason that 
 a shilling note printed upon paper indistinguishable from 
 the envelope of a telegram is, apart from all else, a 
 beautiful temptation for the wily, black " sharp cus- 
 tomer " to substitute the one for the other. This has 
 been done in scores of cases. The individual responsible 
 for the colour of the one shilling West African note 
 deserves the thanks of the whole coloured criminal 
 community. Beyond that, in a hot country can any-
 
 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 59 
 
 thing more futile be imagined than a paper currency 
 which human perspiration quickly renders indecipherable 
 and which, moreover, carries contagion every bit as 
 easily as the wily mosquito ? Seriously, there was a 
 deal to be said for the cowrie shells of old days, for at 
 least they were clean currency, and could be carried 
 " native fashion." If the world supply of nickel is 
 really short then some form of token for purely native 
 market use might be devised. At present one silver 
 shilling is worth approximately three shillings of paper 
 money, and the native capitalists are making their war 
 bonus therefrom in spite of official restrictions. Further 
 comment is needless. 
 
 To leave discussion of this nature and turn to actual 
 happenings is somewhat of a relief. But our mission 
 would indeed be barren did we not touch with as kind a 
 pen as we can jointly handle upon things and matters 
 which literally seem to cry out for emendation. 
 
 The Fia before we left gave us a wonderful specimen 
 of native woven cloth, a combination of old blues, gold 
 and green. One is reminded, in looking at it, of the 
 antique Eodian work which is occasionally met with in 
 the Balkan States and Greece. The Fia told us that 
 its weaving had taken two months, which is not difficult 
 to believe. The native choir sang the National Anthem 
 once more as we boarded our car, and then we were 
 really on the way to Quittah. 
 
 On our arrival we were most kindly and cordially 
 received by Captain Poole, who, hov/ever, broke the 
 news to us that there would be another reception in the 
 afternoon, the local chiefs having their own points to 
 make. One gets accustomed to anything, even with the 
 thermometer at boiling point. And so we did our duty 
 to the Daily Telegraph and to the tune of " God Save 
 the King," played apparently in ragtime by the Quittah 
 brass band, and were ushered into the Court House. 
 Reiteration is very tedious, especially to those who 
 glance through these lines, so we will curtail description 
 and merely mention that in all sincerity the meeting 
 literally implored us to place the case of Togoland 
 before readers of the Daily Telegraph. But our joint
 
 60 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 sense of humour does demand some outlet, and hence 
 we make no apology for quoting the following from the 
 inevitable address, " Although you have not yet told 
 us the object of your mission or the purpose of your 
 visit, we know it would only be to advertise your 
 famous papers, and to prepare important articles to 
 support your Press. We therefore give you our word 
 that we shall endeavour to support your Press. Your 
 visit will ever remain in our memory, and you will 
 become our friends, and brother and sister, for we are 
 being governed by the same King and under the same 
 flag. We wish you all success in your endeavours and 
 further journey." Follows the signatures of all the local 
 notables. Certainly from this one may be permitted 
 to deduce that the folk in this part of the world really 
 do welcome the representatives of a British daily paper, 
 and that already the power of public opinion is under- 
 stood and valued. Also we shall be very disappointed 
 if the circulation of the Daily Telegraph does not increase 
 at least by ten copies weekly ! 
 
 Quittah is a curiously situated townlet. At places 
 it is possible to throw a stone from the sea-shore into 
 the lagoon which lies at the back and extends for many 
 miles laterally. When we saw it the major portion was 
 dry sand, and we were able to enjoy to the full a motor 
 run of ten miles or more over a surface which was as 
 level as a billiard table. We noticed a peculiar atmos- 
 pheric effect : Quittah happens to be one of the biggest 
 markets in the Gold Coast, and natives come many miles 
 to sell their wares there. The dry lagoon forms an 
 excellent short cut from the hinterland, and we were 
 treated to a vista of people, basket on head, walking 
 single file, and in what seemed never-ending procession. 
 And, as distance intervened and lessened the distinctness 
 of vision, so also the people apparently increased in 
 height until those in the rear attained gigantic propor- 
 tions and appeared as supermen stepping forth from 
 some other world. There was an unbroken silence. 
 The sand deadened all sound, even the engine of the 
 Ford car appeared less noisy than usual, and the eye 
 became puzzled by that never-ending expanse of colour-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 61 
 
 less sand. We have seen the same effect translated into 
 white in Siberia during the winter, and we can testify 
 that there is something uncanny about such monotony 
 which causes the mind to wander over a world of 
 inexplicable problems which are incapable of solution 
 here below. For the rest, Quittah is a busy populous 
 place ; its bungalows are literally upon the sea-shore, 
 and it is not long since the hospital was swept away bag 
 and baggage one stormy night. There is a good Catholic 
 Church, as also one supported before the war by the 
 Bremen Mission ; there are stores in plenty, and above 
 all and beyond all there is abundance of fresh food of all 
 kinds— this last somewhat uncommon in these parts. 
 
 To-morrow we leave for Lome, and we shall be 
 interested to study at first hand the various problems of 
 the situation there. At present the air is thick with 
 rumours as to the ultimate fate of the rather unfortun- 
 ately placed colony. British troops have been withdrawn 
 until there only remain sufficient for purely police duties 
 and, so to speak, Major Jackson, D.S.O., the British 
 Commissioner in charge, has his luggage packed and 
 is sitting on his boxes waiting for orders. Let us hope 
 that the order to quit may never come. If it does then 
 Eastern Gold Coast will receive a staggering set-back 
 which it will take years to remedy, and which will be 
 fraught with consequences of a character far more serious 
 than can be imagined from a casual glance over the 
 question. But why be pessimistic ? It is an error. 
 Common sense and fair play have a way of winning 
 through, and out here it is essential not to allow the 
 bogie of depression to sit on one's shoulders. 
 
 Meanwhile the sun is shining and the Atlantic looks 
 like the Mediterranean seen from the Cote d'Azur. 
 There are moments when one cannot comprehend why 
 this Coast should have the reputation it has, why 
 nature's wonderful handiwork evidenced in flowers, trees, 
 gaudily-feathered birds, and scenery v^hich would delight 
 the heart of an artist, should suffer from the seemingly 
 incurable ailment of a sinister name. Perhaps time will 
 change it : perhaps the on-coming tide of new ideas may 
 bring with it a fresh estimate of the West Coast. Most
 
 62 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 fervently do we hope so, for, in spite of all the difficulties 
 one is bound to encounter in wandering through the 
 highways and by-ways of this part of Africa, somehow 
 it makes an appeal to the senses as though it were 
 saying plaintively, " Now, tell us please, that we are not 
 so bad as we are painted."
 
 63 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The road from Quittah to Lome more nearly 
 approached one's idea of a nightmare than any other 
 one had seen in that part of the country. Even the 
 luggage lorry, which usually charged ahead at some 
 forty miles an hour over any sort of surface, protested, 
 and our medicine chest fell off twice, reducing its con- 
 tents to a pungent omelette as we sadly discovered later. 
 But it would be doing Togoland an injustice to say that 
 all the road was bad. After passing the old German 
 boundary, which is now a preventive station, the road 
 visibly improved, and after we had to search for superla- 
 tives of excellence instead of the reverse in describing 
 the highways made by the Germans in their former 
 colony. Thanks to the kindness of Major Jackson, 
 D.S.O., Commandant of the British forces in Togoland, 
 we had the opportunity of travelling some hundreds of 
 kilometres through the country, and it was the condition 
 of the roads which most impressed us. In England one 
 is accustomed to measure a road for quality by com- 
 parison with such well-known highways as the Great 
 North-road and that leading to Bath. As near as pos- 
 sible, the surface upon these routes is as perfect as 
 human ingenuity and practically unlimited financial 
 resources can make it. Yet look at a map of Togo- 
 land, find the seventh parallel, just south of which 
 and midway between the 0° and 1° longitude will be 
 found a place called Missahohe. Follow with the fore- 
 finger, almost directly north, a distance of some thirty 
 miles, and a village called Baika will be noted. The 
 road connecting these two places runs through an 
 extremely mountainous region, offering superhuman, 
 one might equally add appalling, difficulties to the sur- 
 veyor, the engineer and the contractor. We have
 
 64 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 travelled through the Brenner Pass in a motor, and to 
 those who are acquainted with it the illustration affords 
 an apt comparison. Only remember always that the 
 latter belongs to Europe, while this is unexploited 
 Africa. The road corkscrews and zigzags on the brink 
 of virtual precipices, where, far below may be seen 
 vegetation of an entirely different character from that 
 through which one is passing. The trees are the highest 
 and most majestic we have ever seen. They must be 
 at least 150 ft. in height, possibly more; estimate is 
 very difficult. Straight as a telegraph pole they rise 
 towards the light from the evergreen twilight of their 
 tropical surroundings without a vestige of foliage, until 
 at their tops they branch out into dense masses of 
 feathery leaves which shimmer and play with the sun 
 which beats upon them. We were told that they were 
 Cottonwood and odum trees. Surely here must be a 
 small paradise for an enterprising timber merchant. 
 How that road was ever made is a perplexity, but the 
 brains which fashioned it were the brains of craftsmen. 
 As regards labour, of course, it was forced upon the 
 natives of the region. There are those who will raise 
 their hands in horror at the very thought of what 
 to them appears an outrage upon humanity. There 
 is another side to that. When the Germans con- 
 structed that road, and continued it as far as Yendi, due 
 north, and halfway between the ninth and tenth parallels, 
 and so on to Sansane-Mangu, about thirty miles north 
 of the tenth parallel, they knew that they were construct- 
 ing a commercial windpipe which would supply the lungs 
 of Lome with the merchandise necessary for its vitality 
 as a seaport. And incidentally they were opening up 
 to the natives a new channel for the disposal of their 
 wares, and were turning a very poor population into a 
 community which now bids fair to become prosperous. 
 That the natives have realized this fact we saw when 
 in our presence a deputation from the village called upon 
 Major Jackson and asked for even more roads, and offered 
 to find the labour if the Administration could supply a 
 constructor to show them what to do. In this connec- 
 tion it is impossible to ignore what the loss of Lome will
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 65 
 
 spell to these people. The existing railway to Palime 
 from Lome, the feeder to this great road, under the 
 suggested scheme is to pass into the hands of the French. 
 Apart from Customs, delays, and such like, there is no 
 guarantee as to freightage rates. As an alternative route, 
 there is only the very lengthy and unsatisfactory journey 
 to Addah via the Volta Eiver, thither through a practi- 
 cally pathless country. The Germans, whatever may be 
 written for or against their system of colonization, were 
 eminently practical. Years ago they realized what we 
 are only beginning to grasp ; namely, that facile means 
 of communication, lending themselves to easy transport, 
 not only spell control in a strategic sense, but must also 
 inevitably lead to commercial development. Therefore, 
 the man on the spot, be he white or black, laments the 
 loss of Lome with an exceeding bitter cry, and Downing 
 Street cannot understand. The town of Lome has Ger- 
 many stamped upon it with an indelibility which no 
 amount of outside alteration will ever be able to erase. 
 It has palm-lined avenues which really are a delight to 
 the eye after the sandy unloveliness of the streets of 
 Accra, the Gold Coast capital. These are intensely 
 practical, since they are broad, shady, and allow such 
 little breeze as there may be to wander at will through 
 the stifling midday heat. There is a hospital, built upon 
 the latest lines and equipped in a fashion which would 
 make the mouths of doctors serving in tropical hospitals 
 in other parts of the world water. Again, that is prac- 
 tical and thorough. Seeing to the health of the in- 
 dividual, be he official or trader, is virtually only an 
 insurance premium upon the existence and success of a 
 dependence in the tropics. 
 
 In Lome there is no bugbear of surf. German 
 engineers built a pier, once washed away, now rebuilt 
 and strengthened, from which one gets into the steamer's 
 boat with the same ease as one embarks upon a tender 
 at Plymouth. So much is good and might well be 
 copied. Even the spiritual needs of the people were not 
 overlooked, and the Catholic Church is a landmark for 
 many a mile, and is certainly finer than anything of the 
 kind from Morocco to Cape Town. The Technical 
 5
 
 66 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 School attached thereto is a model of what such an 
 institution should be. One can have furniture made 
 there, one can get a suit of clothes tailored, one can 
 have a defective sparklet bottle or a wheezy automobile 
 repaired, effectively and without any loss of time, and, 
 be it said, along this coast the last is very rare. Of 
 course, there is a Lutheran Church, not so conspicuous 
 as the Catholic Cathedral, emphasis upon which has 
 been laid largely because, to anyone with a knowledge 
 of Germany, it entices a rather interesting vein of 
 speculation. Everyone knows by now that the Prussian 
 is a Lutheran, that the ex-Kaiser heartily disliked Eoman 
 Catholics and that only the Rhine Provinces and Southern 
 Germany represented Catholicism in the old German 
 Empire. Then why, may the outsider aptly query, 
 was the Roman Catholic Church made one of the most 
 prominent features in an obviously officially-planned 
 administrative centre ? If one may hazard a guess, and 
 without any precise guide before one, was it that the 
 major portion of the official population was drawn from 
 Catholic Germany, that is to say from Bavaria or the 
 Rhine provinces ? If that be so, reconstructed Germany, 
 or maybe a newly resurrected Bavaria, may yet find 
 these officials an asset not to be overlooked, since, as 
 surely as the sun shines, Germany will discover some 
 Colonial outpost to occupy. This is merely a train of 
 thought which may interest those with a purview a 
 little larger than the immediate moment. There is also 
 at Lome a Catholic Convent, where four fresh-faced 
 Irish nuns, too recently arrived to have had the rosy 
 colour drained from their cheeks, and a Mother Superior 
 from Alsace, are engaged in one of the saddest tasks 
 imaginable — the care and education of half-black female 
 children. This is a painful subject but one which must 
 be dealt with as it forms one of the problems of the 
 West Coast. If such things must be and will be until 
 there is a larger white society of both sexes, how should 
 one deal with these little unfortunates ? When their 
 fathers possess consciences they are sent to the Convent 
 and a sum paid for their education. Education to what 
 end ? For some reason which possibly a scientist might
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 67 
 
 explain, they are usually dull, apathetic scraps of 
 humanity, lacking the superficial quickness of their 
 mothers' race and the perseverance of their fathers'. 
 We saw many of them. Some of them were pretty, 
 others bade fair to be dangerously beautiful. We use 
 the word dangerous advisedly. When they grow up and 
 leave the Convent their equipment for life is approxi- 
 mately as follows : a little acquaintance with the three 
 R's, a smattering of housewifely knowledge, possibly 
 the ability to play a little on the piano, but above all 
 and beyond all they know that their fathers were white 
 and that, therefore, they are of finer clay than any 
 ordinary black man who might seek them in decent and 
 honourable marriage. Nothing the Sisters can do seems 
 able to eradicate this from their minds, although other 
 useful things never linger long. The effort is made to 
 marry them to the half-black lads who are brought up 
 by the Fathers at the Technical School, sometimes 
 successfully. Not often. The fate of these poor, vain, 
 stupid girl-children is what one might expect, particularly 
 if cursed with that beauty we described as dangerous. 
 They sink to the level of their mothers before them and 
 go lower, for the latter usually erred through love and 
 their daughters take the path of vicious ambition. 
 Would one be wrong to say : Better let the mother take 
 her baby back to the bush whence she came so that the 
 child may stand her chance with Nature and keep so- 
 called civilization out of it altogether ? We venture to 
 think so, and, after a frank conversation with the patient 
 Sisters, we saw that they realized the hopelessness of 
 their task. 
 
 Going back to the "make up" of Lome, one cannot 
 but be struck by the obvious efforts of the Germans to 
 impress the native mind by outside effect. Thus the 
 bungalows, or to be correct, houses, are grotesquely 
 ornate for the work for which they are designed. 
 Ornate outside and very uncomfortable inside would be 
 the exact description. No verandahs, no space to speak 
 of, rooms which are not airy, and, crime of all, many of 
 them so constructed that two families were expected to 
 occupy " stages " as at home in Germany. In Europe a
 
 68 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 flat is comfortable and convenient ; in the tropics it is 
 the reverse ; and the application of the principle shows 
 how the most practical people may make the greatest 
 mistakes. If you want to fill your model hospital then 
 by all means make your white population live under 
 such conditions. 
 
 Government House, as might be expected, is a large 
 building standing in the midst of really finely laid-out 
 gardens. It is battlemented and turreted in the best 
 and most modern German style. Take a walk along the 
 fashionable suburban thoroughfares of Bremen or Ham- 
 burg, and you will see this type of building duplicated 
 many times : the homes of the rich and prosperous 
 merchants hailing from the aforementioned cities. It is 
 a species of architecture which usually makes no appeal 
 to anyone without a certain mental training which it is 
 hoped will not be introduced into England. Some would 
 call it vulgar pretentiousness. With that one can fairly 
 say that comfort never need be anticipated. Was it not 
 some wag, who discussing this question of Teuton love 
 of the very ornate, described the style as early Pullman 
 or Late North German Lloyd ? Be that as it may, the 
 idea certainly fills the bill as regards Lome Government 
 House. Everything remains much as it was in the days 
 when the Duke of Mecklenburg carried on the duties of 
 Governor. Evidence of one's eyes is sufficient to prove 
 the haste with which the Germans departed from their 
 Togoland capital. Even library books, toilet sets, brick- 
 a-brac, and framed photographs were left behind in the 
 hurry. And they all remain " in statu quo," as one 
 might say. The rooms remind one of a German hotel ; 
 the vases holding flowers come from Dresden, while 
 the tables upon which they stand are of that incon- 
 gruous species known as " Art Nouveau." The climate 
 of Lome is truly abominable. " There comes a breeze 
 from off the sea," as Lewis Carrol said, after sunset, but 
 it dies down about the time one goes to bed. The result 
 is that one wakes in the early hours drenched to the 
 skin with perspiration. In fact the mattress may even 
 have to be changed, and we know one man there who 
 could see nothing smaller than a towel effectively to mop
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 69 
 
 his face and who wore three pairs of pyjamas a night. 
 Then comes prickly heat ! Kather humorous to those 
 who have it not, like slipping on a bit of orange peel, 
 but a torment to its victims. There are golf links at 
 Lome and tennis courts, but it made us uncomfort- 
 able even to think of such exertions, though many in- 
 trepid spirits played daily and grew visibly thinner in 
 consequence. Therefore it was with delight that we 
 took train for Palime, en route to Kluto where the 
 temperature was more endurable. Palime possesses an 
 interesting market where one can purchase, amongst 
 other things, the sun-baked pottery so dear to the 
 native heart and in which " palm oil chop," or 
 "ground-nut" stew becomes a most attractive dish. 
 Unfortunately it is so brittle that even with the greatest 
 care its life is not long. We brought two black " hens," 
 from which the natives drink palm wine, and a number 
 of other utensils. The hens still survive, albeit some- 
 what battered, but the teapots and dishes arrived in 
 England ground to powder. 
 
 From Palime we motored between rows of j&owering 
 flamboyant trees to Missahohe and on to Kluto, receiv- 
 ing a deputation on the way, the dignity of which was 
 somewhat marred by the vision of a minute " Teddy 
 Bear " on the top of the Chief's state umbrella. Mis- 
 sahoe was in the days of the Germans the " Kesidenz 
 des Kaiserlichen Bezirksamtes," or District Commis- 
 sioner, in plain English, and we followed their ex- 
 ample. It is a charmingly situated spot, but what was 
 even more charming was the drinking water, which 
 arrived fresh and cool and clean from an uncon- 
 taminated spring in the mountains through cement 
 pipes. G. W. Stevens in his "With Kitchener to 
 Khartoum " has an illuminating chapter entitled " The 
 Pathology of Thirst," With every word of it we 
 agree, except with his final conclusion. Whisky and 
 soda is good. Gin and soda is better. But even what 
 he terms "that triumphant blend" — gin, vermouth, 
 angostura, lime juice and soda, whether it be taken by 
 the glass or the gallon, is merely a promise of joy, 
 compared to the soul-satisfying delight of unfiltered.
 
 70 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 spring water. The point is that it must be unfiltered, 
 and in how many places can one take that risk ? Eain 
 water from tanks, water drawn from doubtful streams, 
 all has to pass through a filter, and the result is as 
 insipid, unrefreshing and characterless as would the 
 most brilliant article from the most gifted of war cor- 
 respondents after it had been through a mesh of press 
 censors. But Missahohe water ! As one admiring spec- 
 tator watched jug after jug disappearing down our 
 responsive throats, he ejaculated, " Madame de Brin- 
 villiers could not have taken more." 
 
 Not far from Missahohe, and upon a mountain over 
 2,000 ft. above the plains, is Kluto. It cannot be called a 
 village, a station, or a settlement. It consists merely of 
 two houses and a most glorious view. Before the war 
 this was the spot where sleeping sickness was treated, 
 since in the valley below is a broad belt of tsetse-fly, 
 thus giving the German doctors many victims to be 
 cured of this dread disease. But now Kluto is used as 
 an official health resort for men and women alike, and 
 nothing could be a more refreshing change from Lome, 
 or, for that matter, from any of the parched villages at 
 the foot of the mountains, than the cool air there. At 
 night one actually needs one blanket, and sometimes 
 two — a very rare experience in these parts. There is 
 an adjacent hill, the Hofberg, which looks down upon 
 Kluto, and on its summit one can see the ruins of a 
 house. There it was, in the days of the Germans, that 
 every couple married in Togoland had to spend their 
 honeymoon, and the house was known as " Honeymoon 
 House." The road from Missahohe thither has been a 
 wide one, but is now overgrown with weeds, elephant 
 grass, and all manner of creeping vines. On many of 
 the trees are orchids, and we were fortunate enough to 
 secure some good specimens of what may prove to be 
 uncommon species. From the ruins of " Honeymoon 
 House " one has the most extensive view to be obtained 
 from any mountain in the range. While we were there 
 a great proportion of the vegetation was brown and dry 
 from lack of rain, and enormous bush fires smoked by 
 day and flamed by night. But, even so, the panorama
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 71 
 
 from "Honeymoon House" was one which would do 
 credit to Switzerland. Someone unkindly remarked as wa 
 surveyed the view that the site might have been chosen 
 because of the facility with which an unsatisfactory 
 bride — or groom — might be hurled down the mountain 
 side with no witness to tell the tale. Certain it is that 
 the house was destroyed by a tornado, and tradition now 
 has it that the tornado came from the inside of the build- 
 ing ! The beneficial effects of Kluto as a health resort 
 we can vouch for personally. On our arrival we were 
 languid and dispirited ; by the time we had spent two 
 nights in that cool mountain air, energy returned to us. 
 Yet, grateful as we were for this relief, we could not help 
 regretting that the great work, originated, if we mistake 
 not, by Dr. von Raben, of studying, stamping out and 
 curing that scourge sleeping sickness, should have been 
 scattered to the four winds which may blow on Kluto. 
 Near by is a broad belt of country infested by the tsetse- 
 fly, and the opportunities for soientific research are 
 therefore vast. But nothing remains of Dr. von Raben's 
 efforts save a few mutilated books in German, thrown 
 aside as rubbish. Such action is near-sighted and 
 deplorable, and usually more expensive in the long run. 
 It remains to be seen what France will evolve from 
 Kluto, but signs point to its being used by her as it is 
 by us — as a sort of health resort for jaded officials. 
 Excellent as far as it goes, but, is that far enough ?
 
 72 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 By way of preface, let it be understood that we 
 are neither of us agricultural nor horticultural experts. 
 Also that, not being children, we accept with reserve 
 what we are told by folk with business axes to grind 
 or enthusiasts who allow their beliefs to run away with 
 them. Before entering Togoland the very name of 
 " sisal " was unfamiliar to us, as probably it will be to 
 the majority of those who trouble to read what follows. 
 Sisal, briefly, is the basis of possibly the finest hemp 
 rope obtainable, and until recently this peculiar, pine- 
 apple-looking plant had been regarded, if not exactly as 
 a weed, then distinctly as a plant lacking commercial 
 value. The Germans, however, with that inborn 
 patience over scientific research which, whatever people 
 may say, is undeniable, quietly went in, and without 
 advertisement made their experiments, which culmin- 
 ated in astounding success just as they embarked upon 
 the world war. 
 
 Everyone is aware that rope is of illimitable value as 
 regards demand. In other words, as long as the world 
 endures there will be those who will pay for the finished 
 article, from a steamship firm who want hawsers to the 
 gentleman who fulfils the office of public hangman. 
 Hence, when a common bush shrub, requiring the 
 minimum of skilled attention, is found to offer such a 
 remarkable means to a financial end, then it may be said 
 to look from all normal points of view as an uncommonly 
 likely investment. Facts and figures from an official 
 report are proverbially dull. But to illustrate fully our 
 genuine interest in this out-of-the-world Togoland plan- 
 tation, some space must be devoted to extracts from this 
 report, which we were privileged to see. In the first 
 place, the efficiency of a sisal plantation depends upon
 
 Togoland Beauties.
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 73 
 
 having a poor soil. That sounds extraordinary, but it 
 is true. Almost one might write, the poorer the soil 
 the better the sisal, and since the area of wasted land in 
 tropical countries is enormous, it seems as though 
 Nature, tired of seeing her handiwork relegated to the 
 waste heap of disuse, has introduced sisal at the last 
 moment to show the dubious that, far from being played 
 out, she still possesses some cards metaphorically up her 
 sleeve. 
 
 The chief requisite after having chosen your situation 
 is to maintain the welfare of the plants by affording 
 them security from weeds and undergrowth, since the 
 larger and coarser the sisal leaves the more valuable they 
 are. To get your finished article, that is to say, baled 
 fibre ready for the ropemaker, machinery of a simple 
 nature is required, as also cheap haulage to the factory, 
 since there is no reason why a plantation may not run 
 into thousands of acres, given labour and light tramways. 
 
 Now the Togoland plantation covers 2,700 acres. 
 For this area 365 outdoor labourers are required and 
 thirty-five factory hands. Let it be added that only a 
 portion of this acreage has been kept up to the mark, 
 and some land even wants planting. Moreover, though 
 there is a light railway system, there is only one machine 
 for stripping the pulp irom the leaf, in other words, 
 separating the hemp from the pulp, whereas there 
 should be at least two machines at work, and possibly 
 three. One, indeed, was on order from Germany, and 
 its concrete base remains to this day ; the machine, 
 however, was captured, and is rusting its life away 
 somewhere, which seems a pity. Yet what are figures 
 even in such circumstances ? There is an output of 
 forty tons of fibre monthly, or 480 tons annually. 
 Taking as a minimum price for hemp £4.5 per ton, this 
 means a gross income of £21,600 per annum. Call the 
 working expenses £7,600, and there remains a residue 
 of profit of £14,000 a year. 
 
 Granted these figures may be exaggerated since, for 
 instance, no allowance has been made for mechanical 
 breakdowns, and the profit is thus inflated, yet even if 
 halved £7,000 profit is very handsome. The purchase
 
 74 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of such land is, for obvious reasons, not difficult ; the 
 present market for hundreds of acres of poor soil cannot 
 be said to be large. The capital outlay upon machinery, 
 factory buildings, and light railway likewise is not an 
 enormous item of expense, and thus it resolves itself 
 into the question of labour supply. Be it mentioned 
 that the shedding machine known as the Corona, cer- 
 tainly the best of its kind to be had, cost in pre-war days 
 a modest £1,000, and it is economical in horse-power 
 and hence in fuel. A clean, full-grown plantation should 
 produce 1,200 tons of fibre yearly from every 1,000 
 acres. This, again, represents ±'54,000 a year if the 
 fibre fetches £45 a ton, and thus the Togoland enterprise 
 should produce over £145,000 per annum, with working 
 expenses which could not exceed £12,000. Of- course, 
 that is the most favourable aspect of the financial pro- 
 position, and the figures may be Juggled with by hemp 
 merchants and others to suit their own convenience, but 
 surely enough has been written to show that the idea is 
 worthy of consideration by long-headed business men. 
 
 Space forbids one to go too minutely into the actual 
 process of manufacture, but our visit to the estate was 
 full of interest. It is situated close to the highest hill 
 in Togoland, Mount Agu, which has a curious history. 
 It is precipitous and extremely difficult of access. In 
 fact, we could never find that any white man had ever 
 made its ascent. Withal it is thickly populated with a 
 native tribe who formerly occupied the surrounding 
 plain, whence they were driven many years ago by 
 the Ashantees. They took refuge in the caves and 
 crannies of this hill, and have never left it since, except 
 during the daytime, when some of them work upon the 
 sisal. They have their own farms, make their own 
 pottery, and weave their own clothes, and thus have no 
 reason to visit neighbouring villages in the plain, which 
 they never do under any circumstances. Had one the 
 time it would be interesting to go among them and learn 
 a little more about them and their fetishes, for they are 
 all followers of fetish. 
 
 The gentle Germans, when they started the planta- 
 tion, bought 22,000 acres approximately, of the necessary
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 75 
 
 land for the remarkable sum of £40. Someone must 
 have been a humorist connected with the deal, for after 
 consultation with a native lawyer the price was raised to 
 £60. History does not relate what the native chief 
 thought about it. The factory, which was in full work 
 when we saw it, is a compact building, in which every 
 bit of space has been utilized. This obviates running 
 about from department to department and cuts down 
 working cost. For the amount of work accomplished it 
 is almost comic to look at. But then everything in the 
 manufacture is so simple that elaboration is unnecessary. 
 The leaves, some of them as long as five feet, and as we 
 said before, shaped like those of a pineapple plant, are 
 placed upon an endless leather carrier, which transports 
 them to the Corona stripper. Short work is made of 
 them there. Knives dissect them as though combing 
 hair, and a greenish fibre emerges, with, it must be 
 admitted, a horrible smell. It is then thrown into a 
 tank to be washed of impurities and hung upon what 
 might well be clothes lines to dry in the sun. The 
 fibre is then brushed by a very simple machine, which, 
 incidentally, takes away a great amount of powder 
 extremely trying to the lungs of the workers, who were 
 offered masks in which to do their duties. The offer 
 was politely refused. The black man is a funny creature 
 on occasion, and maybe he thought they were a form of 
 malignant juju. Then comes the baling and packing, 
 and the goods are ready for delivery. As the conjurer 
 would say, " There's no deception ; it's only knowing 
 how." And M5 or £35, or even £25 a ton for the 
 result ; no wonder that we thought a little woefully 
 about writers and their financial returns I 
 
 One plantation of sisal looks exactly like another 
 except, naturally, where weeds have been allowed to 
 accumulate the plants have not had the chance of 
 such expansion as when kept thoroughly cleared. The 
 life of a plant is four years, after which it grows a pole 
 in the middle which, if removed, gives it an added 
 existence, although the leaves are not so good in quality. 
 Hence, there has to be replanting, turn in turn, which 
 is easily accomplished from a nursery where seedlings,
 
 76 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 or bulbils from older plants, are brought up. A bulbil, 
 for the benefit of the uninitiated, is a little growth 
 thrown out by a parent plant from its base. A planta- 
 tion, therefore, with care, is practically self-supporting. 
 
 So much for the Togoland plantation, over which we 
 were led by its supervisor, Mr. Lyne, one of the senior 
 specialists of the day on the subject, and withal a tre- 
 mendous optimist as to the commercial future awaiting 
 the exploitation and development of the industry. 
 
 Finally, it is no secret that the Gold Coast Govern- 
 ment are seriously considering using their waste lands 
 in this manner after suitable experiment and observation. 
 While in company with Mr. Lyne we happened to hear 
 him make an observation in German to an ordinary 
 native labourer, who replied in equally good, if not 
 better, German. We have ourselves met plenty of 
 natives from French territory who all could speak quite 
 excellent and fluent French. The German-speaking 
 native, we were told, was no exception, which leads 
 one to an interesting point. Why is it that in all British 
 West African Colonies the abominable " pidgin " English 
 is still adhered to ? It is a language of its own, and it 
 is no exaggeration to say that the newcomer has actually 
 to learn it before he or she can do anything with native 
 servants or others. Surely it would be better in the 
 nature of things, and certainly more dignified, if an 
 order in English were given in English, and not some- 
 thing after this fashion : Mistress to boy, " Ansammanah, 
 what for you go do this ? Where my tings lib I sleep in 
 for night ? You savvy, plenty good, you go take 'em buy 
 chop. You be tief, boy, and master no go give you any 
 more dash." And so on ad infinitiim. 
 
 There are schools in plenty, where the budding native 
 child is seriously taught such valuable history, as the 
 story of Eomulus and Remus — one of us really heard 
 such a lesson — when, if those same infants were shown 
 how to speak the King's English, with the accent on 
 the King, some permanent good would result, and the 
 poor European would be spared many an hour of 
 irritation. Imagine a hot day and trying to explain to 
 a lad, who himself only imperfectly speaks this extra-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 77 
 
 ordinary dialect, that you are expecting three friends to 
 lunch, one of whom, having had fever, must have a 
 special dish prepared for him. It really does tax the 
 patience of Job, and much must be forgiven masters or 
 mistresses whom, forgetting the moralities of their youth, 
 as taught by their parents, burst quite without warning 
 into the broadest and plainest vernacular. Which 
 reminds us of a quite delightful chauffeur we had who 
 also used the vernacular to an extent which would have 
 made the mouth of a hardened fo'castle hand water, 
 "My boy," we said, "where on earth were you educated ? 
 How did you ever learn such expressions?" The reply 
 came very glibly, " I be Mission boy sah ! " And, more- 
 over, there is another side to this question of pidgin 
 English, and really a serious one at that. 
 
 In countries such as these which we are visiting one 
 is dependent upon the services of an interpreter in 
 interviewing chiefs and at other official functions. And 
 this necessity is not confined to visitors. Officials them- 
 selves are often obliged to entrust the translation of 
 matters of importance to interpreters who are unable 
 to understand ordinary English, Therefore the weary 
 official has to translate into "pidgin" what he wants to 
 say. The interpreter then translates what he imagines 
 was what the official wanted him to say, and heaven 
 alone knows what the resultant communication will be 
 as understood by the native mind. For instance, this 
 happened to us. At the request of the District Com- 
 missioner at one place we met an Omanhene, or chief, 
 of great importance. He asked, through the Com- 
 missioner, what we were, and the latter was wise enough 
 in his generation to hand the little task to us. We 
 explained with some detail that we were special corres- 
 pondents of the Daily Telegraph ; that we were seeing 
 his country in order that people in England should be 
 told something more about it than they knew, and that 
 we hoped that our visit would be of real and lasting 
 benefit to him. We took infinite trouble in choosing 
 one-syllable words and making the phraseology as simple 
 as was humanly feasible. Afterwards we leant how 
 what we said had been handed on. It was as follows :
 
 78 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 " They be plenty big man for book." Talk of waste 
 energy ! In this connection we really must be forgiven 
 for the narration of an equally authentic little story. 
 The name of the Governor we suppress merely because 
 he has gone on to his reward, which, if measured by the 
 affection and regard in which he was held by official and 
 native alike, will indeed be great. He was a very erudite 
 and intellectual man, and withal a very fine speaker, 
 who could not manage to turn his best periods into 
 " pidgin " even had he wished. To him it was an 
 impossibility. The phrase was something like this : 
 " It was truly wonderful that delicately nurtured women 
 should be found who were willing to brave the dangers 
 and discomforts of the pestilential West Coast climate." 
 The translation ran : " He says his women be damned 
 sight finer than yours." Comment really is needless. 
 And, finally, for brevity of telegraphic "pidgin" the 
 following is priceless. It was sent by a brother-in-law 
 to his sister's husband, the sister having just died : 
 " Orella kick bucket : what do ? " One can best illustrate 
 and emphasize a point often by a little humour, and 
 those three quoted messages are sufficient to show where 
 the need for education comes in. 
 
 The present Governor of the Gold Coast, General 
 Guggisberg, a soldier of great distinction, as well as an 
 administrator who, though he has not lived his life in 
 the latter capacity, has already shown what energy, 
 enterprise, and common sense can do, has taken up this 
 question of education with no uncertain determination. 
 In a speech before the Legislative Council in February 
 he outlined a far-reaching policy, which should have 
 enormous results if carried out in its entirety. To use 
 an Americanism, he has "caught on" to the fact that 
 the infant schools should have a separate organization, 
 and should be in the nature of ''preparatory schools" — 
 that is to say, they should be there to prepare infants 
 for admission to the primary schools. If infants receive 
 a good grounding, and are taught to speak English as 
 it should be spoken, then truly an advance of more 
 moment than people at home might imagine will have 
 been made. In this country it appears to the travelling
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 79 
 
 outsider that the aim of former administrations has 
 been to get over the ground too quickly. Education 
 costs a deal of money, and this has to be found some- 
 where, for all administration is a compromise as to what 
 is most urgent for the community at the moment. 
 
 Again a comparison. No battleship has ever been 
 constructed which combined within herself maximum of 
 gun-power of any ship afloat, maximum of protection, 
 maximum of speed. Something must be sacrificed to 
 obtain the one of the three essentials which the designers 
 may deem most important. Similarly, as we are daily 
 learning, the administration of a colony is not so easy 
 as it appears, even though there may be a good bank 
 balance and a loan of respectable proportions has been 
 forthcoming. 
 
 General Guggisberg, being a Koyal Engineer, has 
 struck bed-rock by plumping first and foremost for 
 education, an education of a new type. He has schemes 
 of every kind. He wants a marine parade from Govern- 
 ment House to the port, a distance of three miles at 
 least. He wants railways and roads and bridges, and 
 we are not at all certain that his enterprise would cease 
 with a municipal theatre. The latter is not so impos- 
 sible as the untravelled might imagine. The theatre at 
 Manaos, on the River Amazon, and in just as hot a 
 climate as this, is a magnificent one. 
 
 But to return to education ; the Governor has realized 
 the crying need of the country for a proper education, 
 not a grafted one. By this we mean that if you take 
 a mission-educated boy and throw him into the midst of 
 advanced branches of higher education, you immediately 
 produce the educated West Coast clerk, who rarely, if 
 ever, writes clear English, but who is perfectly willing 
 to do so if given proper chance and instruction. All 
 this takes time, and one goes back to the original point, 
 " catch them when they are young " ; they are full of 
 intelligence and brain power, only the motive force has 
 hitherto been wrongly applied. Brilliant barristers 
 have come from the Gold Coast — educated in Britain. 
 Also excellent doctors, so we are told ; but few if any of 
 them owe their primary educational start to the schools
 
 80 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 which were here standardized. And so back again to 
 the " boys," as they are generally called here. Most of 
 them good little chaps, faithful little chaps, and some 
 of them would never desert one in any emergency. They 
 only want the education to develop them into men with 
 grit and backbone which any country might envy. 
 True, they come from a different stratum from the 
 Government clerk, who usually has had the advantage, 
 or otherwise, of some sort of missionary education. 
 That the latter is better than nothing will be admitted, 
 but the thorough tackling of the whole problem spells 
 advance.
 
 81 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 Leaving Accra in the s.s. " Appam " for the port 
 of Sekondi, whence runs the railway to Dunkwa, will 
 long remain a vivid memory. The so-called wharf at 
 the former place is the property of the steamship 
 company, and they have evidently not had time during 
 their occupation of over twenty years or more to do 
 much for the convenience of passengers forced to land 
 there. Baggage was dumped down in the sand and 
 left till its distracted owners could either bribe or 
 bully native labourers to put it into surf-boats. This 
 absorbed time and temper ! After a good couple of 
 hours' perspiring endeavour we managed to get off to 
 the ship, and there we wallowed and rolled in a heavy 
 Atlantic swell until a ship's officer was considerate 
 enough to let down the "mammy chair" to bring us 
 on board. But the process took forty minutes, and the 
 officer seemed hurt that we were not unruffled, and, in 
 fact, agreeably surprised that he had been so quick. 
 
 Naturally, the Governor received better attention, but, 
 speaking for the travelling public, really it is time that 
 Messrs. Elder, Dempster came up against outside com- 
 petition. There is nothing personal in this statement ; 
 usually we have received as much consideration as, or 
 even more than others. It is merely the principle. 
 The Manager of the Bank of British West Africa at 
 Accra told us candidly that he rather welcomed the 
 advent of the Colonial Bank there, as competition kept 
 a concern alive, and forced employees to contrive, con- 
 sider, and generally keep up to the mark. Monopoly 
 will more quickly destroy initiative than anything else, 
 and once initiative goes overboard everything else 
 follows. 
 
 At Sekondi we remained only one night, attending 
 6
 
 82 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 a concert in the evening at the Railway Institute. 
 There is a regular colony of white men at the above 
 town, and that which struck us far more than the music, 
 which was above the average, was the fine physique and 
 look of undoubted fitness, the audience — mostly railway- 
 men — possessed. 
 
 Here again was evidence that the day of the bad old 
 " Coaster " was rapidly passing. Twenty years ago this 
 portion of the globe was regarded as a refuge of the 
 destitute, the drunkard and the divorced. The allitera- 
 tion is not ours ; it was given to us to describe what 
 " had been," by an old, old sojourner in these parts. 
 Weil, that has all been altered and swept away never 
 to return, and as facilities for relaxation and amusement 
 increase so will the last remnants of this old and evil 
 reputation disappear. It seems to us as worth sugges- 
 tion that all coast towns should have an institution along 
 the lines of this railway institute at Sekondi. 
 
 At Accra there is nothing of the kind, merely a 
 miserable little club, which lacks everything a club 
 should possess except the hospitality of its members, 
 which is proverbial. We are writing of bricks and 
 mortar, and if the Government can find a cool million 
 or more to spend upon public works, then surely they 
 might find a few thousands to build a really good club- 
 house for the benefit of all, but chiefly for the con- 
 venience of their own officials. 
 
 It was from Sekondi that we started on our tour 
 with His Excellency the Governor through little known 
 parts of the Western Province of Ashanti, and the 
 Northern Territories. General Guggisberg is one of 
 those who believes very strongly in seeing for himself. 
 During the war his predecessor. Sir Hugh Clifi'ord, for 
 obvious reasons, was obliged more or less to remain as 
 near telegraphic headquarters as might be. That meant 
 that it was impossible for him to visit the outer confines 
 of his little empire, for that is what it really is. For a 
 fortnight (that may not appear much to the man in the 
 street, but to a Governor it is a long time), he is out of 
 touch with the world, and to send him information is 
 a difficult and uncertain business. As in our case, he
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 83 
 
 simply dives off the plank into the sea of obscurity, and 
 in due course emerges at the terminal, where he can 
 gather fresh information and the latest news. 
 
 In war such an undertaking Vv^ould undoubtedly be 
 hazardous, and thus it v/as that Sir Hugh Clifford could 
 never undertake this ambitious trip in its entirety and 
 hence the Governor, in these remote regions, was a name 
 rather than an entity. General Guggisberg wants to 
 alter this and show himself as being very much alive, as 
 being au courant with the local situations, as caring as 
 intimately for the welfare of the native in the back 
 blocks as for his top-hatted brother in Accra or Cape 
 Coast ; as being, in plain English, not merely a " figure- 
 head." Accomplishing that is sound administration 
 indeed, and in due course is bound to bear good fruit. 
 But for the moment we prefer to place the political 
 aspect of this journey on one side and describe at some 
 length the ways and means whereby a party of ten 
 Europeans, including three women, travel through an 
 African jungle with a certain degree of comfort. Those 
 good folk who make perilous pilgrimages to the South 
 of France or who think nothing of going to " Lovely 
 Lucerne " have, we venture to say, no idea of the 
 amount of time, patience and labour which is expended 
 on the successful pilotage of such a small party as ours 
 in a country where the sweetness of doing nothing is 
 carried to a fine art ; where glib promises are as glibly 
 broken ; where the heat tries a white man's temper past 
 description and where, truly, only the wicked are at rest. 
 Dunkwa, midway between Sekondi and Coomassie on 
 the railway, was chosen for the first stop, a sort of jump- 
 ing off place, as it were, for our plunge into the unknown. 
 We had cut down our luggage, had taken a tender fare- 
 well of Clarissa, and had been given an orderly through 
 the courtesy of the Inspector General of Police at Accra. 
 This orderly was a delusion and a snare. He was an 
 enormous fellow whose courage was in inverse propor- 
 tion to his size and the only time he was really awe 
 inspiring was when he was in the throes of a nightmare. 
 Then he bellowed like a bull and ground his teeth hid- 
 eously. But the carriers openly scoffed at him, and his
 
 84 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 only skill seemed to be that of eluding any work. With 
 our own boys he was intensely unpopular after he took 
 two of their vests to clean our guns. As we could not 
 pronounce his name we called him " Koko," to which 
 he answered very sulkily, and we discovered that in his 
 particular language "koko" meant "hen." It was so 
 appropriate and we had grown so callous to his feelings 
 by that time that he remained Koko to the last. 
 
 From Dunkwa the following standing orders for the 
 party were enforced, or perhaps we might say complied 
 with as far as was humanly possible. But what is an 
 easy matter with disciplined white troops becomes a 
 nightmare when a heterogeneous body of carriers is 
 concerned, and these excellent plans often went " agley " 
 in practice. 
 
 (1) Carriers. — The carriers will proceed in two 
 batches. 
 
 " A." — Mess stores, tables, chairs, lamps, cooking 
 utensils, knives, cutlery, &c. 
 
 " B." — Personal baggage, bedroom furniture, &c. 
 
 " A." — Will proceed at an early hour. 
 
 " B." — When the remainder of the column leaves. 
 
 The A.D.C. and headquarters boys will accompany 
 " A " in order to prepare luncheon and the next camp. 
 
 (2) Loads. — Europeans will not carry more than the 
 following loads : — 
 
 Bath 
 
 1 
 
 Bed 
 
 1 
 
 Tin boxes 
 
 3 
 
 Miscellaneous ... 
 
 1 
 
 Boy's load 
 
 i 
 
 Care must be taken that these do not exceed 60 lb. 
 in weight. 
 
 Boys have a habit of putting their belongings amongst 
 their masters' after the load has been weighed ; they 
 must be made to understand that this must on no account 
 be done. Half a load per boy is ample for their require- 
 ments and any surplus they must carry themselves. 
 They must in addition carry one hurricane lamp. 
 
 The same carriers will be supplied daily to each 
 European as far as possible so that they may know their 
 particular loads.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 85 
 
 On the march each European will send a^boy orfan 
 orderly to march with his luggage. I, I -i'l^^'^i 
 
 (3) Hammocks. — Each European will be provided 
 with a hammock. There will be six boys to each 
 hammock. Spare hammock men should be employed 
 in carrying any small articles such as gun case, water 
 bottle, camera, &c. 
 
 (4) Breakfast. — Each European will be provided with 
 crockery, &c., for breakfast, and will be responsible for 
 carrying this amongst his personal luggage. 
 
 The private secretary will notify all in daily orders as 
 to the time up to which breakfast can be obtained from 
 the cook house ; this must, however, be obtained by 
 personal boys, 
 
 (5) Escort. — Officer commanding escort will assist 
 A.D.C. with transport arrangements. 
 
 He will detail six men and N.C.O, to proceed with the 
 advanced party and will be responsible for the baggage 
 of the rear party. 
 
 He will detail one N.C.O. and three men to act as 
 advanced guard to the main body. 
 
 One N.C.O. and three men as rearguard. 
 
 He will place the remainder of his men amongst the 
 carriers in batches of two, whose duty it will be to keep 
 the carriers closed up and prevent looting. 
 
 He will take up the position in the column which he 
 deems fitting for the best supervision. 
 
 (6) Headmen. — One super headman will be in charge 
 of carriers in the advanced party, one in the rear party. 
 
 He will march in rear of his carriers with any spare 
 carriers he may have and will at once change the load 
 of any man who is flagging. 
 
 (7) Order of March. — Advanced guard : one N.C.O. 
 and three men G.C.R. 100 yards in advance. 
 
 His Excellency and staff. 
 
 Other Europeans. 
 
 Escort and carriers. 
 
 Rearguard, one N.C.O. and three men G.C.R. 
 
 (8) Halts. — The column will halt for 10 minutes at 
 10 minutes to each clock hour, when carriers will close 
 op and place their loads to either side of the path.
 
 86 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 At the hour the column will proceed. 
 
 (9) Daily Orders. — Daily orders will be issued by the 
 private secretary stating time of start, time up to which 
 breakfast may be obtained and time of luncheon, &c. 
 
 The "Europeans" of the party were His Excellency 
 General Guggisberg, his A.D.C., his private secretary, a 
 captain of the Gold Coast Eegiment in command of the 
 escort of thirty soldiers (black), a doctor, the wife of the 
 inspector-general of police, whose long experience, good 
 health, good humour and general ability made her a most 
 valuable addition to the party, a female stenographer, and 
 our two selves. Lastly there was what might be called 
 a "floating population," which consisted of the Com- 
 missioner of that particular district in which we happened 
 to be, and sometimes also of the Chief, or Acting-Chief, 
 Commissioner of the province. The A.D.C. travelled 
 ahead, and upon him fell the onus of preparing lunch 
 against the arrival of the party, whatever that might be. 
 It was naturally impossible to foresee causes of delay, 
 and so he had to stand by and be on the qui vive and 
 waiting. Not a very pleasant task either, with the 
 thermometer wobbling about in the 90's, shade tempera- 
 ture ! In addition, he had charge of all the stores, and 
 had to check them and see none had been mislaid or 
 stolen. Was it not Gilbert who wrote, " A policeman's 
 lot is not a happy one"? Well, most assuredly, an 
 A.D.C.'s is not. The public usually associate this type 
 of official with a lavish display of gold lace and decorations, 
 together with a heavy dragoon manner. Beloved indeed 
 of the serial novelist is the A.D.C. Yet little they know ! 
 At the risk of dissipating fond illusions, let it be written 
 that certainly the aide-de-camp of a West African 
 Governor has a job which is as hard as any yet invented 
 since the days of Adam. He is held responsible for 
 every sin of omission or commission in his intricate 
 department. He is briefly instructed by the Governor. 
 He is then told off by the transport officer. He is next 
 harassed by the superintendent of police. If any lady has 
 a complaint, if she has lost while at Government House 
 or on tour the most minute article, then she calls upon 
 the assistance of the A.D.C. No matter how tired he
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 87 
 
 Diay be, she expects and receives attention of the most 
 courteous type. He must exhibit the patience of Job, 
 the justice of Solomon, and the psychic analysis of a 
 Sherlock Holmes. He must never be tired ; he must 
 never lose his temper ; he must not mind in the least if 
 he mislays all his kit in an altruistic effort to save that of 
 others he has never seen before, and will probably never 
 see again, from losing theirs ; he is in turn a greengrocer, 
 a wine merchant, an expert upon fish, flesh, and fowl, and 
 withal he is a conjurer of no mean ability, for woe betide 
 him if he does not arrange a four-course dinner, and a 
 good one at that, from a few mysterious tins. He is the 
 plaything of circumstance, but one law he must obey, 
 and that is smile, smile, smile. 
 
 The private secretary is a being on a different plane. 
 He is a species of shock absorber for the Governor. His 
 manner must be of that suave variety which will break 
 the most irritating of news as though he were telling you 
 that a rich uncle had died and had left you his fortune. 
 He is never abashed, and with outspread hands will 
 wave away any difficulty as being of no moment, though 
 what his private opinion is would no doubt be interesting. 
 At the same time he is always busy over something, and, 
 according to his own estimate, is the one person who 
 really works. And during the entire twenty-four hours 
 it is a fact that he seldom has a minute he can really call 
 his own. 
 
 So much for the two indispensable assistants a 
 Governor must have, and, be it added, he could never get 
 through all the ceremonial functions he must attend did 
 he not have the help of such thoroughly efficient workers. 
 The third individual to qualify for a halo is the Officer 
 Commanding Escort. His hammock is merely to be 
 seen, not used ; his meals reach him at strange hours 
 or not at all, and he exercises the brains of Machiavelli 
 and the agility of that domestic animal, the flea, to be in 
 " the best position in the column fitting for the best 
 supervision " of the 400 carriers. The genus carrier is 
 not what he used to be. Motor transport is, to some 
 extent, the cause. But until this means of locomotion 
 becomes universal there will be stretches of country in 
 which loads will still be carried on men's heads. They
 
 88 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 are now paid Is. 6d, a day and given their food, but our 
 four hundred were not satisfied with anything. In fact 
 we were strongly reminded of KipHng's description of 
 the commissariat camel — " 'E's a devil, an' a ostrich an' a 
 orphan child in one." To obtain the lightest loads, bo put 
 heavy ones down in the track and vanish for ever, to gorge 
 themselves to repletion on their rations plus food looted 
 from the villages through which they passed, to go 
 weeping and wailing to the doctor with scratched toes or 
 "pain for belly" (this last the result of gluttony), to 
 squabble amongst themselves: this was the life of our 
 little army of human beasts of burden. Yet to do them 
 justice, there were shining exceptions. We have seen 
 hammock boys stagger up hills which looked formidable 
 enough to the ordinary walker with never a word of 
 protest, though with a human load of some considerable 
 weight. Eain they mind not, sun they like, heat they 
 endure ; the only thing against which they protest 
 vehemently is the blow of a white man who loses his 
 temper and unjustly at that. Again, that is a phase 
 which is fast passing. People lose their tempers the 
 world over, and in the tropics naturally more than 
 elsewhere. The nerve strain is greater and the will 
 power less. That is one thing. But to strike the object 
 of your anger is another, and time was when a carrier 
 might expect little or no mercy if he dropped a load or 
 even rested. That type of " Coaster " belongs to a 
 bygone day. 
 
 Our difBculty with the carriers was only one aspect 
 of the greatest problem with which the Gold Coast, in 
 common with other countries, has to deal — namely, 
 that of labour. The actual aboriginal is well enough 
 until he comes in contact with the coast dweller, 
 who regards manual labour as only fitting, apparently, 
 for Europeans. He is willing to be educated up to a 
 point, that he may become a lawyer, or a doctor, or a 
 parson. But he has no conception or realization of the 
 true dignity of labour. He cannot or will not grasp the 
 fact that the man using the sledge-hammer is every bit 
 as worthy of respect as his brother who takes iniquitous 
 fees for pleading over twopenny lawsuits in the Gold 
 Coast law courts. In this direction there seems no sign
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 89 
 
 of light in the darkness, and one morning these happy 
 Utopians will awake to find a colony of outside workers, 
 recruited from afar, established upon their territory and 
 taking the wages which they could have had, and enjoying 
 the prosperity they could have enjoyed, had they had the 
 foresight to realize which way the wind must inevitably 
 blow if progress and not stagnation were to result. We 
 are no enemies of the coloured man. 
 
 We are pleased and proud to think that at Accra we 
 left one or two natives of this land whom we might call 
 friends. And to them we have said the same thing. 
 Whether it be climate, environment, upbringing, we 
 know not what, the result is the same ; the native-born 
 man tinged with education (mark the phrase) has no 
 power of enterprise, application, or energy. He can use 
 his brain : none better, when he wishes. But physical 
 fatigue he loathes, discipline he resents, and manual 
 labour he simply despises. The Governor has made 
 a great stride in the right direction by encouraging 
 cricket ; it is a modest beginning, but one of us re- 
 members playing a game of tennis at Heidelberg with 
 some university students. That was one of the initial 
 games in Germany over twenty-five years ago, and now 
 it is as common there as football is with us. And so it 
 may be upon the Gold Coast. The native may take to 
 cricket, and then he will learn discipline — the law of 
 give and take — and will realize that if he is fit to field 
 during a long tropical afternoon for pleasure, then he is 
 equally fit to go into spheres of life which hitherto he 
 has studiously avoided. In this connection we cannot 
 help recalling President King, of Liberia, when he said 
 to us : " There is one type of immigrant we do not want 
 hers. We do not want politicians, and they are usually 
 lawyers." With due respect to the Gold Coast, they 
 have lawyers in plenty and to spare, but technical 
 experts none. By the time v/e reached Dunkwa we 
 had witnessed two stages of native development. We 
 had seen the highly educated product, such men as are 
 elected to sit upon the Legislative Council, and whose 
 advice is really of value. We had seen the semi- 
 educated species in the eastern provinces — men who 
 are literally coining money — who have only the most
 
 ■90 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 rudimentary ideas how to spend it once it is in their 
 possession, but who, none the less, have the glimmerings 
 of an intelligence as to the part they might play in the 
 destinies of their country, who realize in a vague way 
 that a great world upheaval has just occurred, and is 
 only now quietening down, and who are beginning — 
 good sign — to be just a little jealous of their homeland. 
 Then we saw the aborigines : people untouched, so far, 
 by the long arm of civilization or education, dwellers in 
 the lonely depths of the forest belt. We also met with 
 isolated District Commissioners, to whom equally our 
 visit proved an event, and who had not seen a white 
 woman for longer than they cared to remember. Curious 
 folk these ; they must be buoyed up by a peculiar tem- 
 perament. Mails very rarely reach them oftener than 
 once a month or six weeks. Society none. Thoughts, 
 one may iniagine, plenty. Literally a year's service 
 under such conditions is the equivalent of three years 
 anywhere else. There is a story, a true one, and typical 
 of these "Keepers of the King's peace," which will 
 illustrate the frame of mind induced by such an 
 existence. Two District Commissioners, each homeward 
 bound from a long tour, met near the railhead. Neither 
 of them had seen a white man for close on a year, and 
 at sight of each other they were dumb. They had ideas, 
 many of them, but they lacked the habitude of expressing 
 them. For some time they simply stared at each other, 
 and then the spell was broken and they burst simul- 
 taneously into speech. One discoursed fluently upon 
 Burmah, a country he had never seen, but about which 
 he had read much during his monastic life of the past 
 twelve months. The other, totally ignoring his com- 
 panion, descanted upon the charms of Honolulu, of 
 which he was equally ignorant from personal experience. 
 For the first time in many weary months they were able 
 to translate their ideas into English words which would 
 be understood by a companion ; so they relieved their 
 souls as a river long confined bursts its banks when the 
 flood comes. Then there was another pause, and one 
 said to the other : " Have a drink, old man." " Thanks," 
 replied the second, "I think I will." And life for them 
 resumed its normal course after the year of solitude.
 
 91 
 
 CHAPTEE XI. 
 
 By the time we reached Wioso we had covered nearly 
 100 miles of this wonderful forest belt, and were able to 
 form opinions framed upon what we had seen. First and 
 foremost, we were now under no illusions as to the dis- 
 comfort or otherwise of hammocking. One could imagine 
 tediousness, but in point of fact monotony counts as 
 very little compared with the physical discomfort 
 involved amounting almost to pain. Hence, whenever 
 possible, we walked, and when starting in the early 
 hours of the morning it is easy to cover eight miles or so 
 before the sun gets its full strength, when, perforce, 
 one must have recourse to the hammock. Eeveille 
 sounded at six in the morning, when the most trying 
 time of the day ensued. There was terrific confusion : 
 all the carriers shouting at each other in high-pitched 
 voices ; our senior boy entering into an argument with 
 a headman about a load, and a scrimmage as result. 
 Breakfast was actually a standing meal, all the chairs 
 having been taken away from our hut by an enthusiastic 
 hammock-boy, who was determined that, cost what it 
 might, we should not labour under the stigma of being 
 the last to get our loads away. Once under way, 
 things improved. Providing the road be not too bad 
 — as a matter of fact it was a native road, cleared 
 somewhat for the occasion — it is pleasant enough to 
 tramp along with one's thoughts as companions. Like- 
 wise, it would be unendurable had not one the gifts of 
 meditation and observation. 
 
 Portions of the route had lain through tropical jungle as 
 thick as we have ever seen anywhere, jungle untouched 
 by the hand of man, untrodden, mysterious, almost im- 
 penetrable. The undergrowth was stupendous, and one 
 could realize the difficulties experienced by the late
 
 92 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSI7E 
 
 President Eoosevelt when he hacked a way through just 
 such forest when going from Paraguay to the Amazon. 
 But let it be remembered that the British Empire is 
 young in comparison with the silent depths of the un- 
 canny belt through which we were passing. It repre- 
 sented century after century of untrammelled Nature, 
 playing at will with its own creations, twisting and 
 twining growths feet in thickness around one another, 
 as though sardonically suggesting a puzzle for the one to 
 separate itself from its unwilling mate. There is an 
 intense silence in these areas of perpetual twilight. The 
 sun loses its power, there is a curious coolness of atmos- 
 phere ; one can walk without a topee, so thick is the 
 overgrowth of the interlaced trees. But above all, and 
 beyond all — the silence. Even the hammock-boys and 
 carriers appear to feel it and hurry along, anxious to get 
 once more into regions where the sun assumes its cus- 
 tomary ascendency, and has, so to speak, no further 
 struggle with the powers of darkness. 
 
 All forests are mysterious, all forests touch some 
 chord of the being, only in varying senses. Thus the 
 lonely forests of Northern Russia, with their never- 
 ending monotony of pine and spruce trees, breed intense 
 melancholy. There is vastness illimitable ; one feels 
 that, all things considered, man is a very minute atom 
 in the universe, and from that genesis springs the thesis 
 that somewhere and somehow Providence has made a 
 mistake over mankind. It is the melancholy of the 
 Russian forest which inspired in its origin the tone of 
 the genuine Russian outlook upon life, and has made of 
 the Russian the fatalist he is. 
 
 Tropical forests breed a consciousness very different 
 in its effects. Is it fear ? One tries to penetrate the 
 recesses of the undergrowth with no success. On either 
 side of the path lies a deep, green-black wall, peopled 
 one knows with animals and birds and reptiles, though 
 none show themselves, wherefrom, one conjectures,, 
 emanates a curiously uncomfortable feeling of being 
 watched. One attempts again and again to pierce the 
 veil, and was it, or was it not, that one saw, or thought 
 one saw, a pair of yellow eyes intently following one ?
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 93 
 
 Suddenly the place seems chilly. A twig drops, and 
 then a leaf from a cotton tree ; both cause one to start 
 at the terrible commotion these atoms make as they reach 
 the ground. Supposing one lost one's way ; supposing 
 one had heart failure or something to prevent one from 
 leaving behind these depths once and for all. One 
 hurries along with the carriers, and feels inclined to 
 join in their song as they once more reach the light of the 
 burning sun. 
 
 Maybe the old scribes responsible for the Bible 
 wrote of what they understood better than twentieth 
 century theologians when they warned their following 
 against " the powers of darkness." They may have 
 seen untrodden, dense, silent jungle ; that would have 
 supplied the necessary key to their exhortations. And 
 so, once again, the query : What is that sensation ? — is 
 it fear ? Probably. There is, however, another aspect 
 of the road. In sunnier places the eye is rejoiced and 
 the heart gladdened by the most marvellous butterflies 
 imaginable. Some are of brilliant blue with yellow spots. 
 Some are red with a fantastic decoration of green, a sort 
 of lacework, presumably designed by Nature as a species 
 of camouflage when in danger from enemy attack. In 
 size there seems no limit. There are little chaps who 
 dance in the sun, specks of scarlet and gold so minute 
 that they just dazzle the eye and are gone like the 
 flashes they are. The big ones are very big ; we noted 
 one of a mottled greyish-brown, with deeper coloured 
 spots, whose span from wing to wing could not have 
 been much less than that of a swallow. Without doubt 
 catching these with a net would be useless ; they would 
 inevitably be damaged, and therefore the only method 
 would be to find a chrysalis and hatch it out in a 
 greenhouse or similar place. The result would repay 
 the trouble. Similarly with flowers. No one, as far as 
 our information goes, has yet seriously studied the flora 
 of this country. We have encountered along the road 
 we have travelled some wonderfully vivid red lilies, 
 known locally as "torch" lilies. With great care we 
 dug up some bulbs of this species and sent them home ; 
 if they grow they will prove of interest. For some
 
 94 • WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 reason bulbous plants seem to do well in this region ; 
 there is every form of lily imaginable in profusion, 
 many of them of great beauty, though all must give 
 place to the " torch." Sometimes one reaches clumps of 
 bamboos ; enormous growths these. Such is the irony 
 of fate ; transport them to the northern territory of this 
 colony, and they would be worth their weight in gold 
 for house building. Transport lacks, unfortunately. 
 And so on, the catalogue of wonders might be 
 multiplied. 
 
 But to come to hard commercial facts, here lies a 
 veritable El Dorado for the enterprising timber merchant. 
 The area of this untapped forest region amounts approxi- 
 mately to 40,000 square miles. From Wioso we could 
 see clearly, miles away, the mountains of the French 
 Ivory Coast. Between lay a vast sea of forest ; the 
 tops of the trees therein giving the impression of a 
 succession of green waves breaking against the moun- 
 tainous skyline. All absolutely untouched, virgin, 
 wooded plain. There is mahogany galore. So much 
 is known. Beyond that is largely conjecture. However, 
 it is safe to hazard that here there is valuable timber of 
 every conceivable species awaiting the woodman's axe, 
 the enterprise of the capitalist, and, of course, the 
 attention of the road surveyor and of the Government 
 engineer. 
 
 At a village called Domenase we heard a wondrous 
 story. Knowing something of native mentality, and of 
 its instinctive dread of anything unusual, it may have 
 little foundation in fact. Yet it is of sufficient interest 
 to record, and the District Commissioner, who told it to 
 the Governor in our presence, was plainly impressed 
 thereby. Briefly, then, he said that he had been 
 informed by many local inhabitants that at a distance 
 from Domenase, "far small," as the natives say, was a 
 village of dead men and dogs. Further questioning 
 elicited the fact that by dead was meant that the men 
 and dogs had become as stone, something after the 
 fashion of Lot's wife or the more reliable Pompeii. It 
 could only be approached by a hunter's track through 
 the very densest of the jungle, and few besides hunters,
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 95- 
 
 who belong to the elite as far as courage is concerned, 
 had ever dared to visit it. " Far small " would represent 
 about fifteen miles, which would be a good day's march 
 over ground such as was indicated, and thus, with a 
 time-table to work upon, it was unfortunately impossible 
 for us to branch aside and spend two days or more in 
 elucidating the mystery. Of course, it might be some 
 long-since deserted village which the native mind has 
 conjured into a bad "juju." On the other hand, how 
 account for the men and, above all, the dogs. Might it 
 not be the result of some volcanic upheaval ? Might not 
 this remote village have suffered the fate of Pompeii ? 
 
 Lack of communication is here a veritable curse. 
 Bridges must be made upon proper engineering lines. 
 Roads fit for transport must be provided, and it is an 
 anachronism that a political officer should be responsible 
 for the roads within his territory, when, probably, he 
 knows no more about road making than he does about 
 Chinese music. Yet that is the system in vogue at the 
 moment. It is playing with a serious problem. At 
 home there is discontent because there appears to be no 
 outlet for the energies of those in want of work. At the 
 same time the demands of labour are increasingly 
 imperious, foolishly so, as those who have travelled know. 
 But the outlet for this energy, the salve for this dangerous 
 malady in the body social, can best be found by utilizing 
 to the maximum the latent forces within the Empire. 
 It is useless to bury the " talent " in the ground, as the 
 Bible uncommonly well emphasizes. Also, it is well to 
 remember Lord Salisbury's dictum, " Before you argue 
 over a geographical matter procure a large atlas." The 
 words are not quoted precisely, but to their practical 
 import. It is hopeless to leave a colony alone and expect 
 results, even though a loan may be permitted to a certain 
 amount, interest upon which must be guaranteed by the 
 Colony's existing revenue. Common sense suggests a 
 practical programme of development. One hears in 
 England often enough of the wrong-headed parsimony 
 of the Crown Agents. Without prejudice, if the gentle- 
 men composing that department could be forced to 
 travel for one year and imbibe real impressions, instead
 
 96 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of false ones, born in office armchairs, they might help 
 the Empire instead of standing in the way of advance 
 wherever advance is propitious. It is impossible to 
 gloss over facts which hit one with such force, as facts 
 must do when one travels as we did, through miles of 
 dormant wealth, awaiting that intelligent operation and 
 exploitation which would be a Godsend to the financial 
 resources of the Empire, as well as providing the where- 
 withal for a reasonably comfortable living for those of 
 her sons willing to take the opportunity when it comes 
 their way. 
 
 Truly, Britain is a funny nation, or, rather, it suffers 
 from an ofticial myopia which naturally tries its citizens. 
 Clear the aforesaid 40,000 square miles of timber, 
 reserving such portions as might be thought advisable 
 for afforestation by experts, and the land so cleared 
 would suit cocoa admirably, or even rubber. It certainly 
 could be utilized to good purpose, for of its richness 
 there is no doubt. Introduce the white element, and, 
 given a couple of white men working as partners, there 
 is every reason for writing categorically that here lies at 
 the front door, so to speak, profitable employment, with 
 the added garnish of leave home after a year's work 
 upon the plantation. Hence the two partners ; turn and 
 turn about would be the suggested arrangement. 
 Finally, in connection with the vexed transport question, 
 why not use the Decauville railway system ? It certainly 
 would link up many portions of the country where there 
 are not too many hills, and would be cheap and practical. 
 "Don't starve the West African Colonies," is the only 
 advice we can tender to those who hold the strings of the 
 national purse, since we have the right, in common with 
 all taxpayers in Great Britain, to suggest proposals 
 likely to benefit the Empire in course of time. 
 
 To return now to our journey, another point impressed 
 us greatly. The natives we met in these parts are very 
 much more independent than those nearer the coast and 
 civilization, so-called. There is a dignity in their 
 bearing which is all to the good. They are of material 
 from which great things might be created, but that goal 
 must be approached with caution, since experience has
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 97 
 
 taught the futility of taking intelligent material and 
 attempting to graft thereon the latest fads of the latest 
 fashionable scholastic idealism. Teach them to read and 
 write, and with their common wit leave the rest in their 
 hands. Do not attempt to take men of mature years 
 and try to instil into them doctrines and dogma which 
 require the growth of a generation properly to be appre- 
 ciated. Such policy is a waste of time, money and 
 energy. Western Europe represents the evolution of 
 centuries, and a thousand years ago there were learned 
 scholars in monasteries whose names have endured until 
 now. Yet there are, to this day, illiterates in England. 
 What, then, can be expected from the primaeval savage 
 within a generation? Some advance, certainly, but 
 nothing in comparison to that fondly expected by those 
 enthusiasts who neglect the study of elementary history 
 because they are so overcome with the certainty of their 
 own convictions. Such people are in reality a source of 
 danger in exactly the same way that the seeds of the 
 deplorable condition existing in Russia to-day were sown 
 by the missionaries of the " To the People " movement 
 in the late years of the nineteenth century. Unbalanced 
 enthusiasm is a terrible error. Our advent in a village 
 was something not likely to be forgotten, and also not 
 without a certain humour. 
 
 Thus it was highly embarrassing for civilians such as 
 ourselves to be mistaken for "the real thing," and after 
 the firing of many " dane " guns and the cheers of the 
 multitude, plus the singing of the National Anthem, to 
 be obliged at considerable length to explain that we were 
 just nothing, and that the Governor was behind, and 
 would be up in a few minutes. 
 
 Disappointment was writ large on the dusky faces, 
 and perhaps the gunpowder supply had suffered, as the 
 gunners regarded the inroads made upon their ammuni- 
 tion with a mixture of alarm and regret. The warmth 
 of welcome, however, was undoubted. Young men and 
 maidens, old men and " mammies," thronged the 
 meeting-place common to all in these villages, namely, 
 under the shade of the baobab, which is invariably to 
 be found in the centre of any township, and which 
 7
 
 98 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 affords the only possible shade outside the native houses. 
 And then there were the drums, of which we shall have 
 more to say. The mechanicians, as we are tempted to 
 call them, were real craftsmen. They put into their 
 labours more energy than a gang of navvies working 
 upon a railway in England. They beat and rolled the 
 drums to the manner born, as they indeed were. They 
 can take the drumstick and draw it slowly along the 
 parchment, producing the weirdest wail, and the doing 
 of this looked so simple that we tried it, and were found 
 wanting. They can make the good folk start dancing 
 with a couple of beats of the drum, they can make them 
 absolutely hysterical after a treatment of three or four 
 minutes. Even the hammock-boys were not immune. 
 Ours started as soon as they could hear the throb, and 
 acted as though in a delirium. One had to exhort, 
 threaten, and joke to get them to understand that being 
 thrown out of our hammocks was attended with painful 
 consequences, not alone for ourselves. Then the 
 " dashes " started arriving. Invariably they were the 
 same — live stock and the fruits of the land. They 
 arrived in enormous quantities, and had to be recognized 
 by return presents of the equivalent value. With the 
 number of carriers and retainers we had on tour, the 
 total gift rapidly diminished, and nothing makes the 
 native more happy than " plenty chop." He certainly 
 got plenty on this journey. 
 
 Upon the arrival of the Governor, were the village 
 large or small, he never failed to address the assembled 
 townsfolk and outlined in the simplest phrases his policy 
 and that which he desired the headman of the village 
 and his advisers to follow. Considering that to all in 
 this portion of the country the Governor, the representa- 
 tive of the King, had for too long been merely a name, 
 the good which was accomplished can be realized. It is 
 one thing to sing "God save the King," and quite 
 another to visualize for oneself the true aspect of the 
 case, namely, that every inconsiderable village in a 
 remote stretch of a far-distant land is, in all truth, an 
 integral portion of the Empire, a cog of small dimensions 
 in a mighty machine. At all hazards breed the Imperial 
 spirit.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 99 
 
 Wioso is a lovely spot, situated at the top of a hill, 
 commanding wonderful views. It should be healthy, 
 probably is. But we met a doctor, a pessimist of the 
 truly genial type, who, taking our printed itinerary, went 
 through it place by place with a running comment of a 
 nature something like this : — " Wioso ; pretty place, 
 very; wonderful views. Tried to save a blackwater 
 case there, but, of course, failed. Bibiani. Good 
 heavens ! are you really going there ? Shocking trouble 
 I had there. Cerebrospinal ; youngster too. Couldn't 
 save him. Oh Lord ! and actually Wenchi. Well, I 
 hope you will be all right. That is all I can say. But 
 Wenchi is the last place on earth I ever wish to see 
 again. Two Commissioners in a year, if you please, 
 pegged out. But there, I don't wish to depress you," 
 and so on. 
 
 He did not depress us, and the health of the party 
 when we reached Wioso was still good. It was at 
 Wioso that we were entertained by the children of the 
 local school. The programme was a varied one, con- 
 sisting of songs and recitations, the songs being rendered 
 by a choir unaccompanied by music. This portion was 
 worthy of notice, since the voices were really good, and 
 it was evident that the master had spared neither time 
 nor trouble in getting the best out of his charges. As a 
 result, this choir of native children really sang exquisitely. 
 On the other hand, the recitations suffered from a defect 
 which is not confined to West Africa. The poems 
 chosen were hopelessly beyond the comprehension of the 
 reciters. For instance, what can " The Loss of the 
 Eoyal George " signify to a native child who has never 
 seen the sea, and whose knowledge of a boat does not 
 extend beyond a dug-out canoe ? Similarly, " The 
 Homes of England " is a ridiculous item for one who 
 regards a mud hut as the epitome of architecture ! Yet 
 those were two actual turns in the programme. One 
 had a feeling that the performers were totally ignorant 
 of the meaning of what they were saying, and their 
 enunciation was exactly what it should not have been : 
 it was, in fact, the enunciation of the horrible "pidgin" 
 English which the Governor is anxious to eradicate.
 
 100 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Native children, if they are to accomplish anything, 
 must begin at the beginning, and learn with simplicity. 
 Nursery rhymes properly spoken would have been more 
 acceptable fare for all of us than that to which we were 
 treated. 
 
 And to continue the catalogue of mistakes, the prizes 
 were really funny for those with the slightest sense of 
 humour. One we noticed had to do with railways, and 
 depicted scenes such as a dining-car on the Great 
 Western Eailway, with a newly married couple choosing 
 their lunch from a menu-card, whilst an obsequious 
 waiter, napkin in hand, stands awaiting their order. 
 Remember that the school we are mentioning is a good 
 hundred miles from any railway in the midst of the 
 virgin forest, and that even then there is no such thing 
 as a dining-car on the Gold Coast railways, and our 
 stricture will meet with approval. At any rate His 
 Excellency cordially agreed with us. In this connection 
 we cannot help but recount how we enjoyed hearing a 
 very diminutive black boy, the servant of one of the 
 District Commissioners in Togoland, sing "Katie," to 
 the accompaniment of a dulcitone. The Commissioner's 
 wife in her spare time had taught him, and, what is 
 more, had explained to him the meaning of every word. 
 The result was that this extraordinary little boy sang 
 " Katie, my beautiful Katie ; Girl of all the girls I most 
 adore," with a depth of feeling which would have 
 rejoiced a London music-hall audience. It was an 
 object-lesson in its way, since here was the raw 
 material tuned up by commonplace patience and 
 perseverance. Applied to those children about whom 
 we have written above, the result might have been 
 similar. 
 
 From Wioso we retraced our steps to a most 
 unalluring spot called Sefwi-Bakwi, chiefly remaining in 
 our memory on account of the awful heat coupled with 
 a suspicion that the roofs of our huts were not sun-proof, 
 and the intense pertinacity of the villagers to see a white 
 lady in her bath. The lighter side of the picture was 
 afforded by " Koffe," the boy belonging to one of our 
 party, who ruled his master with a rod of iron. This
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 101 
 
 sort of conversation came languidly over the compound. 
 "Koffe?". "Sah." "Bring me whisky sparklet." 
 "No, Sah, I no catch sparkleg. You fit take baf (bath), 
 now, Sah." " I don't want bath now, Koffe. If you 
 no catch sparklet, bring tea." " Tea no lib, Sah. You 
 take baf. By-um-by I catch tea." "Oh! all right." 
 Sounds of splashing. Then — " Koffe, this bath is too 
 cold ! " " No, Sah, no be cold." A pause. " All right. 
 Can I have some tea afterwards ? " " Yes, Sah." Here 
 it was also that we made the acquaintance of the only 
 brass band between Accra and the Ivory Coast. It was 
 a band worthy of more attention than could be paid to 
 it. First it played what we subsequently learned was 
 "Eule, Britannia," followed by "Marching through 
 Georgia." There were four drums, four brass instru- 
 ments of enormous size, which emitted equally enormous 
 volumes of sound, and there was one minute cornet. It 
 was an unfair competition from the start, and when the 
 cornet threatened the bandmaster in the middle of the 
 National Anthem because he was not given enough 
 chance to make himself heard, our sympathies were 
 cordially with him. Also the other wind instrument 
 players were no sluggards. They bent double in fearful 
 efforts to extract the last possible ounce of sound, 
 if ounces may be used as measurement, and after 
 all, what mattered most, they obviously enjoyed them- 
 selves. They also played the airs mentioned with 
 the music upside down. Can acrobatics go further ? 
 
 Our next stop was Pataboso where we were quartered 
 in native huts. Possibly huts is not the correct word, for 
 they consisted merely of four walls made of "swish" 
 (mud mixed with dung and some other ingredient known 
 to the natives), without a roof except over a species of 
 dais where there was just room for two camp beds. 
 " Suppose it rains ! " said we, contemplating our ceiling. 
 And it did rain. That night we splashed our way to 
 the mess hut through mud and mire, and the Officer 
 Commanding Escort, having been caught in a thunder- 
 storm in the jungle, arrived drenched and starving at 
 midnight. One needed the agility of a tight rope walker 
 to undress and get under one's mosquito net without a
 
 102 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 shower bath, and dressing the following morning, with 
 the knowledge there was an eye glued^to every crack in 
 our fortress walls, was even more difficult. But one 
 grows hardened to anything in time. Trekking day 
 after day, getting up when darkness covers the land, and 
 dressing hurriedly anyhow and anyway, breakfasting by 
 dawn, which is daylight within five minutes in these 
 regions, and then getting away with a fire of invectives 
 addressed to recalcitrant carriers, makes a strain which 
 tells. But, let it be written that the Governor showed 
 the soundest of common sense in travelling through 
 these rather unprepossessing and out-of-the-way districts. 
 For he had the opportunity of deciding for himself two 
 extremely important questions, namely, whether there 
 is a promise for the future in this area, and what needs 
 to be done to open it by road and railway. Now these 
 questions are in themselves simple of theoretical solution, 
 but the practical side is quite another matter. Thus 
 there can be no doubt as to the potential value of this 
 forest belt for every conceivable tropical crop, but 
 obviously to remove the harvest accruing therefrom 
 would need transport, which, in turn, spells money for 
 roads and railways and a hundred and one other things 
 not created by a wave of the magician's wand. Hence 
 means must perforce be employed to obtain that money, 
 and their very employment starts a whole crop of other 
 perplexities which have to be overcome. The Governor 
 of a country in a stage fit for exploitation must be, 
 indeed, a many-sided individual. 
 
 We have emphasized in a previous chapter just what 
 transport means to a colony like this. It may be ex- 
 pensive medicine, but if the patient is not to languish 
 and become a nuisance to its neighbours, then, assuredly, 
 it has a right to claim the very best of scientific atten- 
 tion. This has been denied to the Gold Coast in common 
 with many other things. First and foremost, let the 
 policy of the Colonial Office and of the Crown Agc^U be 
 made manifest. A colony, that is to say a Crown colony, 
 may borrow money if the Administration can show that 
 the said colony is in a position to pay the interest upon 
 the capital borrowed out of existing revenue. Mark the
 
 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 103 
 
 word " existing," and then explain how any mine in the 
 whole of the world, let alone any commercial under- 
 taking, could ever have breathed the air of financial life 
 had such a stifling clause been tabulated as a si7ie qua 
 non of existence. Of course, Colonial loans stand as 
 trustee investments, but times are altering, and it is the 
 business, or should be, of the Colonial Oflice and their 
 financial advisers to apply to such a colony as this the 
 same common- sense that undoubtedly they show in deal- 
 ing with their own private affairs. Hard words, maybe, 
 but true. Happily, however, there are more ways of 
 crossing a street than one, and private enterprise can 
 accomplish that which apparently cannot be arranged 
 with official financial assistance. There are three railways 
 which must be constructed in this country if it is to 
 develop as it should, and as its native inhabitants 
 desire. The first is from Coomassie to Tamale, the 
 capital of the northern territory. Secondly, railway 
 communication must be made from Sekondi, or wherever 
 the new deep-water harbour is located, to Koforidua, in 
 the cocoa region, of which we have written, and thence 
 to Ho in existing Togoland, the latter place being well 
 within the British sphere of influence, no matter what 
 may happen to the main portion of the country itself. 
 The third is from Dunkwa, through the region we 
 crossed, to Wioso and Bibiani, which would necessitate 
 a junction at some convenient point, since the places 
 named are at the opposite apexes of a triangle of which 
 Dunkwa is the third. A glance at a map will show the 
 direction of these lines and the country they would tap. 
 At Bibiani, where we stayed for one night, is a disused 
 and deserted gold mine. There is plenty of gold in it, 
 but if the machinery must be split up into loads not ex- 
 ceeding 60 lb. in weight and carried eighty miles upon 
 men's heads, then it becomes a simple mathematical 
 problem to estimate the cost of one boiler plate. It is 
 prohibitive even with gold as merchandise. And Bibiani 
 is not singular ; we passed several deserted mines suffer- 
 ing from an exactly similar complaint on our route. It 
 really is deplorable. " Shall we starve in the midst of 
 plenty?" these relics seem to say, and the answer
 
 104 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 appears to be " Certainly. We do not deny that you 
 have a right to exist, but it has been laid down in clause 
 dash, sub-section dash, that a Colonial Government may 
 not and shall not borrow money for development 
 purposes, unless . . . . " and so on through the whole 
 rigmarole of red tape dear to the mind of the official 
 bureaucrat. Those deserted mines made an unforgetable 
 impression upon us. 
 
 We stayed a night in a deserted bungalow, which once 
 had been a very good one, but which creaked ominously 
 when we walked around with sylph-like tread. We 
 dined with the Governor at what had been the chief 
 engineer's house, likewise deserted, and our nerves were 
 shocked by the sudden disappearance of the butler 
 through the floor. It was nothing really ; merely a 
 board or two had given way, and he had made his way 
 to the basement without the aid of stairs ! There were 
 engines for winding purposes, and trucks and cages to 
 be wound, rotting away in silence. There was a loco- 
 motive which once had run upon its rails and had 
 emitted cheery whistles, no doubt, as it tacked to and fro 
 around the mine precincts. As we saw it there was no 
 delusion. Poor little fellow ; it had fought a good fight, 
 and was near its end, a forlorn structure of immovable 
 scrap iron. Somehow, a locomotive seems so full of 
 vitality that one was compelled to grieve over this lost 
 and forgotten warrior. Nature had also done her bit, 
 and had ferociously overgrown the aerial railway with a 
 mass of creepers, which slowly and surely were eating 
 away from the timber its heart and pride. Never was 
 seen a more miserable epitaph on the supineness of any 
 administration. No matter that the shareholders in 
 this and other mines suffer. No matter that the gold 
 supply of the world is short and that here is plenty. 
 No matter anything, so long as the letter of the official 
 law is followed and the bureaucrats in London are 
 satisfied. They do say that the mine at Bibiani is 
 haunted. The manager wisely died, and his subordinates 
 faded away from ordinary material and traceable causes ; 
 but small blame to them if they do come back once in a 
 while and in a sardonic fashion gloat over the wreck and
 
 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 10& 
 
 ruin caused by a " system." Happily, there is private 
 enterprise, as we have emphasized, and that may turn 
 the scale in the right direction. 
 
 His Excellency was kind enough to give us his views 
 upon the subject. He favours a scheme whereby the 
 lines enumerated should be given out to private contract, 
 the railways being the property of the contractors con- 
 cerned for the term of ten years, when they would be 
 bought by the Government at a valuation. From what 
 we have ourselves seen of the two last-mentioned, there 
 are few constructional difficulties, whilst the Koforidua- 
 Ho line would tap the cocoa region, the Dunkwa-Wioso- 
 Bibiani looking for revenue from gold and timber. 
 Uncommonly attractive propositions both of them ; we 
 might add there is room here for light railways along 
 the coast, which would pay quickly. Using the 
 " Decauville" system, the rails could literally be slapped 
 down, and the thanks of the public in a plentiful 
 pecuniary return would be the result. One of the 
 greatest vexations in travelling through this section of 
 the country is the lack of water, unless it be in the 
 height of the rainy season. Having a bath in a 
 fluid of the consistency and colour of pea-soup is not 
 attractive after many hours spent in the sun, and when 
 a plunge into a real hot bath is refreshment indeed. We 
 were told that the reason of the discoloration was that 
 we had so many carriers using the limited water supply 
 at villages that they stirred up the mud. Were that 
 actually the case, then all the more did those baths 
 seem uninviting, as the genus " carrier " is not particular 
 in his habits, and a few of them go a long way towards 
 rendering the best of water bad. However, one becomes 
 accustomed to most things when trekking as we did, and 
 the impossibility of yesterday merges into the possibility 
 of to-day, and is the fact of to-morrow. Experience of 
 this nature is a wonderful leveller, and one quickly 
 perceives what a very highly organized life we normally 
 live. One learns to do without ; one learns to make 
 shift in every conceivable way, and it is only in extreme 
 cases, such as when all the boys and girls of one village 
 tried to come into our native hut to see us dressing that
 
 106 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 the line had to be drawn. And yet withal there is a 
 subtle fascination in finding out day by day how near 
 Nature it is possible to approach without incurring the 
 most deadly discomfort. A little touch of the Mark 
 Tapley spirit and over the (evening whisky and sparklet 
 it is not difficult to put the daily trials all behind one 
 and smile. 
 
 We have commented before upon the loneliness of 
 the life lived by a District Commissioner in the more 
 out-of-the-way stations of the colony, and, naturally, 
 stories of all kinds centre in them. One that we heard 
 is worth the telling, though those who want the facts 
 "in extenso " will find them in Blackwood's Magazine, 
 since Sir Hugh Clifford used them for a very uncanny 
 story. All that we can aver is that we were told them 
 at first hand by one concerned, and naturally that made 
 a greater impression upon us than the mere recitation 
 of hearsay. Briefly, then, the " boys " of a certain 
 Commissioner, who was stationed in one of the districts 
 we passed through, started laying an extra place at 
 table at every meal. At first the official took no 
 particular notice, since he was a hospitable soul, and 
 merely thought that the boys, knowing that, had placed 
 another seat on the off-chance of some tired stranger 
 turning up. However, one day, out of curiosity, he 
 asked one of the lads why he was so careful to have 
 the extra place, and received as an answer : "I put un 
 for the other white master I often see in dis house." 
 Since the master had never seen anyone and since there 
 was no white man on the station except himself, he 
 made further inquiries, and found that everyone in the 
 place had seen the uncanny visitor. Now it so happened 
 that the officer's predecessor had died there, and it 
 was pretty evident that here was an undoubted ghost. 
 At first it did not greatly disturb the host, but as time 
 passed it began to get on his nerves, with the result that 
 ultimately he had to be relieved and sent home for 
 a change. That is the bald story, but there is something 
 in it which must not be overlooked. For some reason 
 the native appears gifted with the most extraordinary 
 second sight. He can sense the supernatural in a
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 107 
 
 moment, and, let white men say what they will, he 
 is likewise a master of black magic. Time and again 
 have we been told of occurrences which afford no 
 normal explanation. Incur the hatred of a native, and, 
 if so disposed, he can comfortably kill you at a distance 
 when and how he likes. At least, that is the tenour 
 of all we have heard, and the authority has always been 
 of the highest. One case came to our own attention. 
 A native clerk, a man of education, drawing a good 
 salary from the Government, had only one eye. We 
 asked him how it came about. Bather shyly he 
 answered, " Juju." Of course, we smiled, and, noticing 
 it, he reiterated the statement, adding that white people 
 did not understand the subject. It appears that he had 
 an enemy, who wrote and told him that he would go 
 blind in one eye. At the time his sight was perfect 
 in both. Naturally he paid small heed to the matter 
 until one morning, sure enough, his sight in the left eye 
 was a trifle blurred. Eather uneasy, he consulted a 
 ■Government doctor who assured him that there was 
 nothing in the least wrong. Beassured, he returned to 
 his duties. But the eye steadily grew worse, and the 
 doctor, frankly puzzled, called in a brother professional 
 and carried out a most thorough examination. This 
 time they could see for themselves that something was 
 wrong, but what it was they could not diagnose. Other 
 doctors then tried their hands, but all to no purpose. 
 The sight of the eye was going steadily and perceptibly, 
 without any known scientific raisoJi d'etre. And, 
 eventually the clerk became stone blind in that eye. 
 How explain it ? Conceivably it might have been caused 
 by some extremely rare defect or illness, but even then 
 it might be expected that one medical man out of many 
 would have been able to trace the cause. Besides, were 
 this an isolated instance, it might be put aside as a 
 chance happening. But such is not the case and one 
 could tell tale after tale of the curious power some of 
 these people possess. And, further, it may sound 
 ridiculous, but it is a fact, that the average white man 
 in his senses will never interfere with a native " juju." 
 Their variety is without end, from a small bottle and
 
 108 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 a lump of what looked like mud which ornamented a 
 native hut in which we stayed, to a life-sized object 
 representing either a man or a woman, which is often 
 found outside villages, and which was erfected to keep 
 away the influenza when it was sweeping through 
 the land. That it was successful in its operation does 
 not seem to have been the case, but the native mind 
 attached great importance to it, and, speaking personally, 
 we would not care to damage one of these tokens.
 
 109 
 
 CHAPTEK XII. 
 
 t" 
 
 AsHANTi gold ! The phrase is an alluring one. It 
 seems to open up vistas as enticing as the mines of 
 Golconda or the cave of Aladdin. We thought of it and 
 of the history of this warlike nation — one must give 
 them the dignity of the title — as we crossed the boundary 
 from the Eastern Province of the Gold Coast into the 
 country of the Ashantis. Amongst tribes whose lack of 
 courage, endurance and intelligence is conspicuous, the 
 Ashantis stand out in high relief. In some ways they 
 are comparable to the Sioux Indians of North America, 
 whose determination, audacity and bravery made them 
 more feared and at the same time more respected by 
 the early colonists than all the others, but the Ashantis 
 had the advantage of numbers and also were possessed 
 of a passionate patriotism which made them, until very 
 recently, a constant anxiety to the white man. As Dr. 
 W. Walter Claridge, in his scholarly history of the Gold 
 Coast and Ashanti, writes: "No one .... can avoid 
 feeling admiration and some sympathy for this remark- 
 able people and Lord Wolseley, who had personal ex- 
 perience of their pugnacious qualities, pays them the 
 following tribute : — 
 
 " From the Ashantis I learned one important lesson, 
 namely, that any virile race can become paramount in 
 its own region of the world if it possesses the courage, 
 the constancy of purpose and the self-sacrifice to resolve 
 that it will live under a stern system of Spartan military 
 discipline, ruthlessly enforced by one lord and master, 
 the King. In other words, if it be clearly recognized by 
 any people that the interests and comfort of the indi- 
 vidual, whether he be King or subject, should not be the 
 first object of national solicitude, but rather that it 
 should be the greatness and power of the state as a
 
 110 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 whole, a greatness which brings with it national pride, 
 individual security and also contentment, that nation 
 will rule over its neighbours. . . . The Ashantio and 
 the Fantee were absolutely of the same race. The 
 former were a proud nation of brave and daring soldiers, 
 living happily and contentedly under the most absolute 
 of Kings. The latter, who lived and idled under the 
 licence of our easy-going laws, were cowardly, lazy, 
 good-for-nothing vagabonds, with all the vices of the 
 Ashanti but with none of his manly courage." From 
 this description one is tempted to compare the Ashantis 
 with the Prussians (with apologies to the Ashantis), and 
 the remark concerning " our easy-going laws " reminds 
 us irresistibly of the criticism of a Prussian N.C.O., 
 when, as a prisoner of war in England, he and his fellows 
 enjoyed life under a kindly commandant. "The discipline 
 of this camp," he said resentfully, " is far too lax. It 
 would not be tolerated in Germany amongst our own 
 people, far less with prisoners. Our men here will be 
 demoralized by the time they get home." 
 
 But to return to the Ashantis. Like the Assyrians, 
 they appeared from the North "like a wolf on the fold," 
 and by dint of unceasing wars and superior powers of 
 diplomacy either drove out or forced into allegiance the 
 weaker tribes. By 1640 they were a power to be 
 reckoned with, and could count on an army of close on 
 60,000 men should necessity arise. 
 
 In the reign of King Tutu, 1697, the seat of govern- 
 ment was removed from further south to Coomassie, and 
 it was also during his reign that the literal seat — or 
 Golden Stool of Ashanti — was fashioned, that Golden 
 Stool which was afterwards the cause of so much trouble. 
 The exact date of the discovery of gold in Ashanti seems 
 to be unknown, but up to 1630 iron was current coin. 
 Slowly but surely, from 1697 to 1803, the Ashantis grew 
 in power. Other tribes, Fantis, Assinis, Anamabos, 
 Akims, Deukeras, aided half-heartedly by Dutch, 
 Portuguese, French or English colonists in turn, had put 
 their warlike mettle to the test time and time again, 
 and with few exceptions the results were always favour- 
 able to the Ashantis.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 111 
 
 It is remarkable that none of the Europeans in official 
 capacity resident in the Gold Coast seemed to have 
 appreciated the fact that, of all the tribes, the Ashantis 
 were most worthy of conciliation, both from economic 
 and pohtical motives. Their country was the richest, 
 as they themselves were the most reliable. It was this 
 lack of comprehension which was the cause of the first 
 English- Ashanti war (1806), and laid the foundation for 
 future mutual distrust, misunderstanding and dislike 
 which was to result in six more wars, some of consider- 
 able dimensions, between the proud and bellicose 
 Ashantis and the English. The intrusion, one can 
 hardly call it anything else, of the English into the 
 domestic affairs of the Ashantis was the cause of the 
 war of 1806. The Assinis, Fantis and Anamabos, all 
 owing allegiance to the Ashantis became involved in a 
 war with their masters. Ketreating before the Ashantis' 
 triumphant advance they sought refuge with the 
 Governor at Cape Coast. This gentleman, deceived and 
 misinformed by the chiefs and also alarmed at the 
 proximity of the Ashantis, decided definitely and openly 
 to defend the fort at Anamabo and to protect the three 
 tribes. The siege of the fort lasted for two days and 
 was one of those small pages of history one finds so often 
 in the book of British colonial possessions. A minute 
 garrison, panic stricken refugees, insufficient stores and 
 flimsy fortifications on the one side, and a brave and 
 numerically superior enemy on the other. The arrival 
 of reinforcements from Cape Coast enabled the garrison 
 to parley with the Ashantis without loss of prestige, and 
 Colonel Torrane, the Governor, now seemed for the first 
 time to appreciate the importance of standing well with 
 this nation. He accomplished this in a manner one is 
 happy to find seldom in that same book of colonial 
 possessions. To ingratiate himself with King Tutu 
 Kivanima of Ashanti, he delivered up to the latter's very 
 problematical mercy the Assini Chief whose safety he 
 had guaranteed. This poor blind man was, in fact, 
 tortured to death, and the appreciation of Tutu Kivanima 
 was of a sort to make the most hardened official blush. 
 He said to Mr. Dupuis in 1821 : " From the hour
 
 112 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Torrane delivered up Tchibbu (the Assini Chief), I took 
 the English for my friends, because I saw their object 
 was trade only and they did not care for the people. 
 Torrane was a man of sense and he pleased me much."' 
 Doctor Claridge tells us that Torrane also took the 
 Anamabo refugees and sold them to the slave dealers. 
 He was just in time ! for less than a year later the slave 
 trade was abolished by Act of Parliament. 
 
 The second Ashanti War, 1811, was marked by 
 various outrages upon Europeans, including the murder 
 of the Dutch Governor, Hogenboom, and the virtual 
 murder of Mr. Meredith, Commandant at Winneba and 
 the hero of the siege of Fort Anamabo in the previous 
 war. He was taken prisoner by the Winnebas and died 
 as the result of the terrible treatment he received at 
 their hands. The whole country was in a state of 
 uproar and the situation of the few Europeans was 
 extremely precarious, but Governor White adopted such 
 severe measures in return for the murder of Mr. 
 Meredith that the coast tribes proceeded more cautiously 
 for many years to come. 
 
 In 1816, after the third Ashanti war, the African 
 Company decided to send a mission to the King of 
 Ashanti, spurred to this decision by the action of the 
 Dutch who were already negotiating with him in a 
 manner which threatened British trade. Mr. Bowdich, 
 a nephew of the Governor, who made one of the 
 Mission, was much struck by the splendour of the 
 Ashanti Court. It was the first time that any English 
 official had penetrated so far inland and the contrast 
 between the insignificant chiefs of the littoral and the 
 magnificent King of Ashanti with his guard of 30,000 
 soldiers, was a revelation to them. The following reads 
 like a page from the " Arabian Nights " : " The sun was 
 reflected, with a glare scarcely more supportable than 
 the heat, from the massy gold ornaments, which glistened 
 in every direction . . . The caboceers, as did their 
 superior captains and attendants, wore Ashanti cloths 
 of extravagant price from the costly foreign silks which 
 
 ' Dupuis. " Journal of a Kesidence in Ashanti," 1824.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 113 
 
 had been unravelled to weave them . . . and massy 
 gold necklaces intricately wrought . ' . Some wore 
 necklaces reaching to the navel entirely of aggry beads ; 
 a band of gold and beads encircled the knee, from which 
 several strings of the same depended ; small circles of 
 gold like guineas, rings and casts of animals, were strung 
 round their ankles . . . and rude lumps of rock 
 gold hung from their left wrists, which were so heavily 
 laden as to be supported on the head of one of their 
 handsomest boys. Gold and silver pipes and canes 
 dazzled the eye in every direction, wolves' and rams' 
 heads as large as life, cast in gold, were suspended from 
 their gold-handled swords, which were held round them 
 in great numbers/" Eventually a treaty was signed 
 " in the name of the Governor and Council at Cape 
 Coast Castle on the Gold Coast of Africa and on behalf of 
 the British Government, with Sai Tootoo Quamina, King 
 of Ashanti and its Dependencies . . . ."whereby the 
 Governor was to act as arbiter between the Ashantis and 
 their foes when necessary, a British Resident was to 
 be permanently at Coomassie, trade between the two 
 signatories was to be fostered and encouraged and 
 protection afforded to the Ashantis when in hostile 
 territory on the coast. This produced a state of affairs 
 very satisfactory to all concerned but, unfortunately, it 
 was not of long duration. 
 
 In 1817, when Mr. Hope-Smith was Governor, a 
 dispute arose between the Ashantis and Kommendas. It 
 was referred to Mr. Hope-Smith for arbitration and he 
 declined to interfere. Whether he was justified or no, 
 is a difficult matter to decide. Contemporary documents 
 are so full of personal bias that they offer no solution, 
 and Dr. Claridge's admiration for the Ashantis carries 
 him, we venture to think, a little too far on this point. 
 However, the treaty was returned to Mr. Hope-Smith 
 by a deputation from King Tutu Kivanima and the 
 Ashantis consider to this day that they were in the 
 right and that the Governor proved false, and have 
 
 ' Bowdich. Quoted by Claridge, " History of the Gold Coast and 
 Ashanti."
 
 114 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 employed it as a " trurop card" on occasion. Another 
 treaty was irregularly drawn up by Mr. Dupuis, then 
 the Eesident at Coomassie, between whom and the 
 Governor there existed bitter personal enmity, and the 
 latter refused to ratify it. This still further incensed 
 the Ashantis and the arrival of Sir Charles M'Carthy as 
 Governor, in 1822, instead of improving affairs as it 
 should and could have done, brought matters to a climax. 
 Sir Charles was also Governor of Sierra Leone and knew 
 nothing of the character of the people now added to his 
 territory. He was without competent advisers, and the 
 jealousy of the departing West African Company for this 
 new era prevented any of its officials from assisting him 
 with counsel or warning. He seems to have formed a 
 low opinion of the Ashanti power and to have resolved 
 on crushing it, beginning by indirect methods, such as 
 repairing all forts, ignoring King Tutu and looking with 
 a lenient eye upon the coast tribes in their rebellion 
 against Ashanti supremacy. The temper of the Ashantis, 
 never very patient, was tried beyond its endurance, and 
 a mulatto sergeant who flagrantly abused their king to 
 one of his subjects, was seized by the Ashantis, made 
 prisoner and eventually killed. A punitive expedition 
 was sent to Dunkwa by the Governor but it was am- 
 bushed and its main purpose was averted, with the cost 
 to the British forces of six men killed, four missing and 
 an officer and thirty-eight men wounded. Still, it woke 
 the Ashantis to a full realization of the Governor's 
 intentions and of the gravity of the situation. 
 
 In 1823, Sir Charles, content with the steps he had 
 taken and fully satisfied that the Ashantis would remain 
 passive for a time, returned to Sierra Leone, leaving 
 about 500 regular soldiers on the Gold Coast. Im- 
 mediately his back was turned the Ashantis began to 
 march on the coast. This was the beginning of the 
 fourth Ashanti war, the first in which regular troops 
 had taken part, the first in which actual pitched battles 
 in the open had occurred. Sir Charles M'Carthy, brave, 
 deluded man, returned to the Gold Coast and was 
 captured by the Ashantis at the battle of Insamankow 
 and was either killed by them or committed suicide.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 115 
 
 In this debacle the British lost nine officers and 173 men 
 killed and three officers and eighty-nine men wounded. 
 British prestige suffered an almost irreparable blow, and 
 at the same time the animosity, hitherto quasi-latent, 
 between the Ashantis and the English grew and remained 
 intense. But the war did not end with the death of the 
 Governor. It continued with varying successes, until 
 1824, when, at the battle of Dodowa, when the 
 opposing forces were nearly equal in strength, the 
 Ashantis lost over 5,000 men and the English and their 
 black allies were victorious. This defeat, combined with 
 the advent of pestilence and famine, compelled the 
 Ashantis to retire into their own territory, apparently 
 with the feeling that their ultimate success was only 
 postponed. Their satisfaction must have been great 
 when they heard that the British Government actually 
 proposed to relinquish the Gold Coast as a colony. The 
 cost of the war, the catastrophes which had occurred 
 (including the intolerable situation of knowing that the 
 head of a British Governor had decorated the King's 
 palace at Coomassie), and the rebellion which still 
 seethed and bubbled through the country, led the Home 
 Government to contemplate this rather ignominious step. 
 Eventually there was a compromise and the adminis- 
 tration of the colony was entrusted to a Committee of 
 Merchants in whose hands it remained for fifteen years, 
 1828-1843. There were two acting Governors during 
 this period, but the one Governor, George Maclean, 
 captain in the Eoyal West African Colonial Corps, stands 
 out as a colossus amongst his predecessors and many 
 who succeeded him. By dint of firmness and diplomacy 
 he concluded a satisfactory and dignified peace with the 
 Ashantis, he brought about a decided alteration for the 
 better in the customs of the tribes on the littoral, saw to 
 it that justice (as far as possible in accordance with 
 native ideas) was administered and enforced, and pro- 
 moted trade. In fact, so great was his success, that the 
 Home Government decided once more to take the Gold 
 Coast under its paternal wing and appoint a Governor 
 of its own, while Captain Maclean was retained as 
 Judicial Assessor. Dr. Claridge says in his "History
 
 116 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of the Gold Coast and Ashanti " : " Thus the long and 
 eminent services of Captain Maclean at last received 
 some official recognition." We are glad he did not say 
 " adequate recognition." 
 
 Commander Hill, E.N., the next Governor, was 
 another Sir Charles M'Carthy, and soon irritated the 
 sensitive Ashantis. It must have been a form of mental 
 torture to Maclean to sit by and vv^atch the structure he 
 had built with so much care during fourteen years, 
 crumbling, bit by bit, under the clumsy hands of another. 
 Fortunately for him, he died at Cape Coast in 1847, 
 leaving behind him a record of which any man might 
 be proud. 
 
 In 1863 the fifth Ashanti war began, the ostensible 
 cause being the refusal of the Governor, Pine, to return 
 to the King of Ashanti a runaway slave boy. This war, 
 while not of long duration, was nothing but a series of 
 disasters — some of them richly deserved — to the British 
 arms. "Poor George Maclean," as the King of Ashanti 
 had called him, would have found it difficult to restrain 
 his just indignation at the density of the Home Govern- 
 ment at grasping the situation, the wanton loss of life 
 through disease and mismanagement, and the prompt 
 lowering of British prestige to the point where it had 
 been when he took up his burden. Lord Wolseley truly 
 says that any " attempt to relate the history of our early 
 relations with Ashanti . . . would certainly neither 
 redound to the credit of our arms nor to the intelligence 
 of our Home Ministers." Once more the Ashantis were 
 nearly the means of the abandonment of the Gold Coast 
 by the British, but again that project was relinquished 
 and a change of policy took place. The colony, while 
 considered as a dependency of Sierra Leone, had a re- 
 sident Administrator whose directions were to educate 
 the people to use those faculties which would enable 
 them, in course of time, to govern themselves, thereby 
 at some future date allowing the white administration 
 to be eliminated altogether. A consummation devoutly 
 to be wished but which is still unattainable. 
 
 The sixth Ashanti war, 1873-4, might properly be 
 called a continuation of the fifth. Peace had never been
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 117 
 
 made, the fugitive, Janin, had never been returned to 
 the Ashanti, and only internal dissensions had prevented 
 the new king, Kofi Karikari, from continuing operations 
 at an earlier date than 1873. 
 
 In 1872, an additional grievance was placed upon the 
 Ashanti list by the purchase of Elmina, which the 
 Ashantis considered their property, by the British from 
 the Dutch ; but even without this, the hostilities would 
 have recommenced ; and in January, 1873, an army of 
 12,000 men crossed the Pra and entered the Protectorate. 
 " The Ashantis had caught the Government in its 
 habitual state of unpreparedness. There were but 160 
 officers and men in the whole country, and even these 
 were broken up into small detachments and scattered 
 along the coast as garrisons for the various forts, while 
 the reserve store of arms available for distribution 
 amongst the protected tribes amounted to only 190 
 Enfields and 381 flint muskets."' This meagre support 
 was rendered practically nugatory by the usual pro- 
 crastination and vacillation of the Government policy, 
 the retirement of one Governor, the almost immediate 
 death of his successor, and the appointment of a third. 
 Amongst both blacks and whites, the Ashantis had the 
 great advantage of cohesion in time of stress and of 
 burying inter-tribal and petty personal divergencies of 
 opinion until some more fitting occasion. Beinforce- 
 ments were sent from England in June ; Elmina, which 
 was in a state of disaffection, was bombarded and de- 
 stroyed by British troops, and even the Home Govern- 
 ment was roused from its comfortable apathy, with the 
 result that further reinforcements arrived in July and 
 August, making a total of 653 officers and men who were 
 intended to stiffen the Fantis and other tribes under the 
 segis of the Protectorate. These were supposed to be 
 " ample measures," according to an answer to a question 
 in the House of Commons. Unfortunately, since the 
 death of George Maclean, officials on the spot had not 
 supplied the Home Government with accurate informa- 
 tion, either through fear, jealousy or false pride, but at 
 
 ' Claridge, " History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti."
 
 118 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 last the true conditions had to be revealed, and Lord 
 Kimberley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and Mr. 
 Cardwell, Minister for War, showed what it was possible 
 to accomplish when two able men, one with a knowledge 
 of local conditions and of past historical events, decided 
 on prompt action. Sir Garnet Wolseley was made Civil 
 Governor and Commander-in-Chief and was given a 
 certain amount of discretionary power. He arrived at 
 Cape Coast in October. The Fantis had a not unnatural 
 distaste for war by this time. They had relied so often 
 on the protection of the white men and had not found 
 it either successful or prompt. Hence Sir Garnet re- 
 ceived but scanty support from them, and requested 
 three battalions of Infantry and some Royal Engineers 
 and Artillery to be sent from home. Ashanti itself must 
 be invaded if British prestige, already sunk so low that it 
 was humiliating to contemplate, was to be retrieved. A 
 few preliminary encounters had taken place since Sir 
 Garnet Wolseley's arrival which had shown the Ashanti 
 that they had in him a man of a different mettle from 
 any of his predecessors with whom to deal, and they 
 began retiring beyond their own boundaries. But more 
 than this was needed if a peace of any duration was to 
 be obtained. With his few regular troops, augmented 
 by small numbers of apathetic and quaking Fantis and 
 a fluctuating number of absolutely raw and undisciplined 
 men from other tribes, the Commander-in-Chief did his 
 utmost to harass the retiring Ashantis and destroy their 
 morale. The Ashantis, however, conducted their retreat 
 in so masterly a way as to rouse the admiration of their 
 white enemies, and, at the same time, to inflict no small 
 losses on them. By the end of December the reinforce- 
 ments had arrived, 2,920 officers and men; arrangements 
 for the invasion of Ashanti were completed and, for the 
 first time, European soldiers were to do battle with the 
 Ashantis in the latter's kingdom. The Ashantis were not 
 jubilant. Spies and messengers had seen something of 
 the British preparations, the sacred tree of Coomassie 
 fell down early in January, 1874, and various other 
 omens were not propitious for success to the Ashanti 
 arms. A letter from Sir Garnet Wolseley to the King
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 119 
 
 brought consternation with it. After pointing out the 
 futihty of continuing the struggle, he offered peace on 
 the following terms : — 
 
 (1) All prisoners, African and European, to be released. 
 
 (2) An indemnity of 50,000 ounces of gold to be paid. 
 
 (3) The General and an escort to enter Coomassie, 
 hostages having been given for his safety, and a new 
 treaty to be signed there. 
 
 It was the third clause which stuck in the throats of 
 the King and his people. They were astute enough to 
 see that the presence in Coomassie of a victorious force 
 would tell to the world — their world — that the power of 
 the Ashantis was gone. After that would come the 
 Deluge ! They temporized, and the British troops 
 crossed the Pra. Unfortunately the hostages designated 
 by the General were the heir to the throne, his mother, 
 and four other princelings. All were important per- 
 sonages, and the two former could never have been 
 surrendered by the Ashantis, so the troops pressed on, 
 amidst skirmishes with the enemy, and won a hard- 
 fought battle at Amoafu. Here the Black Watch par- 
 ticularly distinguished themselves, and the Ashantis, 
 with everything at stake, were foes not to be despised. 
 They retreated, rallied and attacked repeatedly, and it 
 required the aid of artillery and four hours' hard fighting 
 to bring the battle to an end. No one will ever know 
 the exact figures of the Ashanti losses, but it is believed 
 that they left between 800 and 1,200 dead behind them. 
 Bekwai was then captured, and on the 3rd February 
 General Sir Garnet Wolseley set out on a quick march 
 for Coomassie, fifteen miles away. At Odasu the 
 Ashantis made their last desperate stand and fought 
 like rats at bay. Again it was the Black Watch which 
 brought the fight to a conclusion and the description, 
 taken from Brackenbury's "Ashanti War," as given by 
 Sir Archibald Alison, is well worth inclusion. The Black 
 Watch had been selected by the General to lead the 
 way out of the village of Odasu and march straight on 
 Coomassie. In pursuance of this the Hausa troops 
 brought up a gun and fired down the bush path, and 
 then, to the complete astonishment of the Ashantis, the
 
 120 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Black Watch charged. ** On first debouching from the 
 village, a tremendous fire was opened on the head of the 
 column from a well-planned and strong ambuscade, six 
 men being knocked over in an instant. But the flank 
 companies worked steadily through the bush ; the 
 leading company in the path sprang forward with a 
 cheer ; the pipes struck up, and the ambuscade was at 
 once carried. Then followed one of the finest spectacles 
 I have ever seen in war. Without stop or stay the 
 42nd rushed on cheering, their officers to the front ; 
 ambuscade after ambuscade was successfully carried, 
 village after village won in succession, till the whole 
 Ashantis broke and fled in the wildest disorder down the 
 pathway on their front to Coomassie. The ground was 
 covered with traces of their flight. Umbrellas and war- 
 chairs of their chiefs, drums, muskets, killed and 
 wounded covered the whole way, and the bush on each 
 side was as trampled as if a torrent had flowed through 
 it. No pause took place until a village about four miles 
 from Coomassie was reached, when the absolute exhaus- 
 tion of the men rendered a short halt necessary." 
 
 The spirit of George Maclean must have looked with 
 pride on Colonel McLeod and his men of the 42nd this 
 day ! Coomassie was occupied without opposition, the 
 King had fled, and during the night the inhabitants 
 silently packed up their valuables and departed. 
 
 As the King did not appear to treat with the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, in spite of sending a message promis- 
 ing to do so, the latter blew up the palace and burnt 
 the town. This accomplished, and burdened by his 
 wounded, and the rapidly increasing numbers of sick, 
 he returned to the coast before the rains set in. One 
 of King Kofi Karikari's chief adherents now offered his 
 fealty to Sir Garnet Wolseley, and this, combined with 
 the destruction of Coomassie, and the disturbing con- 
 sciousness that the Ashantis were not invincible, caused 
 King Kofi to come to terms. Thus at relatively enor- 
 mous cost of human life, due more to disease than to 
 wounds, at enormous expense in material, peace once 
 more descended on the Gold Coast, a peace which might, 
 had officials been more diplomatic and ministers at home
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 121 
 
 been less obtuse and cheeseparing, have arrived seventy 
 years before. 
 
 And now with apologies to the reader for trespassing 
 on his patience with this history of past Ashanti, and 
 with acknowledgments to Dr. Claridge, we will turn to 
 Ashanti of the present. 
 
 The account of the seventh, and, we trust, the last 
 Ashanti war, and of the siege of Coomassie, we leave to 
 another chapter. Our first stopping place in Ashanti 
 was Tano Dumase. The pace had begun to tell by then, 
 and one of us was enjoying an attack of boils in the arm- 
 pits which made life seem rather grey and cheerless for 
 a time. At Tano Dumase, the Governor held a large 
 "palaver," or meeting of the chiefs, and it was both 
 interesting and illuminating to contrast the attitude of 
 these men of Ashanti with that of the other chiefs we 
 had seen. There was undoubtedly a more virile atmos- 
 phere here. The chiefs listened attentively to all the 
 Governor had to say, but not with an expression of 
 fatalistic or sulky submission as though they thought 
 " No matter what we say, this will be done." On the 
 contrary, it was noticeable that, as point after point was 
 enumerated, they were framing replies and were ready 
 with suggestions, emendations and even opposition. 
 After the Governor had finished, one chief after another 
 rose to speak. There was a little man, more than 
 usually ugly, with eyes sparkling with intelligence and 
 determination, who popped up and down like a Jack-in- 
 the-box, and whose gestures alone w'ere worthy of a 
 French tragedian. He did not like the paper money ! 
 No power on earth would make him do so ! He was 
 frankly sceptical of the Governor's assurance that coins 
 would speedily be forthcoming. He wanted the amal- 
 gamation of two districts under one commissioner, and 
 argued the point with logic and volubility. He seemed 
 ready to keep on all day, until the others actually 
 laughed at him and he desisted rather pettishly. 
 
 Here, in the Kiver Tano, a delightful stream which 
 reminded us of parts of the Dart, we saw the sacred 
 fish. No one must catch or kill them, and they must 
 live to a great age. It was rather an eerie spectacle :
 
 122 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 grave old men and little boys stood ankle deep in the 
 water, calling the fish by name to come and be fed. 
 Eggs, plantains, and other dainties were held over the 
 v/ater to tempt the appetite of the holy ones. For some 
 time there was no response. Then, watching closely, 
 we saw a ripple in a distant pool, and the agitation of 
 the natives became intense. " They come ! The big 
 one comes." "No, not the big one." "Yes; he 
 comes ! " And, sure enough, it was a very big one. He 
 must have been quite 4 ft. in length, and resembled a 
 peculiarly repulsive catfish. With one or two lesser 
 followers he came boldly and confidently into the 
 shallow water, and raised his ugly mouth, and swallowed 
 two eggs in rapid succession. The others contented 
 themselves with bits of plantain. No one would ever 
 dream of disturbing these fish, and if it be true that 
 some of the carp at Saint Cloud have seen " Le Eoi 
 Soleil," then, surely, the fetish fish of the Tano should 
 not be cast aside as " a fish story." 
 
 Finally before dismissing this fascinating subject of 
 fetish, it may be worth while recording that the Acting 
 Chief Commissioner of Ashanti presented us with a 
 very grim-looking " juju " in the shape of a stick which 
 has been proven to have the miraculous power of killing 
 any black man at whom it is pointed in anger. The 
 manner in which the stick fell into British hands is as 
 follows : A fetish man had been going around terrorizing 
 the villages in Northern Ashanti. Complaint was made, 
 and the man was forthwith arrested. Brought before 
 the court, he boldy admitted the charge, adding that he 
 would demonstrate his powers if ordered so to do by the 
 Commissioner. The latter promptly said, " Try it on 
 me." Whereupon the prisoner replied that, while he 
 claimed no power over white men, he would rather not. 
 The Commissioner then said, " Try it on my clerk." 
 The clerk trembled and turned pale yellow with fright. 
 "No," returned the fetish doctor, "He has his hand on 
 the fetish book of the white men. I will try it on the 
 whole court." Before the Commissioner could open his 
 mouth the entire court was cleared ; only himself, the 
 prisoner and the black clerk, who by this time had the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 123 
 
 Bible in his arms, remained. The object in question is 
 about 18 in. in length, with the thickness of a walking 
 stick. It is covered with dark blue, native-dyed cloth, 
 and has a suspicious-looking lump in the middle. Of 
 what that lump consists we should very much like to 
 know, but our curiosity, although keen, is not sufficient 
 to make us tamper with things we do not understand. 
 
 A point which must be made in connection both with 
 Ashanti and the Northern Territories is that these 
 Administrations are independent of the Gold Coast 
 proper, except in so far as they acknowledge a common 
 Governor who resides at Accra. They are also included 
 in the financial estimates of the colony as a whole, and 
 receive military aid if it is required. Of course, they 
 work through the Secretariat, which is the channel of 
 communication to the Governor. Beyond this they are 
 free. They have their own courts, their own police, 
 their own methods of administering justice, and their 
 own internal administration. Now this may seem a 
 small matter, but, in all truth, it is pregnant with im- 
 portance for the future of this colony. The matter in 
 a nutshell is the simple fact that the courts of Ashanti 
 and the Northern Territories will not permit the employ- 
 ment of native or European barristers under any circum- 
 stances. They prefer, and quite rightly so, to deal with 
 the native population, be they chiefs or labourers. Now 
 the curse of the Gold Coast is litigation. Whatever may 
 be said about the total population of the colony, there 
 are enough lawyers in the three towns of Sekondi, Cape 
 Coast and Accra to make a good-sized English country 
 village. They fairly tumble over one another. Yet 
 they are all prosperous, they all have their motors and 
 send their daughters to places like Cheltenham to be 
 educated. How on earth can it be done ? is the natural 
 query. The answer is that the gold mine they are tap- 
 ping is the native chiefs. In this connection it must be 
 remembered that, with very few exceptions, the word 
 " chief," as here employed may mean little more than 
 the headman of a village. For ever are these petty 
 despots quarrelling over land questions, the delimita- 
 tions of their boundaries, and so forth. In Ashanti
 
 124 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 questions of this nature can be pleasantly, swiftly, and 
 satisfactorily settled within an hour or two, perhaps, at 
 practically no expense to anybody. Not so upon the 
 Gold Coast. The " cocoa standard " has set the pace. 
 All these little people have money, and as soon as they 
 covet their neighbours' land they fly to a native lawyer, 
 or a native lawyer, even more probably, flies to them, 
 and the interminable game of litigation starts. It may 
 last three months, or it may last three years, the latter 
 if the lawyers think it w^orth while. Counsel are em- 
 ployed at altogether disproportionate fees over the most 
 pettifogging of matters, and so it goes on until the rival 
 claimants shake hands over having at least one thing in 
 common, they are in bankruptcy. This is no exaggera- 
 tion. In one case which came to our notice at Addah, 
 the time occupied over settling a little dispute was a 
 fortnight, and the defending counsel, who lost the case 
 for his client, received as a fee the sum of £1,200. 
 Another, a ruling chief who shall be nameless, since he 
 occupies a very important position, has the doubtful 
 pleasure of an overdraft of £8,000 at his bank, every 
 penny of which has been frittered away over lawyers. 
 Admittedly, here is a difficult problem to solve, and it 
 does not come within our purview to suggest any solu- 
 tion. But, in the course of conversation, his Excellency 
 did on several occasions discuss the question and deplore 
 the fact. Perhaps time and experience will teach these 
 litigation-loving chiefs the futility of their actions. Far 
 better if they could be induced to combine to accept 
 arbitration from the Secretary for Native Affairs. Against 
 this is the insecurity of a chief on his stool. He is only 
 there by popular election, and in the matter of legal 
 actions, presumably, he must be guided by the wishes 
 of his people. Altogether, it is an extraordinarily thorny 
 problem. 
 
 From Tano Dumase we proceeded by slow stages to 
 Coomassie, over roads (roads by courtesy only), which 
 taxed our hammock boys to the utmost. It is a good 
 plan, w^hen making an early start, to walk in the fresh 
 morning air for the first hour or so. It is about the 
 only time a white man feels inclined for much exertion,
 
 "WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 125 
 
 and he then has eyes to admire the majesty and silence 
 of the jungle. After this spurt one tumbles into one's 
 hammock with a sigh of relief and the continuous chatter 
 of the hammock boys becomes a sort of lullaby. Our 
 camps were most picturesque. Long, low, tent-like 
 huts thatched and floored with banana leaves, with a 
 large hut for the mess room. At one camp the carriers 
 nearly caused a diplomatic " situation " by annexing and 
 killing without ceremony the " dash " of sheep presented 
 to the Governor by the local chief. The noise was 
 terrifying and the commotion in the bush beyond our 
 camp made one imagine a battle was in progress. The 
 carriers, not being Ashantis, were scarcely popular and 
 seemed to think they must live up to their reputation. 
 The long trek by hammock was nearly over, and there 
 could not have been one of the party who was not re- 
 lieved. The A.D.C. and Private Secretary had left any 
 superfluous flesh they might have had on the rocky paths 
 of Ashanti. The rest of us were patently the worse for 
 wear. Therefore it was a joy to climb into the inevit- 
 able "Ford," six miles from Coomassie, and tear at a 
 hurricane speed along a broad, level road towards that 
 historical city.
 
 126 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 At the present day Coomassie looks more like an 
 Indian town than any other. 0B--#h:8i^^'aBratid it is the 
 pride of its residents that socially it is also like India. 
 There are real grass tennis courts, a real regimental 
 band, and, before the war, there was the best polo team 
 in the colony. Such it is to-day, and yet, only twenty 
 years ago, the quaint little fort in the centre of the 
 town was the scene of one of the grimmest sieges of 
 Britain's many frontier wars. Only the fact that all 
 eyes were turned on South Africa at that time, prevented 
 the siege of Coomassie from taking its proper place in 
 history. The events which led up to this, the seventh 
 Ashanti war, may briefly be summarized as follows : the 
 Ashantis, although defeated by Sir Garnet Wolseley, 
 were not crushed and longed for revenge. Matters 
 simmered slowly, with scarcely-veiled insolence on the 
 side of the blacks and an ill-advised mixture of severity 
 and lenience on that of the whites. Quibbles and 
 evasions on both sides brought about a unique situation 
 in 1898, when Prempi, King of Ashanti, the Queen 
 Mother, four other near relatives and four chiefs were 
 handcuffed by the Governor's orders and in his presence 
 at Coomassie. Under the astonished eyes of his own 
 people who dared not attempt to rescue him, the King 
 was taken to the coast and eventually lodged with his 
 relations in Elmina Castle. This was, to the Ashantis, 
 very much the same sacrilege as though the tomb of the 
 Prophet at Mecca were removed to Paris. The sacred 
 fetish tree at Bantamo — the St. Denys of Ashanti — was 
 blown up and the village burnt, but the Golden Stool 
 could not be found, and the mausoleum where the kings 
 were buried had been emptied of its contents before the 
 troops arrived and skeletons and treasure hidden else-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 127 
 
 where. By thus deposing Prempi the British sphere of 
 influence was greatly enlarged, trouble with Ashanti 
 seemed to be at an end and that country, deprived at one 
 blow of its leaders, became a species of British Protec- 
 torate. The only things which remained to the Ashantis 
 were their unconquerable sense of nationality and a red- 
 hot hatred of their " protectors." 
 
 Late in 1899, the Golden Stool very nearly fell into 
 the hands of the British. An Ashanti boy came to 
 Accra and offered to guide someone to its hiding place. 
 But his courage failed him at the eleventh hour. 
 Captain Armitage (now Governor of the Gambia), who 
 went with the boy to Bali, was convinced that it was in 
 that vicinity, but the lad's terror became so great that 
 nothing could induce him to indicate the correct path, 
 and the search had to be abandoned. The suspicions of 
 the Ashantis had been aroused concerning this attempt 
 to " steal " what in their eyes was only less sacred than 
 the person of their abducted King, and therefore it was 
 unfortunate that Sir Frederick Hodgson should have 
 selected an early date thereafter to visit Coomassie. 
 A fort had been built there. " It was about fifty yards 
 square, with rounded bastions at each corner and loop- 
 holed walls about thirteen feet in height. It was built 
 partly of brick and partly of the stone used in the 
 building of the old palace, was entered by a single steel- 
 faced door, and in addition to quarters for the Resident, 
 contained store-rooms, magazines and a well, and 
 mounted five machine-guns and four 7-pounders. There 
 was a garrison at Coomassie and the cost of its main- 
 tenance and provisioning had to come out of the ex- 
 chequer of the colony, as the Ashantis only gave a 
 grudging amount of labour as their contribution. It was 
 with the intention of extracting from them a tax of 
 some sort which might lighten the expense of the 
 garrison and also to make a further search for the 
 Golden Stool that the Governor made this expedition. 
 His escort consisted of only twenty Hausas under a 
 sergeant, and with him were Lady Hodgson, a doctor 
 and the Acting Director of Public Works ; not a large 
 retinue for a Governor in the eyes of a people to whom
 
 128 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 pomp and ceremony were the only visible signs of power. 
 The Resident was on leave, the garrison was under 
 strength by more than half, Great Britain, as the 
 Ashantis knew well, was fighting in South Africa ; in 
 other words it was "now or never." The Governor's 
 speech to the assembled chiefs, already on the verge of 
 insurrection, was the last straw. He told them plainly 
 that Prempi was lost to them for ever and that his 
 powers were vested in the Resident, except in war. He 
 demanded interest to be paid on the unpaid war in- 
 demnity and asked the whereabouts of the Golden Stool, 
 saying that he, as the representative of the paramount 
 power, should be sitting on it at that moment instead of 
 on a chair. Pelion on Ossa ! The fire was lighted with 
 a vengeance. This was on March 28, 1900. By the 
 31st, when Captain Armitage and an escort went out to 
 search again for the Golden Stool, the country was 
 secretly arming and the first blood was shed on that day 
 at Bali. The little column fought its way back to 
 Coomassie and the information received by the Gover- 
 nor from native and white sources showed him that 
 matters were very serious. Troops were ordered by 
 telegram from Accra, Lagos, Northern Nigeria and 
 Sierra Leone and a messenger sent to the Northern 
 Territories. Negotiations proved fruitless, owing to the 
 impossible position taken up by the insurgent chiefs, 
 and by April 18 the Ashantis had surrounded the town 
 and the occupants of the fort were virtually prisoners. 
 Refugees by the thousand were encamped close under 
 the walls of the fort to gain the protection afforded by 
 its guns, while the Ashantis burned and looted the 
 various mission buildings, soldiers' barracks, and the 
 " Zongo " or Hausa section of the town. The rainy 
 season had begun and tornados were of nightly occurrence, 
 which increased discomfort and disease. Two relief 
 forces had arrived by April 29, but they reached Coomassie 
 with small provisions and scanty ammunition, so that 
 they were actually a disadvantage, as food and powder 
 had already become a problem. The unfortunate refu- 
 gees were soon reduced to eating any roots and leaves 
 they could find, for the Ashanti system of pickets was so
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELrSIVB 1*29 
 
 good that they were rarely successful in raiding near-by 
 plantations. 
 
 On May 11, a truce was declared in order that the 
 loyal chiefs might txy to persua<ie the others t-o come to 
 terms, and in ihe midst of this armistice the reinforce- 
 ments from the Northern Territories arrived — days before 
 they were expect^si — to the joy of the garrison and the 
 fury of the Ashaniis who not unjustinably suspect€»d 
 collusion. This broke off negotiations at once, and the 
 reiugee^i out^de the fort, who had been promised food 
 by the besieg^exs, wexe in a^ bad a plight as before, and 
 the food and ammunition brought by the new-comexs 
 "was pitifully sm.^11 in quantity. The rations of the 
 defenders were reduced to a minimum and the ammunition 
 was conserved a* far as possible in case the garrison 
 should have to fight it^ way out when supplies came to 
 an end. Three or four sorties were ma-de but they were 
 unsuccessful, and it seems as though one on a larger 
 scale would have been better strategy, as nothing was 
 accomplished beyond depressing the black troops and 
 encouraging the Ashantis. Small-pox also broke out 
 amongst the reiugee? : men. reduced to skeletons, -went 
 mad or fell dea-d, and others preferring a quick death or 
 slavery to this prolonged agony, leit the shelter of the 
 fort and deserted to their foei;. At last, the state of affairs 
 was so critical that it was decided to send the Governor 
 and Lady Hodgson, and the missionaries and their wives 
 down to the coast under escort, leaving only Captain 
 Bishop, Lieutenant K<tlph, Pr. Hay and Native Officer 
 Hari Zenua to defend the fort with 109 Haus,as and 
 '25 carrriers. It was difficult to say which was the 
 more dangerous situation and the Governor undoubtedly 
 thought he and his party wexe marching to their death. 
 Fortunately, thanks to a certain amount of good fortune 
 and also to the skilful leadership oi Captain Armitage, 
 his gloomy prophecy was not justified. Meanwhile the 
 httle garrison waited for the promised rehef. It was 
 Lucknow over again, only, thank God ! without women 
 and children.
 
 130 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 " Ever the labour of fifty that had to be done by five, 
 Ever the marvel among us that one should be left alive, 
 Ever the day with its traitorous death from the loopholes around, 
 Ever the night with its coffinless corpse to be laid in the ground, 
 Heat like the mouth of a hell, or a deluge of cataract skies, 
 Stench of offal decaying, or infinite torment of flies. 
 Thoughts of the breezes of May blowing over an English field. 
 Cholera, scurvy and fever, the wound that ivould not be heal'd, 
 Toil and ineffable weariness, faltering hopes of relief." 
 
 There is no need to dwell long on this. Words, even 
 those of Tennyson, cannot describe it. Only let it be 
 said that the hellish Indian heat is nothing to the real 
 hell of West Africa. 
 
 On July 15, eighty-one days from the commencement 
 of the siege, Colonel Willcocks, Commandant of the 
 West African Frontier Force, reached Coomassie with 
 about 800 men. They had fought against a numerically 
 superior enemy in his own country, an enemy stimulated 
 by repeated victories and with admirably constructed 
 stockades at all tactical points, but they had won through. 
 At first the silence of the fort brought the sickening 
 sensation that they were too late. They could see only 
 gorged vultures and putrefying corpses. As they neared 
 the fort, however, they heard a bugle sounding the 
 " general salute " and through the gates tottered the 
 three white officers and the few ghostly remnants of the 
 garrison who were able to walk. These three officers re- 
 ceived the following recognition of their services : Captain 
 Bishop was given a D.S.O., Dr. Hay, a C.M.G., Lieu- 
 tenant Ralph received a direct commission in the Royal 
 Fusiliers. We have heard it said that " they merely 
 did their duty," but it seems to us that such deeds in 
 such a climate should have met with greater apprecia- 
 tion. All three are dead now, we believe, and whether 
 the native officer died during the siege or " lived to fight 
 another day," we do not know. He, too, was a fine 
 man. We honour the memory of the four who " merely 
 did their duty." Colonel Willcocks received the 
 K.C.M.G., which he richly deserved. 
 
 After the relief of Coomassie, the campaign proceeded 
 rapidly. Kokofu was destroyed and then the Adansis, 
 a tribe which had supported the Ashantis, were defeated.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 131 
 
 By this time there was an abundance of troops and 
 munitions. Sikhs, half a battahon of the Central African 
 Regiment, carriers from East Africa and practically all 
 available troops and constabulary from West Africa, were 
 pouring into the country. The Ashantis fought well 
 and there were some considerable battles. At Aboasa, 
 for example, the Ashantis repulsed three bayonet charges 
 delivered with tremendous elan and fought fiercely in a 
 hand-to-hand combat. It was not until they were out- 
 flanked that they retreated. By the end of October the 
 Ashanti chiefs had either surrendered or been captured, 
 with the exception of a few fugitives in the north. 
 Sixteen of the leaders of the insurrection accompanied 
 the ex-King, Prempi, to the Seychelles, one was hanged 
 publicly in Coomassie, and thirty-one more were 
 imprisoned at Elmina. No one was allowed to carry a 
 gun without a licence, the people were obliged to repair 
 all the damage done to Government buildings and to 
 build any military posts the Government considered 
 advisable, and the original war indemnity had to be paid. 
 The Bekwai people also received two Adansi villages. 
 The seventh Ashanti war was over. Aside from the 
 pecuniary cost, the losses were as follows : Out of 152 
 Europeans, 9 were killed in action, 7 died of disease, 
 62 were wounded and 54 were invalided ; from the native 
 force of approximately 2,804 officers and men, 113 were 
 killed in action, 102 died of disease, 680 were wounded 
 and 41 reported missing. The 15,000 carriers lost 400 
 from disease and one man killed in action. There was 
 a cartoon in Punch in 1879. A copy — framed — should 
 be supplied to the War Office, the Colonial Office the 
 India Office and the Crown Agents respectively. It 
 depicts John Bull, square, stout and prosperous, looking 
 at a stalwart Zulu in full panoply of war who is chalking 
 on a blackboard the words, " Despise not your enemy." 
 How often have we "muddled through" because we 
 have not learned this lesson ! What was true in 1879 
 was true in 1900, both in South Africa and in Ashanti, 
 and we have not learned our lesson yet. 
 
 Situated at a distance of about twenty miles from 
 Coomassie is one of those remarkable formations which
 
 132 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 puzzle the scientific investigator, and are naturally 
 seized upon by the native naind as being the home of 
 " juju." This is Lake Bosumtwi. In shape it is prac- 
 tically circular, with a diameter of some five miles. 
 Surrounded completely by high hills (mountains in this 
 country), its shores are fringed with reedy marshes, 
 which we can certainly vouchsafe produce as fine a 
 brand of mosquitoes as anyone could wish to see. So 
 much is normal ; what is abnormal is the fact that no 
 one has ever yet been able to plumb its depths towards 
 the centre, while, with the exceptions of a few paltry 
 streams, it drains no watershed. It is, in fact, a minia- 
 ture Lake Baikal, and it would repay careful investiga- 
 tion, without a doubt. But here the native steps in. It 
 is " fetish " ; no one may fish from a boat in its waters, 
 though the wily angler of the region overcomes that 
 difficulty by carrying on his operations from a log, and 
 it was from a raft that such soundings as have been 
 made were taken. Its guardians consist of seven native 
 chiefs in the neighbourhood, who arrange the feast days 
 and fast days of the fetish followers, and were absolutely 
 horrified when an official of utilitarian mind suggested 
 that it would make an excellent reservoir for the water 
 supply of Coomassie. Curiously enough, however, the 
 water is slightly brackish, and so it is reasonable to 
 suppose that these worthy gentlemen will be left undis- 
 turbed for the nonce. 
 
 Illness prevented our seeing as much of Coomassie as 
 we should have wished, and illness of another sort was 
 raging in the Northern Territories. Spinal meningitis, 
 or " spotted fever," that deadly scourge for which the 
 most skilled have discovered no preventive, was deci- 
 mating whole tracts of country. Towns were quaran- 
 tined against it, carriers were dropping dead by the road- 
 side, and countless numbers of unfortunates crawled into 
 the bush to die untended. The Durbar arranged for the 
 Governor at Tamale had to be abandoned, and the party 
 cut down to its minimum. That the Governor went at 
 all speaks for his consideration for the natives who were 
 waiting to welcome him, and who would have been 
 most frightfully disappointed had not he appeared. It
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 133 
 
 would have been misinterpreted, and, although shorn of 
 all the magnificence which would have surrounded the 
 proceeding had times been normal, General Guggisberg 
 was very wise in making the journey. The Northern 
 Territories are at present the least productive of revenue 
 of all sections of the Gold Coast. The paucity of popula- 
 tion, due to the constant presence of epidemics, the 
 dryness of the climate, the immense distances to be 
 covered, all tend to retard development. At the same 
 time, with the construction of a railway from Tamale to 
 Coomassie, which would permit of direct communication 
 with the sea-ports, in course of time agriculture would 
 develop. In the neighbourhood of Salaga, rice is already 
 being grown on a small scale, and if that industry were 
 sufficiently supported and the ever-present labour diffi- 
 culty overcome, the import of rice into the colony would 
 become unnecessary and food prices would drop, a con- 
 summation most earnestly to be desired. Similarly, 
 around Tamale, experiments have shown that the ground- 
 nut will flourish, and there are also vast areas from 
 which shea-butter could be exported. 
 
 For the benefit of the uninitiated, shea-butter is one 
 of the most useful ingredients of margarine, and has the 
 peculiar property of preventing it from going rancid and 
 keeping it sweet for any length of time. But all this 
 is for the future. Labour, transport, finance — such are 
 the three obstacles to much present-day advance. The 
 problem is one well worth tackling, only for the moment 
 there exists so much to be done in the south of the 
 colony. Trains in the Gold Coast, or certainly on the 
 Coomassie line, seemed to us to be deliberate inventions 
 of the Evil One. It was a physical impossibility to leave 
 without the most fearful scramble. The train from 
 Coomassie to Tarquah left at the pleasant hour at 6.30 
 in the morning. Now remember that travelling in this 
 part of the world is not as it is in England, and every- 
 thing has to be taken with one, from beds to baths. 
 This involved getting up at about half-past four, swallow- 
 ing a hasty meal, superintending the " boys," who 
 otherwise pack everything wrong, hurrying down to the 
 station as best one may, and then, if as fortunate as we
 
 134 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 were in catching the train, finding the " boys " not on 
 board. Having a tooth out is nothing compared to the 
 trials of losing one's " boys," One is so absolutely 
 dependent upon them. Our retinue of two were genial 
 blackguards. Occasionally we came upon unexpected 
 additions to our equipment, and on inquiring whence 
 they came, the head boy, with an ingratiating smile, 
 remarked, " Me go tief 'em, sah. Me tink lady go like 
 'em." The other boy, Tommy, from the habitual look 
 of despair upon his face, must have been an acute 
 sufferer from dyspepsia. Of course there were moments 
 when both of them became positively infuriating ; when, 
 for instance, they packed a bottle containing an extremely 
 unpleasant-smelling, thick brown shampoo upside down 
 and without a cork amongst one's always insufficient 
 clean linen. Then speech failed ! But by and large 
 our ruffians were very good, and, without exaggeration, 
 it can be said that many a dose of fever can be averted 
 by an efficient boy. 
 
 Tarquah, our next stop, is the site of the first gold- 
 mining operations by Europeans in the colony. In the 
 early days, about 1880, the Tarquah valley had the 
 most sinister reputation from a health standpoint of 
 practically any settlement, but that is altered now, and 
 though the heat is still intense the death-rate is fairly 
 low. As far as the gold mines at Tarquah are con- 
 cerned, they are none of them very large or very deep, 
 and bear a close family resemblance to all other gold 
 mines the world over. There is nothing spectacular 
 about a gold mine. There is a good deal of treading in 
 muddy water and stooping sideways ; there is the sight 
 of black men working a drill, which reminded us un- 
 comfortably of visits to the dentist ; and, above all and 
 beyond all, there is that choking, stifling smell of the 
 dust which clutches at one's throat and makes one feel 
 hideously faint. That is the origin of " miners' phthisis." 
 Each mine has a club. Originally each club had a bar, 
 but it was decided to discontinue the latter except for 
 the sale of " soft " drinks as America knows the meaning 
 of the word. The result is that the club has a neglected, 
 rather injured air, strongly reminiscent of a similar place
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 135 
 
 at a once fashionable seaside resort which has now fallen 
 into desuetude. In this connection there is a very good 
 story told about a genial mine manager, one of the best 
 of good fellows, who, however, had a fatal fondness for 
 whisky, which he imbibed not wisely but too well — be it 
 added, usually at someone else's bungalow. His boy 
 noticed this peculiarity and questioned the doctor. 
 " Why my massa always get drunk when he go odder 
 massa's bungalow ? " The doctor answered, *' You savvy 
 in your country when man fit for die all people get 
 drunk." "I savvy, sah," said the boy. "You savvy 
 that there be plenty big war now and plenty white men 
 go die." " Yes, sah, I savvy," said the boy. " Well, 
 continued the doctor, " it cost plenty money to get drunk, 
 and white men here no catch plenty. So when white 
 man lose friend or brudder he pay your massa, best past 
 all for drink, to get drunk for him."
 
 136 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 In spite of the presence of ice, soda water and electric 
 light Sekondi is emphatically not a place in which to 
 linger. Fate and illness compelled some stay, and we had 
 every opportunity to study the town, such as it is. It is 
 utilitarian, so much can be admitted. It boasts of rail- 
 way works, wherein are carried on upon a small scale 
 similar operations to those to be seen at Swindon or 
 Crewe, neither of them more picturesque than Sekondi. 
 Then, again, apart from the simply stinging heat, 
 Sekondi is an epitome of noisiness. Try to rest in your 
 bungalow and your lullaby is the sounds of hammering 
 of the worst conceivable description. Stroll into the 
 court-house and one wonders how on earth the over- 
 strained Commissioners manage to administer justice 
 with the terrific din from outside. Try the tennis court 
 in the evening and there is no change. One might 
 imagine that some stupendous work were in progress, 
 something worth while in the making, and there is 
 nothing ! There is a half-finished breakwater and some 
 superannuated cranes which need all the local talent 
 available to keep them in working order. Beyond that 
 there is nothing, and, as the Chief Commissioner 
 remarked to us, " the only way in which to account for 
 the incessant noise is that, for aught else to do, every 
 native without a job bangs a piece of corrugated iron 
 with a hammer." Hence even an enthusiast could not 
 describe Sekondi as restful, neither is it surprising that 
 the white population seemed more tired and more 
 depressed than any we have hitherto met. Yet from the 
 sea it looks picturesque. There is an old signal station 
 on a bluff which winks its nightly message to the tramp 
 steamer on the sea's highway. It also welcomes an 
 arrival with a cannon shot ; the community are cheered,
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 137 
 
 maybe, by knowing that a ship has found it possible to 
 pay a visit. The boys in the surf boats chant their 
 native melodies admirably. It would be of interest could 
 someone capture those melodies and send them for 
 reproduction at Queen's Hall. 
 
 The red corrugated roofs of the bungalows lend a 
 splash of colour to the background of azure blue sea, 
 only ruffled by a very occasional tornado, and looking all 
 the hotter for the oily swell lazily rolling in from the 
 Atlantic. The few ships at anchor seem to blister 
 under the withering heat. Within the town proper 
 unfortunates in offices groan audibly. They ruminate 
 probably over the adverse fate which sent them thither. 
 And then, when the evening comes, the young folks 
 play at make-belief, and dance to a gramophone, and 
 pass a few hours away in attempting to imagine that 
 they are back in all earnest in the homes from whence 
 they have come. From all of which it may be imagined 
 what the port of Sekondi represents, and that it is not, 
 we reiterate, a place in which to linger. Approximately 
 about eight miles away, however, is the celebrated 
 Takaradi Bay ; that is to say, it may become cele- 
 brated as the new port of the Gold Coast. But there 
 is one question in connection with the whole matter 
 which must not be overlooked, and, indeed, must be 
 faced in the most practical of ways. It resolves itself 
 into one word — " labour." In this colony of the Gold 
 Coast the labour question has reached a momentous 
 condition. It threatens to undermine all that the 
 Administration may attempt for the benefit of its 
 inhabitants. Labour is demanding and receiving ex- 
 orbitant wages, out of all proportion to what is 
 accomplished. Further, even that supply is so fluctua- 
 ting that no contractor could place reliance upon its 
 steady continuance. Possibly cocoa may have something 
 to do with this state of things. 
 
 The demand for labour in the cocoa plantations far 
 exceeds the supply, with the result that wages have been 
 run up to famine prices. Equally, also, the population 
 of the colony is, for its area, very small, and with the 
 increase of prosperity undoubtedly existing this has been
 
 138 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 badly felt. The Governor is doing everything humanly 
 possible to prevent the appalling infant mortality which 
 occurs, but, granted it is modified, it will take at least 
 twenty years to bring up the wage-earning population 
 to normal. What, then, is to be done ? Obviously the 
 malady demands a remedy, and that speedily. Thus, 
 for instance, the building of a navigable harbour in the 
 colony cannot be stopped through any such cause. In 
 addition there are the mines, also languishing for miners, 
 ordinary workmen in point of fact. There can be no 
 argument that the climate is not suited for a prolonged 
 residence by a Britisher, hence no one in the Empire 
 is losing any opportunity. Overseers, foremen, mechani- 
 cians, craftsmen of all skilled types certainly will be 
 wanted and be employed upon duty fit for them, and 
 leave of service they must have if they are to keep their 
 health. What is required is a stable working community, 
 fit to put in three or four years' labour at reasonable 
 wages without going home. Everything suffers if con- 
 tinuity of effort cannot be maintained, and the cost of 
 every public work is multiplied to the " nth " degree. 
 It has been suggested that the only practicable solution is 
 assisted immigration. In Brazil it has worked wonders. 
 The native Indian of Brazil is not capable, in his present 
 state of development, of assisting in the exploitation of 
 his country, which covers an enormous territorial area. 
 With its untold riches, it was clearly realized that some- 
 thing must be done, and done it was — thoroughly. 
 There was established an employment bureau in every 
 large centre. Passages were given by the Brazilian 
 Consuls to likely immigants, irrespective of nationality, 
 so long as they appeared able to face the climate, and 
 the Latin races are able to stand the tropics more easily 
 than others. And what has the result been ? Great 
 tracts of virgin Brazil have been opened up to the lasting 
 benefit of not only the Brazilians, but of the world. 
 Rubber, which would have Iain untouched but for the 
 hand of the new immigrant, has made it possible for a 
 poor man to own a Ford car. These immigrants have 
 delved and dug, they are every day making a new 
 Brazil, where before a great, heterogeneous population
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 139 
 
 wondered what on earth to do with their riches. In 
 the south of that country Germany saw her chance, 
 and came in, buying farms and starting farming on 
 scientific principles, employing as labour the Latins. 
 And so the world runs along, the arid spaces become 
 gardens, and civilization reaches out its long arm, irre- 
 spective of creed, colour or nationality, with the result 
 that it becomes possible to translate a waste of nature 
 seemingly into what the Deity meant it to be. But 
 before Maltese or Cypriots are imported to the Gold 
 Coast it will be well for those in authority to look to the 
 future. Undoubtedly it is tantalizing to an ambitious 
 administrator to see great possibilities just beyond his 
 grasp and it is well to leaven practicality with idealism. 
 But the Maltese and Cypriots have never been remark- 
 able for vast energy in their own fairly temperate 
 climates. How would they wield the pick and shovel 
 and axe under the West African sun. How, in the eyes 
 of the native, would the status of the white man be 
 affected ? Would the price of labour, already, as we have 
 said, extortionate, be still further inflated ? And what 
 would be the cost of all the much-needed improvements 
 if these Europeans were paid more than the blacks? 
 There is something in the plan but it bristles with 
 problems such as these. 
 
 Upon the whole of the West Coast it may be hazarded 
 that only two ports are replete with the fragrance of 
 romance, Cape Coast and Elmina. There is something 
 about them which savours of the mediaeval, they have 
 behind them the legacy of tradition. Nine miles of 
 decent motor road separate them, but, truth to tell, their 
 charm lies in the fact that they are drifting away from 
 the present rather than into it. The aforesaid motor 
 road is practically all that they can claim of the twentieth 
 century. Their castles are so picturesque that it is 
 difficult to realize that from the point of view of modern 
 sanitation they are anything but popular residences with 
 those who inhabit them. They would infinitely prefer 
 a nice modern bungalow upon a hill-top, a bungalow 
 replete with all the so-called conveniences now provided 
 for officialdom. Further, both of these castles can boast
 
 140 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of being haunted, Elrnina to the extent of possessing a 
 most unsavoury reputation upon that account. About 
 it there are stories galore. Everyone is supposed to 
 have seen something or heard something. One very 
 naive of&cial told us a thrilling story of how the door of 
 his bedroom mysteriously opened, of how he cowered in 
 sheer fright under his blanket, only to discover that a 
 rising tornado was the responsible culprit. Another 
 official barricaded himself in his room whenever duty 
 called him to stay for a night or so in residence. And 
 then there is the very uncanny and inexplicable though 
 well-authenticated account of a bridge party upon the 
 old ramparts which remind one to-day that the Portu- 
 guese well knew how to build and were craftsmen of no 
 mean merit. The party consisted of one lady and three 
 officials. None of them bothered about the supernatural 
 or gave heed to rumour. They were merely keen bridge 
 players and intent upon their game. Of a sudden the 
 lady put her hand to her eyes as though dazzled. Asked 
 if anything were the matter she denied anything wrong 
 and continued playing. Followed a pause. Then again 
 she clapped her hands to her eyes, gave an exclamation, 
 and fainted dead away. Either she never would or 
 never could tell what she saw, but being in perfectly 
 normal health there must have been some raison d'etre. 
 The bridge party came to an abrupt conclusion, so much 
 we heard at first hand. For the rest, report has it that 
 a headless lady pays nocturnal visits to the room she 
 once occupied. 
 
 People may say " rubbish," but is it ? If the walls 
 of a castle such as Elmina could speak what would they 
 not tell ? One can imagine that in those early days, 
 upon a coast such as this, with naught to do but wait 
 for the next relief from home and for companions, 
 adventurers of a type now unthought of and undreamt, 
 every manner of tragedy may have been enacted behind 
 the walls of these pioneer strongholds. The Portuguese 
 were no respecters of persons, neither were the Danes 
 nor the Dutch when their turn came to figure upon the 
 Gold Coast and make their mark upon West African 
 history. And when the short, tropical twilight is upon
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 141 
 
 them, these castles resemble the embodiment of the 
 romance through which they have lived. Only one place 
 that we have ever visited quite seems to carry with it 
 the same mediaeval touch, and that is Heidelberg. A 
 similar atmosphere pervades it, a touch of melancholy, 
 a touch of faded magnificence, a touch of vanished hands 
 and hearts which are for ever still. Heaven knows that 
 the West Coast is the last place on earth in which to 
 look for romance, and yet these two towns are replete 
 with it. They stand alone in their significance in what 
 has been rather unjustly called "Hell's Playground." 
 And it is a great pleasure to us that our memory of the 
 Gold Coast closed with a glimpse of these two strange 
 old places. Truth to tell, life is not pleasant to live out 
 there. Perhaps it is pleasanter if one is located in one 
 environment, and has opportunity to make friends, to 
 enter into the little round of social duties which are 
 made possible out here, to drink in the traditions which 
 are making and have made the official life at all possible 
 upon short financial commons. Esprit de corps is cer- 
 tainly not dead in the Colonial service, when, under the 
 weight of every worry conceivable, the young men and 
 old carry on as they are doing and will do, and the in- 
 spiration emanates from the Chief himself. No Governor 
 is ever popular with all classes of the community. Few 
 with their own staff. Maybe it is better so. Admini- 
 strators have a rough passage through their tour of 
 service in such regions as these. They must commune 
 with themselves, accept advice from all and trust none. 
 Rival influences are too great. The great man stands 
 upon neutral ground. 
 
 All countries, if properly appreciated, if understood, 
 have distinct personalities, for all the world like human 
 beings. Properly to be appreciated, the Gold Coast must 
 be known from within ; it is uncommunicative, dull, cruel 
 to the outsider. But intimacy brings a change of feel- 
 ing. One can appreciate the defects of a strong per- 
 sonality, and the Gold Coast is strong. Take away its 
 defects, and it would really be colourless and lacking 
 the first elemental to make it habitable. There is 
 mystery in it to satisfy the most hungry. There is a
 
 142 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 wealth of natural splendour in the little-trodden hinter- 
 land of the Western Province. For others there is the 
 very real lure of money in abundance, of affluence beyond 
 the realms of careers as lived at home in the comfortable 
 regions served by fifty trains daily between the hours 
 of seven and seven. It can offer the wonderful inspira- 
 tion of ever desiring to go further, to see further, to 
 learn more. There are regions in the north-eastern 
 districts never visited by white men, areas in which 
 game of every variety may be found, and which, in more 
 habitable climes, would give the call to the big game 
 hunter and the world tripper who of late has grown to 
 be an institution in other countries. Its wealth is un- 
 deniable, it was not for aught else that the Portuguese 
 christened it Gold Coast. Develop it along scientific 
 lines, treat it as the modern ironmaster would treat a 
 foundry in a new country, humour it, spoil it, see to it 
 that it lacks no essentials to success, and like the per- 
 sonality it is, its temperament will respond. Realize its 
 potentialities, do not make of it an enfant terrible 
 amongst the colonies of the Empire, to be shunned, 
 scorned, condemned, and nominated the playground of 
 the lost and destitute. Give it a chance, examine it, 
 study it, and our visit will not have been in vain.
 
 143 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 Lagos came upon us as a surprise. We had grown into 
 tune with the West Coast as we had seen it. It had 
 impressed us with a sameness of atmosphere, which, in 
 spite of varying conditions, was gradually imbuing us 
 with a slight sense of monotony. And then, as we 
 steamed through the breakwaters which guard the 
 harbour of Lagos, up the quiet waters of the lagoon, 
 upon the shores of which the town stands, we realized 
 that we were entering a new country with new people, 
 new ideas, and one which carried with it new interests. 
 Perhaps the better adjective would be " fresh," since 
 most assuredly the native races inhabiting this vast terri- 
 tory, one-third the size of the Indian Empire, contain 
 amongst them stock of such antiquity that their very 
 origin is to-day still a matter of speculation. On the 
 other hand, coupled with a civilization of such a type 
 that British occupation has been able to teach it little 
 except the most advanced arts and crafts, is to be found 
 Paganism in its most revolting form, whole tribes to 
 whom rudimentary clothing is unknown, and who even 
 to-day are suspected of cannibalism. Slowly steaming 
 up the lagoon we were both tempted to make comparisons 
 which instantly presented themselves to us. " Norfolk 
 Broads," hazarded one of us, as we glided past the floating 
 dock : " the only thing false to the picture is that beastly 
 utilitarian monster of ugliness which you emphatically 
 do not find up Wroxham way." The other member of 
 the party, as we swung round the signal station, ex- 
 claimed, " Why, there's Maidenhead, Guard's Club and 
 all ! It only wants a punt or two, a canoe with a flirting 
 couple, some river girls as well, and a background of 
 Skindles, and there you are." For West Africa the 
 whole effect was astonishingly out of proportion with
 
 144 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 preconceived ideas. No surf-boats here. No launch 
 fluttering alongside and tediously bringing one to the 
 shore. Not a bit of it ! The landing was as easy as that at 
 Prince's Landing Stage at Liverpool, shorn of some of its 
 formalities. Not quite all ! For the first time since 
 leaving Liverpool, and after being upon Spanish and 
 Liberian soil, we were politely but firmly asked for our 
 passports. We did murmur that we were staying with 
 Sir Hugh Clifford, the Governor, but the only answer 
 we got was " It will be better so." That official must 
 have felt that he was in effect a real cog in the machinery 
 of the Empire. A short drive down the " Marina," a 
 promenade along the foreshore comparable to most 
 English seaside resorts, only more picturesque, brought 
 us to Government House. This is a spacious, three- 
 storey building with a porte cochere and the general 
 effect of having been picked up bodily from a French 
 province and placed, to its great astonishment, in West 
 Africa. Here we had, for the first and only time, 
 running hot water in the bath. Our head boy contem- 
 plated it with awe and, after putting his finger under the 
 tap, announced reverentially "It be hotl" After which 
 he probably added it to the list of " white man juju " 
 and paid no further attention to it. 
 
 But to return to Lagos itself. If only seaside towns 
 in England could afford to banish the boarding-house and 
 its colleague the lodging-house from the front, then the 
 millennium in sea frontage would have been reached, and 
 municipal architects might find it worth while to come 
 and study the effect here of gardens and pretty houses 
 along a mile or two of excellent road. It is charming, 
 and no wonder that, in spite of mosquitoes, which certainly 
 do exist here in millions, in spite of a temperature which 
 tries tempers and temperaments to an abnormal degree, 
 the inhabitants of Lagos are most enthusiastic over their 
 township. Half an hour after landing we were watching 
 a " chukker " of polo, another half hour and we were the 
 guests of the Tennis Club and imbibing every known 
 species of cooling and refreshing beverage, and half an 
 hour later and the most excellent band of the West 
 African Frontier Force was playing to tired golfers and
 
 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 145 
 
 others the latest tunes from the latest musical London 
 successes. Truly, we thought, in spite of having 
 experienced a very strenuous day, the lot of the 
 "Lagosite " — to coin a word — does lie in pleasant places. 
 This is along the lines of an Indian station in all truth, 
 and poor little Coomassie, with all its delectable 
 attractions is but a feeble imitation. To phrase the 
 impression created upon us in a few words is merely to 
 reiterate that we sensed at last the influence of old- 
 established traditions upon congenial soil. The soil here 
 is genial and the world wags merrily. After all, to live 
 happily and experience all the little happinesses which 
 can be found in places further from the Equator is one 
 way of establishing a sounder foundation for health, 
 which is what we all search for in these regions. Some 
 opine that doctors are pessimists. We approach the 
 point with open mind, with the one reservation that you 
 must have congenial surroundings. In that direction 
 Lagos has not failed, unless it be in the housing of her 
 official employees, of which more anon. Lagos must be 
 the biggest coast town, with the possible exception of 
 Dakar, in French territory. The markets, and there are 
 several, are astounding. They remind one rather of the 
 bazaars of Constantinople. They cross and intersect and 
 tangle themselves till it is a puzzle to divine whence one 
 has come. Moreover, the wares exposed, which vary 
 from a packet of fishing hooks — these latter we had not 
 encountered elsewhere — to ornamented calabashes worthy 
 of the sideboard in an English house, are all eagerly 
 bargained for interminably m true Oriental style. It is 
 not a matter of finance, one can but conjecture, so much 
 as a species of pastime, a sort of poker along native lines, 
 where the man who never moves a muscle of his face is 
 likely to win the game. There is great animation in the 
 streets, animation which recalled to us Colombo near the 
 Grand Oriental Hotel. There are few native booths ; 
 the natives have given up that style of architecture, and 
 now favour a mixture of what one may find in a 
 Portuguese village and the stucco dear to those who 
 designed German colonial buildings. Of course, there 
 are slums — there must be ; but during a motor drive 
 10
 
 146 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 through the highways and byways of Lagos they were 
 not apparent. 
 
 At Accra, outside the British segregation area and the 
 educated native quarters, the town is an ash-heap, a 
 depository for refuse, and in need of thorough sanitary 
 overhauhng. This will explain probably the prevalence 
 of epidemics there, such as that of small-pox, which we 
 left behind in full swing. There are epidemics here as 
 there are in London or Hamburg or Buenos Ayres. But 
 as far as the eyes of the uninitiated may guide, eyes, 
 however, trained by experience in many countries, the 
 whole of Lagos town is on a fair par with American 
 towns of similar population in the southern portion of 
 that continent. At any rate, the shacks we had grown 
 accustomed to see along the coast were missing, and we 
 penetrated where we would. And it might be added 
 that the native population seem to "get busy" here, to 
 use an Americanism, in sympathy with the ever- 
 increasing demands of this capital of West Africa. 
 
 To understand better the significance of the future of 
 Lagos, certain main features must be grasped. First 
 and foremost, Lagos is an island. Where the town was 
 founded the builders little recked that the time would 
 ever arrive when it would outgrow its capacity to cope 
 with the population and accommodation alike. It is in 
 a small way on a similar plane to Manhattan Island, 
 which houses present-day New York City. Only here the 
 skyscraper is an impossibility, and expansion must take 
 place along other lines. Time was when the mainland 
 of what is actually Africa proper consisted of dense 
 mangrove swamps, which harboured endless mosquitoes 
 and accentuated the presence of the dreaded malaria, 
 which is more or less endemic all over West Africa. In 
 addition, at that time the Lagos railway was a very small 
 proposition, with its terminus naturally upon the said 
 mainland, and with seemingly little prospect of ever 
 growing into the gigantic octopus it now is ; for, be it 
 remembered, the amalgamation of the two Nigerias and 
 Lagos only dates from January, 1914. Thus for some 
 years matters remained "in statu quo," business increased 
 but leisurely, and the handicap of the transhipment of
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 147 
 
 goods across the lagoon from railhead to steamer wharf 
 was but lightly felt. The amalgamation altered effectually 
 the whole position, especially since the Lagos railway 
 was extended, and by fresh construction linked up with 
 the Nigerian railways, thus tapping regions which for 
 centuries had lain remote from the influence of the out- 
 side world. True, the Niger River acted as a carrying 
 medium for a certain amount of imports and exports, 
 but on a minute scale. During the dry season traffic 
 dropped to an infinitesimal level, and the route from 
 Tripoli to Kano across the Sahara was considered by 
 traders safer and speedier. Thus, what was of old 
 " Northern Nigeria," with teeming population and un- 
 touched wealth, remained in stagnation until the magic 
 wand of the railway opened the door of its prison and 
 allowed the fresh and invigorating air of commercial 
 exploitation to enter without let or hindrance. Within 
 a matter of months trade increased beyond belief. 
 Manchester cottons and Birmingham hardware suddenly 
 became articles of necessity, one might almost write, and 
 so, as often happens, the natives wondered how it was 
 that they had ever managed before without such articles 
 as were now becoming common. Then it was that it 
 became more and more manifest that to cope with the 
 ever-growing trade other methods would have to be 
 employed than the cumbersome system in vogue entailing 
 the transhipment of goods from ship to shore, a journey 
 by motor lorry or barge to railhead and further labour 
 in trucking the goods. What to do ? How to conquer 
 the mangrove swamps, especially since they were every- 
 where fringed by shallow water and oyster beds? Con- 
 sideration followed, with the result that a very large 
 scheme of reclamation was taken in hand whereby the 
 shallow water was dredged and the mud and oysters 
 pumped into the mangrove swamp. The result was little 
 short of miraculous. The mangroves resented the in- 
 trusion and died off, while slowly but surely the swamp 
 in which they were embedded was transformed into dry 
 sandy soil. Perseverance told its own tale when we 
 were shown over the hundred and odd acres of what is 
 now a very good imitation of the Sahara on a small scale.
 
 148 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 And still the work is going on. From powerful dredgers 
 pumps are operated which force through pipes the mud 
 and shells dredged up to a distance of 500 yards. 
 Continuously day by day this sludge is being deposited 
 farther and farther inland, making of that dangerous 
 swamp a foundation whereon, in the course of the next 
 year or two, will grow up warehouses by the score, 
 fronted by a wharf nearly a mile in length with a depth 
 of thirty feet of water alongside. In other words, two 
 birds have been killed with one stone ; a deep water 
 wharf is being constructed Vv^hile an intolerable swamp is 
 being roped in to the service of the community. Work 
 of that nature needs little encomium. Imagine what 
 Lagos will spell within less than a decade. It will be 
 by far the largest port on the whole of the West African 
 Coast. 
 
 Sierra Leone, with its harbour of Freetown, is a 
 wonderful natural expanse of water, which can comfort- 
 ably shelter a large fleet of warships or merchantmen. 
 But as Providence would have it, it serves merely as a 
 coaling station, for the hinterland it drains cannot ex- 
 port raw material in any great quantity, since the 
 territory it covers is small. But Nigeria, the largest of 
 the Crown Colonies, is almost staggering in the immensity 
 of its possibilities, nay probabilities. Remember that 
 the great market of Kano is one of the most important 
 in the whole of the African world. Remember that Kano 
 is over 700 miles from Lagos, and then realize that to-day 
 it is possible, in fact normal, to get into the boat train, 
 with dining and sleeping cars, and furnished comparatively 
 quite as well as the Cornish Riviera Express, and forty- 
 eight hours later one finds oneself in that curious city, 
 coloured with the romance of the Arabian Nights. It is 
 worth while to recall also that only eighteen years ago 
 Kano was almost as far removed from the visitations of 
 white people as is the North Pole. It was then an 
 independent Emirate, and it boasted of its isolation from 
 the contaminating influences of modern civilization. It 
 had its own traditions, which served well its purpose and 
 provide a fascinating page of African history. In other 
 words, in the judgment of those under the rule of the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 149 
 
 then Emir, there was Httle about which to complain 
 according to their ideals. But modern opinion thought 
 otherwise, and the hermit kingdoms of the world must 
 inevitably give way before the advance of that pulverizing 
 power — evolution. And so Kano fell, as did Sokoto and 
 Zaria ; all of them principalities with histories and 
 civilizations of their own. Romance has disappeared, 
 maybe, with the banging of shunting trucks, with the 
 shrill whistle of the locomotive, and with the clanging of 
 the bell which announces the departure of a train. On 
 the other hand, there really has been a corresponding 
 gain. Thus, for instance, who would have imagined that 
 the jeunesse doree of the Fulani nobility, a nobility 
 equal in antiquity and dignity to our own, a nobility who 
 for long held absolute sway over Central Africa and the 
 Western Soudan, would to-day be proving themselves 
 extraordinarily apt with the theodolite, able to work out 
 complicated mathematical problems with the assurance 
 of a senior wrangler and fitting themselves to bring into 
 their world, when fate calls them to take control, all the 
 advantages denied to their fathers, and which they will 
 now be in a position to hand on by proxy through other 
 instructors to their people ? Thus the problems facing 
 Nigeria are entirely different from those which must be 
 solved by governors of other West Coast colonies. And, 
 in addition, there is the climatic question, which is 
 worthy also of consideration since it is possible that 
 experience may indicate that certain portions of Northern 
 Nigeria, or of the Northern Province, as it is now called, 
 may be quite as suitable for white men as corresponding 
 portions of East Africa. Granted the approach may not 
 be inviting, neither is Lorenzo Marques or the East 
 Coast a health resort. The truth, as it appears to us, is 
 that the medical profession as a whole along the coast 
 are suffering badly from nerves. Or else, let it only be 
 whispered, being human themselves, very human and 
 very kind, they fear that if they balance the account on 
 the right side, and say baldly that West Africa is as 
 healthy as Costa Rica, Cuba, Manaos — the latter is much 
 worse, as we know — or any Indian station, then leave to 
 England may be cut down or the term of service pro-
 
 160 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 longed. Personally, and without prejudice, one way or 
 the other, we offer this solution. House your officials 
 properly ; let them lead lives which are not exotic — in 
 other words, encourage a home atmosphere, see to it that, 
 come what may, there is ice available at any point where 
 it could be manufactured at a reasonable charge; spend 
 a little money upon cold storage, and do not arrange your 
 expenditure as did one Governor of whom we have heard. 
 He blandly remarked, "I can't get telegraph poles, but 
 I can get any number of officials, hence telegraph poles 
 are to me more valuable." It was the remark of the 
 pioneer rather than that of the administrator, and if 
 West Africa, and especially Nigeria, with its latent 
 possibilities dependent in the main upon human effort, 
 be so treated, then advance cannot be expected. 
 
 Leaving these introductory remarks and reverting for 
 a moment to the town of Lagos, one must not forget the 
 really beautiful drive of some five miles along the front 
 to the end of the breakwater. Polo, tennis, or golf may 
 pall, but nature at its best is beyond that reproach. 
 Arrived at the beach, one can bathe in the surf or 
 wander along the firm white sand with the roar of the 
 African breakers for ever in one's ears and the wonderful, 
 hungry, green-grey waves for company. Here there is 
 no room for mere materialism, and one can forget the 
 worries of the moment, the discouragement born of 
 ill-health, the disappointment of non-receipt of letters 
 from home — all those incidents which bulk so large 
 when viewed upon the spot and appear so petty when 
 examined at a distance in the proper perspective. Think 
 of the monotony of some bush station, where the view 
 is circumscribed, and where the only walk must be 
 either along a bush path, with nothing to charm the 
 senses, or around the limited area of the cantonment. 
 And then, again, think of the great waves rolling in 
 from the Atlantic, speaking of freedom, and bringing, 
 as it were, promise for the future. No, Lagos is a very 
 fortunate place, and all in all, even with a damp climate 
 and mosquitoes, which are amongst the most hungry we 
 met, it is actually attractive. No one in the world more 
 enjoys a joke against himself than your West African.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 151 
 
 A very senior official told us that he had a friend, who, 
 having returned from a remote station in the interior, 
 exhibited to him with pride a wooden head covered with 
 skin, evidently a fetish of some kind. " What sort of 
 skin is that ? " queried our friend. "Human," was the 
 reply; "isn't it wonderful, a wooden head covered with 
 human skin ? Bet you've never seen anything like that 
 in your travels." "Rubbish," was his answer; "why, 
 I see hundreds of them every day along the Marina." 
 It only remains to be added that the Marina is where 
 most of the Government officials are housed !
 
 152 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 One of the fondest delusions of the great British 
 pubHc is the firm belief that enterprise of the right sort 
 is habitually absent from all our colonial undertakings. 
 The Opposition Press are quick to make capital out of 
 some error of judgment, however minute, but are un- 
 commonly loth to allow that, as a matter of fact, our 
 methods of colonial development are not only equal to 
 those employed by others, but usually are actually 
 superior. And similarly with what we may call the 
 American fetish. People shake their heads in amaze- 
 ment because, in the words of the sensational papers, a 
 town has been founded in a night, replete with hospital, 
 hotel and police station, and this is taken to evidence 
 how go-ahead other folk are and how slow and silly we 
 are. For this introduction we make no excuse. It is 
 born out of sheer admiration, plus not a little surprise, 
 at what we have seen in Nigeria, and it is heightened 
 because we have been able to realize what wonderful 
 things have been accomplished in this vast territory in 
 s^sh'ort aj tiiHe. For the moment we must deal with a 
 few dates, which may serve to bring home what very 
 recent Crown possessions Lagos, Northern and Southern 
 Nigeria — now known as Nigeria — are in that great 
 conglomeration of countries and peoples which go to 
 make up the British Empire. Then it will be worth 
 considering in w^hat state these territories were when 
 finally passed under the protection of the British flag, 
 and what that flag has done for them in return. And 
 after that, if the reader still adheres to his views as to 
 American push as opposed to British sleepiness, it will 
 be deliberate prejudice which obscures his vision. First 
 of all, although as early as 1862, Lagos was recognized 
 as a colony, its confines at that time were very circum-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 153 
 
 scribed, and it was only in 1889 that Lagos was extended 
 to the boundaries of what was then Northern Nigeria 
 and to the border of the Niger Coast Protectorate, later 
 known as Southern Nigeria. 
 
 In 1900 the British Government revoked the charter 
 of-i^hr^oyal Niger Company, which had trading and 
 juridical rights along both banks of the Niger far into 
 the hinterland. This company, after the manner of tha 
 old East India Company, had done a great work in open- 
 ing up the Niger to trade and in penetrating into the 
 mainland and subduing such truculent chiefs as that of 
 Ilorin. But the time had arrived for a change ; and very 
 wisely, partially no doubt to avoid international compli- 
 cations, the Niger Company were bought out by the 
 Imperial Government, and what were known as Northern 
 and Southern Nigeria came into existence with separate 
 administrations and Governors. This state of affairs 
 continued until 1906, when Lagos and South Nigeria 
 were amalgamated into one body politic, and were known 
 as the Colony and Protectorate of Southern Nigeria. 
 And, later, in 1914, it having been found that the 
 administration of Southern and Northern Nigeria could 
 more practically be arranged were there one homogeneous 
 body, the two were amalgamated, and were designated 
 Nigeria. These basic facts must be remembered if our 
 subsequent chapters are to be understood, since sufficient 
 time has not yet elapsed to allow of a complete consoli- 
 dation in every direction, and, indeed, of itself that will 
 never be absolutely complete, since in this vast territory 
 there is such variety of race, language, religion and 
 custom, the latter of transcendental importance when 
 dealing with such races as Hausas and Fulanis. 
 
 Finally, to emphasize more easily to the general 
 reader what the Governor of this colony has upon his 
 hands, and since to many comparison with India conveys 
 little, the area of Nigeria equals that of the United 
 Kingdom, France and Belgium. Its greatest breadth is 
 over 700 miles, and its length over 750. That affords 
 some idea of the extent of territory now directly under 
 British control, which looks for its future to British 
 administration.
 
 154 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Lagos, of course, was an old-established trading station, 
 and, as might be expected, was in a more advanced stage 
 of evolution than her sisters when first declared a colony. 
 Northern Nigeria was but a name, with little revenue 
 and a heavy annual deficit, even upon an administration 
 run on ultra-economic lines. Short-sighted people, even 
 as late as 1903, talked of Northern Nigeria as a waste of 
 money. It only shows how otherwise well-informed 
 persons lack judgment over matters they are not really 
 competent to pass judgment upon. Southern Nigeria 
 made a good revenue, chiefly out of " square face," in 
 other parlance, trade gin. This the pagan population 
 absorbed to an alarming degree. Palm kernels and palm 
 oil, aiding the finances of this colony, rendered it a 
 paying concern, and, incidentally, gave to the West 
 African trader the nickname of " palm oil ruffian." 
 
 So much by way of preface to modern Nigeria as we 
 saw it. We left Lagos in a driving rain, motoring to 
 Iddo, where the railway station platform was crowded 
 with chattering humanity. It might have been an 
 African Waterloo Station on a black Derby day, but it 
 was the usual condition at Iddo, and no one but ourselves 
 seemed to notice it. Abeokuta was our first stop. It is 
 a large, straggling city, and can make the proud boast of 
 being the only town in Nigeria, with the exception of 
 Lagos, which has electric light and waterworks. And 
 this was accomplished by native administration, with the 
 example of Lagos as the incentive. Until a compara- 
 tively short time ago Abeokuta was an independent 
 State, and proudly made and signed treaties with the 
 British Government as such. But, in spite of the 
 electric light and running water, the country outside 
 the town itself did not flourish, and the Alaki, or Chief, 
 and his people were gradually convinced of the fact 
 that a little guidance and tuition, as administered 
 elsewhere in Nigeria, would be to their advantage. 
 
 We were to have seen the Alaki, but his illness pre- 
 vented the meeting, much to our regret. However, 
 accompanied by the Acting Resident, we went to his 
 palace. Such a strange mixture of the old and new ! 
 At least a dozen grandfather clocks told us their re-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 155 
 
 spective and vastly different ideas of time, whilst carved 
 juju idols leaned against the wall. In what might 
 be called the audience chamberj one's eye was fascinated 
 by reproductions of Marcus Stone's picture, " The First 
 Quarrel," and Leighton's " Wedded," while below them 
 squatted the council of lesser chiefs in the same type 
 of robe which their ancestors had worn since the world 
 was young. Three of the chiefs had crowns of such 
 wonderful workmanship that we asked if we might 
 inspect them. One was made of white beads in the 
 shape of a bishop's mitre, except that it was decorated 
 with chameleons, also made of beads. When asked the 
 significance of this, the owner promptly replied that the 
 wearer of the hat was supposed to absorb the properties 
 of this interesting little animal — a thing, if he had 
 realized its import, he would probably have left unsaid. 
 Juju is not dead in Abeokuta. The Alaki was grilling 
 himself between two fires, on a day when even the heat 
 from a lighted match seemed unendurable, and several 
 of his wives were rubbing him with juju medicine of 
 the most approved variety. Certainly he must have 
 lost weight. 
 
 Another instance of juju we saw later. A crowd of 
 men, women and children, the sound of drums, and 
 leading the procession a figure from a nightmare. Its 
 head was covered with a bag, and a dead bird, prob- 
 ably a crow, dangled from the top. Bits of rag, fur 
 and feathers ornamented the body, with the addition of 
 a human skull, which hung from the waist like a 
 grisly chatelaine. The hands and feet were also in 
 bags, and the general effect was half ludicrous, half 
 revolting. This charming individual purported to come 
 from the spirits of the dead, and his avowed object — like 
 that of most of us — was money. A silver coin was 
 quickly picked up by one of his attendants, the drum 
 was beaten in acknowledgment, and the crowd passed 
 on. This particular form of juju is called " Egun- 
 gun," and is looked upon by many of the Christianized 
 natives with apparent contempt as a sort of African 
 " waits," but we noticed that underlying this there 
 was a soup9on of uneasiness, very similar to that of
 
 156 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 the old lady who always bowed her head in church 
 whenever the name of the Evil One was mentioned, " be- 
 cause," said she, "it is best to be always on the safe 
 side." To give an instance of their attitude, we need 
 only quote the words of a stout post-office clerk, with 
 pince-nez and the latest thing in ties. " Juju," he 
 said, magisterially, " is not black magic, I assure you ; 
 it is a science when properly understood." He died a 
 week or so later. 
 
 Between Abeokuta and Ibadan the country was not 
 worthy of especial notice. The trees were stunted and 
 scrubby, and the cocoa plantations, of which there are 
 many, were not visible from the train. Ibadan itself is 
 interesting from its past warlike history and its present 
 commercial prosperity. The town, now of huge propor- 
 tions, was originally a camp for the soldiers of the Alafin, 
 who lives, and rules with no uncertain hand, at Oyo, 
 some thirty miles away. In 1897 the Ibadans, who seem 
 to have a special affinity with the Ashantis, were fighting 
 on four fronts simultaneously and enjoying every minute. 
 The Abeokutas had their heartiest contempt. They 
 would chase them up to the walls of their town, and then 
 indulge in an artistic massacre of the unfortunates who 
 were slow in flight. As the Abeokutas have no word 
 for " brave " in their language, it is easy to see why the 
 stalwart Ibadans were such facile victors. There is a 
 story of a native barrister from Lagos, who, at about 
 that time, had an interview with the Bale — a sort of 
 lord mayor — of Ibadan town. He rashly asked what 
 was the occupation of the Ibadans. This produced a 
 great commotion when translated. When the hubbub 
 died down the Bale rose and, looking scornfully upon his 
 questioner, said : " He asks us what our business is. 
 This is an impertinence. But I will tell him. We are 
 rogues and vagabonds and robbers ! We live by 
 fighting and by rapine ! We glory in it ! Now let 
 him return whence he has come and trouble us no 
 more." 
 
 The present Bale is a fine figure of a man, but we 
 rather doubt if he would be capable of such a confession 
 of faith. When we saw him he received us in a large
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 157 
 
 room overlooking the red roofs of the town and the 
 farms beyond. Through the open arches we could see 
 the stiff lines of police belonging to the native adminis- 
 tration, and the usual crowd of interested spectators. 
 Chiefs and councillors sat on the floor in a semi-circle. 
 Two men waved enormous feather fans gently to and 
 fro. At the Bale's feet crouched his " slave," a 
 euphemistic term for the position of a private secretary, 
 and one not inappropriate in some other cases. Both 
 here and at Abeokuta we saw for the first time on the 
 Coast the Oriental prostration of respect. No one save 
 the interpreter spoke to the Bale without throwing 
 himself flat on the floor and touching the ground several 
 times with his head. It is an impressive ceremony, and 
 it is of interest to note that there is no loss of self- 
 respect involved. It was here that we were offered kola 
 nuts as refreshment, and truth compels us to say that 
 they are a taste which we have never acquired. Two 
 bottles of gin and two very fine turkeys were our 
 " dash " from the Bale ; the former declined with 
 thanks, much to his surprise. 
 
 Lack of time prevented our visiting the Alafin at Oyo, 
 where he lives in great state. Later in the day a 
 deputation of native business men came to have an 
 audience with one of us. First and foremost it must be 
 emphasized that the Lagos trader, from long experience, 
 is a veritable commercial genius. Report says that he 
 is strictly honest, but drives as hard a bargain as the 
 cutest commercial man in the City of London. The 
 deputation consisted of six representatives, of whom one 
 was a Mohammedan, who with dignity refused the cup 
 of tea and cigar which appealed to the others. It was 
 the commencement of the Ramadan, so our Mohammedan 
 explained. After tea and inquiries about our respective 
 healths and families followed the serious business of the 
 day, alias complaints. The leading one was curious. 
 As a private individual the receiver of the deputation 
 shook hands with the members thereof. Whereon 
 the spokesman said : " Sir, if you shake hands with us, 
 why cannot the Residents ? In this country they think 
 we are poor clay. We are not. We are ignored ; we
 
 168 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 are not fit for the touch of the white man." Hurriedly 
 it was explained that unofficials could shake hands with 
 the devil himself, if they so desired, but official forms 
 had to be observed, and that a white man seldom if ever 
 had the opportunity of thus greeting the King. 
 Apparently this explanation satisfied them. 
 
 Next upon this dreary list came roads ; cocoa farmers 
 suffered because there was delay in getting their crops 
 away as quickly as might be. Considering that the 
 province of Ibadan has a greater road mileage than any 
 other province in Nigeria, this complaint was proof 
 positive that, having made money, they wanted more. 
 Give a native trader a taste of the sweetness of 
 possession, ripened with the benign assistance of the 
 powers above, and he will grumble because he cannot 
 have the moon. These men, we learnt afterwards, were 
 all practically millionaires, yet they expected improve- 
 ment to come from the Government, and not through 
 their individual efforts. An energetic farmer makes his 
 own road if he sees profit therein, but naturally if he 
 finds administrators willing to listen to every breeze 
 which brings with it a whisper of grievance, then the 
 result will be to make such administration paternal to 
 the extent of stultifying original effort. 
 
 Waterworks were also clamoured for ; in point of fact 
 the Government has already a scheme in view which 
 will cost at least £40,000, and which will be started as 
 soon as the necessary material is on hand. 
 
 And finally the question of land tenure. Briefly, it 
 amounts to this, that from time immemorial, since, in 
 fact, the beginning of history as known to us in this 
 portion of the colony, the Alafin has himself owned all 
 the land within his own territory. Under advice from 
 the English he has shown himself ready to lease land, 
 but not to sell. To force him so to do would be to create 
 a situation which might well take a serious turn with so 
 pugnacious a people. Further, it would not be strict 
 justice. The Lagos trader, on the other hand, wants to 
 buy outright and possess freehold tenure, since he is 
 well aware of the vast potential wealth of the region — 
 hi7ic illsB lachrymae. He may lease, but he may not
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 159 
 
 purchase. He will talk for hours concerning the 
 hardship imposed upon his children after his death if 
 the Alafin should terminate the lease. He becomes 
 absolutely moist with vehemence — it is a hot climate — 
 when describing all he would do for the property were 
 it his own, and how he would help the administration 
 and pay increased taxation, and a great deal more 
 besides, if only he had his own way, which all goes to 
 prove that your Lagos trader in Ibadan realizes a good 
 thing when he sees it and wants to annex it now and for 
 always. This is no uncommon trait amongst white men, 
 truth compels one to write, and it is mentioned here to 
 show how enormously a province such as Ibadan is 
 advancing along financial lines, and how under British 
 jurisdiction the native trader is benefiting himself, not 
 at the expense of the actual native chief, but so far 
 legitimately. British firms please take notice. 
 
 Our conference concluded with a little gossip over 
 things in general. Then it was that one of the speakers 
 remarked with unction, " Oh, I am a Christian, but you 
 will not understand me, I am a polygamist. Yes, yes, 
 I am a great believer in polygamy." At which remark 
 he smiled fatuously at his colleagues, who all smiled m 
 sympathetic response. Truly the "make up" of the 
 educated West African native is a puzzle. 
 
 Ilorin was under what one might call a medicinal 
 cloud when we arrived. One of us was suffering from 
 ptomaine poisoning, the other trembling on the verge 
 of dysentery. The Acting Resident was similarly 
 affected, the doctor announced gloomily that his own 
 complaint was either dysentery or typhoid, the police 
 officer was recovering from small-pox, the Resident's 
 wife had just been invalided home, and the Resident 
 himself had rheumatism. In spite of these drawbacks 
 we found Ilorin decidedly attractive. It is the first town 
 we have yet seen where the usual dwellings common to 
 the native on the littoral have given place to beehive 
 huts thatched with straw and standing each in a walled 
 compound of its own. This gives a peculiar aspect to 
 a town. There is very little public life, or perhaps it 
 would be better to say that there is much more privacy
 
 160 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 in such a way of living. Except in the market and 
 under the shade of an occasional cottonwood tree, which 
 does duty as a club, one sees but few people. The 
 market, however, more than atones for the empty 
 streets, and one could easily spend many hours there. 
 When we went, we were accompanied by ex-Sergeant 
 Sanusi, of the Nigerian Regiment, a veteran of the 
 Cameroon campaign, and a man, as he told us, "of 
 great heart." We did not doubt his courage, but we 
 had reason to be sceptical of his mathematical abilities. 
 Ex-Sergeant Sanusi trying to drive a hard bargain in 
 the matter of four baskets was a sight for the gods. 
 He talked rapidly, waved a handful of the loathed 
 paper shillings, gave two to one person, took one back, 
 flourished four in front of another, forgot which man 
 he had paid, and eventually overpaid one basket owner, 
 who wisely took to his heels. Poor Sanusi ! His honesty 
 was as apparent as his incompetence. Baskets and 
 pottery are both made at Ilorin. There are great red 
 water coolers of the shape made famous by the " Forty 
 Thieves." There are smaller and more graceful water- 
 bottles, and quantities of the black pots and dishes 
 which are fireproof. One particular shape is used to 
 contain the grease which is to anoint the first-born son. 
 Another is filled with water and taken to a juju priest 
 when a woman desires a male child. The priest puts 
 the requisite charm into the water, which is then 
 thrown over the woman. There are no statistics 
 available as to the efficacy of the charm ! 
 
 At four o'clock in the morning a tornado swept over 
 Ilorin. To be suddenly awakened by the sound of 
 rushing wind, with the knowledge that torrential rain 
 is soon to follow, is a trial both to nerves and temper 
 anywhere, but especially so in a railway carriage in 
 a siding. Shutters refused to shut, doors remained 
 obstinately open ; papers, normally secure, were having 
 a danse macabre in mid-air, and there was general 
 confusion. There was a sudden deathly silence when 
 the wind paused to draw breath. Then came the rain ! 
 It beat through every nook and cranny where it could 
 find entrance — and these were many — and through it
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 161 
 
 all the lightning flashes illumined our discomfort. Such 
 thunder we have rarely heard before. It actually shook 
 the coach, and even the knowledge that it was perfectly 
 harmless could not rob it of its terrors. It is in times of 
 stress like this that one gropes for the sparklet bottle 
 and its companion the whisky, and heaves a sigh of 
 relief when the last rumble has died away in the 
 distance. Which reminds us of a story with a moral, 
 like Miss Edgeworth's tales. A certain gentleman on 
 this coast who was fond of his glass accosted a friend 
 of ours with the remark, " My dear so and so, dreadful 
 news this, isn't it '? You've heard about it of course. 
 Poor old Dash gone ! It is a rotten climate ! " To 
 which our friend merely returned a monosyllabic 
 " Remember ! " accompanied by a charming smile, for 
 he is a charming if sardonic man. Answered he who 
 had made the first remark, with some heat, "You're 
 wrong ! He didn't die of that at all ; he died of heart 
 failure ! Of course, the dead are always maligned 
 out here. Look at this watch he gave me. There are 
 my initials in his handwriting. Every time I look at 
 them I feel wretched. What can I do ? " To which 
 our friend only replied with that sardonic smile he could 
 so well wear, " I should erase them, and put in their 
 place that one little word ' Remember ! ' " There is a 
 delicate subtlety about that small episode which will 
 make appeal to those with any sense of humour. But, 
 as a matter of fact, it is not always " Remember " which 
 kills ; there are other causes. 
 
 11
 
 162 
 
 CHAPTEK XVII. 
 
 Undoubtedly dignity is the keynote of Nigerian 
 Mohammedanism. It was at Ibadan that we first saw 
 these flowing-robed turbane'd followers of the Prophet 
 and watched them greet each other. " Sanu," says one, 
 crouching and touching the earth with his forehead. 
 " Sanu," says the other, doing likewise. Then follows 
 a lengthy variation on " Sanu," accompanied by prostra- 
 tions, until every form of polite inquiry and good wish 
 has been exhausted. There is, to Western eyes, an 
 element of the comic in all this, but no one can deny 
 the dignity and grace of the salutation. At Zaria we 
 had an audience with the Emir, or at least the male 
 member of the party was thus honoured. The female 
 member sat outside the palace in a motor and was glad 
 she was not a Mohammedan woman. It is against 
 established custom for the Emir ever to receive in 
 audience anyone of the opposite sex and to this no 
 exception is made : the wife of the Governor is placed 
 in precisely the same category as the wife of the 
 humblest trader. It is as it should be. After all, these 
 customs were not born yesterday — they are the fruit of 
 century-long tradition, and vandal would be he who 
 would disturb them. 
 
 The Serike Zozo, as the Emir is named, was waiting 
 at the entrance of his palace to receive the Resident and 
 the visitor. Be it said that the visitor and the Emir 
 were old friends. Long ago they had been acquainted 
 in different circumstances — circumstances of some 
 anxiety, when a fractious Mahdi in Sokoto threatened 
 the peace of the whole of what was then Northern 
 Nigeria. And it is precisely in circumstances such 
 as these that acquaintanceship ripens into friendship. 
 Hence, without exaggeration, two friends of yore met.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 163 
 
 The Emir is the great-grandson of Mallam Musa of the 
 Mellawa, a Fulani family of great note, and it was he 
 who first brought Zaria, by force of arms, under the 
 suzerainty of the Fulanis, who conquered all this portion 
 of Africa in very much the same way that the British 
 overran Canada after the defeat of Montcalm at Quebec. 
 The Fulani race was relatively small in numbers, but 
 ma^^"15p fof'thts"!)}^ its organization and the personal 
 bravery of its leaders, plus, most important of all, the 
 will to conquer. In parentheses, also, when one says 
 "one of the Mellawas," one might as easily say in 
 English " one of the Cecils," or one of any other great 
 territorial family, so well known are these Fulani 
 nobility. The reception took place in the large hall 
 of the palace, a room of fine proportions, vaulted and 
 only relieved here and there by native mosaics. Possibly 
 some who read this may have seen a play called " The 
 Drums of Oudh " ; the scenery of that play as originally 
 put on compares admirably with the Emir's reception 
 room at Zaria. A few cushions covered with a fine 
 specimen of a native cloth served as a couch for 
 Serike Zozo, while there were the conventional drawing- 
 room chairs for the white visitors, the only touch of 
 vulgar modernity in the scene. Behind the Emir 
 squatted his Wazir, or Home Secretary, and one body 
 servant. Light filtered in from small windows above, 
 rather after the style of a clerestory, rendering the 
 shadows more apparent and softening the hard out- 
 lines of the Europeans, with their angular clothes ; 
 everything else lacked angles and blended into a sepia 
 colour scheme. 
 
 After greetings the Emir dwelt a little upon old 
 days ; he had asked for the visitor often and had been 
 told that he was travelling in many other lands. Was 
 he well, and wouldn't he stay with him and let him 
 teach him Hausa, as he had much he would tell 
 him? A smile. No? Impossible? Well, no matter, 
 he would be very happy if the visitor would see the 
 town as it is and compare it with those days he might 
 remember. Ah ! He did remember them ? So did he ! 
 Great days they had been, and he was glad to think that
 
 164 Yv^EST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 his Emirate had asked the British to come in and help 
 to develop the land since they had acted to him like a 
 father and mother. And this must be added, that, in 
 those long-ago days the visitor had reminded this self- 
 same man of an oath he had taken to the Governor 
 of that period to be loyal ever and always to the Great 
 White King, and the answer he had received was in the 
 tone of something like mild reproof : " Is not the oath of 
 a Mohammedan as good as the oath of a Christian?" 
 After which there was never any more doubt on either 
 side, and England found as true an ally as she ever will 
 while this world lasts. Then the conversation veered 
 to the railway, which in this part of the world has so 
 completely revolutionized commerce, and with justifiable 
 pride the Serike remarked, *'It was hard work, but my 
 people did it. My population is under 350,000, but we 
 made the embankments for the line from the boundary 
 of Bida Emirate to that of Kano Emirate, a distance of 
 200 miles. Moreover, we did all the transport of the 
 rails, and helped to place them in position. I think 
 every able-bodied man was employed, and it was hard 
 for them, very hard ; but now they are glad, very glad." 
 This was no exaggeration, since the Emir is by nature 
 one who delights to see the fruits of progress, and who, 
 moreover, has a remarkable grasp of the possibilities 
 attendant upon modern engineering. Asked what his 
 country most needed, he was prompt to answ^er, " Roads." 
 This appears to be the common demand upon all sides, 
 and it is worth noticing since it proves that at last the 
 reserve of the native has been broken down, and he now 
 desires nothing more than that the light and movement 
 from the great outside world should pour in upon his 
 abode and chase away for ever the shadows which 
 obscure his advance in the world's commonwealth. 
 And so our conversation drifted into the channels of 
 simple friendship, the old gentleman insisting upon 
 coming outside to say good-bye. He certainly did not 
 look his supposed age of 76 years ; in fact, he did not 
 look a day older than in those remarkable weeks of 1906, 
 but then it is difficult to judge. That he carried himself 
 as superbly as of yore was at least evident. As the ruler
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 165 
 
 of 13,000 square miles of territory he is not rich. From 
 the Government he receives approximately ;0!2,5OO per 
 annum, whilst from the native Administration and his 
 own private property he may get as much as ii'10,000, 
 but of which, be it recalled, he spends at least half or 
 more upon public works in his capital. 
 
 Comparisons are always odious, but having arrived 
 only recently from the Gold Coast, one could not help 
 thinking how very different the conditions were. In the 
 latter colony we had ample opportunity to meet the 
 leading native rulers, people like the various Fias and 
 Omanhenes, who attend the Legislative Council of that 
 colony and are able to speak good English, enjoy 
 English books, and who are as at home in talking 
 with a white otBicial as they would be in speaking with 
 one of their own race. That is one side. And the 
 other ? A man who sits squat-legged upon cushions, 
 as his father did before him, and his grandfather, and 
 his great-grandfather ; a man who disdains to mimic 
 the white man ; a man to whom tradition is as sweet 
 as it is to the most blue-blooded conservative-minded 
 aristocrat in Great Britain ; a man who reckons advance 
 from the practical point of view — railways, bridges, 
 roads, telephones, and who banks his income in a 
 British bank but signs his cheques in Arabic. A man 
 who drinks not, since he is a true Mohammedan, and 
 to whom sitting at a table and sipping the finest 
 champagne with a European would appear simply as 
 very bad taste. A man who cannot help being a 
 gentleman born, any more than the sun can help itself 
 not being the moon. A man who appreciates simplicity, 
 and is too wise to attach importance to outside show. 
 A man who comprehends the difference between display 
 in its vulgar sense and the studied splendour which 
 wisely should surround a governing power. A man 
 honest and sincere in his convictions, unswayed by 
 the passing breezes of new thought, fresh policy, and 
 the promises of new brooms. A man who can sum up 
 with mathematical accuracy the value of the human 
 instrument, black or white, with whom he is brought 
 into contact. A man, who, in fact, is a man as
 
 166 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Providence desired a man should be — that is the 
 visitor's modest estimate of his quondam friend, the 
 Emir of Zaria. 
 
 The Treasury at Zaria is a modern picture in an ancient 
 frame. There is a strong room made by a British maker 
 of repute ; there are ledgers which hail from Whitehall ; 
 there are receipts printed in Arabic which eame from 
 London ; there are native clerks in flowing native robes, 
 and who sprinkle upon their clothes a curious perfume 
 faintly reminiscent of the bazaars in Stamboul ; there are 
 few chairs, mostly sofas and couches ; there are rooms 
 and rooms, courtyards and courtyards, all vaulted and 
 built of the sun-dried mud which may be found by those 
 who visit Timbuctoo and the region of the French 
 Sahara. But in a corner a telephone tinkles, and a 
 beautifully-gowned dignitary rushes thereto, and one 
 hears the usual "Hallo! Who's there?" All that is 
 missing is the Gerrard or Western or Kensington. A 
 curious blending of East and West. The ledgers we 
 were permitted to inspect, and we were told that the 
 native mallams or priests had little difficulty in picking 
 up the Latin alphabet. The Resident at all times has the 
 right of an unexpected visit to the Treasury to see that 
 everything is in order, and after a lapse of six months 
 he paid a flying visit, and found the gigantic deficit of 
 one shilling and threepence. Could an English bank do 
 as well ? Certainly not better ! But the point we 
 desire to emphasize is that with all that advance along 
 the roads of up-to-date accuracy and organization not one 
 jot or tittle of the original scheme of Mohammedan 
 orthodoxy has been abandoned. " We wish to learn," 
 they say, " but you must remember that we are not as 
 you are ; we stand apart, by race and religion and 
 tendency of every kind. We respect your methods, we 
 like to learn, but there it finishes : the gulf which divides 
 us can never really be bridged. We will help j^ou, work 
 for you, and, if needs be, die for you ; but we retain our 
 own characteristics." How much better than slavish 
 imitation ! 
 
 The town of Zaria has altered considerably in the last 
 ten years. To-day it might be mistaken for any North
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 167 
 
 African city. The horrible thatched abominations one 
 sees nearer the coast have disappeared, the houses are 
 practically all of the baked mud one finds fringing the 
 Sahara, and, marvellous to relate, the town is as clean as 
 the floor of an hospital ward. Thanks again to the 
 Emir, who has grasped the fact that infantile mortality 
 increases in the direct ratio to the lack of ordinary sani- 
 tary precautions brought into public use. He has his 
 " Dogaris," or native policemen, who, apart from pre- 
 venting brawls and running in the few, very few, 
 pagan " drunks," have the task of supervising every 
 quarter of the city and seeing that refuse is not allowed 
 to accumulate, and that the elementary rules of sanitary 
 science are observed. Zaria, in 1906, smelt like an ex- 
 aggerated cesspool. To-day, one might be driving in 
 Bond Street. Which proves that with Mohammedans, 
 usually people gifted with intelligence superior to that 
 inherited from pagan ancestry, where science leads they 
 follow. The market is a large one ; also prices are large. 
 One cannot blame the native African for this. We 
 bought a common Dietz (American) lamp for 8s. Price 
 in England, probably Is. 6d. But the European stores 
 had none, and there were none at Ilorin, Ibadan, or even 
 Lagos, and so naturally, " any port in a storm " being a 
 sound proverb, we paid and were thankful. Similarly 
 with cutlery. No European store possessed a knife or 
 fork or spoon — things we had to have. We found them 
 in the Zaria market ; four forks, four knives, four spoons, 
 as made for the native population, and nominally hailing 
 from Sheffield — one guinea ! If prices continue upon 
 that scale, then, assuredly, Nigeria will be a resort only 
 for millionaires. But, in point of fact, such prices are 
 fictitious, and must drop once the railway is able to place 
 its hand upon the new rolling stock, the " fons et 
 origo " of the scarcity throughout the entire colony. 
 Zaria has been surveyed, and its teeming narrow streets 
 have been actually named, though the name-plates 
 remain j'et to be delivered. They are picturesque 
 because of the life which throngs them. One passes a 
 gaily-caparisoned horseman with a long sword, its 
 sheath covered with red Kano leather, its handle cross-
 
 168 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 shaped after the manner of those familiar to us from 
 pictures of the Crusaders, mounted upon a pony which 
 performs antics worthy of a circus as it sees our motor 
 swing around the corner. Its rider sits erect as though 
 made of stone, moving never a muscle, and apparently 
 in perfect control of his steed by means of a curb alone 
 (and what a curb), a piece of jagged iron for a bit, and 
 some embroidered leather for rein, till, as we come 
 abreast of him, he raises his hand high above his head in 
 salutation. 
 
 What could speak more of a bygone age with a back- 
 ground of flat-roofed brown houses, for all the world as 
 though taken bodily from some Old Testament setting. 
 The women, with their graceful, swaying draperies, and 
 the children tugging remorselessly at their mothers' 
 robes, raising a howl of mingled fear and astonishment 
 as our sturdy little Ford car swings along, also belong to 
 the picture. Away westward the sun is setting, and 
 banks of black clouds betoken the oncoming of the 
 tornado, which at this time of the year is a daily oc- 
 currence. In the market stalls are being rapidly 
 covered, the dust sweeps round the corners in eddies 
 of ever-increasing violence. The wind soughs through 
 the trees, birds become uneasy, and fly hither and 
 thither as though in search, as indeed they are, of 
 shelter. A few minutes pass, and there is a roll of 
 thunder ; the tornado is upon us. Streets teeming with 
 life have emptied, the market is deserted, and as the first 
 heavy drops of rain herald the storm the scudding Ford 
 alone remains in the picture, and, truth to tell, its 
 occupants are none too happy at the prospect facing 
 them. An hour later, with the dust laid, the water 
 gushing out of wooden drains into the main channel, the 
 air freshened, and the birds, hitherto strangely silent, 
 breaking once more into song, the native world again 
 awakens to the business of the day, that business, half 
 pleasure, which forms the mainstay of the Hausa's daily 
 toil. Not such a bad life, one reflects, as smiling faces 
 testify. 
 
 Away outside the city is a sad little community. 
 It is approached by an unfrequented road, and one
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 169 
 
 senses subconsciously that one is nearing some abode of 
 sorrow, maybe a cemetery or a native madhouse, or even 
 a prison. But no ; it is something quite different ; it is 
 the native leper colony. Chance had never placed 
 either of us in such close contiguity with the real leper 
 as on this occasion, and it left us with a species of pitiful 
 horror that such things could be. It was scrupulously 
 clean, this colony of the damned ; the Emir sees to 
 that. He is mightily interested in the cases of these 
 unfortunates, and it is due to his initiative that so much 
 has been done, for the services of an English doctor 
 cannot often easily be spared. Natives chatter usually ; 
 these are silent. The ring of laughter is absent ; even 
 the children look serious as though computing the 
 chances of their developing the plague which has laid 
 their parents low, for, curious to relate, children often 
 escape the scourge altogether though living in the leper 
 settlement. Outside the huts sprawl the human 
 wreckage, who may last for twenty years or more, 
 wasting away literally inch by inch. We saw women 
 with no fingers or toes, men whose faces had withered 
 and shrunk from the ravages of the disease, children 
 who had developed the dread sores which foredoom 
 their owners to be for always outcasts amongst men. 
 And yet it was not an uncheerful community. An old 
 woman showed us her house, and was insistent that we 
 should see how she li-ved and ate and slept. A youngish 
 man shook his fingerless hand at us, and then demon- 
 strated how it was feasible to do every manner of 
 operation with merely a stump. He seemed to find it 
 almost funny. And an old hag maintained that she was 
 the mother of them all, and that she had been, according 
 to her own computation, a leper for forty years or more. 
 It is possible, we were told, only death is always waiting, 
 and when it arrives is horrible. Your Mohammedan 
 native is not unlike the Russian Moujik. In the sick 
 and suffering, in the epileptic and the insane, he sees 
 not something to avoid, but rather something worthy 
 of respect, if not of veneration, something that has 
 been fashioned by God for some reason of his own, 
 and thus transcending all his other normal works. And
 
 170 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 thus, beyond segregating these people at night, they are 
 otherwise free, and even do they marry. The idea is 
 not pleasant, but, as our guide said to us, " Why should 
 we interfere with them ? It is not their fault that they 
 suffer. It is the will of Allah, and if they marry of 
 their own why should we interfere?" Which brought 
 out the astonishing statement that two lepers may marry 
 and bring into the world perfectly sound children. An 
 extraordinary fact if accurate, and one which should 
 mightily interest those absorbed in the fascinating study 
 of eugenics. We also learnt that with improved houses, 
 more care for sanitation, and a general uplifting of the 
 moral tone, leprosy showed signs of diminution, though 
 it must be many a long year ere it is placed under 
 control in its entirety. Meanwhile it speaks wonders 
 for the care of the Emir for his people that, unasked 
 and unaided, he has succeeded in thus far segregating 
 these people, who, incidentally, come from all over the 
 Emirate, being reported as unsound by their local head- 
 man. In addition, they receive a small subsistence in a 
 financial way, and are at liberty to buy what they like 
 in the local markets. After all, this is a much more 
 practical way of offering charity than the hard-and-fast, 
 cut-and-dried manner in which charity is so often 
 extended in other countries. 
 
 To turn to matters more cheery. Exports from 
 Zaria are largely hides and groundnuts. Cotton is on 
 the increase ; experiments have been made, and a special 
 seed of American plus native origin has been evolved, 
 with the result that annually the output is advancing by 
 leaps and bounds. But there are still many thousands 
 of acres untenanted which only need the minimum of 
 cultivation to offer rich returns. What a pity that the 
 climate should be unfriendly to the European ! It is 
 though, and in spite of cold nights and a high altitude 
 black-water fever is more prevalent here than upon the 
 actual coast, with its mosquitoes and damp, enervating 
 temperature. It may appear presumptuous for the 
 outsider to offer suggestions, but when one is touring 
 through a country it is often the outsider who sees 
 where practical amelioration might occur, and where
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 171 
 
 expenditure wisely applied might furnish the best results. 
 Thus Zaria Province is undoubtedly suffering from want 
 of population. The tendency is for the native to drift 
 townwards, which in its turn serves to explain the high 
 mortahty amongst children, and the prevalence of disease 
 likely to be harmful to coming generations. Sanitation 
 can accomplish a great deal, but not all. Were it 
 possible, a good British doctor attached to each Emirate 
 in an official character, to study only native questions, to 
 arrange native hospitals, and to teach the young idea 
 elementary medical science, would be a veritable God- 
 send in this country. The regular Colonial service 
 medical man has his hands pretty full with European 
 patients, and really has not the time to give to the all- 
 important problems confronting anyone dealing seriously 
 with the native question. In Eussia they have a system 
 of uncertified medical men and women called " Feldshers." 
 They have undergone a preliminary medical training, 
 but have not passed examinations to qualify them as 
 regular practitioners. But they accomplish wonders 
 amongst the peasant population in the rural districts 
 where the skilled man rarely penetrates, and where, 
 owing to shortage of the skilled article, no one need be 
 expected. Now, if a native can be taught to handle a 
 theodolite and work out abstruse mathematical calcula- 
 tions, then assuredly the same material could easily be 
 taught the use of a clinical thermometer, rough and 
 ready surgery, and the diagnosis of the common scourges, 
 such as small-pox, the various fevers, and venereal 
 disease. Under a skilled medical man it would not be 
 long before the nucleus of a useful service would be 
 formed, which would be of assistance beyond words in 
 combating the evils man is heir to, and would eventually 
 assist in building up a sturdy, strong, and ever-increasing 
 population, which some of the Emirates at present so 
 badly need.
 
 172 
 
 CHAPTEK XVIII. 
 
 Of all the Nigerian Emirates, Kano is the largest and 
 most important. Time was when it was the storm- 
 centre of warlike tribes, but now, like most spots on the 
 earth's surface, its history is commercial and uneventful. 
 However, so prominent a place does Kano occupy in 
 West Africa that it would be unkind entirely to neglect 
 its past picturesque glory. It was a blacksmith named 
 Kano, so says tradition, who first settled here in search 
 of ironstone, and gave the town his name. Certainly, 
 the descendants of the earliest inhabitants still follow 
 that calling, but the legend is silent concerning the date 
 of the founding of the city. It must have been before 
 the tenth century, however, as then "foreigners" first 
 came to Kano, bringing with them horses — animals 
 never before seen in this part of the world. From this 
 time Kano ceased to be a collection of houses peopled by 
 the descendants of the first blacksmith, and became an 
 important town, the capital of a province conquered by 
 the invaders. The present palace, of which more anon, 
 dates from about the time that Christopher Columbus 
 discovered America, and at that period the power of the 
 Emir of Kano had reached its zenith. The people were 
 pagans then and worshipped trees and serpents, sacrific- 
 ing black animals to their gods ; but Mohammedanism 
 was gradually reaching these heathen chiefs, and it 
 needed only a short time to convert the countryside to 
 that faith, although occasional lapses in times of stress 
 were not unknown. 
 
 From the sixteenth century to the nineteenth the 
 history of Kano is one succession of wars, during which 
 the Emirate paid tribute to many chiefs of different 
 tribes. Then, in 1807, the Fulani people, large numbers 
 of whom had been in Kano for many generations, decided
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 173 
 
 to conquer Kano for the ostensible purpose of reforming 
 the Mohammedan faith as practised by the Hausas, but 
 actually for political and economic motives. The war 
 lasted a year, and one great battle took place outside the 
 walls of Kano, It must have been a wonderful spectacle! 
 Imagine, one year after the battle of Friedland, a three- 
 days' combat between men armed with bows and arrows 
 and mounted spearmen in chain and quilted armour ! 
 If only Kano had had its Meissonier to paint the picture ! 
 Ten thousand spearmen formed the trained army of the 
 defenders, supported by innumerable foot soldiers. The 
 Fulani forces consisted entirely of bowmen, men used 
 from infancy to the bow and arrow as a means of pro- 
 tecting their flocks and herds from wild beasts and 
 raiding tribes. One can see the same type of bows to-day 
 on the backs of wandering Fulanis and catch a glimpse 
 of the poison-tipped arrows in the quiver at their side. 
 In the end the Fulanis conquered, partially, no doubt, 
 thanks to the superior discipline of their troops, but also 
 thanks to the fact that the main part of the Hausa 
 people had no particular love for the existing dynasty, 
 and had nothing to gain by fighting. Suleimanu, the 
 first of the Fulani rulers, is not the ancestor of the Emir 
 of present-day Kano, but his successor, Ibrahim Dabo, 
 starts the line of existing Emirs. 
 
 It is sad to relate that the bravery of the Fulanis 
 suffered an eclipse during the nineteenth century. From 
 being bold, hardy and valiant, they seemed to forget the 
 aptitude of their ancestors for war, and their only 
 successful campaigns were waged on unarmed pagans, 
 whom they delighted to chase and kill. This is probably 
 the reason why Alihu, Emir in 1902, played the part of 
 poltroon and rascal when he heard that British forces 
 were advancing against him. The old Fulani chiefs 
 must have looked down angrily from their Mohammedan 
 paradise on such a representative of their race. He 
 knew — none better — that he had no chance of making 
 any favourable terms with the white men. The infor- 
 mation that he had received and honoured the Magaji of 
 Keffi, the slayer of a British officer, had reached Sir 
 Frederic Lugard. So he betook himself with a huge
 
 174 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 retinue, to the Sultan of Sokoto. That stout-hearted 
 old warrior, disgusted at his guest's cowardice, urged 
 him to return and save his reputation if nothing more. 
 Reluctantly he started back, but the news reached him 
 on the way that Kano had already been occupied by the 
 British, This effectually extinguished the small spark 
 of courage so energetically fanned by his friends at 
 Sokoto, and after a speech of tremendous bombast, in 
 which he said that he would fight to the death, he took 
 to his heels in the darkness, practically unattended. 
 Eventually he was captured, and has passed the re- 
 mainder of his life in exile at the town of Lokoja in the 
 southern portion of Nigeria. And so came to pass the 
 downfall of Kano as an independent Emirate. But its 
 prosperity was enhanced a thousandfold, and one can still 
 picture to oneself as one walks about the ancient town 
 what it was in the Sultanate's remote days. The high 
 mud walls with their many gates could tell their story of 
 siege, assault and civil war. The galloping horsemen are 
 unchanged from the time of Alwali, the last of the 
 Hausas. The women of the better class are still 
 " purdah," and little naked boys wear juju charms about 
 their necks while they hold in chubby hands Moham- 
 medan rosaries. About the streets lurk the same type of 
 thin, furtive pariah dogs which used to swarm in 
 Constantinople. Here they share their food with 
 vultures, the most repulsive of winged creatures. But 
 one must not shoot these birds — it brings bad luck. So 
 they and the dogs act as street cleaners, and neither 
 seem to grow fat on it. 
 
 As might be expected everything in Kano is upon a 
 large scale. The city, though, to be sure, not so very 
 thickly populated, covers the area of a circumference of 
 thirteen miles within its walls. The houses are all flat- 
 roofed and made of sun-baked clay which apparently 
 is impervious to the sternest tornado that ever troubled 
 this portion of North-Western Africa. Geographical 
 position is a riddle to those unacquainted with the lore 
 of maps. Thus Kano is equidistant between Khartoum 
 on the east and Dakar, in French territory on the west, 
 whilst the journey overland to the former by bullock-cart,
 
 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 175 
 
 horse and camel is a matter of about thirty days. It is 
 north of Sierra Leone, though getting thither entails 
 the weary journey to Lagos, or some other coast port, 
 and then a steamship journey of at least five days, and 
 all the time one appears to be bearing northwards. It 
 is the configuration of the Bight of Benin which is 
 responsible for this strange illusion, one from which it is 
 difficult to free oneself. In area the Emirate covers 
 35,000 square miles, and boasts of a population of over 
 2,750,000 souls — a bigger heritage for the Emir than 
 that of the entire population of the Gold Coast, Ashanti 
 and the Northern Territories combined. Following the 
 course pursued at Zaria, the male member of the party 
 was received by the Emir. There was a trifle more 
 pomp and ceremony. Motoring to the city we were 
 accompanied by a bodyguard of five horsemen, one in 
 front, one on each side, and two behind. They were 
 mounted on sturdy little ponies, which took our thoughts 
 back to the Siberian steppes. Their uniform was any- 
 thing but ''uniform." They were just splashes of 
 delicious colouring — blues and reds and greens melting 
 into a composite whole, relieved of any jarring effect by 
 the action of rain and sun, which long since had softened 
 the original crudity of effect. Swords dangled from 
 their saddles ; their spurs, after the Mexican fashion, 
 were polished and burnished till the sun glinted upon 
 them, and as a display of horsemanship the manner in 
 which they effectively cleared the road of both people and 
 live stock was in itself a small lesson. They might almost 
 have been born upon their steeds, so wonderfully did the 
 little beasts respond to the slightest desire of their riders. 
 Outside the palace the Emir was waiting, accompanied 
 by an enormous retinue of slaves. The latter term 
 must not be misunderstood. Nominally slaves, these 
 individuals often rise to considerable eminence and carry 
 on intrigues worthy of some romance with an Eastern 
 setting. There was an indescribable amount of bowing 
 and vocal greeting. The slaves, gowned for the most 
 part in " rigas " of great value — a riga is a voluminous 
 robe, usually profusely embroidered and fashioned some- 
 what after the style of a kimono — set up a species of
 
 176 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 chant, and the visitor to be received passed through the 
 first of the massive ante-chambers which lead to the 
 reception-room. These chambers are all of a type, 
 vaulted and dark, with a small recess like a janitor's box, 
 in which sits the guardian of that particular entrance. 
 Every incomer is scrutinized, and unless approved would 
 be either turned back or arrested. Considering that 
 there must be at least three or four of these ante- 
 chambers, it is obvious that the Emir or his entourage 
 intend to leave nothing to chance, and unpleasant 
 visitors cannot easily find an entrance. The audience 
 chamber was very disappointing. There were two small 
 rickety chairs and a divan covered with an imitation 
 sheepskin rug. That was all the furniture, and there 
 was a total absence of ornamentation, mural or otherwise, 
 of any kind. Contrasted with Zaria's reception-room it 
 was actually mean. The Emir himself, though not long 
 in enjoyment of his present position, is an old man. In 
 fact, he may not much exceed his "brother" Zaria in 
 years, but he has no carriage, and his age sits heavily 
 upon him. He walks slowly and with difficulty. Were 
 one able to fathom the secrets of his mind one would be 
 in no whit surprised to discover that his inmost thought 
 was, " What a bore : here is a white man, and I have to 
 listen to his tiring chatter for at least a quarter of an 
 hour." From which it may be gleaned that he is not a 
 diplomatist of the first water. We recall a particularly 
 offensive diplomat belonging to a friendly Power, who, 
 when he visited the Foreign Office in the old days, was 
 always warmly greeted by one of the then Under- 
 Secretaries of State renowned for his urbanity of manner 
 under any and every circumstance. The latter told us 
 that if ever in a difficulty as to what reply he should 
 make, he always fell back upon one word, " quite," 
 which, as he remarked, meant nothing. After a long 
 conversation one morning the offensive diplomat departed 
 and confided to a friend at the St. James' Club that he 
 was afraid the Under-Secretary's brain was going ; he 
 only appeared to know one word, which he reiterated 
 with such persistency that eventually he (the diplomat) 
 felt constrained to take a comparatively speedy departure.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 177 
 
 And so with the Emir of Kano ! " Madillah " in Hausa 
 means " Indeed," with an accent of delighted surprise, 
 or equally it may mean " Thank God." Hence, when 
 the visitor was seated and his mission had been ex- 
 plained, he was received with a perfect bombardment of 
 " Madillahs." In fact, the number seemed for a moment 
 to unnerve the accompanying Pohtical Officer. Visitor 
 opined that Kano was a very big and fine city. 
 "Madillah!" Visitor opined that the palace was a 
 wonderful testimony to the builders who fashioned it 
 nearly five centuries ago. " Madillah ! " (There are 
 portions of the inside walls which actually do date back 
 as far as that.) Visitor affirmed that the Kano market 
 was the largest in Africa. "Madillah!" Visitor, 
 getting slightly embarrassed, mentioned seeing brother 
 " Zaria." Here came a slight bow, tinged with a scep- 
 tical smile, and the inevitable "Madillah!" In order 
 to try a last desperate expedient, the visitor stated that 
 that morning he had been privileged to inspect the 
 native prison, that he had found it as clean as could well 
 be expected, and that he was sure the Emir would agree 
 with him that the object of imprisonment should be to 
 cure a species of moral kink rather than to brutalize the 
 individual ; that in England our prison system was 
 moulded along these lines, and that did he not think it 
 was the most humanitarian way of dealing with enemies 
 of the social order ? 
 
 For once the Emir showed signs of animation. " Very 
 good," he replied, "very good for some. Bat for the 
 many, no ! Punishment must be inflicted of such a 
 nature that they will never want to do wrong again I 
 Many natures are impervious to kindness ; all the people, 
 in fact, the visitor had seen that morning belonged to 
 that category, and he considered that the heavier the 
 sentence the better for the public." Or words to that 
 effect. Whereon the visitor, greatly daring, mentioned 
 casually that in going through the prison he had chanced 
 upon a man " in articulo mortis " (he was in point of 
 fact dying hard), lying upon the mud flooring with only 
 a scanty native cloth under his head. It was due to the 
 visitor that some alleviation of his lot took place. The 
 
 12
 
 178 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Emir's answer was what might have been expected, 
 " Madillah." After which it was evident that further 
 parley would be mere waste of time, and so, with 
 many secret " Madillahs," no doubt, the visitor took his 
 departure. 
 
 Now, allowing for the difference between the men- 
 tality of the European and the African, allowing for 
 centuries of undisturbed prejudice and preconceived 
 ideals, allowing for the ineptitude with which the new 
 order must be received by the old, it was instructive to 
 find such a thorough reactionary occupying the place in 
 the most up-to-date and promising of all the provinces 
 of Nigeria. Here is a semi-potentate with an income 
 from the Government of £5,000 a year, plus that which 
 he draws from his own private resources, moneys left to 
 him by inheritance, investments, and so on. Yet his 
 attitude of reaction is so marked as to be almost pitiful. 
 He has never been photographed! "Brother" Zaria, 
 as judges say on the British bench, gave his visitor two 
 of himself. " Kano " apparently actively resented the 
 suggestion that he had ever been so misguided as to 
 allow himself to be perpetuated by a camera ! Just out- 
 side the compound surrounding the palace is situated 
 the treasury, a fine old building with huge panelled 
 doors which must be of great age. Within these are 
 dark, tortuous passages into which the light of day can 
 never enter, with now and again small courtyards lead- 
 ng into mysterious little rooms wherein are carried on 
 the huge financial transactions of the Kano Emirate. 
 One long cloister-like hall needs special comment, how- 
 ever. Its proportions are really exquisite, and when it 
 is remembered that the great pillars supporting the roof 
 are entirely made of mud, and that the roof is extremely 
 lofty, then it can be understood that the architects who 
 fashioned it were master craftsmen. Twenty years ago 
 this hall played an important part in the financial system, 
 for it was the treasure house wherein were stored the 
 many millions of cowrie shells which then acted as cur- 
 rency. Those must have been halcyon days for the 
 " mammies " who had the counting of them, since by 
 way of payment they could help themselves to a handful
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 179 
 
 or two, and no one could possibly miss so small an 
 amount. 
 
 Without being an enthusiastic motorist, the Emir 
 does not disdain on occasion to use this method of loco- 
 motion, and has a mud garage, which houses a couple 
 of cars, built just outside the front gate of the palace. 
 The Emir of Katsina, however, a subsidiary Emir 
 within the Kano Emirate, has nine cars, constituting a 
 record in automobilism amongst the Nigerian Emirs. 
 Time prevented us visiting Katsina, which lies remote 
 from the railway, and is additionally difficult to reach in 
 the rains which were then upon us. But we heard from 
 the resident that this Emir is a most enlightened in- 
 dividual, and a thorough-going sportsman to boot. Often, 
 in the afternoons, when the work of the day is over, he 
 will don the garments of one of his ordinary subjects, and 
 accompanied only by a beater and a dog will wile away 
 many an hour going after bush fowl and such, armed 
 with the latest thing in hammerless ejector guns. He 
 evidently belongs to the new school of Emirs, who, in 
 time, should certainly become the equals in civilization 
 and upbringing of such rulers as those in the Malay 
 States. They have the birth and breeding which, in 
 the long run, is bound to tell. They have age-long 
 tradition and the foundation upon which to build sound 
 and practical modern education. Hence, given peace, 
 there appears every reason why this should be accom- 
 plished before so very many years slip away. To revert 
 to Kano for a moment there can be no doubt as to 
 the extraordinary wealth within the Emirate, which at 
 the moment is blocked for want of rolling stock upon 
 the railway. 
 
 Outside Kano station, as we saw it, were huge 
 mountains of groundnuts covered with tarpaulins. It 
 was estimated that they represented a total weight of 
 58,000 tons and this was last season's crop, of which, as 
 yet, not a nut had been moved. Even the crop before 
 had not been cleared, for there still remained several 
 hundred tons for transport to Lagos. Skins and hides 
 were suffering from the same trouble, and there seemed 
 little hope of betterment for some time to come. At the
 
 180 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 risk of being unpopular, however, one could not but think, 
 and in point of fact the thought was endorsed by the 
 business community, a more enterprising policy by the 
 railway administration might overcome many of these 
 difficulties. For, if England were too busy with orders 
 for rolling stock, there was America, and had not 
 Nigeria had twelve locomotives therefrom within a few 
 months ? Then why not trucks ? No doubt the Crown 
 Agents have an answer ! 
 
 " Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of 
 Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 
 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Lybia 
 about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews also, and 
 proselytes, Cretes and Arabians." This quotation could 
 not fail to suggest itself to us as we stood in the crowded 
 streets of Kano Market. There were Arabs from Tunis, 
 Tripoli and Egypt. There were the shrouded Tuaregs, 
 who wear the yashmak and carry swords. There were 
 Fulanis, Semitic in feature, and several shades lighter in 
 colour than the ordinary native. There were Hausas, 
 people from the "coast," people from the "rivers," 
 natives of French "Say" and "Zinder." All of them 
 buying, selling, haggling, protesting, arguing, in many 
 languages, and with many gesticulations. There was 
 literally not room to walk, so great was the throng. We 
 had to push our way through the massed humanity, 
 which gave a little to allow of our passage, and then 
 closed up again. And, when one thinks that this market 
 is held daily throughout the year, and that the same 
 crowd is always in attendance, one marvels what there 
 can be left to buy in the countries supplying it. Truly, 
 there is everything in Kano Market. Do you wish cloth ? 
 There is Manchester cotton, cunningly selected to please 
 the local taste in colour ; there is the native " Kano 
 cloth," cream or blue. Do you wish a " riga " or any 
 sort of gown '? Buy your cloth and take it to any one of 
 the hundred or more tailors who sit cross-legged in their 
 stalls, each working a Singer sewing machine. He will 
 turn you out the latest Mohammedan fashion and — 
 shades of Mohammed ! — these on an elaborate design in 
 whatever colour you select. If, however, you are
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 181 
 
 prosperous you have your robe embroidered by hand. 
 There are plenty of men skilled with the needle in other 
 stalls who will do it. Some of the articles they use, the 
 feminine member of the party was interested to see, have 
 come from Arabia itself, and even from Bulgaria. Then 
 you want slippers. Take your choice. There are red 
 ones of Kano leather and dyed with the famous red 
 dye of Kano, some with heels and some without. There 
 are green ones, and others with as many colours as 
 Joseph's coat ; or there are sandals if you wish. Perhaps 
 you wish a case for your Koran. Take your choice ! 
 Undoubtedly you will buy a native-made eiderdown, for 
 the nights are cold now in the rainy season, even though 
 you sleep with all your windows tightly shut, as is your 
 custom at all times. And then, after providing for your 
 own needs, you may perhaps think of the feminine part 
 of your family. Purchase some baskets, big ones and 
 small, so that your women can carry loads on their heads 
 suited to their age and strength. Some wooden platters 
 also, and some strings of (Birmingham) beads if you are 
 feeling particularly gracious. Then, for common use, 
 you will not fail to take home some " henna " for tinting 
 finger and toe nails, sticks of antimony for the outlining 
 of the eyes, and the flowers of the tobacco plant to chew. 
 Do not forget a bottle or two of that especially strong 
 scent which you like so much, and which tells of your 
 coming long before you can be seen. 
 
 Your wife you will send to buy the foodstuffs. She 
 will get meat in that odiferous section of the market 
 where a European is inclined to hold a handkerchief to 
 his nose, but where the natives sit placidly all day. She 
 will bring back soya-bean cakes, guinea corn, red peppers, 
 okra, dates and onions. And perhaps, if she is observant, 
 she will speak on her return of a fine camel, of a sturdy 
 donkey, or a fleet horse which may be had cheap. For 
 this good service you will give her, as a reward, one of 
 the heavy silver bracelets which are so temptingly 
 displayed, and perhaps a nose ring for one nostril, if you 
 are able to sell the horse at a fine profit to a white 
 " Baturi " who plays polo. Be it understood, all this 
 takes time. An Oriental market is not like the Stock
 
 182 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Exchange, though it exercises the same fascination on 
 its devotees. The purchase of one minute horn bottle in 
 which to carry snuff may take half an hour ! It is easy 
 to imagine, and there is probably a great deal of truth 
 in the surmise, that at least one-third of the people in 
 the market merely "drop in" from force of habit, and 
 without the smallest intention of buying so much as one 
 bobbin of native string. There they stay, the whole day 
 long, hearing the latest gossip the world over, and 
 possibly going home with articles for which they have 
 not the slightest use. As we were inspecting the horse 
 market suddenly we heard a sound of shouting and the 
 beating of many drums, and saw above the heads of the 
 throng a white flag borne on a long pole. " What did it 
 mean? " we asked. The explanation was a quaint one. 
 " They search for unmarried men," said a tall old Hausa, 
 with a twinkle in his eye. " No able-bodied young man 
 has a right to remain unmarried ; he should marry and 
 have many children ? " We queried. " He is pelted with 
 mud and dust is thrown over him until he is so ashamed 
 that he soon finds a bride." Not a pleasant custom if 
 adopted in Western countries ! 
 
 Passing from the market, with its noise and colour, 
 one goes down narrow, tortuous streets to the prison, 
 mention of which has been made. It deserves more 
 than passing notice, however, as here one sees the 
 comfort and discomfort of native methods well portrayed. 
 The prisoners were all squatting in the prison courtyard 
 when we arrived. Their uniform, like a Gruy^re cheese, 
 consisted mostly of holes, and the remainder was a coarse 
 linen jacket without sleeves, and sadly in need of wash- 
 ing. That and a loin-cloth was the extent of their 
 raiment, unless one includes the fetters. Two- and two 
 they are shackled, a ring on one man's leg being joined 
 to a similar ring on his mate by a long chain. With 
 the consent of the Governor the Emir has powers of life 
 and death. Many of the prisoners we saw were serving 
 life sentences, and many were confined there unjustly, 
 and are soon to be released by order of the British 
 Court. That is, to the native, the dark side of the 
 picture. To offset it is the lack of discipline, the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 183 
 
 glorious absence of ventilation in the long, dark cells, 
 where they herd together like cattle, and the fact that 
 they work very little. There is no inspection by a 
 European doctor of the prison, and the native substitute 
 — a smiling youth, in the dirtiest " riga " we had yet 
 seen — did not impress one with his knowledge or with 
 the vast amount of interest he took in the 300 or more 
 souls in his charge. The women's section was rather 
 pathetic. We entered through a door propped open 
 with a human shin bone, and after passing through 
 several windowless rooms we came into a small court- 
 yard, where, leaning against the wall in attitudes of 
 deepest dejection, were seven women. Three had been 
 convicted of murder and four were serving sentences for 
 theft. One amongst them was a woman of the better 
 class, and it was enough to wring one's heart to see the 
 way in which she tried to shrink away out of sight, 
 ashamed that strangers should witness her degradation. 
 We did not linger long. It is not pleasant to look at 
 shame personified. 
 
 From such an habitation enforced it was a relief to turn 
 to the Industrial School, run by the Government for the 
 benefit of the youths of Kano Province. There is no 
 obligation to attend, but, so great is the desire of the 
 boys to learn a trade that a school three times the size 
 could easily be filled. In point of fact, the Government 
 allocates a yearly £1,000, which is supposed to be suffi- 
 cient for the needs of forty pupils, but so well is the 
 school run, and so high the standard of work accom- 
 plished, that sufficient money is made to provide for well 
 over a hundred lads. They work in a large mud build- 
 ing, or, to be exact, in a series of mud cloisters, looking 
 out into courtyards, which give the necessarj^ light for 
 their labours. From hammered brass trays and leather 
 cushions to wardrobes and iron-work is a large range, 
 yet we saw excellent specimens of all these. Imagine a 
 large Morris chair, every inch of it made by a scrap of 
 humanity aged 14 ! Writing bureaux, tables, beauti- 
 fully panelled doors, were all in process of making, and 
 a number of boys were industriously embroidering native 
 robes because, for the moment there was a glut of
 
 184: WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 workers in the machine and carpenters' shops, and the 
 wise instructor did not wish to send them disappointed 
 away, as they had come from a far part of the province 
 to learn " how the white man make plenty money with 
 hands." Once the workers have become proficient, they 
 return to their homes and carry on their trades there, 
 where they make as they hope "plenty money." 
 Breakfast was provided for us by the versatile superin- 
 tendent of the school, in his house — an interesting 
 specimen of native architecture. Room after room with 
 domed roofs and arches instead of doors, a quaint mud 
 staircase winding — rather uncertainly — up to the next 
 floor ; every room at a different level, every wall at a 
 different angle ; no window exactly in plumb. And yet 
 the whole effect is charming. The native house builder 
 is very fond of decorating the inside of the roof with bits 
 of coloured china, or even with whole plates, if he can 
 find them. Apropos of this, the agent of the Bank of 
 British West Africa at Kano has a peculiar trophy. In 
 the centre of the roof of his dining-room is firmly 
 embedded a dinner plate with a crest in the centre. 
 Curiosity prompted him to discover what it was. In 
 vain he tried opera and field glasses, the light was not 
 sufficiently good. At last he mounted precariously on a 
 ladder and discovered that the plate bore the crest of 
 the Cunard Steamship Company! 
 
 There is another school at Kano which is as interesting 
 in its way as the Industrial School. This is the Survey 
 School. As it was the month of Ramadan, the Moham- 
 medan time of fasting, not all of the pupils were there, 
 but we saw enough to impress us favourably with the 
 mentality of the younger generation. Naturally, to use 
 a theodolite and to be able to apply a certain amount of 
 higher mathematics bespeak a better order of brain 
 power than to make a hinge for a door or a brass candle- 
 stick. The faces of the boys were strikingly intelligent, 
 and we were told that they took great pleasure in their 
 work, which was evidenced by the accuracy and neatness 
 of their maps and the pride they showed in exhibiting 
 them to us. 
 
 Kano in the old days surveyed its farm lands for the
 
 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 185 
 
 purposes of taxation, but then a little "palm oil" from 
 a rich farmer easily converted his large plot of land into 
 a small one on the map. All that is changed now, and 
 the boys turned out from this school are employed by 
 the Government as competent surveyors. 
 
 With the exception of those who live in the town of 
 Kano, all live in buildings near the school, and the 
 younger ones are taught the rudiments of English. 
 There is a rest-house inside the walls of Kano for the 
 benefit of non-official Europeans, but it is not frequently 
 used, judging from the ruinous condition into which it 
 has fallen. It is a pity that, at a place the size of Kano, 
 there is not better accommodation for the frequent 
 travellers who are obliged from business reasons to visit 
 it for possibly a week at a time. West African hospi- 
 tality is proverbial, but the most willing heart cannot 
 enlarge the cubic space of a house, and the unexpected 
 visitor may have a rough time of it, particularly in the 
 rainy season, when even the best roof has been known 
 to leak like a sieve. This recalls to us a strange belief 
 in this part of the world. Everywhere one sees crows — 
 fine black fellows with white collars. All the natives, 
 without exception, are firmly convinced that no crow 
 lays an egg. When asked why and how there are young 
 crows, he will tell one that the crows steal the eggs of 
 other birds, take them up in the sky, and hatch them 
 out into young crows. By what process of nature the 
 egg of, let us say, a partridge becomes a crow they 
 cannot tell, and the final retort always is, "Have you 
 ever found a crow's nest'? Of course you have not. No 
 one ever has. So how do you explain it ? " After 
 which crushing remark there is nothing more to be said. 
 
 No account of Kano would be complete without 
 mentioning the "M.I.," or Mounted Infantry, the corps 
 d'elite of West Africa, and unique on the continent, 
 inasmuch as the rank and file are all natives. And 
 what wonderful horsemen they are ! No picked men at 
 the Naval and Military Tournament have better control 
 of their horses. To see them on parade is a delight to 
 the eye. At Kano there are four sections, each with 
 horses of a different colour — black, roan, grey and
 
 186 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 chestnut. Perfectly groomed and trained, they sweep 
 past the spectator like shining clockwork, and seem to 
 know the words of command as well as do their riders. 
 The soldiers wear a blue and white turban and cummer- 
 bund, which at once differentiate them from the fezzed 
 and belted W.A.A.F's. Before the war they were shod 
 with native boots, which added to their picturesqueness, 
 but that has had to give way, for purposes of economy, 
 to the ordinary British cavalry boot, made even more 
 hideous and clumsy to accommodate the native foot. 
 But these atrocities are the only jarring note in what is 
 otherwise as effective a little band of horsemen as can 
 be found anywhere. There are, unfortunately, only COO 
 of them in all, divided amongst stations where the 
 dreaded tsetse-fly does not make the existence of the 
 horse impossible. Officers and sergeant-major all wear 
 the crest of the Crown bird in their topees, which makes 
 a badge at once simple and distinctive. The crest is 
 like a small brownish brush with a base of soft black. 
 Were there more Crown birds and were not the law 
 against shooting them so stringent, they would soon 
 become fashionable for hats of the opposite sex, for a 
 softer, more delicate ornament could not be found. The 
 bird itself is a species of heron, and there are a number 
 of them, serene in their immunity, walking with long- 
 legged dignity about the fields near Kano. 
 
 There has been some idea of doing away with the 
 M.I., but it is sincerely to be hoped that nothing of the 
 sort will occur. All the romance and colour is being 
 exterminated from this practical world of ours, so, while 
 the Nigerian regiment may murmur : " It costs £14,000 
 a year to keep up the M.I., not including their horses, 
 and look at us — cheap and useful ! " the sight of the long 
 lances and the blue and white turbans is thrilling 
 enough to stir the blood of anyone save a Treasury 
 official. To revert once more to stern reality ; it is a 
 lamentable fact that the only properly equipped hospital 
 for Europeans in the Northern Province is at Kaduna, 
 135 miles from Kano, 50 miles from Zaria, and close 
 on 200 miles from the Bauchi Plateau, with its large 
 population of miners and mine officials. There is a
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 187 
 
 hospital "of sorts " at Kano, but while one can do with 
 makeshifts when in good health, a hospital "of sorts" 
 out here is not desirable. 
 
 Illness in West Africa has a disconcerting way of 
 striking without warning, and of prostrating in a few 
 hours a man or woman who had previously appeared to 
 be perfectly well. Even a hundred miles in a slow 
 train with no alleviations, no provision for comfort, may 
 spell the difference between life and death. Therefore 
 at least two more hospitals are urgently required in 
 Northern Nigeria, and it would also be practical politics 
 to have an ambulance coach for each large town, with 
 electric fans and other modern appliances, so that serious 
 cases could be rushed down to Kaduna, or even to Lagos, 
 should necessity demand. With increased prosperity 
 comes increased responsibility, and it is neither wise nor 
 diplomatic to hold human life so cheap as it was in the 
 early days of the colony. We watched the semi-weekly 
 train commencing to get ready to start on its three days' 
 journey to Lagos, and the noise in the station was 
 equalled only by that which attended the building of 
 the tower of Babel. Hausas, with their inevitable blue 
 tea kettles and huge bales and bundles of goods for sale 
 at other markets, wedged themselves into the third-class 
 carriages, in company with " mammies " and " pickens " 
 of all ages and sizes. They each had a party of intimate 
 friends to see them off who were not allowed to pass 
 beyond the barrier, and to them they shrieked last words 
 (extending over half an hour's duration) of counsel, 
 admonition and jest. The friends replied in penetrating 
 tones, to be heard above the bleating of sheep, the baaing 
 of goats, and the cackling of hens, which resented their 
 positions in the goods vans. Fat, important-looking 
 black clerks, usually wearing spectacles, greeted each 
 other in English, using words of many syllables. " Ah, 
 my good friend, Mr. Green, I trust I find you enjoying 
 uncommon health." " Such is indeed the case, Mr. 
 Brown. You have suffered no inconveniences from 
 your journey, I hope?" They shook hands repeatedly 
 and uttered a stream of banalities, until a whistle warned 
 them that it was time to take their seats in their first-
 
 188 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 class coaches. The train rumbled out of the station, 
 and the many spectators and loungers were obliged to 
 find some other occupation until this supreme moment 
 could be repeated three days later. Once more silence 
 reigned, and the curtain of the past seemed again to fall 
 upon Kano. A few camels lumbered in from the distant 
 desert, an arab bestriding a diminutive donkey sped 
 across one's vision Modern Kano was gone.
 
 189 
 
 CHAPTEK XIX. 
 
 Fkom Kano, with its teeming Mohammedan popula- 
 tion, with its culture, and its traditions, it is indeed a 
 far cry to Jos, which may justly be described as the 
 capital of the great Bauchi Plateau. This tableland lies 
 at a height of from 4,000 ft. to 5,000 ft. above sea level, 
 and is approximately 200 miles long by seventy miles 
 broad. It possesses two points of great interest ; in the 
 first place, it is the home of Pagan tribes, who are un- 
 doubtedly amongst the most primitive people in the 
 whole of Western Africa ; while, in the second place, 
 the tin mines of this plateau rank amongst the most 
 important of the world. There is no exaggeration in the 
 statement that, given time and opportunity, a book 
 could easily be written concerning the habits and cus- 
 toms of the Pagan communities. How they got there, 
 from what stock they are descended, the history of their 
 past, all is veiled in the profoundest secrecy. We were 
 told by a political officer, who had taken an interest in 
 the question, that he believed that they had formerly 
 possessed a comparatively high state of civilization, and 
 that gradually they had drifted, generation by genera- 
 tion, into their present condition. In support of his 
 contention he instanced some remarkable stone remains 
 which are to be seen on the northern fringe of the 
 tableland, causeways, bridges, and viaducts, neatly 
 fashioned from huge slabs of stone, and certainly beyond 
 the constructive ability of any native race to be found 
 to-day within a thousand miles of the spot. On the 
 other hand, it appears equally likely that when the 
 Fulanis, with their Hausa hordes, overran the Western 
 Soudan, these born warriors — for such they are — took to 
 the hills to preserve their independence. It is worthy 
 of note that they retained this independence until the
 
 190 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 discovery of the tin deposits led to active British inter- 
 vention and the opening up of the plateau by the mining 
 industry. Although the plateau, owing to its altitude, 
 has practically a temperate climate, these people of both 
 sexes despise clothing, and go about, to all intents and 
 purposes, in a state of nature. The only exception 
 which can be named is that women who are married 
 wear what might be termed a very small " bustle," made 
 of grass or leaves or plaited straw. But feminine vanity 
 being the same the world over, and though these ladies 
 do not spend a large dress allowance, as may be imagined, 
 they still have their own ideas of fashion. Thus, some 
 of them will paint elaborate garters in red pigment 
 below the knee, while we have seen a veritable leader 
 of society who had coloured herself blue from her hips 
 downwards. Men and women shave their heads, and 
 the " coming out " dress of the debutante is the simple 
 addition to her toilet of a long straw stuck through the 
 upper lip. 
 
 Before a young man may enter the bonds of matri- 
 mony he is put through a test of endurance to ascertain 
 whether he is worthy of a mate and is fitted to be a 
 parent of the next generation. The ordeal consists of 
 standing before the elders and being beaten over the 
 back, legs, shoulders and abdomen with sticks and leather 
 thongs, several ribs being often broken during the pro- 
 ceeding. In the latter event, of course, the applicant for 
 this unpleasant form of marriage licence is considered 
 as useless to the community, as also is he who shouts 
 from pain. Should he, however, pass his examination, 
 he takes the lady of his choice without going through 
 any formality, such as asking her permission, and she 
 becomes one of the common wives of the family, for 
 communism as practised here is carried to the extreme 
 conclusion advocated by the Bolsheviks in the early 
 days of their power — women as common property. It 
 must be admitted that this curious state of affairs has 
 apparently had no deteriorating effect from a physical 
 standpoint, since both men and women are usually most 
 magnificent specimens of humanity. 
 
 A noticeable feature about these tribes is the fact that
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 191 
 
 one never sees their children, who during their earhest 
 years are cared for by the old women of the village, who 
 are too decrepid to engage in raanual labour. Men and 
 women alike work upon the farms for the common weal, 
 though members of the male population both hunt and 
 fish. All are wonderful horsemen, and we were told that 
 for three days one village put up a continuous fight 
 against a detachment of native soldiers under British 
 officers, who were armed with Maxim guns as well as 
 rifles. To the credit of these people it must be recorded 
 that, once beaten they bear not the least malice, and, as 
 we can testify, all are on the best of terms with the 
 mining community. As workers, however, they do not 
 shine. In the first place money, as such, is of no use 
 to them, with the single exception of that which they 
 require for the payment of their annual tax to the 
 Government. For this purpose they will deign to 
 work in the mines for a fortnight, and even then they 
 are not highly satisfactory, since, the mornings being 
 chilly and clothing being absent, they will not leave 
 the shelter of their huts until the sun is well up and 
 the mists of the night have been dispelled through its 
 agency. We visited one native village under the charge 
 of an amiable old rogue of a headman, who made his 
 menfolk part with some of their spears in return for 
 despised currency of the realm, which, however, the 
 headman evidently had some use for himself, since he 
 collected it with the utmost rapidity as we doled it out 
 to the rightful recipients. The huts were of clay, with 
 the most minute doors, through which the owners 
 literally had to wriggle upon their stomachs. It waa 
 explained to us that in their opinion this afforded them 
 the maximum of privacy, since the operation of getting 
 in and out was not attractive, and hence afternoon callers, 
 were unusual ! Primitive humanity in some respects pos- 
 sesses a curiously sardonic species of utilitarian humour ; 
 those doorways form an example. The country through 
 which we passed en route for some mines which we 
 visited was liberally studded with native villages, each 
 surrounded with a tall hedge of thick and prickly cactus, 
 an excellent precaution against the raids of enemies.
 
 192 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 When British troops encountered these obstructions 
 daring the Bauchi military expedition of 1906-7 the 
 casualties suffered through their medium were terribly 
 heavy, and it was rather surprising that they were still 
 allowed to retain them, which only goes to prove how 
 satisfied these pagans are with British rule, and how 
 confident we are that they have no grounds for com- 
 plaint and no desire to cause the administration trouble. 
 In many respects the Bauchi Plateau reminds one 
 forcibly of the West of Scotland. To a West country- 
 man, again, it may speak of Dartmoor. There are vast 
 hummocks of bare rock which might easily be taken for 
 " tors." There are miles of magnificent pasture har- 
 bouring the famous Fulani cattle, which are not unlike 
 the Highland breed. And, above all, in the early morn- 
 ing, when the mist is just commencing to rise, when 
 nature is awaking to another day, and, except for the 
 chirruping of myriad birds, there is the wonderful rest- 
 ful silence of the upland which can only be found in the 
 upland and far removed from the hurly-burly of the 
 plain. Then it seems as though in all reality the dear 
 old West Country round about Hay Tor, or Wide- 
 combe, or Peter Tavy and his sister Mary had been 
 transplanted for the nonce to far-away Nigeria. Alas, 
 however, daylight and tin mines dissipate romance, and 
 the countryside resembles, as indeed it is, a hive of 
 industry. The largest undertaking in connection with 
 the plateau is without doubt the great Eopp Tin Com- 
 pany, situated about forty miles from Jos, and reached 
 by an admirable motor road, constructed in the bad old 
 days of faulty administration by this enterprising and 
 go-ahead corporation. 
 
 It is pleasing to be able to state that the Government 
 has now taken over this commercial artery, which, apart 
 from the mine, taps a portion of the country rich not 
 not only in minerals, but in farms formerly stunted by 
 lack of communication. Considering that, during the 
 war, tin was as scarce as could be, that it was most 
 urgently needed, and that this undertaking is the fifth 
 in the world as regards tin production, then what can be 
 said for an administration which deliberately ignored
 
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 JIHBHIv^J 
 
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 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 193 
 
 request after request for a road, and contented itself 
 with the retort, '* If you want one, make it yourselves." 
 Comment is hardly necessary, but enterprising adminis- 
 tration it emphatically is not. 
 
 A few figures concerning Kopp may not be without 
 interest. Royalties to the Government from 1912 to 
 to 1919 reached the respectable figure of ,£45,000, 
 Roads cost about £22,000 ; railway freightage the 
 abnormal sum of £70,000. And spent in Nigeria was 
 a total sum of nearly £300,000, all money, be it re- 
 membered, going into the country and helping its 
 finances through various diverse channels. Yet the 
 one request for the aforesaid road was refused ! 
 During the period under consideration the tin produced 
 amounted to 4,180 tons, which, at £450 a ton, represents 
 a value of over £1,800,000. Now, things seem to be alter- 
 ing for the better, although the old adage, " Put not your 
 trust in princes," might be safely applied to Govern- 
 ments and their policy. Certainly, many changes, 
 beneficial to the mining community, are under con- 
 sideration, and not the least of these is the question 
 of railway freightage. 
 
 As an example of how to discourage an industry of 
 vital importance to the Empire the following may be 
 aptly quoted. At Ropp there is an oxy-acetylene weld- 
 ing installation of inestimable value in repair work upon 
 the great dredgers employed on the river. The oxygen 
 for it costs the moderate sum of 5s. a cylinder in 
 England. The freight to Ropp, or rather to rail head 
 at Bakuru, whence the mines' own lorries transport it 
 to the works, represents £4 3s. a cylinder ! In other 
 words, the freightage amounts to over sixteen times 
 the original value of the article for a journey by sea 
 to Lagos, and thence by Government railway to its 
 terminus. And there are those who seriously affirm 
 that the railway was constructed as an Imperial 
 measure, as a link of Empire, and not, as with a 
 private company, as a money-making and profiteering 
 concern pure and simple. Let it also not be forgotten 
 that there are plenty of other commodities which pay 
 similar exorbitant freightage, which are absolute neces- 
 13
 
 194 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 sities for the carrying on of the tin industry, and that 
 upon the plateau there are numberless small concerns 
 paying a reasonable dividend to their shareholders, but 
 to whom expense of this sort spells virtual extinction, 
 Ropp happens to be wealthy, but in justice to its less 
 happily situated neighbours it has made the strongest 
 representations to the Administration, and there is every 
 reason to anticipate a radical change in the near future. 
 Which is all to the good, for it is of no use to write in 
 blinkers, or to turn a deaf ear when one is travelling 
 through a country of potential value to those in search 
 — as most are nowadays — of a decent livelihood, after 
 all the be-all and end-all of Imperial acquisition. And 
 the feeling between the mining community and the 
 mining administration has been very acute, though 
 definite promise of reform has dulled temporarily that 
 strong suspicion that promises are often merely pie- 
 crust. Handle the miners with sympathy, administer 
 in a broad-minded fashion, and break the pedantic and 
 high-flown attitude of the official of the past, and the 
 rest will be easy. Then there will follow further ex- 
 ploitation, to everyone's advantage. 
 
 Having suffered disillusionment in seeing gold mines 
 on the Gold Coast, we were not prepared to find anything 
 wonderful in tin mines in Nigeria. And yet, to a certain 
 extent, there is an element of the dramatic about the 
 Ropp mine. There, in the heart of this pagan country, 
 miles away from civilization, is the most up-to-date 
 electric plant anywhere to be found. To look at the 
 enormous driving wheels and to realize the distance 
 they had to be transported before the present motor 
 road was in existence, makes one marvel at the sublime 
 audacity which carried through such an undertaking. 
 The plant controls the two dredgers which work the 
 river bed for tin, thus expediting the work and mini- 
 mizing the amount of manual labour. Practically all 
 the tin mines on the plateau are alluvial, which accounts 
 to some extent for the number of sunstrokes amongst 
 the white miners, for although this tableland is cool, the 
 sun's rays are more deadly here than on the damp sea- 
 coast where they are not so direct. At Ropp, however
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 195 
 
 there is only one grave. It is on the slope of a hill 
 below which a river rushes in gentle cataracts to the 
 plain, and one can see range after range of mountains 
 stretching away, strangely distinct, to the horizon. A 
 peaceful and pleasant place in which to rest ! And in 
 the grave lies a white woman, the wife of a mine 
 manager, who succumbed to influenza during that awful 
 period in West Africa when black and white alike 
 dropped in their thousands before the pestilence. There 
 are always flowers on the grave, placed there by those 
 who knew and loved her, and by many to whom she was 
 only a name. Exile, whether it be voluntary or enforced, 
 brings out the tender side of man's nature as well as the 
 rough. 
 
 There is another mine, about thirty miles from Jos, 
 which does not possess the Eopp motor road, Truly, 
 we felt it somewhat in the nature of an achievement to 
 go there and return without mishap, although with the 
 most skilful of drivers. Imagine motoring for twenty 
 miles over ploughed fields, interspersed with gullies just 
 wide enough to rack the springs of any car and the 
 occupants thereof. The road, which was rather like an 
 imaginary line between two points, was lost and found 
 a dozen times during the journey. Pagans working in 
 the fields looked at us in wonder. They have grown 
 accustomed to seeing the white man flash by on a 
 smooth road, but that he and his " juju " should venture 
 over such country as this caused them to pause a 
 moment in their labours. And we, bouncing and 
 bumping on our way, and wondering how much longer 
 the tortured springs would last, felt that they were right 
 to marvel. It was with relief that we finally arrived at 
 the mine manager's house, where we were greeted by 
 his "boys," who, quite unperturbed by the advent of 
 four unexpected guests, said they would soon have lunch 
 ready for us all. A black cook is rarely upset by the 
 unforeseen, and the way he can conjure sufficient food 
 out of a desert is worthy of notice by the Indian jugglers 
 who produce a flowering tree before one's eyes in ten 
 minutes. This particular mine was not large ; there 
 was only the one white man there ; the country round
 
 196 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 about looked as promising as the Giant's Causeway ; yet 
 " Ibrahim," the cook, served us and his master the 
 following lunch: Chicken soup (tinned), salmon rissoles, 
 mutton cutlets and yams, chicken fricasse (tinned), 
 cherries and fresh lettuce, cucumbers and coffee. Per- 
 haps we lingered too long at this hospitable shelter. 
 Certainly tornadoes overtook us on our way back, 
 and the discomforts were increased by the rain, which 
 rushed like mountain streams down the previously dry 
 gullies, obliterating the marks made by our wheels in 
 the morning. Three separate and distinct tornadoes 
 gave us the benefit of their company before we reached 
 Jos. The thunder and lightning amongst the ironstone 
 hills was truly appalling, and even the remark of one of 
 us that it was exactly like a bad storm at Drury Lane 
 failed to reconcile us to the risk we ran. But everything 
 comes to an end sooner or later, and in spite of ominous 
 skids when we reached the high road once more, in 
 spite of rushing through water so deep that the spray 
 was flung high on each side of the car, m spite of being, 
 like Mr. Mantellini, " demned, demp, moist and 
 unpleasant bodies," we eventually reached Tuton-an- 
 Wada, the home of our kind host, Colonel W. Laws, 
 C.M.G., D.S.O, 
 
 Colonel Laws may be justly described as the pioneer 
 of Nigerian tin. We have known him for many years, 
 and we can remember how, in 1905, alone and unaided, 
 he prospected the Plateau for the Niger Company. 
 Maybe some day he will write his reminiscences. We 
 have urged him to do so ; it would make the best of 
 good reading for the schoolboy, or, for that matter, for 
 the grown man who has the call of the wild and the 
 demand for adventure, in his blood. Suffice it to 
 chronicle here a mere historic fact ; alone, as far as 
 white company was concerned, and with the magnificent 
 escort of eight soldiers — the most the " Doubting 
 Thomases " of the Administration would permit — this 
 gentleman invaded the plateau on his own initiative, so 
 to speak, overcame resistance with diplomacy, or mock 
 force, harangued peoples whose language was a closed 
 book even to native interpreters, the said haranguing
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 197 
 
 being mostly by signs, presents, and the methods which 
 may have been used by such explorers as Clapperton or 
 Mungo Park in their wanderings in Africa, and in the 
 end succeeded in getting what he wanted. A very fine 
 performance, worthy of the explorers of a past genera- 
 tion, and promising a similar fulfilment for the coming. 
 
 Like most mining centres, Jos itself is not attractive, 
 and is most costly. The railway might be expected to 
 serve the community there, but that question deserves a 
 chapter to itself, for the Nigerian railway system as a 
 whole demands attention, and, one might add, provides 
 some amusement to all concerned unless they be ill, when 
 it becomes tinged with inevitable tragedy. The Bauchi 
 railway touches many points whence fresh food might 
 be easily obtained, but the freightage rates are so 
 prohibitive that a chicken at seven shillings is usual, the 
 same at Zaria — 140 miles away — being eighteenpence. 
 And if the scale of living at Jos rules high, then 
 assuredly further afield it becomes simply enormous, 
 practically ridiculous. Local legislation, of which also 
 more anon, has robbed the mining man of his liquor, 
 though not the administrator to the same extent. At 
 the moment, these facts are mentioned in order that the 
 reader may visualize a small community in a very lonely 
 situation which is deprived of practically any common 
 or garden alleviation of its lot through the silly adminis- 
 trative ordinances. And it must be remembered again 
 that a mining official in such conditions demands higher 
 pay, dividends become less, and the ultimate effect must 
 be to send up the price of tin, which is most undesirable. 
 If a mineral can be produced cheaply under given con- 
 ditions, then this is for the benefit of the world at large, 
 provided the conditions are not harmful to others. 
 There can never be any harm in fair criticism, and it 
 is well that these salient features, in a country entering 
 into what one might not inaptly call " intensive 
 development," be clearly grasped. 
 
 It was while visiting Colonel Laws that we witnessed 
 one of those minor, but infinitely pathetic, tragedies of 
 the West Coast — the separation of a dog from his master. 
 *' Belabi " was a large, red animal, the size of a full-
 
 198 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 grown retriever, of no known breed, but possessed of a 
 capacity for suffering we have rarely seen equalled. 
 He was a " bush dog," pariah, what you will ; but since 
 he was a baby he had lived with his white master, 
 sleeping by his side at night, receiving his food from 
 those hands, walking at his heels by day. And at the 
 end of a year his master had gone home, leaving Belabi 
 in the charge of Colonel Laws. Food he had in plenty ; 
 the best cushions and the most comfortable chairs were 
 at his disposal ; kind words and sympathy were lavished 
 upon him. But to Belabi nothing mattered, save that 
 he no longer saw the one who meant all the world 
 to him. Every time a motor drew up at the steps of the 
 bungalow he dashed out to it and was in a moment 
 sniffing the seat, pushing aside its occupants with his 
 great bulk. Every morning he entered our bedroom, 
 previously occupied by his master, and hunted for him. 
 He was gentle, ate a little when coaxed, and accepted 
 caresses with a mournful patience, but at intervals the 
 soft red forehead would wrinkle into a puzzled frown 
 and he would raise his head and howl. They feared he 
 would go mad from grief, this poor devoted mongrel. 
 One wonders what he would have done had he known 
 that his idol never intended to return. Wasn't it 
 Georges Sand who said, " The more I know men, the 
 better I love dogs " ? We have never heard the fate 
 of Belabi, but we will never forget him. 
 
 The market at Jos, and though we seem to write 
 indefinitely about markets, it is there one sees the life 
 of the people, was interesting though small. Naked 
 Pagans, Hausas in their voluminous robes, and Fulani 
 women with long braids of horsehair added to their 
 own wool, elbowed each other with sublime unconcern. 
 Our "boys," however, who had been in a state of 
 ill-concealed terror ever since they had reached Zaria 
 were vastly intrigued. Feeling the cold of the Plateau 
 acutely, they could not understand how the Pagans 
 managed to exist without many wraps, though the 
 Eve-like costume of the ladies brought from Ansumanah 
 the remark : " Their husbands no pay plenty money for 
 dress for them, so they fit catch plenty wife cheap."
 
 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 199 
 
 Alas ! it is not always true that the less one wears the 
 less expensive it is. Let husbands seeking the ideal 
 state of things migrate to the Bauchi Plateau and 
 become Pagans ! The little stools on which the women 
 sit in the market attracted our attention. About eight 
 inches high, they are elaborately carved and painted 
 black, and make for a European delightful footstools. 
 One stout dame removed her stool from beneath her and 
 held it out for inspection or sale. At hearing the price 
 offered she indignantly popped down on it again ; the 
 most definite negative imaginable. Eventually, however, 
 we acquired two of these trophies, from one of which its 
 late owner asked that she might remove a string of 
 beads as they were her especial juju. 
 
 It was with regret that we left this invigorating air 
 and packed ourselves into the train for Zaria. As 
 M'Praeso on the Gold Coast is to Accra or Sekondi, 
 so is the Bauchi Plateau to the rest of Nigeria, and it 
 seems a waste of opportunity that the Government does 
 not here establish a hospital and sanatorium. Officials 
 might be admitted cost free ; outsiders might well pay 
 a reasonable fee in order to feel that they were not 
 actually recipients of charity, which would be most 
 undesirable. The ground necessary could be secured 
 at small cost, the expense of the buildings would not 
 be dreadful, and many a life could be saved which 
 otherwise, unfortunately, finds its finis somewhere north 
 of the Canary Islands, with a piece of canvas and a few 
 fire-bars as shroud and grave. Judge not the West 
 Coast mortality by ofScial returns. They are correct in 
 themselves, but it is possible to burke the truth in many 
 ways, and if the individual is placed on board a ship 
 ** in extremis " there is no reason to include him or her 
 as a guest in the "port of missing men" from Nigeria 
 or the Gold Coast or any other West African Colony. 
 The plateau is undoubtedly the most healthy spot one 
 •can find in these regions ; it is nearer the source of 
 trouble than the Canary Islands ; it does not offer the 
 •danger of travel to England in overcrowded steamers 
 with doubtful medical attention, and if the railway be 
 improved a little it is easily approachable.
 
 200 
 
 CHAPTEK XX. 
 
 Most of us have been motoring along the wonderful 
 English lanes with every now and again a turn or twist 
 bringing us upon the unexpected, maybe a piece of 
 wind-swept, gorse-bloomed common, maybe a solemn^ 
 tree-crowned hill dark with the mystery of age-long 
 growth, and then, as suddenly, the eye has been 
 arrested. By what ? Out of the beyond has arisen, 
 without apparent rhyme or reason, a curious edifice, 
 possibly a monument alone in its solitude ; possibly a 
 spurious monstrosity fashioned by folk who knew not 
 Byzantine architecture, but thought they did ; possibly 
 something belonging to a school of thought which must 
 have been inspired by Heath Kobinson. And wonder- 
 ing, who has not leaned over to the chauffeur, greatly 
 versed in the local lore, and asked, " What on earth is 
 that?" The response has always been the same, with 
 slight variations: "Never heard of Eackham's Folly, 
 sir? Well known this way, sir. They do say he 
 went off his head after his wife died, and that's her 
 memorial." Or else, " That's Tomkinson's Folly. He 
 built it because he thought it would be a sort of land- 
 mark for folk what lost their way ; at least that's what 
 they do say, but. Lord bless 'ee, it only be local gossip." 
 And so on. With all due respect for its founder and 
 the genius which directed him, Kaduna very strongly 
 reminded us of one of these mental idiosyncrasies. And 
 thereby hangs a tale. When Northern Nigeria that was, 
 was a mere infant in arms and was looking anxiously 
 for something tangible which it could loftily term its 
 " capital," the story goes that a party of Government 
 engineers were sent out into the bush not far from 
 Kaduna's Eiver to find a suitable site. It was hot. The 
 engineers and accompanying surveyors were thirsty>
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 201 
 
 tired, and generally " fed up." Said one: "Well, for 
 goodness sake, don't let's wander for ever ! We've 
 got to find a site somewhere, and let this do." There 
 was no cogent reason for saying " No," and so the little 
 band retraced their steps, saw the then Governor, Sir 
 Frederick Lugard, and behold ! Zungeru was born. 
 
 It must be explained that Zungeru was the old 
 Northern Nigerian capital of pre-amalgamation days 
 and it was always a source of wonder to newcomers why 
 it had been permitted to bloom in all its apparent 
 splendour. It led nowhere in particular, its communica- 
 tions by water were erratic, to use a mild term, and in 
 the dry season practically ceased, and, needless to say, in 
 those long-ago days, railway connection with the coast 
 and Lagos was unknown. And so, for some years 
 Zungeru continued to flourish like some forced hot- 
 house plant, till growth of trade, prospects of amalgama- 
 tion, and demand for something more convenient as 
 headquarters became dominant factors in the situation. 
 In parenthesis let it be granted that as a station Zungeru 
 was not at all bad ; there are trees, some shady avenues, 
 a nice roomy hospital, and a convenient cemetery. But 
 the change had to come, and with the arrival of Lagos 
 and Southern Nigeria as partners in the scheme of 
 the greater Nigeria, a new site had of necessity to be 
 located. People call Kaduna, which was the result of 
 these changed circumstances, " Lugard's Folly," or, 
 alternately, Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," the latter 
 after the Lieutenant-Governor of that name, a most 
 charming man, whom we met, and who put up a very 
 good defence on behalf of his protege. But, first of all, 
 the "cons." Kaduna lies, as did Zungeru, in the middle 
 of nowhere. Its population is official practically solely. 
 It is miles from any large town, and it appears to the 
 outsider as though some "genie" had said with a wave 
 of a wand, " There will be a township here, and pretty 
 soon." It arrived in so short a space of time that, 
 frankly, few people in Nigeria appear yet to have dis- 
 covered the fact. If you say to any Nigerian, " Have 
 you been to Kaduna ? " the mere expression of the 
 eyes of the answerer is sufficient to explain what passes 
 mentally. " Certainly not! Why on earth go there?"
 
 202 "WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 At Kaduna there is a Government House, rarely, very 
 rarely, visited by the present Governor, who is frank in 
 his opinions about it. It is the headquarters of the 
 commandant of the Nigerian forces — an excellent choice, 
 as we shall show. There is a magnificent-looking 
 hospital in course of erection when we saw it to serve 
 a territory which ought to have its own local hospitals 
 were money forthcoming. There is an ice plant, a polo- 
 ground, a cricket pitch, a golf course, a race track, and 
 miles of beautiful macadamized roads — the best we ever 
 saw in West Africa, outside of Togoland. Each 
 European bungalow is surrounded by a compound or 
 garden — which you please — of great size, an excellent 
 idea if continuity of occupation could be ensured. 
 People in West Africa are similar to those elsewhere, 
 and they appreciate as much as others vegetables, fruit, 
 and flowers — perhaps flowers most of all, they are 
 humanizing. But if after ten months of careful atten- 
 tion necessity and orders force the occupant to surrender 
 his or her garden, then naturally a feeling will be born 
 that it is not worth while to do anything except to 
 " carry on " so far as gardening is concerned. For, be 
 it remembered, even this little piece of garden costs 
 money to keep up, and people do not come here for 
 pleasure. And so the large gardens of Kaduna are a 
 weary-looking commentary upon the fallacy that it is 
 possible to make bricks without the necessary straw. 
 They seem to cry aloud and say : " Do come and look 
 after us, and we will do our best for you." The new 
 hospital aforementioned will be a fine building. We 
 went over it. There are ramps to the floors, preventing 
 the jolting that inevitably occurs when stairs must be 
 climbed to bring a "case" to a first-floor ward. There 
 are rooms to hold only one person, with four windows 
 and two doors, thus ensuring ventilation which should, 
 from the unpractical lay-mind, be a boon never to be 
 forgotten in a sweltering climate such as this. That 
 this opinion does not meet approval from medicos or 
 nurses at Kaduna moves us not a whit. No one 
 approves of anything in Nigeria unless they have 
 fashioned, framed, and constructed it themselves — inci-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 203 
 
 dentally a fundamental error in administration where 
 perpetuity depends almost entirely upon loyalty to the 
 preconceived convictions of those who have gone before. 
 It is so easy to destroy and so easy to condemn. It is 
 so pleasant to surround oneself with a barrage of what 
 one is going to accomplish and so gratifying to realize 
 that one's predecessor fell far short of performance 
 which would have benefited policy, people, and public. 
 Kaduna Hospital promises to be one of the finest in this 
 portion of Africa ; such, at least, is our unbiased 
 opinion. 
 
 And now to turn to our main theme : Was Kaduna 
 such a bad place to choose as nominal capital of united 
 Nigeria? We have pretty thoroughly exploited the 
 cons ; may not the pros exist in spite of prejudice ? 
 Why, certainly. The Lieutenant-Governor, a practical 
 man in many respects, showed us a map of Nigeria as 
 it is to-day. He gave us a pair of compasses, and asked 
 us to try whether Kaduna was more or less the centre of 
 the colony. We tried, and we found that actually such 
 was the fact. He then reminded us that Nigeria was 
 not a homogeneous whole, that there were many con- 
 flicting interests, religious, territorial, and racial, and 
 finished up by pointing out that if Delhi had been 
 chosen capital of India for territorial reasons, if the 
 new capital of Australia was not to be situated at 
 Sydney or Melbourne, but elsewhere, then why should 
 Nigeria have its administrative centre at Lagos, a much 
 more ridiculous proceeding than having the capital of 
 England and the Empire at Penzance. This sounds like 
 hard common sense. There must inevitably be some 
 central zone, and history has shown the futility of 
 attempting to administer a country from its confines. 
 
 Surely one of the causes of the Tsarist downfall, and 
 here we are both on solid ground, came from the very fact 
 that Peter the Great never comprehended the prime 
 factor in the question of government, namely, facility 
 of access to the capital. How many subjects of the 
 great Emirates of the north of this country can afford 
 to visit Lagos? What do they know about the 
 Government there ? What do they care if they are
 
 20-1 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 told that a Governor, whom they have seen for one 
 minute when he speeded by in a motor car on one of 
 his periodic tours, represented the King. It means 
 nothing to them, and if these things must be made 
 patent to the native they must be administered in 
 large, soul-satisfying quantities. And if this applies to 
 the Mohammedan, how much more to the Pagan in 
 what was Southern Nigeria, who stands still steeped in 
 his slime of pestilential indifference to aught save his 
 own fears. Open up things and banish the fiction that 
 because Penzance has a pleasant if enervating climate 
 it need be the centre of the mechanism of a large 
 undertaking. It is not. Other countries are grappling 
 with problems larger than this, and it must be insisted 
 that if Sir Frederick Lugard, one of the greatest British 
 Pro-Consuls who ever breathed, erred in method, in 
 comprehension of the human "ego," in the sympathy 
 which usually accompanies the pioneer, he arrived with 
 a shrewdness surprising in its intensity at the one 
 cardinal factor which makes native administration at all 
 possible : " Do not judge by preconceived conclusions of 
 anyone. Judge them by first-hand evidence." And for 
 that Kaduna was built. Similarly it may be rightly 
 insisted that as the military centre of Nigeria, the focal 
 point of military action when the first axiom is to strike 
 quick and hard, Kaduna has a great deal to be said for it. 
 In fact, it would be difficult to discover a situation 
 occupying a better strategic position. 
 
 So much, then, for our visit to Kaduna. But there 
 still remains one point which must receive due considera- 
 tion, since upon it depends not only the health and 
 welfare of all officials, but their contentment ; we refer 
 to the ever-vexing housing question. At Kaduna we 
 were permitted to inspect bungalow after bungalow, 
 built for all the world like so many peas in a pod, so alike 
 were they. A bungalow of this type consists of one 
 central room of fair proportions with a verandah running 
 around its four sides. The occupant may use his own 
 ingenuity and cut up this verandah to suit his own fancy. 
 He may make, as we saw in a bachelor's lodging, an 
 office, a bath-room, and a dining-room of minute pro-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 205 
 
 portions, whilst by dividing the large room two small 
 ones may be made of it. This accommodation is 
 impartially bestowed upon married and single alike. In 
 the case of a married couple could anything more un- 
 comfortable, more lacking in privacy, more tended to 
 produce all the ailments which the West African medico 
 spends his time in fighting, ever have been devised ? 
 Further, and of this point we were again and again 
 reminded, these bungalows are not even sunproof; the 
 wretched occupants, while the sun is up, actually are 
 obliged to wear solar topees the entire day. It may be 
 argued that some people feel the sun more than others, 
 and that a proportion of the Europeans never bother 
 about such matters. True. We have seen a man at 
 noon-day walking about in the hottest part of Lome, the 
 hottest town upon the West Coast, with only a cloth cap 
 upon his head. But he was the exception which proves 
 the rule, and it must be allowed that the sun affects some 
 more than others. But a corrugated iron roof painted 
 red, even when lined with felt underneath, is a deathtrap 
 to the many. The usual plea of economy was offered 
 to us as an explanation. Economy, forsooth ! Poor 
 economy when it is remembered that the efficient official 
 who can keep in good health and good spirits in the 
 West African Colonies is about as rare as the great 
 auk's egg. In the way of housing and material comfort 
 nothing can be too good for these frontiersmen of Empire, 
 Even in a temperate climate there are essentials for all 
 human beings, if they are to be useful citizens, morally, 
 mentally and physically. These three essentials are 
 privacy, light and space. And if privacy, light and space 
 are necessary in temperate climates where the heart does 
 not have to work so furiously, where the petty worries 
 of life are mitigated by pleasures, where one can be 
 clothed yet comfortable, how much more are these 
 essentials of paramount importance in the tropics. On 
 the Gold Coast some of the houses are excellent, and 
 if any increase should be made in the length of tour (as 
 has been rumoured), nothing can be expected from it but 
 an increase in the sick list, unless houses such as one 
 finds at Accra are constructed.
 
 206 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 About the worst possible specimen of building we saw 
 at Lagos — a monument of " Mid-Nigerian " architecture 
 as distinguished from the mud huts of Early Nigerian 
 type, and far less comfortable. This was a Government 
 Rest House, and is known locally as " The Chest of 
 Drawers," presumably because so much is packed into 
 so little space. It is a shocking building in which to 
 house white men, many of them obliged to pass a whole 
 term of service within its walls. Each occupant receives 
 one room in which he must exist, except when he is at 
 work or is having his meals in the stuffy little common 
 mess room. The well-to-do may belong to the club and 
 have meals there, and to some extent make it an outside 
 home, but all this costs money, and the average official 
 is not a rich man — to be precise, he is worse paid than 
 a miner at the present day in England ; we wish 
 miners would note that — whilst he may have responsi- 
 bilities at home which also cost money. Hence, after 
 working hours, he may find distraction at the tennis 
 court, listen to the band for a while, and then go back to 
 unadulterated discomfort and slovenliness, for it may be 
 accepted as an axiom that the native boy will not take 
 trouble where he sees that no trouble is being taken. 
 We were told of one official who had spent three tours in 
 these precise surroundings, and were asked whether we 
 were surprised if a man under such conditions should 
 develop, if he did not find some other much worse malady, 
 neurasthenia. The answer, of course, is in the negative. 
 Housing is just as important in the efficiency of the entire 
 administrative organization as medical attendance ; they 
 are certainly interdependent, and the one might go far 
 to render the other less necessary. 
 
 After this digression, for which the bungalows at 
 Kaduna are responsible, we must revert to that place. 
 Situated about a mile from the Cantonment is the 
 Botanical Garden, whence is sent away every species of 
 fruit and flower trees suitable for planting in the whole 
 of the vast area of Nigeria. Officials buy their young 
 trees or plants, but for the Emirs and minor native 
 rulers inducements are held out to get them to plant 
 along the roads in their towns trees which in time might
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 207 
 
 acquire economic value, such as pawpaw (a species of 
 melon), bananas and such like. It is a pity that there 
 is not more response, but the education of the native has 
 not yet gone as far as teaching him the nutritive and 
 medicinal value of fruit, whilst as for vegetables, he 
 seems still to be satisfied with the everlasting yam and 
 okra, with which he flavours his fourrah or porridge. 
 But these are only matters of time and patience, and 
 there is no reason why in due course the native towns of 
 Nigeria should not be possessed of avenues lined with 
 all the fruit-bearing trees suitable to the country, at 
 once an asset of commercial value and a factor in the 
 beautifying of what otherwise is apt to become ugly and 
 dusty roadways. Further, at the Kaduna Botanical 
 Gardens are carried on experiments in the shape of 
 grafting such things as the West African mango, a 
 rather poor fruit, upon the West Indian, its succulent 
 relative. The result is amazing, and now there is no 
 reason why mangoes fully equal to the Jamaican variety 
 should not be as common in Nigeria as the proverbial 
 weed. Flowers receive attention, and many a lonely 
 bungalow is made homely by growths of plumbago, 
 bourgainvillia, and even roses, all the direct product of 
 this garden, founded in the most humble of fashions, 
 and now bidding fair to outgrow the reputation of the 
 well-known Botanical Gardens at Victoria, Cameroons, 
 the pride and boast of the Germans when they held 
 sway over that country. 
 
 We had a delightful tea with the presiding genius of 
 the Gardens, which was still further enlivened by the 
 presence of three nurses attached to the Kaduna 
 Hospital, one of them just out from home. How fresh 
 and pink her skin was and how untired were her big 
 blue eyes ! But the rest of us, yellow, tired creatures 
 that we were, had our revenge, for she promptly fell a 
 victim to the everlasting " yam " joke. Why is it that 
 the word "yam" conjures up visions of fish, flesh or 
 fowl, but never a vegetable ? It is always so, and the 
 fate of the nurse at Kaduna who feared to go into the 
 bush lest she be bitten by a wild yam was listened 
 to with rapt attention by this " tenderfoot " who asked 
 breathlessly, " And was she ? "
 
 ^08 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Stories about yams would fill a book in themselves, 
 but one we must give as it redounds to the credit of the 
 
 Koyal Navy. Not so many years ago H.M.S. was 
 
 off the West Coast of Africa, having amongst its com- 
 plement of officers two midshipmen. These two 
 youngsters expressed a wish to go on shore and do a bit 
 of shooting, and the Captain, who was fond of his joke, 
 solemnly told them that they had his permission to 
 shoot all the yams they could find. Not knowing in the 
 least what manner of animal a yam was and being too 
 proud to ask, they left the ship accompanied by the 
 grins of those who, in their time, had also " been bitten." 
 At nightfall they returned, hot, tired and empty handed. 
 "Where are those yams you promised us?" inquired 
 the Skipper. " We shot one, sir, but it fell into the 
 river and we couldn't get it," was the astute answer. 
 And no one knew whether they had discovered the plot 
 or not, for those worthy representatives of " the silent 
 navy" kept their own counsel concerning their day's 
 sport. 
 
 We had had a busy day, and after a cordial farewell 
 to our kind guide through the garden, were not sorry 
 to return to the Lieutenant-Governor's delightful house 
 for dinner. The word " house " is used purposely, since 
 Mr. Goldsmith, our host, having the desire to live life as 
 he thought it might be lived even in the tropics, had 
 added on to what was an unpretentious bungalow another 
 storey, had fashioned the inside of the house to resemble 
 a regular country home in England, and had spent time 
 and ingenuity in making a really good English garden. 
 It was almost hard to realize that, as we ate our dinner, 
 we were far away in the middle of great unknown 
 Nigeria. Unknown, why ? The answer, we suppose, is 
 that the climate is against tourists and fashion with a 
 capital F. Folk at home we thought at the time, and it 
 has since proved true, " will ask us the same old 
 banalities on our return." " You've been to Africa, we 
 hear. Did you see our first cousin So-and-So ? He's 
 doing something at Nairobi ; couldn't have been far from 
 you," and so on and so on. It seems almost impossible 
 to implant in the conception of the great British public
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 209 
 
 that there are four Africas as there are four sides to a 
 square, North, South, East and West. And who shall 
 say that the least of these is West. 
 
 A tornado was threatening as we said farewell to our 
 good host. Thoughtful always, he pressed upon us a 
 magnificent turkey to carry us along in the fresh-food 
 line for our journey to the River Niger and down it to 
 the township of Lokoja, once important as the port of 
 entry to Northern Nigeria, now merely a hospital base, 
 and a centre for a few soldiers, but on the direct way 
 seawards. The rainy season was starting, hot and 
 heavy. As we reached our sleeping quarters a terrific 
 thunderstorm burst over us, and in a minute our 
 coaches, in spite of all the exertions of the boys, were 
 literally afloat. Not pleasant, but one grows accustomed 
 to little inconveniences such as this. 
 
 14
 
 210 
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 There are three thousand miles of the Eiver Niger. 
 Its source is in French Guinea, north and east of 
 Sierra Leone, and thence it wanders, in a truly African 
 and haphazard fashion, north-east, south-east, due south, 
 south-east again, and finally empties itself through many 
 mouths fringed with mango swamps, due south once 
 more into the Gulf of Guinea. It is oily and sluggish 
 like the natives along its banks, and, like them, when 
 roused it is swift and terrible. Until the railway came 
 it was a pack-mule among rivers, bearing the commerce 
 of the country, its people and their chattels up and down 
 its broad surface. It is mentioned by Herodotus and by 
 Pliny who speculated on its relationship with the Nile 
 and knew not if it flowed east or west or whether it 
 it ended or began in the thirsty sands of the Sahara. 
 Many are the tragedies connected with its exploration. 
 The first known to us is when John Ledyard, who had 
 won his spurs as an explorer with Captain Cook, was 
 sent by the African Association, a society formed for 
 promoting discovery in that country, in 1788, to bring 
 information concerning this river, and died at Cairo in 
 the same year. Then followed Lucas in 1789 and 
 Major Houghton in 1791. The former's data was un- 
 reliable, and the latter, after ascending the river Gambia, 
 was deserted by his party and perished miserably. In 
 1795, Mungo Park made his first expedition, following 
 in the footsteps of Major Houghton, whose body he 
 discovered at Jarra. At last he reached the Niger after 
 incredible difficulties and bodily suffering. The river, as 
 he saw it, flowed from west to east, and the theory was 
 then advanced that the Niger and the Congo were 
 one and the same. 
 
 In 1805, Park started on his second expedition, taking
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 211 
 
 with him a number of Europeans including his brother- 
 in-law, Dr. Anderson. By the time they reached 
 Sansandig, 300 miles as the crow flies south-west of 
 Timbuktu, Dr. Anderson and almost all the other white 
 men were dead and there were still many miles to 
 traverse. But Park's indomitable spirit was unbeaten. 
 In one letter that he wrote at this time he said, 
 " Though all the Europeans that are with me should 
 die, and though I were myself half dead, I would still 
 persevere, and if I could not succeed in the object of 
 my journey, I would at least die in the Niger." It was 
 in November of 1805 that Park left Sansandig, in 
 H.M. schooner " Joliba," actually a couple of native 
 flat-bottomed canoes, converted and mended mainly by 
 his own efforts. " In some respects it deserves to rank 
 with the voyage of Columbus across the Atlantic. The 
 bourne was equally uncertain, the distance not so very 
 much less, the perils quite as great. . . . Columbus, too, 
 had always the option of turning back. For Park there 
 was no such door of escape. Success or death was his 
 only choice, and even success might mean captivity 
 or worse. . . . For sole means of carrying out this 
 wonderful enterprise Park had nothing better than an 
 unwieldy, half-rotten canoe, and a crew consisting of 
 an officer wholly unsuited to the work, three European 
 privates, of whom one was mad and the others sick, and 
 lastly, Amadi Fatuma, the guide, and three slaves — nine 
 men in all. With this * sufficient force to protect me 
 from insult,' the canoe had to be navigated without 
 a pilot for hundreds of miles along a river studded at 
 parts with dangerous rocks, and everywhere infested by 
 equally dangerous hippos — a river whose banks were 
 occupied for much of the way by fanatical Moors and 
 Tuaregs, while beyond were unknown tribes of cannibal 
 savages and other bloodthirsty natives."* It was at the 
 Boussa Rapids that the end came. Can you picture it ? 
 Hostile natives leaped in their war dance upon the banks 
 on either side, screaming and shouting to the beating of 
 drums. Down the river rushed the poor canoe, its few 
 
 * " Mungo Park and the Niger," Thomson.
 
 212 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 occupants seeing their doom either in the cruel rocks on 
 either hand or from the poisoned spears which rained 
 upon them. The canoe hit a rock. It stuck fast. 
 Everything of weight was thrown overboard and they 
 plied their paddles desperately. But the boat refused 
 to move. Then the four men, the last remnant of the 
 expedition, jumped into the water together, and Park's 
 wish was realized. The Niger claimed him. 
 
 After Park's tragic end came Captain Clapperton, R.N., 
 in 1825, who had penetrated to Sokoto in the previous 
 year. He adopted a different route, and, having by good 
 luck hit upon one of the mouths of the Niger, ascended 
 it as far as the spot where Mungo Park had lost his life 
 and then went by land to Sokoto where he died in 1827. 
 Then came Kichard Lauder, Clapperton's servant on 
 his final expedition, and after that the work of the 
 geographers was no longer a matter of mere speculation. 
 In connection with Lauder, however, it is instructive to 
 read the letter addressed to him by Mr. E. W. Hay 
 before he left England : — 
 
 Downing Street, 
 
 December 31, 1829. 
 
 Sir, — I am directed by Secretary Sir George Murray to 
 acquaint you, that he has deemed it expedient to accept 
 the offer which you have made, to proceed to Africa, 
 accompanied by your brother, for the purpose of ascertaining 
 the course of the Great Eiver which was crossed by the 
 late Captain Clapperton, on his journey to Soccatoo. 
 
 After giving minute instructions regarding the 
 information desired, the letter continues — 
 
 You are to take every opportunity of sending down by the 
 coast a brief abstract of your proceedings and observations, 
 furnishing the bearer with a note, setting forth the reward he 
 is to have for his trouble, and requesting any English person, 
 to whom it is presented, to pay that reward, on the faith that 
 it will be repaid to him by the British Government. For the 
 performance of this service, you are furnished with all the 
 articles which you have required for your personal convenience, 
 during your journey, together with a sum of two hundred 
 dollars in coin, and in case, upon your arrival at Badagry, 
 you should find it absolutely necessary to provide yourself
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 213 
 
 "with a further supply of dollars, you will be at liberty to 
 draw upon this department for any sum not exceeding three 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 During the ensuing year, the sum of one hundred pounds 
 will be paid to your wife, and upon your return a gratuity of 
 one hundred pounds will be paid to yourself. 
 
 All the papers and observations which you shall bring back 
 with you, are to be delivered by you at this oifice, and you 
 will be entitled to receive any pecuniary consideration which 
 may be obtained from the publication of the account of your 
 journey. 
 
 I am. Sir, &c., &c., 
 
 (Signed) R. W. Hay.- 
 
 Comment on this document, teeming with generosity, 
 is surely needless ! Government departments have not 
 altered since 1829. To the white man there has always 
 been a fascination about AVest Africa, even though he 
 may know that death is waiting for him around every 
 bend in the road. And the lure of the bush is as 
 nothing to the lure of the river to a Briton. Hence 
 it was that one of us, who had only seen the Niger at 
 Jebba, counted the hours that must pass before Baro 
 was reached, and the other looked forward to reviving 
 old memories. But probably of all the minor tragedies 
 of life none is more poignant than actual realization 
 after long days of sanguine expectation. We knew that 
 at Baro we should find awaiting us a river steamer 
 which would take us down to Lokoja and thence 
 onwards to Onitsha, where we proposed stopping a day 
 or two. Presumably we had visions of the steamers 
 upon the Siberian rivers in the old days. Then life 
 was really happy. A comfortable cabin, deck chairs by 
 the chart-house, and the never-ending, never-changing 
 steppe as company. But that we have dealt with 
 elsewhere. 
 
 From Kaduna to Baro should be a matter of a night's 
 journey. In our case it was magnified into about 
 twenty-four hours, because the train was unwilling and 
 the flesh of the engine driver was evidently weak. 
 
 • " Journal of an Expedition to Explore the Course and Termination 
 of the Niger," Richard and John Lauder.
 
 214 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Bluntly stated, the engine and three coaches were 
 derailed a few hundred yards after crossing a bridge, 
 and it was a miracle that nothing worse happened. We 
 felt exceedingly sorry for the engine driver. As for our- 
 selves, it merely meant a shaking, a delay in reaching 
 Minna — the junction for Baro — and a scarcity of water 
 for a short time. Anyhow, we spent seven hours in the 
 midst of the bush, and we can place it on record for big- 
 game hunters that the triangle Zungeru, Minna, Baro is 
 exactly what it was represented to us as being, one of 
 the finest territories in which to find game — excepting 
 elephants, giraffes and suchlike — in the world. Within 
 a minute of our leaving our carriage a most splendid 
 buck bounded away, and would have been a very easy 
 shot had we been prepared for it, which, to our chagrin, 
 we were not. At Minna we had a visitor — the black 
 postmaster. One of us had done him a trifling service 
 in the old days, and he had learned of our presence in 
 the country and came to the station to greet us. To be 
 postmaster at Minna is an important post, and we 
 rejoiced that the merits of this friendly soul had received 
 proper recognition. He presented us with a live turkey 
 of enormous size, so we now had two — Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gobble-gobble, we called them, to our boys* great 
 delight. 
 
 In due course we arrived at Baro, and are able to con- 
 firm the Lieutenant-Governor's remark, that Baro was 
 like the inside of a teacup full of scalding tea. Certainly 
 it was very hot ! And then it was that we cheerfully 
 assured each other that things might be much worse, 
 and that the journey down river would be a perfect 
 picnic. Awaiting us was the Nigerian river steamer 
 "Vulture," twin-screw, triple-expansion engines, and 
 reported the fastest boat on the Niger, with a species of 
 flat-bottomed houseboat lashed alongside of her. Tech- 
 nically, this kind of craft is called a canoe, but it is very 
 different from the native canoe, or so-called "dug-out," 
 in which one of us has travelled many, many miles upon 
 the Niger. A native canoe is not so bad as it sounds, as 
 most political ofiicers can certify. Even in travelling 
 from the French frontier at Illo, through Jebba as far as
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 215 
 
 Lokoja, though the speed used not to be exactly abnor- 
 mal, there was some sort of comfort. In those big 
 native canoes there was ample room for a deck chair, 
 one's boy sat behind, and at meal times it was very easy 
 to run on to a spit of sand in order to have a bite, or 
 even to anchor thereon for the night, which reminds us 
 of one of the most celebrated characters Nigeria has 
 possibly ever produced. 
 
 In the early days there was a Swedish captain em- 
 ployed by the Nigerian Marine. He was the best of 
 good sorts, and having found the discipline of the 
 Swedish Navy somewhat irksome, he had thrown in his 
 lot with the other adventurers in West Africa. To-day 
 one would call him a " hard case." He would drink 
 unadulterated Niger water and unadulterated whisky 
 with a smile and say that filters were all rubbish, and 
 that whisky was good for the liver. When, as was not 
 remarkable, he was sent home to England by a bene- 
 volent administration to be treated in a Harley Street 
 nursing home for kidney trouble, and when the specia- 
 lists and nurses were congratulating him upon his 
 wonderful recovery, he produced from under his pillow 
 a booklet upon the outside of which was the caption, 
 " Every picture tells a story," and then infuriated the 
 doctors by telling them that he believed in a certain kind 
 of patent pills. Well, he put his fate to the test on the 
 River Niger not far above Jebba, to be precise, at the 
 Boussa rapids, where Mungo Park was drowned. 
 Nothing could dissuade him from shooting them with 
 all his kit, his stores and every article that he possessed. 
 It was in vain that the political officer remonstrated with 
 him and told him not to be silly. His reply was very 
 similar to that he gave to the medicos about the pills. 
 It was, in effect, " You do not know everything." The 
 political officer went overland and met the genial captain 
 at the bottom of the rapids. He was smiling as usual, 
 and his raiment consisted of one solar topee. Everything 
 else, clothing, stores, etc., had been lost, but he was 
 cheerful, extremely cheerful, and emphasized the fact 
 that he had accomplished something that Mungo Park 
 had failed to do. Men of that type built the Northern
 
 216 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 Nigeria as it was then, and following in the footsteps of 
 the pioneer is not so difficult and usually is far more 
 remunerative. 
 
 One must be forgiven for reminiscences, for little does 
 the world know of the early days when Sir Frederick 
 Lugard, casting nominal discretion to the wind, cap- 
 tured for the Empire those vast Emirates which make 
 up the great Mohammedan world of West Africa. His 
 motto might have been " Hit hard, hit quick, and don't 
 tell anyone." His tactics were almost Nelsonic. 
 
 Well does one remember, after about fourteen days in 
 the quiet of a native canoe, arriving at the town of 
 Jebba, which represented the first glimpse of civiliza- 
 tion to those who had been for long strangers in a far 
 land. The Jebba of that time seemed to us political 
 officers a great place. There was a Niger Company's 
 store whereat one could buy things like tinned as- 
 paragus. There was a resident who occupied what had 
 been Government House. And there was a hospital 
 with actually white sisters who must have been amongst 
 the most spoiled mortals the Almighty ever sent on 
 earth. Times have, however, changed, and to use a 
 Hibernianism, the Jebba of to-day is not so modern as 
 the Jebba of those days. Certainly the railway now 
 passes it, crossing the Niger over a superb bridge, and 
 there is a wonderful railway station — in appearance a 
 cross between a mausoleum and a reservoir. Otherwise, 
 thanks to the railway, the importance of Jebba has 
 dwindled to vanishing point. Government House, which 
 used to look down importantly on the river and the 
 native town, is now a crumbling heap of ruins, and the 
 other official buildings have long since been obliterated 
 by encroaching bush. It was the ever-absorbing health 
 problem which caused Sir Frederick Lugard to transfer 
 the seat of Government elsewhere, and Zungeru was the 
 next choice. Jebba has always been frankly unhealthy, 
 both for white and black, though from different causes, 
 as we will indicate. 
 
 When we passed through on our way to Zaria, a rail- 
 way official told us that the shade temperature in his 
 bungalow had been 107° for weeks. That was in the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 217 
 
 dry season. When the rains come aud the malarious 
 mists rise from the Niger, and mosquitoes breed in 
 undiscovered pools and also in the swampy ground, the 
 daily dose of quinine can never be omitted. So between 
 heat-fever and malaria " you pay your money and you 
 take your choice." The natives, who thrive in the sun 
 and pay but scant attention to the dainty but deadly 
 '^anopheles," attribute all their misfortunes to the cele- 
 brated " juju " rock. This cliff, which looms con- 
 spicuously above the lesser hills, is situate about half a 
 mile from the native town and on the other side of the 
 river from the former segregation area. Cone-shaped, 
 its harsh grey stone sparsely covered with scrub at the 
 base, it gazes placidly at its reflection in the Niger, as 
 though it ignored its sinister reputation. According to 
 the natives, and to many Europeans also, the man who 
 climbs to its summit will surely die before twelve 
 months have passed. Probably in the old days, which, 
 after all, are not so many years ago, human sacrifices 
 were made there. Other explanations are the long arm 
 of coincidence and the many secret methods of the 
 "juju" priests for eliminating enemies. Much may 
 happen in a year ! While the railway was building, at 
 least three Europeans employed on the line scoffed at 
 superstition and made the ascent. One is known to 
 have died within a short time, and another is believed 
 so to have done. Personally, we felt in contemplating 
 the rock from a distance, that any one who attempted 
 such exertion in that climate deserved all that was 
 coming. 
 
 The native town of Jebba is built upon an island. 
 On the one side it struggles up to the base of the hill 
 whereon the railway passes, and on the other it struggles 
 down to the sandy river bank. It is not a large town, 
 and, as we previously remarked, the advent of the 
 railway has damaged its commercial importance. Kiver- 
 borne traffic has diminished ; shea nuts and shea butter, 
 onions and cotton, can all be carried more cheaply, 
 safely, and expeditiously in goods trains than in native 
 canoes. So only the fishermen remain. As the sun was 
 setting we saw a little encampment of these nomads on
 
 •^18 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 one of the artificial islands formed by the shrinking 
 Niger. Their huts of woven grass mats were shaped 
 like houses of cards. Their long canoes were beached, 
 showing their black ungainly shapes. Smoke from their 
 fires rose in the still air, and round the huts and fires we 
 could see the slim black figures of the fishermen and of 
 an occasional " piccin." In a few days, when the supply 
 of fish in their district was exhausted, they would 
 transfer huts and families and canoes and settle tem- 
 porarily elsewhere. 
 
 In Jebba itself there is nothing of special interest 
 save two bronze figures, about 3 feet in height, and 
 obviously fashioned in another part of Africa, or possibly 
 Asia. These figures, man and woman, are the chief 
 " jujus " of Jebba, and stand outside the " juju " house, 
 under a neat roof of thatch. The man is in a coat of 
 mail ; the woman, gorgeously attired, carries a mirror. 
 One of us (the most inquisitive) was about to lay an 
 impious finger upon the lady, but was hastily reminded 
 that this was a breach of etiquette by the fearsome 
 scowl which decorated the face of the " juju " priest 
 who was present. Then we were told that some years 
 ago an enterprising political officer desired to add these 
 statues to his collection. The wish was father to the 
 act, but the outcry from Jebba was so terrible that he 
 was obliged to send them back, and now they are 
 jealously guarded even from the touch of a " white 
 mammy " ! 
 
 To revert to our journey in the Vulture, we certainly 
 managed to travel from Baro to Lokoja in twelve hours. 
 Truth compels us to say that, the deck-space on the 
 steamer being very limited, we were compelled to spend 
 the time in the canoe, which occasioned disaster for one 
 of us. It was grillingly hot, with no breeze except that 
 made by the boat in its passage. In such circumstances 
 even a topee becomes an exquisite torment, and, 
 imagining that the canoe was sunproof, it was laid 
 aside. Sunstroke followed for both, and the two days* 
 stay at Lokoja certainly possessed little interest for one 
 of the party. As a matter of fact, though the pristine 
 glory of Lokoja as port of entry, Customs station, and
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 21^ 
 
 deputy-capital of Northern Nigeria has gone, it still 
 remains one of the prettiest towns in West Africa. It 
 is built on slightly rising ground, with at its back 
 Mount Patti, a forest-clad hill which is a landmark for 
 travellers ; whilst riverwards the eye can travel over 
 miles unmeasured of what was once literally the " no- 
 man's land" of Northern Nigeria — a rich country, too, 
 rich in timber, palm kernels and cocoanuts, rich in 
 guinea corns and yams, and the abode of as bloodthirsty 
 a set of cannibals as the most enthusiastic seeker after 
 excitement would care to find. We were told that, to 
 this day, the place possesses a bad name, and it seems 
 only yesterday — to be precise in 1904 — that O'Eiordan 
 and Burney, political and police officers respectively, 
 went to the most horrible doom that can await living 
 man. Burney was lucky. He was shot dead by the 
 first volley of poisoned arrows, whereas his comrade 
 was captured alive, and, after suffering horrible torments, 
 was massacred to provide a feast for his foes. Eemini- 
 scences of such a type make for reflection. 
 
 From Lokoja as one glances over the Bassa of to-day 
 it looks so peaceful. Thanks to the Niger it is more or 
 less evergreen, and one can almost imagine it peopled 
 with happy, thriving settlers from the Old Country were 
 it not for that dreadful bar, the climate, and emphati- 
 cally it is not well in this country to dwell too much 
 upon the morbid. Whatever else may happen in West 
 Africa, there is no doubt that the sense of humour of 
 the individual, be it natural or acquired, saves many 
 difficult situations. Thus it was also in 1904 that the 
 following occurred. In a moment of extreme temper — 
 not uncommon, be it said, in these parts — the captain of 
 one of the Government river steamers threw the black 
 mate overboard, when he was promptly eaten by a 
 crocodile. Upon arrival at Lokoja the captain was placed 
 under arrest on a charge of wilful murder. Rightly or 
 wrongly, all the white population were entirely with the 
 defendant. Hence, since from headquarters a trial had 
 been ordered, the political officer suddenly found that 
 he had urgent business elsewhere and proceeded on 
 tour . The officer commanding the troops was taken ill
 
 "220 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 with fever. The officer commanding the police com- 
 plained of blackwater. The medical officer, in reply to 
 an urgent telegram saying that he must try the case in 
 default of the others, tersely replied that he was too busy 
 looking after his patients ; and thus, having gone through 
 the entire station from the point of view of seniority, 
 it was eventually decided that the storekeeper should 
 administer justice. 
 
 In those days juries and counsel were unknown, and 
 there was a beautiful atmosphere of informality about all 
 such proceedings. The storekeeper, however, who inci- 
 dentally was a Scotsman, rose to the dignity of the occa- 
 sion, and, after hearing the evidence, said something 
 like the following: "Well, my lad, I've heard all the 
 evidence, and there is no doubt in my own mind that 
 you have committed the worst of all crimes, that of 
 wilful murder. Therefore, it is my duty to pass sentence 
 of death upon you in the form which the law orders." 
 Whereon followed sentence of death, delivered in the 
 best Old Bailey style. "But," he concluded, "taking 
 into consideration the provocation you received and the 
 fact that this is no country for white men, I'll tell you 
 what I'll do. I'll give you the option of a fine of £1." 
 He has long since joined the majority, but they say that 
 he received immediate promotion for his remarkable 
 decision. 
 
 Lokoja is also the focal point of the whole of the 
 Nigerian river system. About a mile up river, the Niger's 
 greatest tributary, the Benue, joins it after traversing 
 some 600 miles of territory, having its birthplace in what 
 was the German Cameroons. If the Niger is lonely, and 
 undoubtedly it is, the Benue is fifty times more so. As 
 far as the Cameroon frontier, a distance of 480 miles, it 
 would be no exaggeration to state that there are no more 
 than twenty officials and perhaps the same number of 
 traders. Can it be wondered at that for many tempera- 
 ments the loneliness becomes almost intolerable; that even 
 the most hardened optimists become at first depressed, 
 and then drift into backwaters of life which should never 
 have been ? One can write of such things with experi- 
 ence behind one, but it is a fatal error which permits
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 221 
 
 the young to be left alone. It is an error which should 
 have been recognized long since. The French, however, 
 always have two men on a station together, and the 
 same applies to German administration that was, both 
 governmental and mercantile. 
 
 Upon this subject we shall have more to say. At the 
 same time there is every promise of a change for the 
 better, whilst now that Lord Leverhulme has acquired 
 such a preponderating influence in mercantile Nigeria, 
 and since he has shown so much understanding over 
 the betterment of his employees in England, one may 
 confidently expect that he will insist upon radical altera- 
 tions in his new sphere of operations. 
 
 There is no doubt about the potential wealth of the 
 whole area ; what must be done is to attract the right 
 sort of individual to develop the latent riches of this 
 vast country, and, in so doing, allowing for climatic 
 disabilities and difficulty of access, render the life of the 
 temporary sojourner possible, if not pleasant. That, so 
 it seems to us, is the keynote of the whole situation. 
 From Lokoja we continued our wanderings down river 
 to Onitsha, in the same Vulture. South of Lokoja the 
 river widens, and certainly becomes more interesting. 
 The flatness of the plains is past ; on both sides of the 
 stream there is rising gro.und, and native settlements 
 become more numerous. 
 
 By the time we reached our destination we had 
 acquired a great respect for our native captain. As 
 Americans would say, " He was some sailor-man." His 
 trousers were of the true navy cut, and he carried with 
 him all the dignity that the black man can feel when he 
 knows that he is the skipper of the fastest boat on the 
 Niger. Navigation on the Niger, however, is not a 
 thing which is taught in text-books. One can but 
 imagine that instinct enters very largely into the 
 mentality of a captain thus concerned. At low water in 
 the dry season sand banks crop up with a most amazing 
 irregularity, and what was, the night before, a perfectly 
 good channel, on the morrow becomes nothing more nor 
 less than dry beach. Hence we stuck frequently, and 
 once, when the proverbial tornado arrived, very nearly
 
 1222 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 lost our canoe. The captain was in a hurry, the 
 Vulture, as before stated, was very fast, whilst the 
 tornado was a stinger. We drove head on into it, and 
 in less time than it takes to write everything was awash. 
 There must have been at least three feet of water in 
 the canoe, and the only unperturbed person was our boy, 
 who was busily occupied in making curried eggs, and 
 who merely remarked, "This no be plenty bad, sir; 
 boat he no fit sink," and went on cooking in the most 
 unconcerned manner. That our bedding was soaked 
 and some of our personal effects ruined, mattered not a 
 whit to our cheery optimist. Curried eggs were his pre- 
 occupation, and though he was wet up to the middle, 
 and the water had begun to put out his fire, he emerged 
 smiling with his dish, and didn't we enjoj^ it ? People 
 may write what they like, but the West African boy is a 
 faithful creature, and will endure a great deal so long 
 as he thinks that his " massa " and " missus " appreciate 
 his services. 
 
 The Vulture was run on to a sand bank, the water 
 was baled out of the canoe, and we waited for the waves 
 to subside. It sounds absurd to talk of waves on a river, 
 but the Niger at this part must have been three or four 
 miles across, and in a boat whose gunwale was only a 
 foot above water it did not require a very heavy sea to 
 make progress dangerous. As we sat in the bow, rather 
 wet but thankful that nothing but our soap had been 
 thrown overboard by the enthusiastic balers of the canoe, 
 the fireman and engineer built a fire on the sand from 
 burning logs from the engine-room, and Captain and 
 crew curled themselves up beside it and went to sleep. 
 It was dark and we could dimly see the shore and tiny 
 specks of light which marked a native village. The 
 tornado had cooled the air somewhat, and little waves, 
 small children of those which had threatened to sink us, 
 lapped gently against the side of the Vulture. After the 
 heat and turmoil of the day, it was infinitely restful and 
 we grudgingly departed. By cutting corners and going 
 through unfrequented channels we made Onitsha, in 
 what was practically record time. 
 
 On our arrival, whatever may have been our physical
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 223 
 
 discomforts, and we were neither of us well, a warmth 
 of welcome awaited us which went far to dissipate our 
 past inconveniences. Onitsha lies on the left bank of 
 the Niger, some 200 miles from the sea. It is a pretty 
 little town, and, apart from the official buildings, can 
 boast of a fine bank, quite a number of stores, and one 
 of the oldest Catholic missions in West Africa. Truly 
 a book might be written about the Catholic missionaries 
 who come out to this unpleasant country literally to 
 spend their lives. Thus, for instance, we met a priest 
 who had been twenty-three years there without going 
 home. He certainly looked hale and hearty enough, and 
 the query naturally arises : " How is it possible for men 
 such as these to carry on their duties year in, year out, 
 and not suffer in some way or another ? " Of course, 
 they do suffer ; they often have fever, but they have 
 learnt how to live= Their residences are airy and 
 spacious, they are spared the worries which assail both 
 the official and the trader, and, in colloquial parlance, 
 they do themselves well. Mostly French, their centres 
 send them out plenty of the good wine of France, which, 
 as we have often been told, is one of the finest anti- 
 dotes to malarial poisoning. Although literally strangers 
 in a strange land, and probably speaking English with 
 difficulty, they are extremely popular with all classes. 
 And well may they be. For was it not good Father 
 Zappa, vicar apostolic of the Lower Niger at the time, 
 who displayed so much gallantry when attacked by a 
 peculiarly venomous native secret society known as the 
 Ekumeku, or the " silent ones," that the none-too- 
 generous Niger Company presented with a gold watch, 
 whilst the officers of the West African Frontier Force 
 gave him a gold-mounted revolver with which in future 
 to protect himself ? 
 
 The story is an old one, but it may be worth retelling. 
 The Ekumeku had long been a thorn in the flesh of 
 British Administration, and many had been the abortive 
 punitive expeditions sent against them. But they were 
 a truculent lot, and what upset the Hausa, the native 
 " Tommy," was the fact that their ethics of fighting 
 included absolute silence whilst doing so. White officers
 
 224 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 have often told us that the effect was so uncanny that it 
 upset everyone's morale. On this occasion, having wiped 
 out several villages, massacred the small military force on 
 the spot and destroyed all the factories, they advanced 
 upon the Catholic mission at Onitsha, then inhabited by 
 Father Zappa and a brother priest who was dying. To 
 his lasting credit Zappa was not in the least perturbed ; 
 surrounded as he was by hundreds of spear-armed 
 savages, who circled round and round the mission, making 
 never a sound but showing by their gestures that they 
 meant business, he went out and harangued them. 
 First of all, he told them he was unarmed, and that 
 therefore they could kill him with the greatest of ease. 
 Then he told them, within the mission lay a dying man, 
 and would they not permit him to go to his Maker in 
 peace ? Silence. The natives merely closed a little. 
 The strain becoming unendurable, he next taunted them, 
 and asked them whether they were afraid of an unarmed 
 man. Still silence. Then he resorted to other methods. 
 He told them they were silly. He reminded them that 
 the white man had a long arm, and that their actions 
 would be visited upon them by the destruction of their 
 own lives, their villages, and even possibly their wives 
 and children. And finally, as nothing seemed to happen, 
 he told them semi-jocularly to go home to their mammies 
 and to be good children, that palaver was no good for 
 anybody, and that he was quite certain that their 
 mammies would support his theory. Marvellous to 
 relate, without a single sound, the band of attackers 
 disappeared into the bush as silently as they had arrived, 
 leaving Father Zappa certainly the moral victor of the 
 day. Moreover, it is credibly stated that after that 
 episode the last sign of rebellion flickered and died. 
 Truly such a man deserved well of the British Empire. 
 Some hundred miles to the east of Onitsha is situated 
 the valuable coalfield of Udi. It is almost impossible 
 to over-estimate the importance of this undertaking to 
 West African industry as a whole. Naturally, the 
 Nigerian railway system depends upon it, and now it 
 is usual for ships to bunker at Port Harcourt, which 
 lies up one of the many creeks of the Niger delta.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 225 
 
 The coal is of good quality, and the supply is supposed 
 to be almost inexhaustible. But, and the inevitable 
 "but " comes in, there is the question of labour. Strike 
 succeeds strike with lamentable frequency, and it seems 
 as though there were no method of ever satisfying native 
 miners. And the trouble does not end there. Taking a 
 leaf from the older civilization of Great Britain, they 
 have learnt the strength of co-operation, and if the 
 miners come out the railway men join them, followed 
 by the stevedores, longshoremen, and dock labourers 
 at Port Harcourt. The poison of labour unrest has 
 certainly penetrated into the native body politic and 
 found there a happy germinating ground, which leads 
 us to make a point which should be clearly understood 
 and appreciated in Great Britain by all who are 
 interested in the advancement of British West Africa. 
 It is this : Let it be grasped that there are many 
 educated coast natives, chiefly recruited from the Gold 
 Coast, who are naturally peculiarly suitable for the 
 clerical positions which they occupy in commercial 
 or administrative undertakings. These men read the 
 English papers. Although they have never been to 
 Europe they fancy they can visualize the position of the 
 working classes, and they argue that what is sauce for 
 the white goose is equally sauce for the black gander, 
 and when they read the inflammatory speeches of 
 certain Labour politicians reason is thrown to the 
 winds, and temporarily they become first-rate rebels. 
 Purposely is the word " temporarily " used. With rare 
 exceptions, at heart they are all right, but their 
 temperament is mercurial, and passing excitement will 
 sway them as easily as a gust of wind bends a field 
 of corn. However, the results are patent to any 
 observer, more particularly to one who can look back 
 fifteen years and compare that era with the present. 
 We write this with all seriousness. If labour unrest 
 continues to spread, if the native agitator with his light 
 leaven of so-called education and fed upon the unhealthy 
 theories now being propounded by some sections of 
 British labour, continues to flourish, then assuredly the 
 day will come when we shall be face to face with a 
 15
 
 226 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 situation in West Africa, and more especially in vast 
 Nigeria, which will certainly cause grave anxiety to 
 those who are responsible for its government. 
 
 From Onitsha our way lay down river to Forcados. 
 Our stay at the former had been overshadowed by 
 complications and yet we were sorry to leave. Kindness 
 we had met with everywhere ; some of it perfunctory, 
 most of it, we are happy to say, spontaneous and without 
 thought of return. Truly does Robert Louis Stevenson 
 call physicians " the flower of civilisation," and at 
 Onitsha we met one of the finest amongst the many 
 fine specimens that it has been our good fortune to 
 encounter. He and the Resident and the latter's wife 
 did all that was possible to make life bearable for two 
 very weary mortals. And we were not the only ones 
 who benefited by their presence. The whole tone of 
 the station was finer, saner and happier than any 
 other we have seen. A moral disinfectant need not be 
 unattractive. Certainly this one was not. It was as 
 though feminine charm and "womanliness" in its true 
 sense, added to manly truth and courage, had swept 
 away all the ugly evil crawling things which lurk in 
 dark corners ready to bite and sting. To these three 
 we can never repay the debt of gratitude which we owe 
 to them, but we thank them and they will understand.
 
 227 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Since it is impossible for anyone to visit the West 
 Coast of Africa and not be drawn into conversation, 
 heated or otherwise, upon the ever-present problems con- 
 cerning health and missionaries, both certainly deserve 
 more than passing attention. In one of our other 
 chapters we hazarded the opinion that cheerfulness of 
 disposition, determination not to worry, and a certain 
 spice of pluck went a long way towards combating what 
 undoubtedly is a terribly trying climate. That opinion 
 remains good so far as we are concerned. But there are 
 puzzling factors in the case which need thoroughly to be 
 understood when West African topics are being 
 examined. 
 
 The most elementary form of sickness which the white 
 man encounters is fever. Now it might be supposed 
 that, with the advance of modern science and the careful 
 attention being paid to-day to tropical disease, the cause, 
 treatment, and cure of fever would be a simple matter. 
 Such, however, is not the case. It is no exaggeration 
 to write that there are as many different species of 
 fever endemic to this coast as there are opinions as to 
 their treatment held by qualified medical men. To 
 give an example. Everyone knows, broadly speaking, 
 that quinine kills the microbe of malaria. Hence, in 
 all Government text-books, the new-comer or the old- 
 comer alike is recommended to take 5 gr. of quinine 
 daily. Out of interest we have made a point of 
 asking the opinion of every medical man we have met 
 out here, and they have been many, his considered 
 opinion on the point. It is a most remarkable fact that 
 no two opinions ever coincided. One old stager with 
 twenty-three years' experience of West Africa behind 
 him averred that 5 gr. daily was bad for the system,
 
 228 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 but that he could ensure anyone immunity for six 
 months if he would take 30 gr. daily for a fortnight. 
 Poor patient ! We somehow felt that his immunity 
 might be permanent ! Another man with considerable 
 experience who had the care of the occupants of a 
 certain Government house shook his head over the 
 5 gr. a day theory, and said, " No ! no ! 5 gr, 
 Saturday and Sunday night, and be particular that it 
 is taken at night time." Another boldly plumped for 
 no quinine, adding that he knew it upset the digestion 
 and that he believed it was the cause of blackwater, the 
 most dreaded ailment of all, and as deadly as cerebro- 
 spinal meningitis, which annually carries off hundreds of 
 native victims. 
 
 Further to quote medical theories and opinions might 
 be tedious to the ordinary reader, and most assuredly we 
 are not writing for the medical profession. All that we 
 are attempting to do is to emphasize the extraordinary 
 diversity of views held by those with experience upon 
 the prime and radical cause of West Africa's bad name. 
 And, equally, it may be that what we are writing may 
 inspire some of the rising and more enterprising students 
 of medicine seriously to take up tropical research. The 
 field is unlimited, and, alas, the workers are few. Take 
 the case of blackwater ; one is frankly told on all sides 
 that its origin is unknown, though there are theories 
 galore. The percentage of recovery nowadays may be 
 a fraction better than what it was years ago, chiefly 
 due to better means of transport, though it is not un- 
 common for West Africans to develop it even after 
 their arrival in Great Britain, and we personally know 
 of two cases, both fatal, one of which occurred in 
 England and the other in Ireland. 
 
 We have referred to cerebro-spinal meningitis ; a 
 dreadful outbreak of this malady much spoilt the great 
 good which General Guggisberg was doing by his all- 
 embracing tour around his territory. As we were 
 privileged to accompany him we can state with autho- 
 rity that the doctors were literally at their wits' ends to 
 know how to cope with the outbreak. Segregating camps 
 and burning villages may be preventive measures, but
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 229 
 
 they are not cures. Not long since a most distin- 
 guished medical commission was sent to the Gold 
 Coast to find out whether, in their opinion, yellow 
 fever existed in West Africa or whether what was taken 
 to be that complaint was merely a variation of malaria. 
 Their investigations covered a considerable period, and 
 their findings were embodied in four closely filled 
 volumes. The verdict for the West Coast was "not 
 guilty." A fortnight after the departure of the com- 
 mission both the Governor and his wife were down with 
 undoubtedly yellow fever, and now as we passed Accra 
 homeward bound the yellow flag was flying from the 
 fort and a strict quarantine was in force. 
 
 Now, although there is such dissimilarity of view-point 
 amongst the medical fraternity upon these and kindred 
 questions relating to tropical disease, upon one subject 
 they are unanimous ; for some reason they cannot 
 explain, wounds will not heal satisfactorily on the 
 Coast. If an operation has to be undertaken, get the 
 patient somehow elsewhere, if it be only to the Canary 
 Islands. Given a good hospital, the best instruments, 
 white nurses, and the necessary articles of diet for a 
 surgical case, and there is not a West Coast doctor who 
 will willingly undertake a major operation. Why won't 
 the wounds heal ? That must be for research workers 
 to explain. Which brings us step by step to the real 
 crux of the whole matter, which, of course, is money. 
 
 The West African medical service is at present hope- 
 lessly understaffed. Writing from memory, we believe 
 there were thirty-six vacancies in the Gold Coast medical 
 service alone. We can claim as a personal friend a 
 cheery optimist who had the sole charge of the health 
 of the whole of the European and native community in 
 the British sphere of influence in Togoland, and that pre- 
 sumably not being considered enough for him, his duties 
 took him as far as the mouth of the River Volta. A glance 
 at a map will show that he had an impossible task. For 
 some reason which is beyond our ken, doctors are not in- 
 cluded in the new schedule of pay drawn up for all white 
 officials in Government departments. This is not to 
 say that increases of pay and better conditions of service
 
 230 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 are not in contemplation. We understand they are. 
 Until their realization, however, the supply of candidates 
 to fill West African vacancies will never approximate to 
 the demand. There is a world's dearth of young medical 
 practitioners suitable for such service, and until con- 
 ditions are made more attractive it is a fact that they 
 will not come forward. Granted, then, that there is no 
 exaggeration in the above statement — and assuredly we 
 believe there is not — how on earth can much research 
 work be expected, and how is it to be encouraged ? The 
 Governors of the various colonies, both in public 
 speeches and despatches, are continually pointing out 
 the crying need for this most urgent of services, since 
 upon it depends the efficient and smooth working of the 
 whole administrative machinery. 
 
 There are two schools of tropical medicine, one in 
 London and the other at Liverpool. They can boast of 
 a band of devoted workers, but the call is ever for more 
 recruits and more money. It is a curious commentary 
 upon British mentality that while we are the greatest 
 Colonial Empire in the world, with regions deliberately 
 inviting the skill and attention of medical scientists 
 and pathologists, we should be hampered for funds. 
 We are certainly the last people in the world to decry 
 libraries, public parks, or even the garish memorials 
 which ornament our principal cities and speak of the 
 benevolence of some departed benefactors. What a 
 wonderful memorial it would be if some millionaire — 
 and there appear to be plenty — would erect to himself a 
 lasting monument by handsomely endowing and placing 
 for all time beyond financial embarrassment a suitable 
 school of tropical medicine and research, an ample 
 hospital for tropical disease, and an endowment to render 
 independent or combined investigation possible upon the 
 spot ! 
 
 From all of which it must not be imagined for one 
 moment that the coast medico is a grouser or a sad-faced 
 moper. Far from it. He is the cheeriest of individuals, 
 and one of the busiest. " Let others be ill " might well 
 be his motto, " but I haven't got the time." He puts up 
 with the most irritating of circumstances with the most
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 231 
 
 wonderful philosophic calm. One of our friends was called 
 to a case eighty miles away, through a country where 
 there were no roads but plenty of rivers, which were not 
 pleasant objects to encounter as it was the height of the 
 rainy season. It took him three days of really strenuous 
 going, and when he arrived at the station, tired out and 
 drenched to the skin, his first words were, " Where's 
 the sick man?" "Oh!" was the nonchalant reply, 
 "you've come up about M — have you? There he is," 
 pointing to a contented-looking man smoking a pipe and 
 imbibing mahogany-coloured whisky and sparklet. All 
 the so-called sick man volunteered was, " Sorry you've 
 had a rough passage. Doc, I'm as tit as a fiddle now, 
 only didn't know how to stop you. Have a peg ? " 
 What the doctor thought history does not relate, but he 
 had two pegs. 
 
 Another delightful friend we made was looking, we 
 hoped with admiration and envy, at our medicine chest, 
 which we flattered ourselves was replete with medicines 
 for every possible contingency. He examined it with the 
 greatest of attention, and then remarked dryly, "Jolly 
 good case for lay-folk like you people ; of course, as 
 a medical man, I only carry two medicines, salts and 
 quinine." 
 
 There has recently been a discovery that the intra- 
 venous injection of antimony maij cure sleeping sickness, 
 but the cure is still in its infancy. As we have said 
 before, the work of Dr. von Raben in Togoland has been 
 discontinued and we very much doubt if the over- worked 
 physician at Lome has any of this drug in his dispensary. 
 It is easier to get a Ford car sent to the West Coast 
 than a fresh supply of drugs, and in that climate 
 deterioration proceeds rapidly. 
 
 Another aspect of a doctor's work is the tact and 
 patience he must employ with the natives. The 
 frequenters of a slum dispensary are enlightened 
 compared to these dusky children of Africa. The 
 "trousered native " will spend the major portion of his 
 salary on quack medicines from "home," it is true, but 
 the more ignorant prefer their own " juju " and can at 
 times show such wonderful results of faith-healing as to
 
 232 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 cause the doctor's insecure influence to waver and fall. 
 One morning, looking out of our window at Koforidua, 
 we saw the Chief Commissioner's orderly seated by the 
 side of the cook house with his feet in hot water while 
 the sympathetic cook was plastering his legs with some 
 peculiar mixture. He had been, it seemed, much 
 crippled with rheumatism and had been in hospital for 
 treatment. Then he had found a native " doctor " who 
 prescribed the juice of a certain leaf in hot water and an 
 ointment consisting mainly of dung. For this prescrip- 
 tion the orderly cheerfully paid £3, and after one appli- 
 cation declared he was much better. Naturally, so- 
 called " doctors " of this description bitterly resent the 
 intrusion of the white man who will deprive them of their 
 lucrative practice, and work against him by fair means 
 or foul whenever they can. Patience is not the native's 
 strong point. He must be cured rapidly or he loses 
 faith. The " juju " priests, with their spectacular rites, 
 impress him far more than the shorn and shaven 
 European physician who administers a simple pill or 
 powder without any beating of drums or rattling of 
 bones. As for infection it would require, as Sydney 
 Smith said, a surgical operation to get such an idea into 
 their skulls. One of our " boys " was discovered to have 
 a peculiarly loathsome and infectious disease. Having 
 sent him, much against his will, to hospital for treatment 
 we tried to explain to the other that he must not use X's 
 mosquito net, on which he had already cast a covetous 
 eye, without boiling it in a disinfectant. Laughing and 
 showing his perfect teeth he made reply, " I no fear. I 
 be clean boy." He was made to boil the net but his 
 attitude was plainly that " white man be fool man," and 
 this was a lad of comparative intelligence who had been 
 to school at Freetown. 
 
 Therefore, when folk complain, as we have often 
 heard them do, of the West African Medical Service, 
 they should bear in mind the following : The scant 
 means at the disposal of the doctors, the difficulties of 
 all sorts under which they work, the small salaries in 
 proportion to their services and the obstacles which are 
 placed in the way of improvement. All honour to them !
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 233 
 
 we say, and may they in the near future receive their 
 just reward. 
 
 Of all the controversies which arouse misunderstandings 
 followed by enmity, none is more dangerous than that 
 of missionaries. We approach the subject, therefore, 
 with trepidation, but in defence we must first of all 
 plead that we have travelled pretty widely over the 
 world, and nothing broadens one's views more than 
 travel or renders one more temperate towards the 
 opinions of others. At present West Africa as a whole 
 is attracting a tremendous amount of missionary effort. 
 Christian as well as Mohammedan. As we shall show 
 later, unless we are careful it may also attract Bolshevik 
 intrigue through the Mohammedan community, as 
 already that Russian poison has infected the Moham- 
 medan world of Central Asia, Afghanistan and Asia 
 Minor. But that is another story. It is beyond argu- 
 ment, however, and a greatly preponderating majority of 
 those acquainted with native administration will support 
 us in this : First, that it is practically useless to offer 
 Christianity to the Moslem in place of his own belief ; 
 and, secondly, that Mohammedanism is far more easy of 
 assimilation by the Pagan than Christianity. West 
 Africa is an object lesson to those who are not fanatical 
 extremists, but are prepared to balance the pros and 
 cons of a policy. Very wisely Sir Frederick Lugard 
 laid it down as an axiom that missionaries of any 
 denomination should be discouraged from going to the 
 great Emirates, where their activities would most likely 
 be productive of misunderstanding leading to distur- 
 bances. Fancy permitting a Sinn Fein missioner to 
 preach in the open air in a Protestant section of Belfast ! 
 The cases are really analogous, for though the Emirs 
 themselves are friendly and discreet enough to tolerate 
 the uninvited visits of these gentlemen they cannot 
 control the actions of the more fanatical of their 
 followers, and Mohammedanism breeds fanatics as all the 
 world knows. 
 
 Sir Frederick Lugard's decision caused fearful heart- 
 burning, and we were entertained by reading dreadful 
 diatribes both upon him and our old friend, Mr. Temple,
 
 234 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 who was then Deputy Governor of Nigeria. One regrets 
 to say that the pubhcation which issued them was 
 Canadian in origin. On the other hand, a very honest 
 gentleman, a doctor and a missionary combined, stated 
 that after a year in one of the great Mohammedan 
 centres, he had made one Christian convert from the 
 Moslem faith, and added, " But I don't trust him." 
 
 Furthermore, the presence of a white missionary of 
 of any denomination is liable to cause, at any rate, 
 superficial friction between the political ofiicer and the 
 Emir. The former always lives at some distance from 
 the town. The missionary, on the contrary, resides in 
 the town, and unless he be a diplomatist of the very 
 finest quality, is only too apt, day by day, to hear native 
 gossip and tittle-tattle, and unknowingly and indirectly 
 engender a feeling that " Here is a white man who will 
 support upon occasion the man against his master," 
 which, assuredly, is a very dangerous game to play 
 between a Mohammedan ruler and his people. Briefly, 
 that is the situation, and it is intensified in a country 
 like Nigeria, where the power of two-thirds of this vast 
 area is in the hands of some twenty Emirs. 
 
 To bring the matter home a little more forcibly ; 
 the Emir of Kano has under his control a population 
 bigger than that of the whole of the Gold Coast, with 
 its vast administrative machinery running into hundreds 
 of officials, whilst Kano province is politically adminis- 
 tered by about six white men, a handful of soldiers, and 
 a few doctors and Treasury officials. In other words, 
 British rule throughout all the Emirates is supported 
 and upheld by the Emirs themselves, and once their 
 dearest convictions are tampered with, the whole fabric 
 of rule in those latitudes is completely undermined. So 
 much, then, for the Mohammedan side of the question. 
 With the Pagans it is entirely different, and the policy 
 of all Governors has been to admit, irrespective of 
 denomination, all those who ventured so far afield as 
 apostles of their respective beliefs. 
 
 Apropos of missionaries, here is a story too good to 
 miss and is related by a missionary himself, C. H. 
 Robinson, M.A., in his book on Nigeria. Some Bristol
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 235 
 
 schoolboys were told to write an essay on a British 
 colony, and the following pearl came from one of them : 
 " Africa is a British colony. I will tell you how England 
 makes her colonies. First she gets a missionary. When 
 the missionary has found a specially beautiful and fertile 
 tract of country, he gets all his people round him and 
 says, ' Let us pray,' and when all the eyes are shut, up 
 goes the British flag." 
 
 Aside from political reasons for the prohibition of 
 missionaries in the Hausa territories, it would seem like 
 carrying sand to the Sahara when one reads their 
 religious literature. That they do not invariably practice 
 what they preach is a failing not confined to that portion 
 of the globe. But what could be finer, and in places 
 more poetical, than the following examples ? 
 
 " Whoever works without knowledge works uselessly." 
 
 " The son of the ignorant is a beast and a fool ; he 
 destroys himself, he knows nothing at all." 
 
 " The son of the wicked man is the friend of the 
 heathen, the brother of the Jew ; the day is coming 
 when they shall meet with God." 
 
 "Whoever chooses this world rejects the choice of the 
 next ; he seizes one cowrie, but loses two thousand 
 cowries." 
 
 "We have a journey before us which cannot be put 
 aside, whether you are prepared or unprepared. Whether 
 by night or just before the dawn, or in the morning when 
 the sun has risen." 
 
 " Mother and daughter, you cannot choose between 
 them, you know you cannot marry them both ; so, too, 
 earth and the next world ; you know you cannot bring 
 them together so as to retain them. Look carefully 
 then, thyself, as to which of them thou wilt choose." 
 
 " He who fasts, but at the same time eats in secret, 
 I have no doubt but that you may call him a heathen." 
 
 " And concerning evil living without marriage, God 
 shall cause those who live thus to be blotted out."* 
 
 It may appear invidious to draw comparisons, but 
 obviously the so-called industrial mission must accom- 
 
 • Specimens of Hausa literature.
 
 236 WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 plish more than the purely spiritual. The fathers of the 
 Roman Catholic Church and what was the Basel Mission 
 (a German organization now taken over by the Scottish 
 Mission), stand in the forefront of introducing useful 
 labour first and then building upon that foundation 
 Christian teaching. On the whole, both have been very 
 successful as far as success can ever be obtained in this 
 most thorny of undertakings. A Jesuit priest of very 
 great experience in East India, Bast Africa, and British 
 Guiana, enunciated to us his own personal theory, and 
 it will be allowed that, by training, Jesuits are most 
 expert observers. In effect he said, " I am not in the 
 least surprised that people prefer non-Christian servants 
 to Christian. Christianity with natives eradicates from 
 their systems such crimes as murder, human sacrifice, 
 and that fanaticism which is productive of murder. In 
 place of these they develop the minor but extremely 
 unpleasant qualities of lying and thieving. I estimate 
 that it will take 300 years before a Christianized native 
 community will be formed which will show the same 
 belief in the efficacy of Christianity which is to be found 
 often in the depraved of our own colour." 
 
 It is also undeniable that the abundance of various 
 Christian denominations puzzles the African mind. 
 One of us once had a very faithful clerk, who hailed 
 from Cape Coast Castle. To use a colloquialism he was 
 a treasure. His wife having presented him with a little 
 son, he was asked whether he would like it baptized by 
 the Church of England Missionary Society clergyman. 
 He hummed and hawed a little, and then said, " Well, 
 sir, the fact is I was baptized a Wesleyan, but I always 
 attend the Roman Catholic services ; and on the whole 
 I think it would be just as well if my boy were baptised 
 by a " Mallam " (a Mohammedan priest). Such a case 
 is by no means exceptional ; in fact, it is common ; but it 
 must not be taken as representing anything derogatory 
 either to the good faith or the self-sacrifice of those 
 who believe they have had a call and respond thereto. 
 After all, allowance must be made for temperament, 
 and no one has a right to impugn the good faith of 
 anyone who believes that what he is doing is what
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 237 
 
 his Master would wish. At the same time, that same 
 individual may prove a fearful administrative embarrass- 
 ment, and in this materially-minded world of 1921 that 
 aspect requires a good deal of consideration. 
 
 To give an instance of this sort of thing, a friend of 
 ours who led the two Tanganyika Expeditions told 
 us how a zealous missionary nearly cost the white men 
 the support of an influential chief in Central Africa. 
 He was an old acquaintance of our friend and they 
 were on the best of terms. Some years elapsed before 
 they met again and our friend soon saw there was 
 something wrong. He and those who accompanied him 
 were treated with less respect and courtesy than of old, 
 and he promptly tackled the chief on the matter. After 
 the usual African evasions the chief came brusquely 
 to the point. "I think less of you white people," he 
 said, " since I have heard what manner of God you 
 worship. We poor black men would never so demean 
 ourselves, and there you are — worse than we." "What 
 can you mean ? " was the astonished reply. " We have 
 been told that you bow before a curly pig," was the 
 answer ; " a white man came here and told us so. 
 It is the truth." After a few more questions the actual 
 facts were made clear. A missionary had visited the 
 Chief and had unwisely attempted to use the expression 
 " Lamb of God." As the people in those parts had no 
 sheep and had never seen one, the words for sheep and 
 lamb were not in their language, and the missionary 
 had done his best — or worst — by converting Lamb into 
 curly pig, and the prestige of his countrymen had 
 suffered accordingly. It required lengthy argument 
 and persuasion to convince the Chief with tact that 
 an error had been made. 
 
 We remarked that the Roman Catholic priests and 
 the Scottish missions are industrially carrying on a 
 great work. Many a West African exile owes a real 
 unpayable debt of gratitude to the Church Missionary 
 Society, whose missioners are nearly always doctors and 
 to whom, equally with the official medical service, the 
 gratitude and affection of every West Coaster should 
 go forth. Alas ! however, the list does not end there,
 
 238 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 and as a worried official remarked at Lagos, " What on 
 earth are we to do with people who come out here 
 so ill-equipped and ill-prepared that their coming is 
 virtually suicide ? " What, indeed ? Two such instances 
 were forced under our immediate notice. We forbear 
 giving the name of the mission, merely because there is 
 no doubt in our own minds that they reckoned that 
 they were doing the correct thing, even though to us 
 materialists it seems misguided. 
 
 One girl, by trade a stenographer, was going out to 
 Nigeria at a microscopic salary under four years' contract. 
 After three years, even the most flinty-hearted London 
 firms always send their employees home on long leave, 
 while the Government is very much more generous. 
 The girl suffered from goitre and heart disease, and 
 when she embarked upon her mission from Toronto 
 she was never so much as medically examined, although 
 she was going to what is always reckoned one of the 
 most dangerous climates of the world. Such an action 
 may speak to some minds as magnificent heroism, 
 " mais ce n'est pas la guerre," neither is it business. 
 That young woman, it is not unsafe to prophesy, will 
 return to her relatives a virtual cripple, without having 
 accomplished a fraction of the good she might have 
 found it possible to bring about in some other sphere 
 of action. 
 
 The other case was that of a young woman, Canadian 
 likewise, who was going out to act as a matron to a 
 native hospital run by missionaries. She regarded 
 New York as being a very, very long way from home, 
 so what she thought of the Niger can be left to the 
 imagination. Her equipment was of the most limited 
 character, and she laughed about the dangers of the sun 
 until she had reason to feel its potency and realize that 
 tropical Africa is not London, Ontario. She, also, was 
 under a contract for four years, and, though one can 
 admire the genuine pluck which made her say " I will 
 go," it is quite reasonable to consider that those who 
 sent her in such a state of pristine ignorance were 
 wrong. 
 
 As we have written above, it is a thorny problem, and
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 2S9 
 
 we have attempted merely to place before the reader 
 in as unprejudiced a way as possible some of the existing 
 facts of missionary work in West Africa in order that 
 when the mud is so freely thrown, as it is by missionary 
 enthusiasts, upon the so-called misdeeds of Governors 
 and their officials, it may be realized succintly that there 
 is, in point of truth, another side.
 
 240 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 It i3 a commonplace that the most certain method by 
 which the peaceful government of what, to all intents 
 and purposes, is a new country can be most easily 
 attained is by railway construction. In spite of its 
 many faults, Kussian administration in the old days was 
 responsible for opening up the whole of Central Asia by 
 that stupendous line connecting Orenburg, in the south- 
 east of Russia, with the Khanate capitals of Tashkent and 
 Bokhara, skirting the frontiers of Afghanistan, passing 
 through Merv, and eventually reaching the shores of the 
 Caspian Sea. It required the monumental enthusiasm 
 and imagination of an empire builder to conceive such 
 a project, surrounded as it was with every imaginable 
 difficulty. Its conclusion marked a reign of contentment 
 for the region traversed until the dark days of the 
 Tzar's downfall. This is mentioned by way of a slight 
 preface, in order to appreciate the better the splendid 
 temerity of Sir Frederick Lugard, who stands as god- 
 father to the existing Nigerian railway system and to its 
 suggested extensions, which, if carried out, really do 
 seem to offer potentialities such as may in time 
 encourage European immigration into the remoter 
 portions of the Colony, which are at present inaccessible 
 owing to lack of transport facilities. 
 
 In the first place, let it be understood that the line 
 connecting Kano with the Lagos frontier, when Lagos 
 and Northern Nigeria were amalgamated, was not a 
 capital expenditure which could be taken from an 
 existing revenue. The money had to be borrowed, and 
 there was even fierce criticism as to whether it was 
 worth while to construct a railway through what unin- 
 formed critics were pleased to call the " desolate 
 Nigerian wastes." Sir Frederick, however, was not
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 241 
 
 discouraged by opposition ; your born pioneer never is ; 
 in fact, he thrives upon it. And so the work was pushed 
 ever onwards, and now Lagos and Kano, 704 miles 
 apart, are linked up by a 3-ft.-6-in. -gauge railway, upon 
 which it is possible to run the most up-to-date and 
 commodious composite dining and sleeping cars. Con- 
 necting therewith are a few minor branches, which need 
 not occupy the attention of the reader. Of the same 
 gauge there is also a line connecting Port Harcourt, 
 the new harbour, with Udi, the centre of the coal mines. 
 Of course, in this world, it is impossible to guarantee 
 human foresight. When a mistake is made it is very 
 easy for the critic to shake his head and say, " So-and- 
 so ought to have known better than that," and hence it 
 is that the line connecting Zaria with the Bauchi 
 Plateau, the home of Nigerian tin, and the most important 
 feeder that probably the Kano-Nigerian Railway will ever 
 possess, at present 143 miles in length, is of a 2 ft. 6 in. 
 gauge. Needless to say, this has proved a severe set- 
 back to the traffic department, owing to the tranship- 
 ment of goods which must take place at Zaria. On the 
 other hand, be it understood, the administration itself 
 was not responsible for this light railway. In its origin 
 it was the conception of the Niger Company, by whom 
 the necessary capital was found. Why some under- 
 standing between the company and the administration 
 was not come to we cannot pretend to say, but one 
 suspects that there was more than a little jealousy on 
 one side coupled with financial stringency on the other. 
 However, it is now agreed that one of the first operations 
 which will have to be undertaken is the widening of 
 this gauge, and the replacing of its rails by those of a 
 heavier type. It is many years since the Government 
 took over this line, and presumably because of the war, 
 beyond keeping the permanent way in such a condition 
 that the chances of an accident are not more than even, 
 nothing appears to have been done to it. 
 
 We travelled upon the line from Zaria to Jos, a full 
 
 day's journey sufficient to break the heart of the most 
 
 hardened explorer. One leaves Zaria, nominally, at ten 
 
 minutes past seven in the morning and arrives at Jos at 
 
 16
 
 242 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 nine o'clock at night, to use a colloquialism, "worn to a 
 frazzle." That journey is regarded with horror by 
 everyone who is compelled to make it. The vibration 
 can be imagined when it is stated that it is impossible to 
 drink a cup of tea or to read a book, and often barely 
 possible to retain a seat in a deck chair, for usually one 
 finds one's own furniture for the first-class carriages. 
 Speaking from experience, being in the ward-room of a 
 torpedo-destroyer in a gale is nothing to it. Many are 
 the stories which one hears about it, but one we can 
 verify, namely, that a miner suffering from phthisis was 
 recommended by the doctor to go home as soon as be 
 was fit to travel. Under ordinary circumstances this 
 end would have been achieved, but the Bauchi railway 
 intervened, the terrible jolting brought on haemorrhage, 
 and his last resting-place is Zaria. We mention this 
 merely because it is of the most vital importance that 
 before aught else is attempted in the way of transport 
 development this railway should be rebuilt completely, 
 thereby encouraging mining and other industries on the 
 plateau, and at the same time rendering it accessible as 
 a health resort to all Europeans in this portion of Africa. 
 On the main line things are totally difi'erent, and there 
 is a "train de luxe" which meets the incoming mail 
 steamers and is known as the boat express. This leaves 
 Lagos at nine o'clock at night and reaches Kano at 
 6.44 in the evening on the third day. This, it must be 
 admitted, does not represent an excessive speed ; 
 including stoppages, it averages fourteen miles an hour. 
 
 Against this it must be mentioned that north of Jebba 
 the weight of the rails is only 40 lb. per yard, and 
 between Jebba and Lagos it is 10 lb. more. As a method 
 of comparison, the weight of the Great Western Railway 
 is 90 lb. per yard. Yet between Ilorin and Jebba we 
 timed some of our running and found, that without 
 excessive vibration, we were travelling at a steady fifty 
 miles an hour. Sometimes, with a heavily-laden train, 
 the speed may drop as low as nine miles, while at 
 " banks " it is no unusual thing for the train to go back- 
 wards and forwards until the engine gathers enough 
 speed to carry it on to the other side. The rolling stock
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 243 
 
 is good, or, perhaps it would be better to say, has been 
 good. It is admittedly difficult to train the native mind 
 to understand those niceties which go to make railway 
 travelling in the tropics as little uncomfortable as 
 possible. It almost appears as though the West African 
 mind was physically incapable of grasping those salient 
 features of hygiene which every European instinctively 
 comprehends. In Brazil, in Ceylon, in India, in East 
 Africa, to mention other railway systems within the 
 tropics, the trains are usually clean, there is always 
 a sufficient water supply, and the greatest care is 
 manifested over the all-important question of sanitation. 
 We wish we could write the same about the Nigerian 
 Railway system, but we cannot. Not one but almost 
 €very traveller we met, official or otherwise, complained 
 of the truly impossible and unhealthy conditions pre- 
 vailing. As before remarked, it is no fault of the 
 construction of the carriages, but it is the fault of 
 the natives, who are not adequately supervised. This 
 possibly arises from want of sufficient staff, but again, 
 if we may hazard an opinion, an influx of new and 
 enterprising blood would be all for the good of the 
 Nigerian Railway administration. Officials there are not 
 a whit different from officials elsewhere, and there will 
 always be a percentage, who, taking no particular 
 interest in their work, will allow things to jog along 
 in the happy belief that no complaints will be forth- 
 coming. This is particularly the case in an enervating 
 climate. Also, although de jure the native is " a man 
 and a brother," de facto he is not a brother with whom 
 one wishes to travel cheek by jowl from Lagos to Kano. 
 At present any native who can pay the price can ride in 
 a first-class carriage for seven hundred and four miles 
 or any part thereof. This is as it should be, but white 
 men should also be able to travel by themselves. 
 In none of the other West Coast colonies are the 
 complaints from officials so bitter on this subject, for 
 the simple reason that Nigeria is so far the only country 
 where it is necessary to sleep on a train to arrive at 
 one's destination. Many a time have we heard laudations 
 of the " good old days," when a man with his score or so
 
 244 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of carriers left Jebba on foot and marched or rode to his 
 station, when he could get a proper bath at night and 
 ate clean, decently cooked food and slept in his camp bed 
 in the rest house without any companions (animal or 
 human), save, possibly, a man of his own race. But the 
 Nigerian Bail way may safely say : " Nous avons change 
 tout cela." 
 
 Another point which calls for improvement, is the 
 provision of carriages for ladies on the line. In Nigeria 
 there are many white women, wives of officials, traders 
 and miners, nurses, missionaries and others. Many of 
 these woman arrive in the country, or leave it, alone. 
 We heard of one case, for the entire accuracy of which 
 we cannot vouch, where the daughter of a missionary, 
 under thirty years of age and a pretty woman, travelled 
 from Lagos to Minna in a compartment with three 
 black men. If this be true, it should never be allowed 
 to occur again, and we cannot imagine the blunder 
 which allowed it ever to occur. 
 
 We recommend to the consideration of the Nigerian 
 Railway the excellent plan of the Governor of Sierra 
 Leone. As far as we know, it is this : Carriages are to 
 be constructed with a number of unfurnished compart- 
 ments in which one camp bed, or even two can be 
 set up, leaving room for a couple of chairs and possibly 
 a small table. These can be booked in advance on 
 payment of a small sum, by a white man or a native 
 (preference should be given to the white man, in our 
 opinion), and the journey made in relative cleanliness 
 and comfort. Ninety-nine per cent, of the white 
 population of Nigeria would, we are sure, gladly pay 
 the difference, as the alternative, particularly when the 
 traveller is a woman, who usually has great prostration 
 on arrival and may have to spend a day or so in bed, 
 with the doctor in attendance. Owing to the war there 
 is undoubtedly a shortage of wagons, which adversely 
 operates upon the takings of the railway. Also the 
 existing main line is a single track, though with sufficient 
 sidings. We have ourselves seen vast quantities of raw 
 material awaiting month after month transport to the 
 sea. We have also seen line after line of empty wagons
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 245 
 
 in sidings. The explanation given us was that there 
 were no locomotives ; and so the vicious circle is formed. 
 The traders complain of the railway ; the goods officials 
 blame the locomotive department ; the locomotive depart- 
 ment blame the war, which really has been convenient 
 in that it is blamed for everything ; the steamship 
 companies blame the administration because freights 
 are hard to get ; and the steamship officials, in their 
 comfortable chairs in Liverpool or London, in turn blame 
 their captains, write letters to the papers condemning 
 everything wholesale, and deploring the unsatisfactory 
 state of affairs. And yet it seems to us humble outsiders, 
 who certainly had the opportunity of observation, that 
 the basis of the whole trouble is the lack of really 
 first-class railway initiative coupled with too much 
 bureaucratic centralization. It would not be difficult 
 to find further criticism, but we do not wish to appear 
 ungrateful. Only it is one of the errors into which 
 a traveller is only too likely to fall, that of painting 
 everything " couleur de rose" when in his heart he can 
 very easily lay his fingers upon the defects of a system. 
 In fair criticism there can be no harm, more especially 
 when it is quite devoid of personal bias, and more 
 especially when it is tempered by the memory of many 
 friendly actions tendered to us by those who neither 
 knew nor cared who or what we were, but merely 
 extended their hands as one sojourner in a far land 
 to another. 
 
 Of the future of the Nigerian railways, however, we 
 are entirely enthusiastic. There is no question about it 
 that railway conquest is extraordinarily fascinating, and 
 we are looking forward to the time when the railway 
 system of Nigeria will not amount to 2,000 miles but to 
 ^0,000, and when its ramifications will be trans-conti- 
 nental. These are not fantastic dreams, for did not Sir 
 Frederick Lugard, as long ago as April, 1919, sketch out 
 in his report of the amalgamation of Northern and 
 Southern Nigeria what might be done in the way of rail- 
 way construction in the near future? In support of 
 what we have written regarding railway administration, 
 he said: —
 
 246 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 " It is true, as I have said elsewhere, that an inade- 
 quate sum has been spent upon railway maintenance 
 during the war, and a considerable sum must therefore 
 be added to the capital account for additional rolling 
 stock, workshop equipment, and, in some sections, for the 
 renewal of rails, but considering the increased cost during 
 the war of fuel and all materials and of war bonuses to 
 the staff, the financial position of the railways must be 
 considered as eminently satisfactory. There is, more- 
 over, every prospect of a large increase in earnings as 
 soon as the removal of war restrictions and an adequate 
 supply of shipping render the expansion of trade 
 possible." 
 
 As far as cargo is concerned, the steamships are there. 
 It is now the land transport which is at fault. Above 
 we have made reference to the Port Harcourt and Udi 
 railway, which at present is able to supply steamers at 
 the harbour terminus with coal, though that necessary 
 for the main Nigerian railways and industries has to be 
 sea-borne to Lagos and then transhipped, a lengthy and 
 expensive process. Sir Frederick clearly grasped this 
 important point and cordially approved of a line con- 
 necting Udi with Bukeru, the terminus of the Bauchi 
 line. This would offer no great engineering difficulties 
 with the exception of crossing the River Benue, would 
 open up a part of the country which at the present 
 moment has been scarcely scratched, and would afford 
 the Bauchi tinfields a speedy and cheap means of 
 getting their ore away to the coast, whilst it would 
 enormously facilitate the import of machinery. In fact, 
 so unsatisfactory are the conditions to-day in the tin- 
 fields that we were told in all seriousness, owing to the 
 cost of transport, that it had been proposed to send the 
 tin overland by carrier or by donkey to Loko, on the 
 Benue, thereby avoiding the existing railway. Naturally 
 Sir Frederick's scheme would depend upon the altera- 
 tion of the Bauchi narrow gauge to the Nigerian 
 standard gauge. From Bukeru, a line could then branch 
 away to the town of Maidugari not far from the western 
 shore of Lake Tchad. A glance at any map will show 
 the vast possibilities of such a connection, running as it
 
 The Lower Niger. 
 
 Native Market Place.
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 247 
 
 does through a country little known, but where lead and 
 silver are both supposed to exist, let alone tapping the 
 great northern prairies of the province of Bornu, 
 Further, he conceived another necessary connection 
 which must come in due course, namely, a line between 
 Kano and Maidugari, which would thus link up the 
 Nigerian railway system into one gigantic triangle. 
 
 Although no exact figures are at present available, it is 
 estimated that annually 20,000 tons of merchandise 
 reach Kano from this portion of Bornu, which either 
 come in bullock-carts or are head-borne. Considering 
 that the load carried on the head by porters is only 
 GOlbs., and the cost of porterage is no longer as cheap as 
 it was in the old days, it can be grasped with ease that the 
 merchandise is both plentiful and remunerative. It is 
 but reasonable to suppose, as has always been proved to 
 be the case, that the advent of the railway would bring 
 increased population, and would attract to it many of 
 those nomads who actually belong to the country, as 
 apart from outsiders, and who make their homes 
 temporarily here and there over the illimitable grass 
 plains which constitute the main feature of this 
 interesting region. It is here that lately experiments 
 have been made in the way of cattle farms through 
 British enterprise, the largest of which, at a place called 
 Allegnu, has been started by the powerful African Asso- 
 ciation. It follows closely the lines of the Argentine 
 estancia, and with the opening-up of the country — but 
 it must be opened up — should become a paying pro- 
 position. For the moment the difficulty appears to be 
 to supply water in the dry season, but in South America 
 this difficulty was fought and overcome by the sinking of 
 artesian wells, and one cannot but imagine that it would 
 be money well spent were experts financed by the 
 Nigerian Government thoroughly to explore the territory 
 and to report upon the feasibility of such an operation. 
 
 In previous chapters, again and again, we have 
 emphasized the fact that it is not fair for the political 
 officer, who is expected to be an encyclopaedia of general 
 knowledge, to make a report upon such abstruse matters, 
 and for the world to consider it as expert opinion. And,
 
 48 TVEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 when one considers further the congested state of the 
 British Isles, which, in spite of the war, becomes daily 
 more and more apparent, the unemployment and the 
 hopeless search after a living by those who gave the best 
 they had for the Empire, then surely it becomes a 
 duty of the Government or of any Colonial administra- 
 tion to test its resources to the utmost degree in an 
 endeavour to find an outlet for the latent energies of 
 those who are its own citizens. It is a mistaken policy 
 at this time of day, we certainly believe, to lay down a 
 hard-and-fast law that we administer territories solely 
 for the benefit of those who occupy them. It is a 
 specious piece of pleading which makes an appeal to the 
 well-to-do sentimentalist. But if, by opening up the 
 country and introducing modern methods the addition 
 is made of a leaven of white enterprise, intelligence, and 
 education, then assuredly the original holders of the land 
 have small cause for complaint against that administra- 
 tion, which has for its ideal the social and economic 
 welfare of the native races under its control. 
 
 Another badly needed addition to the Nigerian railway 
 system is that which would travel due north from Kano 
 to the frontier of French Zinder, and thence on to the 
 capital of the same name, the frontier being equidistant 
 from the two points. By this means Nigeria would 
 capture a very large portion of the freight travelling 
 across the Sahara to Zinder, and thence through French 
 territory to Lake Tchad, for ultimate delivery at 
 Maidugari. Sir Frederick Lugard estimated that the 
 present caravan trade from Zinder to Kano approximated 
 1,000 tons a month. The line would traverse a very 
 thickly-populated country, and would be able to handle 
 all the trafiic of the French territory, which at the 
 present moment has no outlet to the sea. The export 
 thence of hides and skins is enormous, and, obviously, 
 the French merchant would prefer the Lagos route to 
 Zinder rather than the uncertainty of trans-Saharan 
 transit. The French have in project a trans-Saharan 
 railway from some point upon the Mediterranean to 
 Zinder. But that is not yet. However, it opens up a 
 fascinating dream of what undoubtedly will in years to
 
 "WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 249 
 
 come be a great trans-African thoroughfare. It will 
 then be possible to land at Algiers and buy a through 
 ticket to Lagos, traversing some of the most unknown, 
 and, consequently, most romantic parts of Africa, which 
 must make appeal to the imagination of those who feel 
 the call of vast spaces, unwritten history, and the ever- 
 recurrent "beyond." 
 
 Finally, there remains for a later period another line 
 from Kano or Zaria to Sokoto, the Mohammedan head- 
 quarters of the whole of Western Africa. The Sultan 
 of Sokoto wields an enormous influence over the whole 
 of Mohammedan Africa, second only to that of the 
 Sultan of Turkey, and the opening up of his city to 
 outside influences would undoubtedly be of great 
 administrative importance. But that is rather for the 
 distant future. There is so much which needs more 
 urgent attention. With the exception of its unfortunate 
 climatic reputation there is really no reason why, with 
 better railway communication, a considerable number of 
 travellers on business or pleasure bent might not be 
 annually attracted to Nigeria. It is really rather 
 pathetic to read down the shipping columns of the 
 papers and see advertised the dates of departure 
 together with the names of the steamships concerned 
 to every known part of the globe with the one excep- 
 tion of West Africa, which, for aught the reader knows 
 to the contrary, might not exist. That very small fact 
 speaks for itself, and shows that hitherto the invitation 
 to come and judge for oneself, to see what there is to 
 see, and to break fresh ground for those who are smitten 
 with the fever of travel, has not been understood or has 
 been ignored. In many countries railway systems are 
 responsible for hotels, and in practice it has been found 
 to be an immensely paying proposition. The Canadian 
 Pacific Kailway, though not a Government undertaking, 
 is a case in point, and there appears to be no reason 
 why, in a legitimate desire to open and advance the 
 prospects of a new country and outside enterprise being 
 lacking, a new Government railway might not take upon 
 its shoulders hotels at certain points, either on its own 
 initiative or by subsidizing to some extent those to
 
 250 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 whom such undertakings are familiar. It does seem 
 absurd that, after the enormous amount of money which 
 has been lavished upon West Africa, not only one, but 
 all these territories should remain remote from the 
 immediate influence and interest of the Briton. It is a 
 curious apathy which seems to envelop the whole coast,, 
 and it is no exaggeration to write that the average 
 Board school boy could tell more about Patagonia than 
 he could about Nigeria. The best cure for such 
 a state of things is to improve the railway and steamship. 
 travel.
 
 251 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 When Horace Greeley, the great American publicist^ 
 was asked by the rising generation for his advice as to 
 what they should do, his invariable answer was, " Go 
 west, young man ! Go west ! " It seems scarcely neces- 
 sary to point out that he was not referring to West 
 Africa, but to the western States of his own country. 
 At the same time, it might not be wholly inapt to apply 
 the injunction to certain sections of young Britain, and 
 suggest their casting their eyes towards West Africa as 
 a means whereby they might quickly assure themselves 
 of a comfortable independence. Advisedly have we 
 written "certain sections," Dealing first with the com- 
 mercial careers open to the hardy and enterprising, 
 certain points must be emphasized, and these we have 
 made fairly clear in our preceding chapters. But let us 
 epitomize them again. Of a certainty nothing could 
 damage present-day West Africa more than an influx of 
 young men totally unsuited by physique or temperament 
 for the hardships and rigours which they will inevitably 
 be called upon to encounter. Therefore it becomes an 
 axiom that the candidate for this promising field of 
 labour must enjoy the best of good constitutions, must 
 be level-headed, and possessed of that ballast which can 
 best be gained by mixing with others and noting from 
 what causes success or failure has resulted. The univer- 
 sity student, for instance, is as a rule doubtful material. 
 In the majority of cases, certainly in the older universi- 
 ties, he has been brought up to depend too much upon 
 the advice of others ; he has been carefully shepherded 
 upon his short journey through life, and therefore he 
 lacks that initiative which is a prime essential for 
 success in the West African colonies. It is not only 
 business initiative. It is the instinct of knowing what
 
 '252 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 to do and what not to do in every department of life 
 from health to recreation. This, in turn, will bespeak 
 considerable strength of character. Nowhere in the world 
 does the adage, " Facilis est descensus Averni " more 
 fully apply. Temptation of every conceivable description 
 does not wait to be looked for. It will greet him with 
 outstretched hands, whether it be in the form of con- 
 genial companions, cards, gambling, or the whisky bottle. 
 Those are the difficulties which test the man and prove 
 his mettle. But if, after digesting the above, a young 
 man communes with himself and says with confidence, 
 " I can do this and more. I am physically as strong as 
 a horse, and to make a financial success I am prepared 
 to take risks which, after all, thousands have done before 
 me. I have had to knock about in the world as those 
 who have been born with silver spoons in their mouths 
 have not. I possess a decent middle-class education, 
 and I am determined to build a future for myself." 
 
 Without hesitation, one may say that, barring the 
 inevitable accidents of life, that youth will succeed ; and 
 what is more. West Coast firms of repute are waiting to 
 welcome him with open arms. Be it said, not all West 
 Coast firms are trustworthy, but any reputable paper 
 dealing with West African affairs will always be ready 
 to give the neophyte straightforward and frank advice 
 upon the matter. Time was when companies bearing 
 honoured names were not ashamed to entice into their 
 employ clerks who were to receive the munificent salary 
 of £50, £60 and £70, with free board and lodging and free 
 passages out and home, for the first three years of their 
 service. This was a disgrace and a shame. It was a 
 deliberate incentive to dishonesty, more especially, when 
 coupled with the invitation was the hidden implication 
 that providing the returns showed so much per mensem 
 in the company's books, no questions would be asked as 
 to any other money which might be made " on the side." 
 The effects of such a system were obvious. 
 
 It is absolutely impossible for British administration 
 to check every dealing which takes place between the 
 white man and the native. Human nature being what 
 it is, it became the rule rather than the exception to
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 253- 
 
 browbeat, bully, or swindle the native agriculturist 
 over his rubber or palm kernels, which were obtained at 
 about a tenth of their real value, or, worse still, a working 
 arrangement would be made with some half-caste black- 
 guard who would act as intermediary and share the 
 profits with the white man. West African history teems 
 with such incidents, and they were, in no small degree, 
 responsible for the latent antagonism which used to exist 
 between the administrator and the trader. Even in our 
 own travels most remarkable are some of the situations 
 which have been brought to our notice. One particular 
 case comes readily to our memory. A small firm with 
 a reputation which might be described as somewhat 
 cloudy, forbade its clerks ever to associate with the clerks 
 of any other firm, and, what is more, forbade them even to 
 walk out alone. They were always accompanied by some 
 senior member of this remarkable undertaking. Having 
 signed contracts, and being without the funds to enable 
 them to get home, they were obliged to put up with this 
 perfectly wretched existence, than which nothing more 
 horrible could be imagmed, and to which prison would 
 have been a pleasant change. 
 
 Happily, however, there is another side of the picture^ 
 and the young man who can join companies like the 
 African Association, Millers, Swanzy, the Tarquah 
 Trading Company, and Holts, will find himself well 
 looked after, and given every opportunity to make a way 
 for himself. We have been guests at many of their 
 bungalows. We have seen how the junior clerks live 
 and how they fare, and it is very pleasant to be in a 
 position to testify that they are at least as well looked 
 after as they would be were they in their own home 
 country occupying similar posts of responsibility. Within 
 limitations bounded only by common sense they may 
 practically enjoy anything in the food line which the 
 stores may have in stock and in the way of beer, soft 
 drinks, and spirits they are supplied with a very liberal 
 ration. If this leads to any sort of abuse the privilege is 
 necessarily withheld. Should they be ill the best medical 
 attendance is available, and firms of standing such as 
 we have mentioned see to it that their employees are
 
 1^54 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 not out of pocket should the hospital claim them as 
 temporary visitors. The worst that can be said is that 
 the hours are rather long, and that the first term of 
 service is usually about three years, according to the 
 exigencies of the situation. Once, however, that period 
 of probation is past they may confidently look forward 
 to a perpetual rise in salary and an honourably earned 
 commission upon sales. 
 
 Many of the best buildings upon the coast, and some 
 are really beautiful houses, belong to such agents and 
 their assistants, who are provided with motor-cars, 
 belong to the local clubs, enjoy life as well as it can be 
 enjoyed, and eventually arrive at the Legislative Council 
 as ofiicial members. Neither need their operations 
 cease there. The African and Eastern Trade Corpora- 
 tion, formerly the African Association, has tentacles 
 everywhere, as far afield as Baghdad, Constantinople, 
 Alexandria, and East Africa, offering promises of better 
 climate and more congenial employment to those who 
 have shown their mettle. 
 
 A story might well be written of the organizer of this 
 vast undertaking, who started as a very small boy in a 
 very humble position in West Africa and is now a 
 Major-General in the British Army for services rendered 
 during the war, and who can count his income in tens 
 of thousands. 
 
 Perhaps we have written enough to show in as 
 succinct a manner as possible what commercial openings 
 «xist in West Africa for those suited to a commercial 
 •career, and who have the courage to go in and win. 
 
 The Government service has opportunities for those 
 who have no leaning towards the commercial world and 
 look forward principally to an assured income with a 
 pension at the end of their term of service. Like most 
 Government employment, the emoluments are not large 
 — in fact, they were so small that vast dissatisfaction 
 has arisen amongst Civil servants generally employed on 
 the West Coast. The imagination of the Treasury has 
 never been its strong point. Necessarily, it is concerned 
 with cutting down national expenditure, but it is ridicu- 
 lous that, while millions are being frittered away upon
 
 "WEST AFBICA THE ELUSIVE 255 
 
 iair-brained schemes of doubtful benefit to the country, 
 its servants, especially in West Africa, have been put 
 into such fearful financial straits that the Governors of 
 the respective colonies, to their lasting credit, protested 
 in the most forcible terms to the Colonial Office, 
 practically demanding" a definite and reasonable increase. 
 
 That discontent was rife may be gathered from a 
 committee report "which, in its concluding paragraph, 
 states as follo"ws : " This dissatisfaction is intensified in 
 some quarters by scarcely veiled distrust of the intentions 
 of the Government in regard to the remedial measures 
 that may be under consideration. So acute is the 
 present tension of expectation that we have no hesitation 
 in saying that any undue postponement of the final 
 decision "will seriously increase the volume of discontent 
 by creating a further pretext for open agitation," 
 
 Thanks in no small degree to Lord Milner, the ex- 
 Colonial Secretary, salaries have been improved, and in 
 future the budding political officer "will start with an 
 initial salary of £500 a year, which will be increased, 
 should he show ability and should vacancies exist, to 
 as much as £960 before he becomes a second-class 
 resident. 
 
 Nothing will be gained by harping on bygones, but if 
 means had been intentionally sought to discourage young 
 men from joining the administrative departments of 
 West Africa, after having taken into consideration the 
 abnormally increased cost of living, nothing could have 
 been better devised ! If an officer, after fourteen years' 
 service had only about £60 a year to allow his wife and 
 two children in England, and if an officer, newly 
 appointed, had absolutely nothing to give to his wife in 
 England after paying for his outfit and living expenses 
 for four months, then something must have been 
 "" rotten in the state of Denmark." 
 
 These cases can be substantiated. At the same time, 
 with the alteration in salaries (which will still further 
 have to be augmented to maintain a satisfactory service), 
 the West African Civil Service may now be said to offer 
 a promising field for the energetic man of good educa- 
 tion. For it must be remembered, in spite of all this
 
 256 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 argument about salaries — most justifiable argument as 
 we consider it — the Government servant has certain 
 advantages which the trader has not. Thus his term 
 of service at the moment (and let us hope for the future) 
 is nominally only one year, after which he has five 
 months' leave on full pay and a first-class passage out 
 and home. By the new scheme his wife also is to be 
 assisted to join him, since it is manifestly impossible for 
 a man with no private income and drawing, let us say» 
 ,£700 a year, to keep up two establishments, as he other- 
 wise must, and to entertain officially, as he is frequently 
 obliged to do. The entertainment allowance sometimes 
 granted is wholly insufficient, and we have been at a 
 station where the unfortunate official, happily unmarried, 
 was obliged to keep regular open house. This problem 
 also, however, is in a state of flux, and owing to that 
 determination which characterizes both the Governors 
 of Nigeria and the Gold Coast, a remedy is certain to 
 follow. 
 
 We have dwelt upon the " has-been," since the cause 
 of dissatisfaction of Government employees has drifted 
 home, and was voiced in no uncertain degree in the 
 British Press. Giving a dog a bad name is liable to 
 prejudice the dog, and since it is of vital importance that 
 the Civil Service on the West Coast should go up and 
 not down, and that the candidates for it should be of the 
 best material available, it appeared to us only discreet to 
 present both sides, the past and the present, and hope- 
 fully to prophesy of the future. There actually is no 
 reason why the West African Civil Service should not 
 line up with those of the Malay States and India, thus 
 giving it a standing and prestige which as yet it lacks. 
 
 In due course the introduction of a qualifying ex- 
 amination must undoubtedly develop competition, which 
 will broaden the ranks of available candidates and make 
 the opportunities of the Service better known and more 
 highly appreciated. 
 
 We have mentioned that the Governmental tour is 
 only a year, nominally, with leave at the end of that 
 time, as against the average three years of the young 
 trader. This needs a word of explanation. As we have
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 257 
 
 emphasized, the clerk in one of the first-rate stores 
 has not to consider what one may call the finance of 
 food. 
 
 He can live upon the best which is obtainable. Not 
 so the junior Government official. He has to consider 
 his purse, and also pay the exorbitant charges of imported 
 articles of diet, groceries, household necessaries, and 
 what not, which are kept at an absurdly inflated price, 
 owing to import duties which serve to bolster up the 
 revenue of the colony. This is poor finance, and it is 
 exceedingly unfair when the young Government officer 
 is obliged to pay import duty upon the stores he may 
 bring with him from England. Steps to remedy this 
 state of affairs, we are given to understand, are already 
 in contemplation. 
 
 Efforts are continually being made by some Governors 
 to lengthen the tour, their plea being first, that they 
 must have continuity of service, which is sound policy if 
 feasible ; secondly, that a lengthened tour is perfectly 
 reasonable if proper housing accommodation for officials 
 is forthcoming, if proper food, recreation and social sur- 
 roundings can be provided, and if — a necessary corollary 
 of the preceding clause — sufficient emolument is forth- 
 coming. It must be admitted that the suggestion is 
 based upon a formidable battery of "ifs," and there is 
 much to be said against the proposition under any 
 conditions. 
 
 It seems to be forgotten by the advocates of the 
 lengthened tour of service that those born and bred in 
 temperate climates seldom, if ever, become thoroughly 
 acclimatized to an intemperate tropical climate. A large 
 proportion of official West Africa is drawn from those 
 who have been born in the West Indies, or, less often, 
 in India. These stand a much better chance of not 
 feeling the strain of AVest Africa, so much so that 
 we have met many who heartily disliked the idea of 
 spending their whole leave in England. Similarly, it is 
 very easy for one in the situation of a Governor, or head 
 of a department, to plead for a longer tour. Those in 
 exalted positions are apt to forget that their subordinates 
 are not surrounded with private secretaries to run hither 
 17
 
 258 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 and thither at their beck and call, who have servants 
 without number to keep away from them all the petty 
 worries of housekeeping which become so exasperating 
 in such a climate, and who, metaphorically, live upon 
 the fat of the land. This lack of proportion not seldom 
 leads to misunderstanding and dissatisfaction, especially 
 when the dicta of these autocrats is given in direct 
 opposition to the best medical opinion available. In 
 point of fact, it is seldom that officials get home to time. 
 Hitches constantly occur. Also it is an unfortunate 
 thing that the long and devoted labours of the depleted 
 staff of officials during the war should now be cited as 
 proof that they are quite able to stay longer in the 
 colonies. It is as though when a woman, nerved by 
 grief or courage, has carried — let us say — the inert body 
 of her husband a distance of many yards, she should 
 be thought capable of repeating this feat in cold blood. 
 Many of us worked like Trojans during the war, and 
 wonder now how we did it ! And those whose war- 
 tours in West Africa lasted twenty-two and twenty- 
 six months on end, doing the work of two or three other 
 men as well as their own, may well wonder if their 
 reward is merely to be " da cape alegro un poco 
 agitato." 
 
 It is impossible to foresee accidents, and the roster of 
 any department is seldom so complete that the absence 
 of even one individual upon temporary sick leave does 
 not in a greater or lesser degree involve all the others 
 in that department. 
 
 Whilst not subscribing to everything which is written 
 in the following letter, portions of which we will quote, 
 and which was published in that widely circulated paper 
 West Africa, yet the writer, who is an M.K.C.S. and 
 L.K.C.P. of considerable West African experience, 
 deserves attention as being one who can speak with 
 authority ; " Why lengthen the tour when so few sur- 
 vive to enjoy the pension at present ? One will answer 
 that health conditions have much improved now. Yes, 
 in very localized areas, but of that later. Is it not true 
 that many of those who are in favour of lengthening the 
 tour have immediate commercial or Governmental in-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 259 
 
 terests to serve, which interests may — it is only human 
 — obscure their viewpoint concerning the after-effects 
 of West Coastal service upon the great majority twenty 
 years hence ? A wealthy business man went for 
 several thousands of miles into the very heart of Central 
 Africa on a river, in a superb river steamer, specially 
 fitted for him, and accompanied by a physician who 
 would not allow him to drink water from the ship's 
 filter without its being tested. Life in the * bush ' was 
 absolutely unknown to him experimentally, and such 
 were the conditions under which he travelled that a 
 mosquito would have found it difficult to have got near 
 enough to him to insert its proboscis. Upon the return 
 to England of this same traveller he dilated upon the 
 good and healthy conditions of life in Central Africa, 
 and remarked that he would rather sail a yacht on 
 the Kiver Congo than he would on the Mediterranean. 
 Well, those of us who have lived three or four years 
 in that country without leave could tell a different 
 story. . . . Knowing this fact, the optimism of the 
 remark upon sailing the yacht on the Congo in pre- 
 ference was a pill bigger than I could swallow, though 
 I am in the pill trade. Let us not be mistaken. Let 
 us look at the subject broadly and completely. The 
 newcomer has to accommodate himself physiologically to 
 new conditions of atmospheric temperature and moisture, 
 food and water. He is cut off from the pleasant sur- 
 roundings of civilization, which probably have been the 
 mainstay of his mental temperament. 
 
 Again, owing to the separation of the newcomer from 
 his usual friends and pleasurable surroundings, he is apt 
 to become discontented, fretful, sleepless, agitated, and 
 eventually he is labelled ' neurasthenia,' and sent home 
 as unfitted for tropical residence or not suitable for the 
 job. 
 
 It is remarked, * But what about the excess for which 
 the men, and not the climate, are to blame? ' 
 
 My remarks above have been made on cases excluding 
 diseased ones, but is the man altogether to blame? I 
 maintain that he is not, only partly to blame. If that 
 man had not been removed from his usual courses of
 
 260 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 friendships and attractions and brought into the tropics, 
 the probabilities are that he would not have become 
 diseased at all. It is because he is in tropical conditions 
 that he surrendered himself to excesses and became 
 diseased. He is partly to blame, but so are West African 
 conditions. . . . Health conditions on the Coast have 
 improved, there is no doubt about that. Yellow fever 
 and malaria are much less prevalent than they were, 
 and hence the mortality amongst Europeans is less, too, 
 and a very necessary improvement it is. . . . Many 
 Coasters, however, are away in the ' bush,' far removed 
 from civilization, proper houses, comfortable bedding, 
 properly cooked food, adequate pure water, and at the 
 mercy of the insect world— if insects have any mercy in 
 the bush. Such is the lot of surveyors, builders of rail- 
 ways, and all pioneers, as this country must have for 
 many years to come. . . . 
 
 To be quite candid, the writer would not object to 
 doing five years continuously on the Coast, provided 
 that he was living in a good house, in a civihzed and 
 sanitary centre, with good servants and congenial society. 
 . , . These conditions are only available for the few." 
 
 We make no apologies for quoting that valuable opinion, 
 and when the conditions of life mentioned are obtainable 
 by the many, then West Africa will certainly deserve to 
 lose much of its bad name. In the meantime, however, 
 with the goodwill of those in authority, governmental 
 and commercial. West Africa, even now, offers oppor- 
 tunities to those who, having read and learnt, are pre- 
 pared to face facts as they are.
 
 261 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 From Onitsha to Forcados under favourable circum- 
 stances is a matter of two days' full steam. The river 
 broadens, rising ground disappears, the bush-clad banks 
 take on a deeper green, and their dense foliage speaks 
 of paths untrodden by the white man and not often by 
 the black. As one churns along through the muddy 
 water seawards, now and again one catches a glimpse of 
 what looks like a tributary, but in reality is only one 
 of the thousands of small creeks connecting up the 
 labyrinth of the water channels in the great Niger 
 delta. 
 
 We were fortunate in catching the stern wheeler, 
 " Mungo Park," a comfortable boat when under way, but 
 when she tied up for the night a little inferno of heat 
 and mosquitoes. However, it is of those wonderful 
 creeks that one would fain speak. Heaven alone knows 
 their number. One can well believe that many of them 
 have never been disturbed by the screw of the white 
 man's launch or the pole of the white man's canoe. 
 They traverse hundreds of miles, and it is possible, 
 though presumably a wearisome journey, to travel from 
 Lagos to Old Calabar through these hinterland water- 
 ways, ' occupying about five days over the job. The 
 creeks are monotonous to the verge of exasperation. As 
 far as the eye can wander there is nothing but mangrove- 
 lined swamp with roots protruding from oozy slime, 
 festooned with myriads of small oysters. We heard that 
 the natives, who all through the delta are very primitive 
 Pagans, and not long since were man-eaters, regard 
 these oysters as delicacies, but we never heard of a white 
 traveller being quixotic enough to try them. They look 
 too forbidding for one thing, washed as they are with 
 the rising tide by the sullen oily black waters of the
 
 262 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 river. With the ebb mud banks appear, and then it is 
 that through the steamy mist one often sees huge, ugly 
 crocodiles sunning themselves in the warmth with one 
 eye watching incessantly for the over-venturesome child 
 who has wandered down to the stream from its home 
 amidst the mangroves, to find itself a victim to one of 
 these horrible reptiles. No wonder the natives fear and 
 loathe them. 
 
 Needless to say, here and there there are promising 
 settlements even amidst this waste of mud and water. 
 Thus, Warri and Sapelli are both up-to-date little town- 
 ships, possessing quite a number of factories, resident 
 administrative staff, and all the appurtenances which 
 belong to a settled community. As we did not visit 
 them in person, we can only speak from hearsay, but 
 the bank manager from Warri, a naive Scotsman with 
 the most remarkable faculty of losing money at " freeze 
 out," which may be described as the national card game 
 of Nigeria, assured us that life there was not half so bad 
 as might be imagined. He explained at great length 
 that, owing to its geographical position, Warri was most 
 certainly not on the highway to anywhere, and hence 
 both officials and traders — and bank managers — were to a 
 large extent spared the painful and oft-recurring visits of 
 their superiors. And since in the tropics, especially in 
 tropics of this nature, exercise is as necessary as quinine, 
 tennis courts had been laid out, and they could even 
 boast of an improvised golf links. The trade is lucrative, 
 palm kernels and rubber chiefly, together with any 
 amount of mahogany, which at one time was an export 
 of great value — though apparently since the war its 
 market price has decreased. 
 
 Making the best of a bad job is one of the best traits 
 in these rather forlorn communities, and then, as our 
 bank-manager friend remarked : " You've got to think 
 of your increased salary all the time." 
 
 Teneriffe, Orotava, Santa Cruz, and Las Palmas are 
 delightful places, all of them ; but, as our canny Scot 
 affirmed with a satisfied smile, " They don't pay 
 managers in those places like they do me up at Warri." 
 That is, of course, only one side of the picture; there
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 263 
 
 are others not so pleasant. To those with imaginations 
 there is a certain rather morbid fascination about these 
 solitary, gloomy waterways, where often the only sound 
 which breaks the silence is the screech of the offal- 
 hunting birds which haunt the mangroves. No wonder 
 the Niger delta is so full of grim and uncanny tales of 
 black-man magic. For the following we can vouch. 
 The narrator is still in the land of the living, and instead 
 of healing white men and black of nature's ailments in 
 the Niger delta, is back in his own country amusing 
 himself with healing the ailments of the various erring 
 motor-cars which are now his prime consideration. He 
 was stationed in a little backwater, in which there was 
 one store, with one white man in charge, an officer in 
 command of a small military escort — for this was an 
 unruly portion of the hinterland, and that represented 
 the entire white community. Rarely, very rarely, did 
 they get their mails or news from the outside world, 
 which all goes to make the European " jumpy." The 
 actual work of unloading the incoming cotton goods and 
 other imports and sending away the rubber and palm 
 kernels was all done by Kroo boys recruited from the 
 Liberian coast, and who were relieved once every three 
 months and sent home. Their presence can be explained 
 by the fact that the native Pagans, whilst ready to trade 
 and barter, were most assuredly not ready to assist in 
 the way of manual labour. The point is worth making, 
 because, in what follows, it can be affirmed with certainty 
 that, as the conjurer says, " there was no collusion." 
 The Kroo boys lived in a shack, and were under the 
 medical supervision of the doctor. The black headman 
 had complained, certainly ; he had nothing definite to 
 state, but merely expressed a forcible opinion that it was 
 " no good place," One morning a Kroo boy was reported 
 dead. This was not uncommon, and caused no particular 
 comment — though, to be sure, a post-mortem revealed 
 no apparent cause of death. Next morning two men 
 had departed this life, and again post-mortems revealed 
 absolutely nothing. The Kroo boys, however, muttered. 
 On the third morning four men were dead, and there 
 was something like a panic. Since the post-mortems
 
 264 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 again revealed nothing, a consultation was held, and, 
 without more ado, the whole gang were transhipped to 
 another station. In due course a fresh batch of Kroo 
 men arrived, and were housed in the same sinister 
 shack. Naturally they knew nothing of its history, 
 and, as is the nature of Kroo boys, they arrived in the 
 most cheerful of moods. The first night one of the 
 number died. No cause of death was ascertainable, and 
 this time it was the doctor who was perturbed. The 
 second night two more men passed away, and the Kroo 
 boys looked worried. The third night four men went 
 to their last account, and white as well as black became 
 panicky. What to do ? A conference was held, and it was 
 decided there and then to burn the shack down. A match 
 was applied, and in a few seconds the dry thatch was a 
 roaring mass of flame. Then it was that something fell 
 to the ground and was seized by the headman, who 
 rushed up to the doctor, shouting, " Here be plenty bad 
 thing, sah ! Fit to kill all men, sah ! " He held at 
 arm's-length two human finger bones which had been 
 tied together with a bit of native twine in the shape of a 
 rough cross. With gesticulations and frenzied shouts 
 they all gathered round and said they would rather swim 
 away from the place and risk crocodiles or drowning 
 than have such a horrible thing in the station. The 
 question that then arose was what to do with it, and 
 at the instigation of the doctor a deep hole was dug 
 far down in the sinking slime, and the relic, "ju-ju," or 
 whatever it may be called, was given an effectual burial. 
 The curious part is that those men then returned to 
 another shack built on the same ground, and, as the 
 story books say, " lived happily ever afterwards." 
 
 Sceptics and cynics may smile the smile of great 
 superiority and say, " Of course, coincidence ! Very 
 curious and interesting, but coincidence. Granted things 
 like that don't happen every day, but coincidence does 
 play odd pranks, and this was one of them." These 
 same people, however, do not know the black man as he 
 is in the coastal regions of West Africa. They cannot 
 grasp the meaning or possibilities of black magic, but 
 there are plenty of those who, having seen, believe, and
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 265 
 
 could place on record story after story admitting of no 
 satisfactory explanation. In witness whereof, let the in- 
 terested inquirer peruse the books of Captain Amaury 
 Talbot, at present Commissioner at Benin City. 
 
 Writing of the lower Niger reminds one that in pre- 
 war days the Southern Nigeria that was then was indebted 
 to Germany for a revenue of nearly i01,200,000, which 
 was derived from the sale to the natives of trade gin 
 commonly known as "square face." This popular name 
 was given to it because the bottles in which this per- 
 nicious poison was sold were square in shape. Of its 
 effects upon the native population anyone with the least 
 imagination can surmise. 
 
 If vodka, which after all is a perfectly pure spirit, 
 was credited with undermining the character of the 
 Eussian peasant, then what can be said of a beverage 
 which was anything but pure and contained many of 
 the same ingredients which are found in the furniture 
 polish which one reads is so popular in the "dry" United 
 States ? It was no uncommon thing to see canoe men 
 paid off in " square face " in place of coin of the realm, 
 and it was quite usual to see a bottle poured straight 
 down the throat of an individual, who, as may be 
 imagined, was useless for some days after. 
 
 With the war the trade annually slackened, and once 
 Sir Frederick Lugard was in a position to control 
 matters himself, he saw to it that if the natives must 
 have liqour, and by no means did he say they should 
 not, he determined it should be good liquor. To that 
 end he heaped up the duty, and trade gin, which in 1913 
 cost 9s. 3d., rose to about 16s. a case. Put in another 
 way, the pre-war import was 4,600,000 bulk gallons, 
 which sank to 260,000 gallons. This was undoubtedly 
 due to the increasingly heavy duty. This loss to the 
 revenue is being gradually recouped by the obvious fact 
 that the natives have now more spending money, which 
 they invest in Manchester cottons, and other harmless 
 aids to their personal adornment. At the same time 
 Sir Frederick introduced further legislation and created 
 what he called " the prohibited area of Nigeria." 
 
 By the Compact of Brussels in 1892, nominally, no
 
 266 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 liquor was permitted to be imported into the then 
 Northern Nigeria, except for sale to Europeans and 
 certain favoured natives such as Government clerks and 
 those employed in stores. Apparently there was con- 
 siderable leakage. At least, so the supporters of the 
 latter enactment affirm. Hence followed a Government 
 ordinance, prohibiting absolutely the sale or importation 
 of liquor into the northern provinces of; Nigeria for both 
 white man and black alike. If a white man, official, 
 trader, or miner wants liquor at the present day he 
 must first of all apply to the local political officer, who 
 signs his requisition, which must then be sent to the 
 Secretary of the Northern Provinces, who in turn 
 countersigns it, and then, and only then, is the order 
 sent on to Lagos to the firm to which the order is made 
 out. Naturally this occasions great delay and an uncom- 
 mon amount of irritation amongst the white population. 
 Again and again did we hear the most acrimonious 
 criticism of this arbitrary ruling. It often happens that, 
 between the signing of the original order and the receipt 
 of the goods, as much as six months may elapse, during 
 which a whole community may be enforcedly " dry." 
 This was never intended. Sir Frederick Lugard him- 
 self wrote : " Total prohibition of imported spirits for 
 the natives accustomed to their use for decades, while 
 admitting spirits for Europeans (and they should not, I 
 think, be prohibited in West Africa), would violate the 
 principle which forbids class legislation and would be 
 unjust." The Mohammedan religion insists that those 
 who adhere to it strictly should be teetotallers, though 
 experience has shown that this tenet is very frequently 
 broken by the followers of the Prophet in the Emirates. 
 But, be that as it may, the restriction was first intro- 
 duced for the benefit of the Mohammedan conscience, 
 but did not take into consideration the enormous number 
 of Pagan natives and others who dwell in those latitudes. 
 We hold no brief for either side, though we do suggest 
 that, as evidenced both in the United States and Eussia, 
 a substitute for bona-fide liquor can always be found, 
 and also that the native population are adepts at manu- 
 facturing the most deadly intoxicants which, from their
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 267 
 
 impurity, are very pernicious to the human constitution 
 in a far greater degree than the imported beverage 
 would be. 
 
 We cannot recall without a smile a most genial host 
 of ours who affirmed that he was never short of whisky. 
 He was a man of scientific mind who enjoyed a glass or 
 two. We tried his whisky, and its potency was 
 undoubted. 
 
 Perhaps Sir Frederick Lugard may remember with 
 amusement a little joke against himself. He was sent 
 two bottles of this liqueur for his opinion, and pronounced 
 it the best he had ever tasted. Inquiry followed, and, 
 behold, it was home-brewed ! 
 
 However, to return to practical politics, this enact- 
 ment needs revision, since we heard, not from one but 
 from many authorities, that it is accomplishing practi- 
 cally no good, merely because, as has been proved else- 
 where, total prohibition is a failure at the present 
 moment owing to the fact that it is so simple to manu- 
 facture something to take its place. 
 
 Before one arrives at Forcados, the mouth of the 
 Niger, one is perforce obliged to stop at Burutu, 
 assuredly one of the most desolate places planted by the 
 hand of God on the whole of the globe. It must be 
 admitted, however, that the hand of man has had some- 
 thing to do with it, since, before the Niger Company 
 took the place over as a river station, it was pure, 
 unadulterated mangrove swamp. To-day it is a very 
 small islet carefully sheltered from every passing breeze, 
 and literally surrounded on every side with stagnant 
 water and foul swamp. The Niger Company had enor- 
 mous stores there, together with engineering and repair 
 workshops. These were recently all burnt down, and 
 they form a monument of charred woodwork, twisted 
 iron girders, and rusting machinery which it will take 
 many a year to obliterate. Beyond that there is a bank 
 and a cemetery, together with a small native market 
 possessed of an unenviable reputation. If a vagabond 
 population of whites is a tough proposition to face after 
 dark, then assuredly a vagabond population of blacks is 
 worse.
 
 268 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 One can recall the incident of a youngster coming out 
 to join a trading firm, who, against the advice of every- 
 body, wandered ashore in the gloaming, " just to see 
 what it looked like," as he himself phrased it. It was 
 the last journey of exploration he ever made. Two days 
 later his mutilated corpse was found waterlogged in the 
 sinister mangrove swamp. Emphatically, Burutu is no 
 good place in which to remain. To Forcados it is about 
 an hour's steaming. One rounds a bend in the river, and, 
 right ahead on the left bank, one sees the corrugated iron 
 roofs of this little river settlement and beyond it the 
 expanse of the ocean. It is hot, very hot, but withal 
 there is an uncertain breeze borne in from the sea ; one 
 can watch the white combers breaking upon the usual 
 West African bar, and, on occasion, the eye is delighted 
 and the soul gladdened by the sight of what seems to 
 one, after months inland, of an ocean-going steamer of 
 enormous size. Forcados is human. Elder Dempster 
 has made it, not figuratively, but actually. Dredgers 
 pumped in clean sand from the sea-bed and reclaimed 
 the horrid swamp, providing a more or less satisfactory 
 foundation for the buildings which one finds there 
 to-day. 
 
 The Elder Dempster's offices are really excellent, and, 
 except for the inevitable loneliness and the obvious 
 difficulty in getting fresh food and vegetables, there are 
 many worse places in the world. There is even a club 
 of sorts, a tennis court, while those who are fond of the 
 sea can employ their spare time fishing and boat-sailing. 
 On the whole it is a cheerful little community. The 
 principal personage is undoubtedly the doctor. He is 
 full of reminiscences, all of which are tinged with a 
 peculiarly sardonic humour. Thus, if one questions him 
 he will tell you with a smile that he always endeavours 
 to "plant " — note the term — his hopeless patients out at 
 sea. In other words, by hook or crook, he tries to 
 manage so that as few burials take place on shore as 
 possible. In his own words, " Funerals at Forcados are 
 a great nuisance. If one tries to make a grave of 
 respectable depth, one may depend upon it that, once 
 one digs through the sandy sheath of the upper ground,
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 269 
 
 one comes to the inevitable water, and it is then neces- 
 sary to stand upon the coffin to keep it down while the 
 few words of the burial service are hurriedly read over 
 the dear departed." Maybe it is not a pleasant picture, 
 but it is all on a par with the actualities of life in West 
 Africa. 
 
 And before leaving Forcados we must recall one inci- 
 dent. We met a lady who, we gathered, knew Nigeria 
 well, and she spoke with enthusiasm of Forcados and its 
 surroundings. She explained at great length that it was 
 not half a bad place, that she had never had a spare 
 minute ; that being the only white woman there, she 
 had had a simply ripping time with tennis every after- 
 noon and bridge every evening ; that it was rubbish to 
 speak of life in Nigeria as being any worse than life in 
 England ; that the social amenities were observed just 
 as they were in Surbiton, and that really she would 
 much rather be out there than she would be in the home 
 country. She greatly impressed us, and we thoroughly 
 believed her. Picture our chagrin when our good friend 
 the doctor remarked, " You don't mean to tell me that 
 hardened travellers like yourselves believe all those fairy 
 tales ? Why, she and her husband have never been to 
 Nigeria before, and they only stopped at Forcados ten 
 days, just long enough to get an up-river steamer." 
 And it is upon this sort of comment that reputation is 
 founded. Personally, we were only long enough at 
 Forcados to have a hasty look round. The universal 
 complaint seemed to be that the inhabitants never got 
 any news of the outside world except by mails, which 
 came very irregularly. There is a telegraph communi- 
 cation with Lagos, and hence Reuters do come through, 
 but they always appear for some unknown reason to be 
 belated. And so this little forlorn body of white men, 
 marooned, so to speak, upon a self-constructed island, live 
 the little round of their daily life till such time as the 
 welcome letter arrives mforming Mr. So-and-so that he 
 is due for leave, and that a passage has been secured for 
 him by the next mail steamer from Lagos. 
 
 Unless there happens to be chance communication by 
 sea to Lagos his troubles are by no means over, since by
 
 270 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSI^TE 
 
 hook or crook he must find his way up river to Lokoja, 
 and then up river again to Baro, and then make a long 
 and tedious railway journey via Minna Junction to 
 Lagos, where, upon arrival, if it is possible he will find 
 that, owing to the exigencies of the moment, his berth 
 has been taken. He then returns by the same route to 
 await better luck. We met one such case ourselves. 
 The Niger Company's steamer, " Mungo Park," was a 
 great contrast to the speedy little " Vulture " with its 
 minute accommodation. It recalled to us a childish 
 rhyme which relates — 
 
 " Now Captain Parker Pitche's sloop 
 Was called the cosy chicken coop. 
 A truly comfortable craft 
 With ample state rooms fore and aft." 
 
 Actually, the " Mungo Park's " ample state rooms were 
 amidships, and forward there was a large dining-smoking- 
 sitting-room where our own chairs could be put up. 
 There were also two bathrooms and a kitchen. The 
 most striking resemblance to a cosy chicken coop was on 
 the lower deck where one would hesitate to estimate the 
 number of men, women and children who swarmed like 
 flies wherever there was room to stand, sit or lie. They 
 were a happy lot, particularly the naked brown babies, 
 and we liked to go amongst them and exchange smiles 
 with the women and nods with the men. One man we 
 noticed, who had an extremely inflamed foot tied up with 
 a dirty rag. An interpreter was found, who said it had 
 been cut with an axe some days before, so we took him 
 in hand, made him wash the ugly cut in clean water and 
 then in disinfectant and provided a spotless bandage of 
 which he was as proud as Punch. After that we were 
 considered to be healers of the first water and relays of 
 men with varying complaints were brought to us by the 
 interpreter-chaperon. Kesinol was greatly in demand 
 for skin troubles and we had the satisfaction of knowing 
 that it could at least do no harm and certainly seemed to 
 do good, while the demand for fresh water increased 
 enormously. The Captain of the " Mungo Park " was 
 also ill. He told us plaintively that some one must have
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 271 
 
 poisoned him, but his trouble " easily yielded to treat- 
 ment," as the doctors say, and the gratitude of this black 
 skipper was touching. Having heard one of us say we 
 wanted limes, he managed, after many vain attempts, to 
 obtain a large quantity for which he refused payment. 
 It was a simple, patriarchal sort of life which we led for 
 two days on the " Mungo Park," and one which was a 
 welcome change after our previous strenuous weeks.
 
 272 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 The problems confronting a Governor in West Africa 
 are so many and varied and so complex that, after our 
 small glimpse of the subject, we wondered how any man 
 would undertake the task. He has four distinct sections 
 of the community to consider — his officials, the mer- 
 chants, the educated and the uneducated natives, not 
 to mention the Crown Agents and the Secretary of State 
 for the Colonies. Whatever he does he treads on some 
 one's pet corn. He is either too slow or in too much of 
 a hurry, too extravagant or too close-fisted, too pro-native 
 or the reverse, in the opinion of these various sections. 
 Without tact, patience, good temper and a level head he 
 may find himself in the unenviable situation of the old 
 man with a donkey in " yEsop's Fables," who, trying to 
 please everyone, fell into the river. What must be the 
 sensations of a Governor who sees his officials badly 
 housed and underpaid and unable to extract from the 
 Home Government the wherewithal adequately to better 
 their conditions of life ? The imaginations of Secretaries 
 of State and other Olympians are not notorious for their 
 elasticity, and it is admittedly hard for a man who goes 
 in his motor to sit in a cool office in Whitehall to realize 
 the conditions under which some of the Colonial work 
 is being done. Also the less drain a colony is upon 
 the Imperial Exchequor, the greater the kudos to the 
 Governor. The merchants, also, cry " Give ! give ! " 
 like the daughters of the horse leech. They want 
 better landing facilities, better transport, more con- 
 cessions from the natives, more of many things, and 
 to them these are of greater import than the official 
 requirements. And what do the natives want ? Those 
 who have been given the doubtful blessing of white 
 man's education want social and official equality ; the
 
 WEbT AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 273 
 
 others merely object to taxation and to interference 
 where interference does not suit them. In other words, 
 they wish the privileges of civilization without any of 
 its penalties. 
 
 It has been seen in Kussia with what fatal results a 
 smattering of education has been attended. The quick, 
 untutored mind eagerly grasps certain points in the 
 universal scheme and, unless carefully trained, makes its 
 own deductions, which are usually only superficially 
 correct. Dr. Claridge, in his " History of the Gold 
 Coast and Ashanti," sums it up most ably. " It is 
 impossible to hurry a race forward in the course of a few 
 years to a stage which it would not otherwise have 
 reached for several centuries, except by paying the 
 inevitable penalty for interference with any such natural 
 law. The civilization acquired or imposed by such 
 artificial means is for the most part no more than a 
 veneer, which is easily peeled off and has the terrible 
 disadvantage of adding to the vices and defects incidental 
 to the new condition without having first eradicated 
 those that previously existed, while it also tends to 
 destroy those better qualities that were inbred in the 
 subject in his natural state. There are, of course, 
 occasional but very exceptional instances of men who 
 survive this process and appear at first to justify it ; but 
 they are examples of the survival of the fittest, the giants 
 of their race, who would inevitably have come to the 
 front by the very force of their own stronger characters. 
 These rapid transitions from a barbarous or semi- 
 barbarous state to a far higher plane of civilization are 
 harmful, and the only sure means of attaining the object 
 aimed at is to allow Nature to follow her own methods. 
 The process must be a gradual one and cannot be hurried, 
 though it may be assisted and accelerated by tactful 
 encouragement, sympathy and example. The race must 
 advance as a whole, and no matter how rapid its advance 
 may be, it must tread every rung of the ladder. The un- 
 natural elevation of a small number places them at a 
 disadvantage. It is equivalent to forcing a handful of 
 plants into premature bloom . . . But the people 
 themselves cannot be blamed for these unnatural condi- 
 18
 
 274 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 tions produced in them. The fault Hes rather with 
 those whose ill-advised attempts at improvement were 
 responsible for their production. They may be studied 
 among the people of those towns that have been longest 
 occupied by Europeans, and better still in Sierra Leone, 
 where the process has been carried further and its effects 
 are therefore more pronounced. The moral is undoubt- 
 edly to give the people more time and to aim at 
 improving them in ways that are suited to their own 
 surroundings, preserving all that is good and only 
 eliminating what is bad in their own institutions, 
 instead of destroying everything of their own and then 
 forcing on them the manners and customs and religious 
 beliefs of a civilization that is the outcome of centuries 
 of life in a different climate and under different conditions, 
 which are quite unsuited to the African." This is the 
 judgment of a physician, a psychologist, a historian, who 
 knows whereof he speaks. We ourselves contrasted the 
 " trousered native," as he is called in Nigeria, with his 
 brothers of the loin cloth or the Manchester cotton 
 " toga " and with the gowned Hausa and Fulani. There 
 you have an interesting comparison. Hausas and Fulanis 
 are Mohammedans. They are educated — well educated 
 — according to Oriental standards. The " bush man " 
 has no education at all. But commend us to either of 
 these rather than to the native with a veneer of 
 Occidental civilization, save for the few " exceptional 
 instances." 
 
 It did not take long for us to see that the position of a 
 newly-appointed Governor is veritably not a bed of roses. 
 There is a species of lull pregnant with expectation. 
 The older hands smile superciliously and talk of a new 
 broom. The younger ones are filled with hope that 
 changes will be effected which will render their duties 
 more palatable, their material positions more comfortable. 
 From this suspense speedily emerges the governing 
 factor of the situation, whether the newcomer is content 
 to adopt the policy of his predecessor — a comfortable 
 proceeding — or whether he proposes to think and act for 
 himself. The Governor of the Gold Coast had com- 
 menced by eradicating the old system of centralization
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 275 
 
 of administration by the up-to-date method of inaugu- 
 rating a pohcy of decentrahzation. 
 
 Without much exaggeration it might be said that the 
 former arrangement, with its intolerable delays, its 
 pigeon-holing of grievances, its baleful effect upon enter- 
 prise, its clogging of progress, economic, social, and 
 commercial, was the means which brought Imperial 
 Russia to an end, since Tsardom was the very epitome 
 of bureaucracy with its attendant evils. Similarly, in a 
 country such as this, where communications leave much 
 to be desired and mails are slow, unless initiative is 
 encouraged the whole administration suffers. Little by 
 little the poison is absorbed into the system, until an 
 Assistant District Commissioner will decide nothing 
 without referring it to his superior — the District Com- 
 missioner — who in turn refers it to the Chief Commis- 
 sioner, who sends it to the Secretariat, which transfers it 
 to the Governor. It is the story of " The house that 
 Jack built " reversed. By the time that the point at 
 issue has been decided, and the verdict has travelled back 
 through the same channels, the originator of the pother 
 will have gone on leave, and his successor will put it on 
 one side to await his colleague's return or for " a more 
 convenient season." It is truly wonderful that anything 
 ever gets done, and it is not wonderful that, after a 
 treatment such as this for some years, a man becomes 
 an automaton. It would be a marvel did he not. In the 
 Secretariat at Accra no fewer than 3,600 minute papers 
 are received every two months. It is a staggering figure ; 
 sixty a day. No wonder the story is told of the official 
 who, having spent the night in a rest-house which leaked 
 badly and sent in a minute thereon, found the same 
 old thing in circulation two years later, when the 
 original complaint had become merged in the interesting 
 question of how many Wesleyans there were in the 
 Gold Coast Eegiment. Meantime, of course, nothing 
 had been done to the rest-house. All this is now to be 
 altered, and the most junior administrative official is to 
 be encouraged, in matters affecting his own area, to deal 
 with officials of other departments to be found therein. 
 Thereby will be created so many self-contained districts,
 
 276 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 which will only consult their parent district over matters 
 of considerable moment, and so on up the scale to the 
 final appeal to the Governor. Thus, if a road is required, 
 the A.D.C., as he is termed locally, will ascertain how 
 much money has been allocated to him for public works, 
 and will then consult with his own local public works 
 official, and with him decide what is to be done and how. 
 In addition, the personal question comes in. Armed 
 with powers such as these, any official is bound to put 
 more heart into his work, and will become genuinely 
 interested, whereas under other conditions it is to be 
 feared that he often regards his duties as a means to the 
 end of getting home on leave and having a good time. 
 It will also effectually prevent parochialism. He will 
 have more to think about, and will be stimulated to come 
 out of the groove into which so many sink, and view 
 things all round from a different standpoint. 
 
 There is no reason why, because a man is stationed in 
 a lonely place, he should grow to ignore everything con- 
 nected with the outside world. It is a very poor policy 
 for Empire-building. In his spare time, when there is 
 naught to do, no shooting maybe in the neighbourhood, 
 the companionship of a paper is better than nothing, 
 but often, with steamer delays and suchlike, mails get 
 held up, and hence there is no paper. Foreign news, 
 Colonial news, anything and everything outside his im- 
 mediate surroundings form a valuable mental tonic, and 
 included in the news may well be the latest doings of 
 the colony itself. Now to this his Excellency had also 
 given thought and had evolved a scheme for a weekly 
 paper which should circulate throughout the colony, or 
 even beyond, and should be the medium not only of 
 desseminating items of world-wide interest, but of bring- 
 ing officials closer together by making known happenings 
 in the various districts. 
 
 We were much struck by a political officer in one 
 province who had no idea where Koforidua, a very im- 
 portant centre in the Eastern Province, was situated. 
 True, there was no special reason why he should, only 
 one would have thought that the geography of one's 
 own colony would come before aught else. Further,
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 277 
 
 the paper would be printed upon one side in the ver- 
 nacular, and would thus be brought within the reach of 
 the native population. Its value in that direction would 
 be inestimable. At present the native press is very poor. 
 The one consistently loyal paper contains chiefly adver- 
 tisements, and leads a very precarious existence. The 
 others are uncommonly prone to attack. All of them 
 suffer further from being written in execrable English, 
 and a paper such as the Governor had in mind would 
 thus form an educational medium. It may be idealism, 
 but in our humble opinion it is practical idealism, and 
 would pay large dividends imperially, if not self-support- 
 ing financially. 
 
 General Guggisberg quickly grasped the fact that to- 
 day, more than ever before, owmg to the war, has the 
 power of a well-organized Press become established. 
 If the native is to be taught to think Imperially and to 
 study conditions and con over in his mind how in a 
 reasonable way he may improve his social surroundings, 
 then the surest way to that consummation is through 
 such a journal. At present, even educated natives are 
 visionaries beyond the wildest flights of the imagination. 
 
 There is a lagoon near the town of Quittah, connected 
 with the sea by a small channel. This lagoon at a 
 moderate estimate is eight miles across and about nine 
 miles from end to end. Yet we received a deputation 
 of the leading merchants in the town — native merchants, 
 of course — who earnestly asked that we would petition 
 the Government to have it filled up ! That proves 
 conclusively the lack of comprehension in the native 
 mind of what is within the realms of the practical and 
 what constitutes material for Jules Verne. They know 
 no better because they have no paper from which they 
 can deduce facts, except the aforesaid local sheets, which, 
 beyond attacks on policy and reports of criminal cases, 
 confine themselves to deaths and marriages. There, 
 then, is the raison d'etre for the foundation of a "weekly" 
 upon the lines General Guggisberg favoured. 
 
 In this connection there is one other point continually 
 brought to our notice. There is an efficient " Renter " 
 news all along the coast cabled so many times a week.
 
 278 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 It. is looked forward to with interest, and great is the 
 heartburning when, upon perusal, the sheet is found to 
 contain, let us say, a long paragraph about the Czecho- 
 slovaks, another about the French policy in Persia, 
 another about the illness of the Greek Premier, and a 
 couple of lines dealing with the coal strike in Wales. 
 No sport news ! No football or cricket results ! There 
 may be an epoch-making prize fight, or a boat race, or 
 some classic event upon the Turf. Overlooked ! To 
 wanderers like ourselves, the ordinary news of the out- 
 side world was what we wanted, since we may be in 
 Paraguay or Patagonia this time next year. But the 
 man on the spot, be he official or trader, is much more 
 interested in the local events in England or matters 
 affecting the Empire than in a revolution in Peru. 
 After all, it is very comprehensible. His home is in the 
 British Isles, and that his favourite choice won " The 
 Oaks," or that "Wells beat Carpentier in ten rounds, 
 really forms a topic of conversation for himself and his 
 friends, while the other news does not. It is only a 
 matter of editing, and Messrs. Eeuter have such a very 
 old standing out here that it seems but natural to bring 
 the small point to their notice. 
 
 It is impossible to paint in dull enough colours the 
 monotony of residence on the West Coast, and even a 
 small thing such as this relieves it a little. The fore- 
 going may all have appeared very dull to the average 
 reader, but if a colony is to be described faithfully, the 
 plain facts of life, administration, and so forth, cannot 
 be overlooked. Even were the country redolent with 
 the perfume of roses and jasmine, were song-birds for 
 ever singing and the whole of creation speaking of 
 Paradise, still there would always remain the something 
 which would more or less spoil the picture. And this 
 country is not like that. It is hard. It is money- 
 grubbing — people do not come here to do aught else but 
 make money, and plenty can be made. Small blame to 
 them if they do not stay longer than is necessary. But 
 the official — he is in a different position ; it is his liveli- 
 hood, and his one chance of getting away is promotion 
 elsewhere. Surely, then, everything imaginable should 
 be done to make things bearable. Therefore the salary
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 279 
 
 question must receive attention. Time was when the 
 pohtical officer started at ^£300 a year, not a princely 
 sum in this climate. War came, prices soared, and it is 
 actual fact that when the time arrived for him to take 
 his leave he had to run into debt to do anything at all 
 in the way of recreation at home. Here, recreation, in 
 the proper sense of the word, does not exist. There is 
 tennis, and sometimes golf ; both are duties in order to 
 keep as well as possible. There may be some sort of a 
 club, generally not. Beyond that there is nothing. If 
 on the top of that you pile financial worry, no insurance 
 company in its senses would give him a policy at any 
 price. 
 
 Thanks to the Governor, war bonuses have been 
 granted to all officials, but with prices as they are these 
 are actually insufficient for the needs of living in a proper 
 way. The official has some sort of position to keep up. 
 He may have a wife at home ; pray heaven he has no 
 children if he be a junior ! Upon the hill stands the 
 bungalow of the trader who has done fairly well ; only 
 fairly well, mark you. He will be in receipt of an 
 income of perhaps £4,000 a year ; his official counter- 
 part will be making his £4:70, since the war bonus is 
 ^6170 per annum. This is no exaggeration. The trader 
 can do what he likes, wear what he likes, work how he 
 likes. The official must always be spruce and neat. He 
 cannot transact his business in pyjamas, as traders often 
 do. He must belong to the club if one exists ; at any 
 rate, he must entertain a little, must buy an occasional 
 drink for the passer-by, and show good-fellowship. Were 
 he to live the life of a hermit, he would quickly either 
 go the way of all flesh or lose his mind. This is no 
 country for that form of exercise known as cheeseparing. 
 The aforementioned £170 war bonus sounds a very 
 pleasant addition to any small income. Yet consider 
 the facts. Admittedly, prices have more than doubled 
 all round, considerably more than doubled. Hence were 
 the junior official to receive £600 where he had only 
 received £300 before the war, he would still be no better 
 off, and probably worse off, since it is merely on an 
 average that prices have doubled. In point of fact they 
 fluctuate in the various stores in the various districts
 
 280 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 according to demand. Thus, in one place a bottle of 
 whisky may cost 10s., in another it may cost 15s., and 
 we have seen it sold over the counter time and again for 
 £1. The answer is always the same, " If we can get it, 
 we naturally do. We are not controlled from London 
 and Liverpool as to maximum prices, only as to minimum. 
 And we are not here for pleasure, remember." That 
 being the attitude of the trader, it is not surprising if 
 some of them are not very popular. A bottle of beer 
 costs anything from Is. 3d. to 3s. ; this is the very light 
 beer which in England would cost, retail, perhaps 6d., or 
 something in that region. 
 
 A few more examples. A packet of the most inferior 
 matches which were ever intended to lighten the dark- 
 ness is Is. A Dutch cheese costs one guinea, and butter 
 is 7s. a pound. Twelve common cotton collars run to 
 15s. These prices are taken at hazard ; there may be 
 more costly articles. Of course, there is an import tax 
 of 20 per cent, upon everything except books entering 
 the country, so legitimately the trader can in a measure 
 blame the Government which takes away the war bonus 
 by its own taxation, an admirable example of robbing 
 Peter to pay Paul. And, further, we happen to know 
 that there are many uncommonly kind firms who assist 
 their unlucky official brethren by granting the longest 
 of credit and the easiest terms of payment. It is the 
 system which is at fault, and not the individual. 
 
 We have been told semi-officially that a further in- 
 crease of salaries all round is in contemplation, and may 
 be expected almost at once. Then let that increase be 
 of the most generous nature. We have studied at first- 
 hand, and can vouch for the fact that, unless a junior 
 official has private means, it is not within human power 
 to bring a wife out here, look after her properly, and 
 have a sufficient reserve in the bank for the rainy day 
 which comes into all our lives when illness demands 
 extra care, and perhaps a passage home by the next 
 steamer. Imagine the anxiety bred by such circumstances. 
 
 Admitting, as all observers do, that the presence of 
 women has a refining influence upon a community such 
 as this, admitting that a wife is an incentive to her 
 husband to work hard with the prospect of a jolly evening
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 281 
 
 at the end of the day, is this right ? If the new world 
 is to be productive of the reforms which one reads about 
 a good deal, start in by giving West Coast officials of all 
 grades salaries which shall compensate them for the 
 acute discomfort of their surroundings, and give, in 
 addition, a financial grant sufficient to pay a wife's 
 passage at least one way. The service will benefit all 
 round. 
 
 All over the colony there is great need of some centre 
 where tailoring of European type could be undertaken. 
 At Coomassie we were told that if a white tailor settled 
 there he could be busy all the time, and need look no- 
 where else for work. The climate plays havoc with 
 clothing of every kind, and it has continually to be 
 replaced or repaired. Boots are mended in the prison 
 at Sekondi, but they are not made there that we are 
 aware. A barber who was also a chemist, and could 
 make up prescriptions, would do well. A bookseller who 
 kept, besides the ordinary novels, works by standard 
 authors, really good writing paper, all the minor acces- 
 sories of the writing table, and combined therewith a 
 first-class circulating library, with good solid books 
 collected from remainder lists of secondhand book stores, 
 and was prepared to send them by parcel post to various 
 districts in the colony, would, in our belief, do well. 
 We offer the suggestion to Messrs. Boots, who could 
 then combine the chemistry business, the book-shop, and 
 the barber's shop under one roof. This is not a fantastic 
 dream ; it is actually the result of ideas formed upon the 
 spot. Why is it that of all the world, West Africa 
 should suffer from this extraordinary business shyness ? 
 As a place of residence, certainly not the Gold Coast. As 
 a commercial milieu it is a sound proposition. A year's 
 work and six months' leave is desirable, but during that 
 year it is safe to hazard that the enterprising shopkeeper 
 would make a larger return upon his capital outlay than 
 he would in twelve years at home. There are those 
 who prefer the humdrum life of a great city, with an 
 occasional glimpse of a green field on bank holidays, 
 and such time as they can afford to get away from their 
 daily task. To them it would make no appeal. But 
 there are others, and it does seem an anachronism that,
 
 282 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 in a budding town, such as Accra, it should be necessary 
 to try every Uttle native store in the town for some 
 common commodity hke a padlock or blotting paper ; 
 that if a man wants a barber he must take any one he 
 can find ; that if a prescription has to be made up it 
 must be done in the spare time of the native pharmacist 
 at the native hospital ; and yet that a dress suit is " de 
 rigueur," that ladies must be gowned in the latest mode, 
 and that the artificial semblance of modern society must 
 be maintained. Truly, it is an amazing paradox ! The 
 Governor of Nigeria has the same problems " only more 
 so." To begin with, he has a Civil Service with tradi- 
 tions and an "esprit de corps." In the old days 
 Northern Nigeria looked down on Southern Nigeria and 
 they united only to gaze contemptuously at the Gold 
 Coast. There is a trace of that remaining and it requires 
 tactful handling, for properly applied, it is good, and 
 misused it may give rise to jealousy. He has also a 
 diversity of native races, from the " head hunters " of the 
 south to the Mohammedans of the north, which demands 
 such versatility as is rarely to be found in one man. The 
 Emirs of Northern Nigeria more closely approximate to 
 the lesser Rajahs of India than any other native rulers 
 in West Africa, yet even these Emirs do not possess the 
 mental calibre of the higher caste Indian. This is an 
 error into which those coming from India to West Africa 
 are very prone to fall, and it seems to us that appoint- 
 ments of higher officials in the latter colonies could 
 wisely be made from the excellent body of men who have 
 spent many years on the West Coast, and who know its 
 intricacies and recognize its elusiveness. Possibly the 
 Colonial Office has appreciated this specification, as 
 shown by the appointments of General Guggisberg to 
 the Gold Coast and Captain Armitage to the Gambia. 
 Of the latter colony we know little or nothing, so we do 
 not venture to discuss it. To Sierra Leone we paid only 
 a fleeting visit and the little we have to say about it 
 and its hard-worked Governor we have left to another 
 chapter. An Irishman was once heard to say to another, 
 " For a nate, clane and aisy job, give me a bishop's." 
 We cannot say the same about the West African 
 Governor's.
 
 283 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 We are all told from our earliest childhood that com- 
 parisons are odious. It is possible, however, that they 
 may be helpful. We can generally learn from our rivals 
 something which has not occurred to us before, some 
 outlook upon life which is strange to our temperament, 
 but which may have a very real influence upon our sub- 
 sequent actions. It is readily granted the world over 
 that Great Britain is the pre-eminent colonizing Power 
 of to-day, though the average man in the street is apt to 
 forget that long before Great Britain played such a 
 star part there were other great countries, particularly 
 Portugal and Spain, which opened up the world to the 
 influence of the civilization of their period. One might 
 mention the Dutch, the Genoese, the Venetians, and go 
 back still further into the realms of history to find vast 
 empires which swayed the world, but are now no more. 
 But, as a nation, we lack a proper sense of historical 
 perspective. We are inclined to live for to-day, to judge 
 by to-day, to ignore the past, and to regard the future 
 with a certain snobbish complaisance. Criticism is 
 hated, although it may be helpful, and your true patriot 
 is the gentleman who bangs the tub hardest and shouts 
 that Great Britain can do no wrong. Such a person is, 
 in point of fact, a very poor friend to his own country, 
 and is suffering from such a bad attack of mental indi- 
 gestion that he deserves the sympathy of those who 
 realize that the truest form of patriotism is to profit by 
 the policy of others and to weigh well the differences of 
 administrative treatment incidental upon differences of 
 temperament. 
 
 It will be admitted that nothing in this world framed 
 by human hands is free of fault. British colonization 
 in West Africa has, on the whole, carried with it the
 
 284 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 traditional treatment of fair play and justice to the native 
 population. Exceptions there have been, but actually 
 they are not very significant. A section of the native 
 community will always and under all circumstances be 
 against white dominion, in the futile belief that the 
 native can manage affairs very much better for himself 
 than under the supervision of the European. That this 
 is entirely false in practice can be judged by the hope- 
 less muddle existing in the Republic of Liberia, with its 
 opera-bouffe Government and its completely undeveloped 
 resources due to lack of local initiative. And the same 
 may be said to apply to Haiti and San Domingo. There- 
 fore, it must be allowed that the whole of the West of 
 Africa has benefited in a greater or less degree by the 
 advent of the white man. Let it be reiterated and 
 emphasized that scandals have occurred, that regrettable 
 incidents have taken place, and that there has been 
 suffering inflicted upon the black man in some parts of 
 the coast. But as one swallow does not make a summer^ 
 then assuredly it is ridiculous to condemn the whole of 
 European administration, as some of our newly-born 
 fanatics do, for incidents of only local importance. 
 Therefore, we have no hesitation in deliberately stating 
 that the white rule along the coast, while open to argu- 
 ment regarding the ethics of local administration, has 
 been beneficial on the whole, and this applies to British^ 
 French and even German organization. Naturally, they 
 all differ in the ethics which govern them. Thus, from 
 a financial point of view, England has looked after the 
 native at the expense of the British taxpayer. Her 
 policy has been distinctly pro-native, and in the process 
 vast quantities of money have been literally thrown into 
 the sea. This was no fault of the Governors, except for 
 the fact that they did not comprehend the African 
 character. Men of the highest integrity, they did not 
 come to West Africa with West African experience. 
 They arrived full of theories based upon previous experi- 
 ence in other tropical dominions. But it is a curious 
 fact, one very well worth emphasizing, that, with the 
 exceptions of General Guggisberg and Sir Frederick 
 Lugard, for many years Governors have been drawn 
 from outside sources.
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 285 
 
 To continue, Great Britain has certainly lost sight of 
 one of the features which, small in itself, mean so much 
 in the aggregate. During a journey of many months 
 and many thousands of miles it is difficult for us to 
 recall a single town, station or settlement in British 
 territory which made any appeal to the natural instinct 
 of a white man. No hotels, poor clubs, unprepossessing 
 streets, no advantage taken of Nature's attractions to 
 make the place as like home as possible, except Lagos, 
 though even there hotel accommodation is conspicuous 
 by its absence. Taking in turn the French settlements, 
 what does one find? Our minds wander back to a 
 certain day in June, 1914, just before the cataclysm of 
 war overwhelmed the world. We were the guests of 
 the Governor of Vologda, in Northern Eussia, and in 
 replying to a deputation of municipal delegates he said : 
 " The great thing to do in all town-planning, gentlemen, 
 is to make boulevards. Let in the air. Have trees and 
 shade and shrubs in plenty. It goes a long way towards 
 making life tolerable." The French West African 
 Administration might almost have been listening to his 
 words, for without exception they have seen to it, cost 
 what it might, that their settlements on the coast were 
 in themselves acceptable to the tired eyes of the Euro- 
 pean. Even in a little place like Grand Bassam, where 
 ships do not often call, which is far more remote and 
 lonely than any of our coast ports, the town has been 
 laid out with a thoroughness and a care so unique that, 
 as a passenger remarked to us, " It might be a little 
 Paris." It must be understood that the buildings are 
 not ostentatious. The white population is perhaps fifty. 
 Yet the streets are boulevards, there are two hotels, an 
 open-air caf6, a " Grand Place," with a monumental 
 clock-tower and lighthouse combined which would do 
 credit to any British seaport, a club, and, last but not 
 least, a band which plays very often. And the expendi- 
 ture incurred has been after all very little. It is a ques- 
 tion of system. The Frenchman likes to smoke his 
 cigar and have his glass of lager beer in pleasant sur- 
 roundings, which encourage a social atmosphere amongst 
 the population, and are certainly better for the morals
 
 286 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 and temperament of everybody concerned than sitting 
 in the stifling verandah of the little clubs to be found in 
 British coast towns. 
 
 On the other hand, it may be argued that the French 
 do not cultivate sport to the extent that the British do, 
 and that so much attention is not paid to that depart- 
 ment of what really is tropical hygiene. And then 
 another point crops up, and this applies to what is 
 French territory and what was German alike. If one 
 asks any Elder Dempster captain what he thinks of the 
 French and British African ports he will invariably 
 plump for the former. Surf is a bugbear in West Africa. 
 It makes landing perilous, and the handling of cargo a 
 matter cf interminable delay. Ships will lie off a town 
 like Accra for three weeks or a month owing to the fact 
 that all goods have to be carried piece by piece through 
 the surf. At an enormous cost a breakwater was con- 
 structed which certainly was money thrown into the sea. 
 No doubt it provided employment for a hundred of 
 experts who gave their widely divergent views upon 
 what was to be done, and the result has been lamentable. 
 It is quite useless. 
 
 Presumably another even more expensive scheme is to 
 be taken in hand, and a harbour is to be constructed at 
 Takoradi point, at the cost of a few millions. Those who 
 know the coast will certainly watch the experiment with 
 interest. Such politics are not practical. Afc every little 
 French or German port one will always find a common 
 or garden pier running out sufficiently far into the sea to 
 avoid the surf, and equipped, at any rate, with a tramway 
 of sorts for the transport of sea-borne cargo. Three 
 captains who have been trading along the West Coast of 
 Africa for the last twenty years gave it as their opinion 
 that two piers at Accra, one for incoming cargo and the 
 other for outgoing would save millions of money to the 
 Administration in the costly schemes they have in hand, 
 as well as being of real assistance to the ships of the 
 world which are unfortunate enough to lie off Accra. 
 The same might be written of Secondi, Saltpond, Winne- 
 bah, or, for that matter, of any other of the British West 
 African ports with the exception of Lagos, as already
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 287 
 
 stated, and of Freetown. The outsider will naturally 
 raise the query, "Well, why on earth wasn't it done 
 before ? It certainly seems simple enough, and from 
 the point of economy, advisable." That is a query 
 which we ask ourselves, which every Elder Dempster 
 captain and mate asks himself, and which every trader 
 in a foreign ship echoes. The answer is unknown to 
 us all. 
 
 The German has a habit of building to impress the 
 native. He will put up a vast Government house or an 
 enormous cathedral regardless of cost because he thinks 
 that thereby the black man might be struck with 
 admiration for the efficacy of German administrative 
 method. But, if the German had only realized it, 
 what struck the black man more was the fact that, as 
 at Lome, a puffing locomotive with a string of wagons 
 behind waited at the end of the pier for ships' cargoes, 
 and then made its noisy progress through the native 
 quarter of the town, stopping at the various ware- 
 houses, and delivering the goods with as much regularity 
 as the native postman did the letters. True, a portion 
 of the Lome pier was washed away on one occasion, but 
 it was speedily rebuilt at a very small cost, and is in as 
 good condition to-day as ever it was. It is worth while 
 adding that the surf at Lome is infinitely worse than 
 that at Accra. Mention of Lome brings to our mind the 
 fate of this portion of Togoland. 
 
 The latest issue of " The Statesman's Yearbook " gives 
 a map of the new French territory, stating, " The British 
 have now obtained about one-third of the country, 12,500 
 square miles, bordering the Gold Coast territories, but 
 no part of the sea coast." Our French friends will 
 assuredly not take umbrage if it is pointed out that this 
 division of the spoils of war is an uncommonly advan- 
 tageous one to them as they get two quite good harbours 
 in the aforementioned Lome and Anecho. It is highly 
 probable, however, that these advantages will be offset 
 by the disadvantages of being compelled to keep the 
 peace in the hinterland, no easy matter, since many of 
 the tribes are divided, being now half under British and 
 half under French rule, which has caused a great deal
 
 288 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 of dissatisfaction amongst them. It is impossible to 
 travel through the country and not be aware of the dis- 
 content which prevails. It is quite comprehensible, for, 
 like white people, the native does not like being changed 
 backwards and forwards between two masters. In the 
 Cameroons the French have been equally fortunate, and 
 have received by far the larger slice, including another 
 excellent habour in the shape of Duala. Therefore, it 
 is no exaggeration to state that, with Conakry and 
 Dakar (both almost first-class naval bases), as far as 
 West Africa is concerned, they have a very good chain 
 of harbours. 
 
 A glance at a map shows the enormous extent of 
 French West African possessions. Their hinterland is 
 continuous from St. Louis, in Senegal, as far as the 
 Egyptian Soudan. With their railway advance, which 
 is progressing rapidly, they will soon link up this vast 
 territory, while in addition they are making a particular 
 point of the construction of motor roads in every 
 direction. 
 
 The study of geography seems rather neglected in 
 England, but a great deal may be learnt from the intel- 
 ligent comprehension of a map. We make no claim to 
 have any knowledge of the guiding factors in the game 
 of international politics, but having travelled in many 
 countries, we have attempted to observe and to under- 
 stand. Poland may seem a far cry from West Africa, 
 but is it possible that one of the factors which swayed 
 French politicians in supporting Poland against the 
 Bolshevik regime was the knowledge that what these 
 agents of unrest were attempting to accomplish in the 
 Khanates of Central Asia and of Afghanistan they might 
 attempt not only in French West Africa, but in all 
 portions of the continent where the Mohammedan creed 
 is to be met ? It is common enough to meet the Mecca 
 pilgrim in the regions around Lake Tchad, as well as 
 in Senegal and the British West African littoral. 
 They come from afar, some upon ostensible business, 
 others with no satisfactory explanations to give of 
 their presence unless it be to proselytize, of which a 
 great deal is being done. Any stick being good enough
 
 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 289 
 
 to beat a dog with, and the Bolshevik being anything 
 but the illiterate fool some people imagine, they might 
 here find an excellent lever with which to add to the 
 difficulties of regularly constituted European com- 
 munities. A series of risings throughout Moham- 
 medan Africa would prove a very serious contingency 
 to meet at any time, but more especially just at present, 
 when the minds of all thinking people are focused upon 
 a sentence of two words, "What next?" Being fore- 
 warned is being forearmed, and the more light which 
 can be thrown by the responsible Press upon the sinister 
 possibilities attending the Bolshevik movement the 
 better. With Turkey in a state of chaos, Persia and 
 Asia Minor honeycombed with intrigue, emanating 
 whence only the few know, but many can suspect, the 
 opportunities for mischief are so immense that they can- 
 not for one moment be ignored. This is one more 
 reason why those of our country who are recruited for 
 the ranks of the British Civil Service in West Africa, 
 and particularly in the political and police departments, 
 should be men of exceptional breadth of intelligence, 
 keenly aware of international movements, and not con- 
 cerning themselves solely with the routine work which 
 awaits them in their offices. 
 
 We have often mentioned what a pity it was that 
 West Africa was not better known to the general public, 
 and for this purpose we offer a further suggestion which 
 may be favourably considered, or, at any rate, considered 
 by the Colonial authorities. Surely the time has arrived 
 when either collectively or singly the West African 
 colonies might have agencies in London, and, if that 
 proved successful, in other large towns. The cost would 
 not be prohibitive, and it would open people's eyes to 
 the latent possibilities of these colonies, and most 
 assuredly would encourage commerce and trade develop- 
 ment. There would be no necessity for elaborate 
 offices of the most expensive type, but let them contain 
 exhibits of local industries, photographs in plenty, maps 
 and literature. Those responsible would naturally have 
 to know a certain amount about native laws and 
 institutions, they would have to understand how mining 
 19
 
 290 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 leases and timber concessions were granted ; in fact, 
 they would have to be able to give comprehensive 
 information upon every subject connected with the 
 particular colony to which they were allocated. This 
 would mean a special local knowledge born only of 
 practical experience on the spot. 
 
 From personal experience we can assert that the 
 West Coast official, who in due course gets his pension, 
 is often hard put to it to meet his expenses at home, and 
 as often as not becomes disgruntled and miserable by 
 whiling away day after day in some cheap boarding- 
 house time which might otherwise be well spent. 
 Such folk would jump at the opportunity of adding to 
 their income by finding employment in one of these 
 agencies, and naturally from their years of service none 
 could be better suited for the job. Furthermore, such 
 agencies would form a meeting ground for coasters ; 
 they would read the latest papers and have a smoke and 
 a gossip without being put to the expenses incidental to 
 joining a club. The average coaster, as may be imagined, 
 does not travel thither for amusement, and although he 
 may have money " to go on a ' splurge ' with when on 
 leave," to use a colloquialism, yet there are very many 
 who are married and have responsibilities which oblige 
 them to consider every penny they spend. To such as 
 these an agency run on the lines suggested, with its 
 friendly atmosphere, would be a veritable boon and a 
 focal point to which all in search of information of any 
 sort could find their way. As far as memory serves us, 
 the French have such a place in Paris. If we mistake 
 not, it started in a very modest way as a sort of reading- 
 room in the office of the Chargeurs Eeunis Steamship 
 Company. We are, however, proverbially slow in doing 
 anything radical, and it always appears to be left to 
 somebody else. But there can be no harm in suggestion, 
 and we have now seen so much that we have no 
 hesitation in hazarding one. 
 
 Thanks to Elder Dempster's agent, we were able 
 to catch the ocean boat from the funny little harbour of 
 Forcados. It is certainly not a place in which to linger, 
 but our plight would have been rather tragic had no
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 291 
 
 steamer come in and we had had to go all the way back 
 overland to Lagos and possibly wait there for an 
 indefinite period. We have briefly animadverted upon 
 the lack of hotel accommodation in all our West African 
 possessions. Though the hospitality in these parts is 
 proverbial, yet there comes a period when people must 
 shift for themselves ; a week or a fortnight even, and 
 one is a welcome guest, but after that period, with 
 the kindest intentions in the world, what with the 
 prohibitive cost of living, the difficulty in getting 
 provisions, and the lack of accommodation (for no one 
 is singular in this respect), one becomes an actual 
 embarrassment, awkward for one's host and infinitely 
 more displeasing for oneself. 
 
 If a large organization such as Messrs. Lyons would 
 go into the matter seriously we confidently believe they 
 would find it worth their while to send out someone, 
 in whose professional skill they had confidence, to make 
 a report for them. Freetown, the Clapham Junction of 
 the West African trade ; Sekondi — the terminus of the 
 railway from the minefields ; Accra — the capital of 
 the Gold Coast ; Lagos — capital of United Nigeria — all 
 are shouting for hotels run upon clean and respectable 
 lines, and, with due regard to local contingencies, at as 
 reasonable a cost as possible. We fully believe that the 
 profits would be stupendous. Nobody minds paying good 
 money for those requirements, but in an atmosphere 
 of squalor such as is to be found in the only so-called 
 hotels existing, more like shacks in mining camps in 
 Colorado in the bad old days than places of refreshment 
 and rest, for white women and men alike in a tropical 
 country, anything is costly. No wonder the British 
 traveller, who, after all, is an asset of immense value to 
 any community, as is proved by the annual income 
 derived by the Italian Government from the British 
 tourists, hesitates at the idea of paying a visit to 
 West Africa unless he be an official guest.
 
 292 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVIII. 
 
 It is doubtful whether any part of the world produces 
 such distinct and clear-cut human types as West Africa. 
 The traveller may make his way from end to end of its 
 various colonies, and yet he will never be mistaken for 
 the real article. There is something indefinable which 
 marks a " Coaster " down as such, a something born of 
 lengthy experience in this elusive portion of the globe. 
 And at once let it be clearly understood that the old- 
 fashioned ideas of the lives lived by official and trader 
 alike are hopelessly out of focus, as some of our previous 
 chapters will have emphasized. Human nature is just 
 the same here as elsewhere, only perhaps it errs in the 
 best direction in which human nature can err, namely, 
 in that there is, " au coeur/' a deep bond of sympathy 
 cementing all these varying elements into one homoge- 
 neous whole when " Coast " interests are under the fire of 
 criticism. People quarrel here as they do at home ; 
 maybe they gossip more, if that be possible, than in the 
 average cathedral town in England ; the population is 
 smaller and the relaxations are less. There are no more 
 saints and sinners than in any other Imperial possession, 
 only the fierce light lit by the encouragement of enter- 
 prising publishers has served to illuminate the black spots 
 when they do exist, to the exclusion of the dull, mono- 
 tonous grey lived by the many — grey because truly it is 
 existence only, to the temperament of many. They live 
 on from day to day and from month to month because 
 they have responsibilities which they admit and the price 
 of which they willingly accept. Hence, to preface these 
 few remarks, one point may be recognized — a spirit of 
 uncomplaining pluck. West Africa has for so long 
 enjoyed, or rather suffered from, unmerited stigma that 
 it has undoubtedly made of those who belong to it a class
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 293 
 
 to themselves, not a little suspicious of foreign eyes, as 
 well they may be after so long a period without any 
 championship. It is evidenced by the fact that one 
 London club almost universally affected by the Coaster is 
 the Sports. There they foregather, and it is impossible 
 to enter at any time and not hear Coast talk, drink a 
 Coast cocktail and hear of the latest appointments. 
 Frankly the official classes provide the fewest types of 
 interest. They are usually caught young after leaving 
 the University, and becoming imbued with a certain 
 sameness of vision concerning most matters, they share 
 with other professions a fondness for talking "shop." 
 Still, here and there, one encounters individuals who 
 would delight the heart of any novelist. 
 
 We once met a political officer, years ago, who in his 
 spare time had learnt the whole of Thackeray's " Vanity 
 Fair " by heart. All one had to do was to open the book 
 at any page, give the immediate context, and he could 
 rattle on "ad infinitum." He had besides this book only 
 two others in his perambulating library, the Bible and 
 Whitaker's Almanack. Asked why he had not learnt 
 the former by heart, he explained that it would deprive 
 it of its freshness, and that it made a change to turn 
 from its pages and ascertain from Whitaker such facts 
 as the rainfall in English towns or the world's birth-rate. 
 " It keeps one's mind in working order," he would asser- 
 vate ; " if one is ill one is ordered change of climate and 
 diet and so on. Then why not have change of mental 
 diet ? I can't afford to carry books about with me, but 
 with these three I am well provided." 
 
 On the other hand, we met an engineer of a different 
 type altogether, one who might be aptly described as a 
 mechanical snob. He had the reputation of being a 
 capable man ; he certainly did not possess a fascinating 
 manner. We mention his type because it emphasizes a 
 point which must be made. This man's mind consisted 
 of cogwheels, crankshafts, and bearings. For aught else 
 he had supreme contempt. He asserted to us, not very 
 politely, that writers of any kind were unnecessary evils, 
 that papers never told the truth, that music was effeminate 
 and had never done any good to any one, that pictures
 
 294 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 and art were rubbish, and that he could not understand 
 how it was possible to admire a view, a flower or a sea- 
 scape. He had overlooked the possible power of the 
 Press, the effect of military bands, the influence of 
 literature, and the stimulus in every direction of art in 
 all forms. On a coast such as this, where materialism 
 plays havoc with morals and even physical health, such 
 views are dangerous. 
 
 Happily, the Governors of the colonies, through whom 
 must filter some influence to the outside, are men of no 
 ordinary ability in just those directions our friend 
 derided. Sir Hugh Clifford, of Nigeria, has written a 
 number of books. General Guggisberg, of the Gold 
 Coast, is miserable without music and told us he hoped 
 to have an orchestra before long. He is a musician of 
 comprehension, moreover. Governor Wilkinson, of 
 Sierra Leone, is a " savant " who, had he not arrived at 
 his present eminence, could easily have occupied an im- 
 portant " Chair " at any University. These are three 
 contradictions to the theory formulated against those 
 who are interested in the Arts. Shorn of such relaxa- 
 tions, life here would resolve itself into work, tennis, and 
 a " gin crawl," as it is appositely named in these regions. 
 In point of fact, this was the only instance we have met 
 of the materialist run riot, but it was easy for us to see 
 how harmful influence such as this might be to new- 
 comers. The man who has no use for children, music, 
 books and the more spiritual side of life is one to avoid. 
 But as a type, like a flea under a microscope, he is of 
 value, for he illustrates the latent dangers in his com- 
 position. In the old days traders were called " palm oil 
 ruffians." For aught we know the name may linger, 
 but, speaking as we found them, they were all courtesy 
 and kindness personified. Two we make mention of 
 again as types. They may even recognize themselves ; 
 one thing is certain, we shall not be sued for libel. 
 
 Imagine a very tall man of gigantic proportions, and 
 a smile which never fades. A tremendously hard worker, 
 he expects and receives from his staff the same amount 
 of work in proportion to that accomplished by himself. 
 He pays well, he treats his underlings with a considera-
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 295 
 
 tion rare to find in these days, and he is a born 
 disciplinarian. In the evenings he hammers away with 
 no mean success at his dulcitone, and one of his 
 employes has a fine tenor voice, which he encourages 
 him to use. His hobbies are the most harmless in the 
 world — fishing and the breeding of Irish terriers. He 
 has made his money honestly, and he deserves the 
 pleasures he has at home due to it. To label a man such 
 as this a " palm oil ruffian " has its edge taken off, since 
 he knows that he is one of the most popular people on 
 the Coast, and one of the most respected by all, from the 
 Governor downwards. 
 
 Another type. This time a hard-bitten little "ruffian" 
 with a most lovable individuality. He has travelled the 
 wide world over and lost money in most places. He has 
 always come up smiling, and to-day is the possessor of 
 a very large fortune. Essentially a business man, he can 
 find time to look after a sick priest — himself not a 
 Catholic — and to assist a struggling Catholic mission. 
 And on occasion, as we well know, he has motored over 150 
 miles of broken road to bring into his home and nurse a 
 white man he has never met before and whom probably 
 he would never meet again. He also is a " palm oil 
 ruffian " of the type of which the world would be the 
 richer were there more. 
 
 Around folk such as these, with their large possessions, 
 there must inevitably linger something of insinuation 
 from those who are jealous, be they officials or rivals in 
 business. That is inevitable, but that is found the world 
 over, and again the West Coast is not exceptional ; 
 it is only showing how truly human in the pettifogging 
 sense it can be, and will be, like all the rest of the world, 
 till the end of time. At any rate, we can count these 
 two types amongst our friends. Of course, there are 
 exceptions to the rule : there always are. But, bye and 
 large, as sailors say, the trader is a good fellow at heart, 
 and would no more think of deliberately doing an 
 unkind action to a subordinate, or, for that matter, 
 to a stranger, than he would think of flying. There is 
 only one respect in which some of them may show 
 a lack of discretion, and this is penned only with the
 
 296 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 friendliest intentions. Likewise, if those who have read 
 our preceding chapters wish to understand the true 
 psychology of the coastal entity, wish to understand 
 some otherwise inexplicable theories held by high 
 officials and to fathom to its depths just what the 
 West Coast spells, then it is obviously useless to ignore 
 obstinate facts which face one. The greatest danger 
 here for the newcomer and old hand alike is not drink, 
 as people usually suppose, but unmistakably gambling. 
 In its essence there is not the least harm in it. No 
 earthly harm is done by bridge or poker, or even 
 baccarat, when the players know with whom they are 
 playing. But, unfortunately, a novice comes along and 
 plays with those by w^hom he has been shown courtesy. 
 Understand, please, they do not want him to gamble ; 
 they presume that he has sufficient sense to stand out, 
 if he considers it is wiser so, or to put a limit on his 
 losses. No one we have ever met would blame him for 
 such an action ; they would applaud it. But be it 
 remembered that amongst the trading community there 
 is a tremendous amount of money, they are virtually 
 coining it, and if a couple of hundred, or, for that 
 matter, ^500 change hands in the evening amongst 
 such people, meeting the liability is easy. But the 
 youngster comes along, or the inexperienced elder, which 
 is also not unknown, and having lost, plays to retrieve. 
 For that purpose he borrows money, willingly lent at 
 the table, and when the morning comes and the sultry 
 West African sun begins its daily "hate" he realizes 
 what the night before has meant to him. This is 
 no mawkish sentiment ; it is hard common sense, to 
 which all reputable West Africans will subscribe. We 
 personally have seen a host take a man aside, and 
 afterwards he told us he had implored him, to use his 
 own words, "to quit." But does any sane person in 
 the world suppose that such an admonition carries any 
 weight when the night is growing old ? Of course not. 
 If only some of the tragedies which do occur here, as 
 elsewhere, could be traced to their origin, it would be 
 found in many cases that "pour passer le temps" the 
 gambling table has made its call, and the resultant
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 297 
 
 effects have been disastrous. With which few words 
 let the subject be dismissed. Only it may explain why, 
 when we write of distractions, of music, or a theatre 
 even, it is not idle idealism or rubbishy sentimentality ; 
 it is penned with a knowledge of facts which really need 
 alteration and amendment. 
 
 There is also the type which loves West Africa with 
 the love of a husband, a father and a son. To him every 
 aspect of it is either delightful or interesting and he 
 would ask nothing better than to be laid, when the time 
 comes, under his favourite cottonwood or baobab tree. 
 Some one has truly said : "Home is not the place where 
 we lay our heads, it is the place where we lay our 
 hearts." And though West Africa may shrivel the skins 
 and waste the flesh of her ardent lovers their hearts are 
 hers. To our thinking, these men are poets without 
 voice. They are worshipping an unkind mistress, truly, 
 but they have eyes to see her in her few moments of 
 responsiveness and the more she flouts them the greater 
 is their love. We have met them, have seen their eyes 
 as they took a reluctant farewell of what they held so 
 dear before sailing for England, never to return. 
 
 Another type which is to be found is the " Boaster." 
 We give him a capital letter and richly does he deserve it, 
 for he is own brother to Baron Munchausen, of historic 
 memory. Nothing is an obstacle to the " Boaster." He 
 tells you of his present afiluence — vide his racing stable 
 at home and his newly purchased ancestral acres, all 
 situated in a mythical county. He then relates how he 
 has skilfully kept just " within the law " and hints 
 at many doubtful transactions. He describes the fear in 
 which native chiefs hold him, through some cunning 
 and timely employment of ju-ju. In fact, no bow is 
 too long for him to draw. And, as a rule, he is really 
 a perfectly honest employe of a perfectly reputable firm, 
 whose v/ife and children live at Surbiton and possibly 
 keep a pony and governess cart or a Ford car of an 
 early vintage. 
 
 It is only after being some time on the West Coast 
 that a peculiar lack of something begins to make its 
 presence felt. There are no children here ! Black babies
 
 298 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 there are in plenty — solemn, little, sleepy things that 
 nod on their mothers' backs ; black boys and girls, too 
 young to carry on their heads anything heavier than an 
 empty pannikin, walk sedately along the roads. Black 
 children never seem to laugh or cry or play, and they 
 mature early. But there is no childish laughter and no 
 patter of baby feet on the wooden floors of the bungalows. 
 This dearth of youth becomes at last almost oppressive, 
 though it is a stern necessity. Only in parts of Northern 
 Nigeria is it safe to risk the presence of a young white 
 life, for there fresh milk is obtainable and the heat is 
 not so trying. We saw one enchanting baby of five 
 in Northern Nigeria. Thanks to the climate and to 
 the unremitting care of her mother she was well, but her 
 mother was a wreck. Children cannot be left to the 
 black boys, however well intentioned they may be, 
 and there is no such thing as a native ayah. To bring 
 out a white nurse presents the following problems : 
 The nurse may fall ill, when her mistress will have her 
 and baby on her hands ; she must either take her meals 
 w^ith her employers, which might not suit either side, 
 or she must have her meals alone, thereby requiring 
 extra work from the servants ; or, ten to one, she will 
 get engaged to an impressionable railway employe or 
 clerk in the Board of Works, and give notice without 
 a qualm. We saw one other white child in our travels. 
 It was pathetic in its pallor and apathy. Its little legs, 
 which should have been plump and sturdy, were merely 
 sallow broomsticks. And this in spite of the most 
 devoted mother and tender care. 
 
 Truly, the life of a mother on the West Coast is no 
 bed of roses ! But it must not be thought that exist- 
 ence among the feminine element is a sad one. There 
 are many wives who trek with their husbands into out- 
 of-the-way portions of their districts and who enter 
 into the discomforts and even dangers of the journey 
 with positive zest. We recall one athletic, fair-haired 
 girl who thought nothing of rising at four in the morn- 
 ing, slipping into a " bush skirt," breeches, and field 
 boots, and trudging along by her husband through 
 hunters' paths until the rising sun compelled her to 
 take to her hammock. Her pet monkey and parrot
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 299 
 
 always travelled with her, and were as skilled at making 
 themselves comfortable as she. Long practice had 
 made her an adept at what might be called the 
 "multum in parvo " type of luggage, and she could 
 always produce a dinner gown and accessories out 
 of a microscopic bag when necessity required. When 
 we asked her if she would not prefer to be in one 
 of the large ports where bridge and dancing were 
 the order of the evening, she bluntly said that she 
 was fed up with that sort of life, and that she preferred 
 to shoot for the pot rather than to chase golf balls, and 
 to sleep the sleep of healthy fatigue in a palm-leaf hut 
 in the bush than to jazz to a gramophone until the early 
 hours of the morning. That is one way of helping one's 
 husband upon the coast. There is still another ! It 
 consists in doing most of his work for him until he 
 sinks into the status of a cheerful nonentity, and is 
 known merely as " Mrs. X's husband." Masterful 
 women there are in plenty all over the world, but 
 nowhere is it so easy for a masterful woman to grasp 
 the reins in her own hands as on this coast. " Take the 
 line of least resistance " is an insidious doctrine easy to 
 adopt out here, and if the work is done, well, what 
 matters whether Mr. X. or Mrs. X. is responsible ? We 
 have known wives who signed their husband's official 
 documents, others who seemed to forget that a woman 
 should not take a military salute, and others who spoke 
 of "the soldier in my company." These ladies, as a 
 rule, are not good housewives. They are short tempered 
 with the black boys, and are too interested in what is 
 really not their province to pay attention to the prob- 
 lems of the home. We were taken to call at one 
 house of this sort where six bottles half-full of flat, 
 warm beer was the only refreshment available, and 
 where our hostess wrathfully slapped the head boy for 
 his neglect, though the fault was really her own. 
 Black servants are quick to take their cue from their 
 mistress, and if she is lax they become so likewise. 
 Again, there are other women to be found who resent 
 the presence of any increase amongst their own sex 
 out here. They like to be the only ones in a community 
 of attentive men, even though they may be devoted and
 
 300 WEST AFKICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 loving wives. In their own country, unfortunately, the 
 feminine element predominates, and they enjoy the 
 novel sensation of being undisputed queens — even though 
 their kingdoms may be small. One such was known 
 contemptuously to refer to each new arrival as "one 
 more hussy," until someone asked her what the others 
 might perchance call her. There is also the butterfly 
 wife, who, until she finds her soul through sorrow or 
 illness, dances the hours away as though Nature were 
 not waiting to exact the inexorable penalty. For one 
 cannot burn the candle at both ends with impunity on 
 the West Coast, as men and women have both learnt. 
 These little Undines usually realize their mistakes early, 
 and settle down into the best of wives and mothers. 
 Which brings us once more to the problem of children. 
 Hard though it may be in India, it is still more bitter 
 here. No white child must be born in these regions ; 
 no wise mother brings out with her a daughter under 
 the age of eighteen or twenty. Therefore, she must 
 make her choice. Shall she leave her children to the 
 care of relatives, seeing them for four to six months 
 yearly, or shall she herself superintend their upbringing 
 and be content with her husband's society only during 
 his leave at home ? Either way there are strings pulling 
 at her heart. Either way there is anxiety and possible 
 tragedy. The mail steamers are both longed for and 
 dreaded, and sometimes those women a stranger might 
 condemn as frivolous are actually plunging into gaiety 
 to provide an anodyne against thought. Therefore, 
 taking them as a whole, all honour to the women of 
 the West Coast. One must not grudge them their small 
 pleasures nor be too severe upon their weaknesses. 
 Amongst them there are many heroines, true pioneers, 
 like their men-folk. We have met with genuine kind- 
 ness from every one of these types we have attempted to 
 describe, kindness which expected no return and asked 
 for none. So, if we have committed them to paper, it 
 has been " with malice towards none." But, as before 
 remarked, to comprehend such a complex territory as 
 that embraced by the term " West Africa," every side of 
 the question must receive attention. This is what we 
 have attempted to do in the foregoing chapters.
 
 301 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 We left Forcados in the midst of the regular tornado 
 one must expect at this time of the year. Leaden skies 
 seaward heralding a crest of foam quickly transformed 
 into spindrift, a fluttering of canvas weather-guards, 
 a few moments of suspense as we breasted unpleasant 
 breakers, and the mammy chair speedily took us on 
 board. Truth compels us to say it was a relief. Within 
 three minutes we were friends with the Captain, within 
 five with the chief engineer, and within ten with that 
 most important factotum upon all steamships the world 
 over, the chief steward. The comfort of our large cabin 
 was indeed a blessed anodyne to the various worries we 
 had encountered in Nigeria. Kind friends came to see 
 us off, and rather enviously wished us a quick passage 
 and a safe one to the old country. And here let us 
 chronicle two things ; the first, the never-ending kind- 
 ness we have received from the captains of the Elder 
 Dempster boats in which we have travelled. Names 
 like Milson, Shooter, and McDowell may not be known 
 to the express-travelHng public, whose business it is to 
 get home in the quickest possible time. But to those 
 who prefer comfort, consideration, and we might add, 
 friendship, commend us to the " E " boats of the Elder 
 Dempster Company. They make no show. They do 
 not carry more than sixteen passengers. Also their duty 
 necessitates their calling at many odd ports, and thereby 
 making their run home longer than it is by the regular 
 mail boats of the company. But to those who appreciate 
 camaraderie and " homeliness," then give us an " E " 
 boat every time. Which leads us, being reminiscent 
 at the present moment, to our second statement. What 
 a blessing a banker is ! And what a blessing is a 
 cheerful one !
 
 302 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 During our tour, covering over eight months, of 
 necessity v^e have had many dealings v^ith the managers, 
 and staff of the Bank of British West Africa. In every 
 case we met not only with a warm official welcome, but 
 what to us seemed more important, a warm personal 
 welcome. If the tone of an organization is absorbed 
 from headquarters, then assuredly the manager and 
 assistants of that bank in London, manager and 
 assistants whom we have never met, must be un- 
 commonly kindly and helpful folk. Eight months in 
 West Africa teaches one to comprehend how much 
 forethought represents, and to what a great extent one 
 is dependent upon the little things of life which go to 
 make up human kindness, and relieve a sometimes 
 rather sordid world and its never-ending rush after the 
 elusive dollar. So much we can write from our hearts 
 about the Bank of British West Africa. In parenthesis, 
 with other banks we were never brought into contact, 
 but we imagine that throughout the principle is the 
 same. 
 
 We passed up the coast, grown so familiar to us, 
 without incident until we put into the harbour of 
 Cape Palmas, the southernmost port of Liberia. 
 Arriving there took a considerable time. It is a port 
 in name only, and ships lay out about three miles 
 from the shore. It is a rocky promontory, with 
 apparently some good houses on the point, the so-called 
 harbour lying to the eastward, guarded by the usual 
 surf and a forbidding reef of rocks. From the sea, in 
 spite of an occasional tornado which swept across the 
 ship and obliterated the mainland, it looked rather 
 attractive. But the two passengers we embarked from 
 this delectable spot speedily assured us that all is not 
 gold that glitters. From all that they told us, it 
 reminded us forcibly of that old picture in Punchy 
 where the chatty man and the silent passenger are 
 closeted together in a first-class carriage on a non-stop 
 train from Paddington to Reading. They were just 
 passing Hanwell lunatic asylum when the chatty old 
 man remarked pleasantly, " How beautiful the lights of 
 Hanwell look from the train!" The only answer the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 303 
 
 silent man gave was, " Not half so beautiful as the lights 
 of the train look from Hanwell." And so we understand 
 it to be at Cape Palmas. White people resident there 
 apparently are under no delusion, and it may be news 
 to those interested in Liberia, that the inhabitants of 
 Cape Palmas are rather a truculent lot, who are loth 
 to acknowledge the supreme jurisdiction of the Liberian 
 capital, Monrovia, and are at the back of a curious black 
 fermentation which is going on in the United States 
 to-day for another independent black republic in the 
 Liberian zone. 
 
 That this is no myth can be proved by the fact that 
 a native owned and manned steamer was captured 
 during the war by one of our cruisers and taken into 
 Sierra Leone. It may have been opera bouffe, but, be 
 that as it may, her mandate was the settling of native 
 immigrants upon the western shore of Africa, and where 
 else could that be except Liberia ? No one wishes to 
 decry the efforts of a young community, but why cover 
 up its defects with a gloss of sentimentality ? Those 
 who know Liberia, American officials included, will 
 support us in saying that all is not right there. Let 
 it pass at that. 
 
 At Freetown, where we had been for a brief spell 
 previously as guests of Governer Wilkinson and his 
 wife, we found ourselves in the middle of the rainy 
 season. A steamy mist hung over the harbour. There 
 were occasional glimpses of sunshine, but they were 
 few and far between, and then the rain came down 
 again in torrents. Yet we should like to jom issue with 
 a recently published handbook dealing with W^est Africa. 
 This states : " Considering its importance, Freetown is 
 very disappointing in its appearance. As yet it can only 
 boast of one hotel. Little amusement is afforded beyond 
 the botanical gardens, the occasional picture shows, and 
 Wilberforce Maze, which is at Hill Station, some few 
 miles outside Freetown. Known in the olden days as 
 the * White Man's Grave,' Sierra Leone is perhaps 
 even to-day one of the most treacherous places on the 
 coast, though medical science has done much to relieve 
 the prevalence of disease as hitherto."
 
 304 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 We should be very interested to learn from that 
 writer what other British West Coast community offers 
 even the doubtful amusement of botanical gardens, 
 occasional picture shows, and a maze after the style of 
 Hampton Court. It is non-existent. Further, from what 
 statistics did he glean the fact that Sierra Leone to-day 
 is more unhealthy than the Gold Coast or Nigeria? 
 This is giving a dog a bad name with a vengeance, and 
 it is much to be regretted that the date of the publi- 
 cation in question is 1920. Since the administration 
 of Governor Wilkinson, roads have been constructed on 
 a scale which is simply unparalleled, and it is perfectly 
 feasible to ride an ordinary "push-bike" for many miles 
 around the town, whilst the fortunate owners of motor- 
 cars at Freetown can travel fifty or sixty miles along 
 roads which are only comparable with those we found 
 in Togoland. So much for the efficacy of hand-books. 
 
 Further, the motorist may enjoy something which is 
 almost unique in any British colony in the world. He 
 may travel down to the seashore along a perfect road 
 about five miles from Freetown and there find a 
 miniature Palm Beach as at Florida. He can motor 
 along hard sand for many a mile, with, on one side, the 
 green of the African shore, and on the other, the lazy 
 rollers breaking in from the Atlantic, and occasionally 
 laping over the tyres of his car. This is an experiment 
 not likely to be forgotten, and it easily outmeasures 
 anything we have ever seen elsewhere on the whole of 
 the West Coast of Africa. As for climate, Messrs. 
 Elder Dempster's agent has been a resident for many, 
 many years past. The health of the officers stationed in 
 Sierra Leone is on the whole excellent, and it is not 
 long since an old Coaster, who preferred the climate of 
 Sierra Leone to England died there — not from malaria, 
 or any kindred cause, but from mere old age. 
 
 It may be interesting to peruse the subject a little 
 farther. The difficulties besetting the Governor of 
 Sierra Leone are totally different from those confronting 
 others elsewhere. In Freetown itself, we were told that, 
 apart from places like Penang and Singapore, there were 
 more nationalities to be found than anywhere else in the
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 305 
 
 world. Every known race of West African native can 
 be seen upon the crowded harbour front. In the town 
 the interested may find the nationals of all the Eastern 
 countries of Europe, all nominally engaged upon busi- 
 ness, but many upon one knows not what. We can 
 readily believe that the Chief of the Sierra Leone 
 police has one of the most difficult jobs to tackle which 
 can be found in any British possession. Freetown, 
 being a great shipping centre, is the attraction for every 
 sort of marine riff-raff ; it is the care of the Administra- 
 tion to watch over these unwelcome sojourners and see 
 that they neither come to harm themselves nor bring 
 harm to others. A most unenviable undertaking. Even 
 the actual natives born in the land have intermarried to 
 such an extent that they have lost all the virtues of 
 their forefathers, and are now merely imbued with the 
 manifold vices which they have picked up from other 
 races and other lands. Indeed, the most difficult 
 problem to solve is that of doing justice to all 
 concerned. 
 
 Let it be clearly understood that there is no stag- 
 nation in Sierra Leone. The Governor has seen to that. 
 No man has had a more difficult row to hoe or has faced 
 it more characteristically. We can bear witness that 
 many an evening after dark his Excellency, accompanied 
 solely by his A.D.C., has gone out in his motor-car and 
 driven slowly through the highways and byways of the 
 port of Freetown in order that he might see for himself 
 whether there was any racial disturbance likely to take 
 place, and, were there one, personally to use his own 
 influence to stop it. It is not within the scope of this 
 article further to emphasize this aspect of Sierra Leone 
 and its Governorship, but we should be indeed churlish 
 if, having seen for ourselves, we did not place on 
 record the plain facts as they are, untinged with any 
 prejudice on either side. Continued rain, incessant 
 rain, rain which might remind one of the Old Testament 
 flood, that is Sierra Leone in the wet season. And, 
 frankly, we were not sorry when our good-hearted 
 friend the Governor strongly recommended us not to 
 go up-country, since, as he said, " you could not see 
 20
 
 306 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 anything." Our memories, however, of Sierra Leone 
 will long remain with us. 
 
 Leaving Sierra Leone, the spirits of the homegoers 
 steadily rise. The lights astern flicker away, one by 
 one into nothing, and the Coaster begins to look up his 
 clothes with a view to future eventualities ; but in a boat 
 such as ours, not yet is the promised land. The mail- 
 boats run from Sierra Leone to Liverpool in ten days, 
 without stopping at any intermediate ports, but not so 
 ours. Personally, we were rather glad of it. For who 
 would not care to while away twenty-four hours in 
 Santa-Cruz de Teneriffe, surely one of the most beau- 
 tiful places in the world, and drink in to the full what 
 it means to go ashore, have meals at a regular hotel, 
 shop in regular shops, tip a laughing cab-driver, and, 
 perchance, as we did, go a little farther afield up and 
 up and up till one arrives at the town of Laguna. 
 
 It all seems so remarkable — this change from the 
 tropical to the semi-tropical, from the land of the black 
 man to the land of the white. It is so refreshing to give 
 an order, even in broken Spanish, and be understood 
 and answered in good Spanish. It is so refreshing to 
 be able to drink of water which needs no filtering, to 
 have a glass of wine native to the country, which costs 
 only a nominal sum, apd to scan the wonderful profusion 
 of flowers and fruit which, continuing the whole year 
 round, make of Laguna a little paradise on earth. To 
 us it is extraordinary that more people do not venture 
 thus far, not as guests of the few hotels, but as house- 
 holders. And there perhaps we are giving a secret away. 
 Think of £45 a year for a furnished house, furnished it 
 is true with bare necessities, but still furnished. And 
 moreover there will be an inevitable garden, a mass of 
 bloom, and with every sort of hot-house fruit growing 
 wild and at its leisure. In addition, servants are easily 
 found, their wages are small, whilst marvellous beyond 
 everything else, rates and taxes are insignificant. It is 
 the business of an hotel, naturally, to pay its staff, and 
 make a profit upon capital outlay. Yet we had an excel- 
 lent luncheon at the Pinso de Oro, a hotel managed 
 by Messrs. Elder Dempster, a luncheon beautifully
 
 ■WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 307 
 
 served and cooked, all for the modest sum, as far as our 
 memory serves, of 3s. 6d. Therefore it can be left to 
 the imagination what the cost of private housekeeping 
 would mean. 
 
 The ship was sailing in an hour and the decks were 
 thronged with just such a medley of hucksters and touts 
 as one sees in Colombo, only of a very much lower 
 quality. Everything was to be had from Maltese lace 
 to Zodiac rings. Frankly everything was cheap and 
 nasty. Yet what did we hear? The mail-boat "Appam" 
 rather unusually had called there homewards, and a 
 Maltese vendor, throwing up his hands to heaven with 
 a gesticulation of gratitude, said, " Ah ! That was a 
 great day. She left behind in the town no less than 
 £2,000." One can only think, " Poor people." They 
 certainly cannot be blamed ; homeward bound after 
 months of separation from everything which is really 
 worth while in the world, their pockets full of money, 
 they certainly spent without discretion. They could have 
 got exactly the same thing in Regent Street for about 
 one-third of the price, only, of course, minus the glamour 
 of a wonderful sky, a deep blue sea, and a lot of gesticu- 
 lating, picturesquely garbed ragamuffins. 
 
 There is not much romance in an electrically lighted 
 sale-room and a few frock-coated shopwalkers. And so, 
 in the evening, when Santa Cruz was looking wonderful 
 in its attractiveness, we once more put to sea, this time 
 not to stop until we reached the Mersey bar. Ships are 
 funny things. Those who understand them will under- 
 stand what we mean when we say they have essential 
 personalities. The " Prahsu " was very friendly to us. 
 We had grown accustomed to her and she to us, and 
 with every throb of her propeller, much like the pulsing 
 of a human heart, there seemed to be a message, a species 
 of good-bye. 
 
 Many a tale might be written round West African 
 steamers. They contain so much of the elemental side 
 of life not to be found elsewhere. As England ap- 
 proaches one can almost tell the story of one's fellow 
 passengers, even though they have not been particularly 
 communicative upon the journey. The little man in the
 
 308 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 corner is a mining engineer, going home because his 
 health has given out. He says httle, but he thinks a 
 great deal, and the nervous twitching of his fingers 
 makes one realize that responsibility and worry await 
 him. The boisterous young man, a sort of devil-may- 
 care free-lance, who, as all the ship knows, has been 
 sacked by the company which employed him, and who 
 has kept himself going through a species of forced 
 joviality, feels somewhere deep down the loom of the 
 land. He was going home to be married, and he is 
 figuring out as he nears the Scillies how it is going to 
 be done. 
 
 There is the typical West African adventurer, a fat 
 cheery man, with a smile and a laugh for everybody, the 
 worry of all the Administrations, and the hero of many a 
 time-worn tale ; he, also, is putting behind him for the 
 moment West Africa and all its works, and is taking far 
 more interest as to how he is going to find comfortable 
 winter quarters for his invalid daughter. Our doctor 
 talks of marriage, the chief engineer talks of his children, 
 and the captain produces a photograph of his little 
 daughter looking like some small sea-sprite in an oilskin 
 and sou'-wester. She will be on the wharf to meet him. 
 In fact the human side of nature becomes emphasized. 
 In England one exists in the rarefied atmosphere of un- 
 reality. It is like breathing day after day a steady 
 current of " forced draught" in a stokehold. It exhila- 
 rates for a time. Everything is banished until to- 
 morrow, but the true aroma which should make life 
 really rather fragrant is lacking. 
 
 As we sit in the captain's cabin nearing Land's End 
 the first mate suddenly pokes his head through the 
 doorway and says to the skipper, " Just been passing 
 the ' Egba,' sir. She Morsed to know if the Lethbridges 
 were on board, to which I replied 'Yes.' Her answer 
 was * Captain Milson's compliments, and good luck.' " 
 One of us murmurs " Ships that pass in the night," 
 and that was our good-bye to Africa.
 
 309 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 At the end of a long journey one always has regrets. 
 First of all there are the inevitable goodbyes which are 
 particularly unpleasing when they are spoken in West 
 Africa. To be sure life is uncertain anywhere, but in 
 West Africa "the Elusive" which beckons its lovers 
 back to it like moths to a flame, life is more uncertain 
 than aught else. Then again one regrets lost oppor- 
 tunities. The whole of West Africa literally teems with 
 possibilities from the point of view of penmanship and 
 time alone prevents a fuller elaboration thereof. 
 
 Poor old misunderstood West Africa, your very name 
 seems to speak of forlorn hopes and spoilt careers. Yet 
 it is not so. To those who have seen and understand 
 you there comes a knowledge that in reality, in spite of 
 your years, you are yet young, that your sons are in 
 truth gentlemen and brave (to whom this book has been 
 dedicated), who knowing the risk they ran, whether they 
 were officials or traders, cheerfully undertook the re- 
 sponsibilities of the situation and did their bit and are 
 doing it still in cementing into one cognate unit the 
 British Empire. 
 
 That West Africa will ever be colloquially a white 
 man's country, is doubtful. Medical science advances, 
 but very slowly judged by the span of man's life. And 
 the West African climate is undoubtedly puzzling beyond 
 the limits of the medical mind. Literally, for appar- 
 ently no known reason, people are here to-day and gone 
 to-morrow. This uncertainty, as might be expected, 
 has results in every direction. It leads to a certain 
 amount of recklessness which is evinced in all spheres 
 of society. "Eat, drink and be merry, for to-morrow 
 we die," is the species of motto which apparently 
 governs the Coast. Only too frequently it does not
 
 310 WEST AFEICA THE ELUSIVE 
 
 prove to be accurate. But much may be forgiven those 
 who knowing the risk have taken it. And if at times 
 the boredom of loneliness overtakes the weaker and they 
 drink to find forgetfulness and they gamble to find 
 change of atmosphere and they do unholy things, which 
 they would not do were they back in London or Liver- 
 pool, they must be forgiven ; for West Africa is not as 
 other countries are. With its heat and its horror, it is 
 in truth a pariah. At the present moment thus it must 
 remain. The world to-day is overcrowded. West Africa 
 in spite of physical disabilities owns brains and initiative. 
 Given these she will advance and prove to the world that 
 the dog with a bad name — to use an Americanism — can 
 " make good." One of the Governors on the West 
 African Coast wrote to me recently that his colony was 
 financially in sore straits, and that even though he was 
 husbanding all his resources, he was puzzled as to how 
 he was going to produce a satisfactory balance-sheet at 
 the end of the year. Now that colony is a very rich 
 one, but it wants development, which has been held back 
 in no small part by fears regarding its climate. Given 
 that the conditions permit an influx to what may be 
 termed civilized society, given the restraining influences 
 which follow education and the healthy atmosphere 
 engendered by social propinquity, by which is under- 
 stood the necessary tightening of bonds between man 
 and man and woman and woman, which otherwise be- 
 come slack, then all will be well in that colony. 
 
 And it remains for us to say something of paramount 
 importance, and rather like the postscript to a woman's 
 letter, it comes last in this book. Quite recently a letter 
 came to us from an unknown writer — he had read our 
 articles in the Daily Telegi'ajjh — asking for advice over 
 the matter of outfit. Not too well furnished with this 
 world's goods he had gone to some advertising outfitter 
 and had been supplied with an estimate of necessaries, 
 which ran, literally, into hundreds of pounds and 
 included articles which were not only not essential but 
 which were ludicrous. Let the intending Coaster-to-be 
 consult any of the three following firms, and if experience 
 ever teaches anything, we can most confidently assert
 
 WEST AFRICA THE ELUSIVE 311 
 
 that not only will he not be robbed but he will be told 
 exactly what it is necessary for him or her to take and 
 will not be overcharged. The Army and Navy Stores 
 are of course well known ; Messrs. Thresher and Glenny 
 in the Strand have literally centuries of experience 
 behind them and can be trusted to guide the uninitiated ; 
 whilst Messrs. Fortnum and Mason of Piccadilly, known 
 the world over as provision merchants, have recently 
 opened the "West African Branch, and can supply every- 
 thing from a camp-bed to a trousers button. We trust 
 that these hints may be of some service to the West 
 African recruit ; we think they will be. And now the 
 time has come to put away the pen and say au revoir — 
 we hate the word goodbye — to those many friends we 
 hope we made and whom we have left behind.
 
 312 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abcokuta, 154 
 
 Aboasa, battle of, 131 
 
 Accra, cocoa industry, 33, 34, 35 
 
 , embarkation difficulties, 81 
 
 • , food, clothing and commodities, 
 
 32, 33 
 
 , Government House, 30 
 
 , handling of sea-borne cargo, 
 
 286 
 , life and social conditions, 23, 
 
 29, 31, 82 
 , prosperity and development, 
 
 28, 29 
 , proposed railway from Coo- 
 
 massie to, 47, 53 
 Adansis, defeat of, 130 
 Addah, 51, 52, 57, 58 
 
 ■ , condition of, 52 
 
 Administration, alterations in policy 
 
 by successive Governors, 274, 275 
 , British, influence and results 
 
 of, 284 
 , dangers of lack of initiative in, 
 
 275 
 , decentralization supplanting 
 
 centralization, 255, 274 
 
 , German methods, 287 
 
 , Gold Coast, 137-139 
 
 , influence and results of, 284 
 
 , reforms in, 275, 276 
 
 Afram Plain, 45, 47 
 
 , bauxite riches of, 47 
 
 African Association, 210 
 African and Eastern Trade Corpora- 
 tion, 253, 254 
 Agu, Mount, 74 
 A.D.C., exacting duties of, 86 
 Akuse, 49-51 
 
 Alihu, Emir of Kano, 173 
 Allegnu, cattle farms at, 247 
 Amoafu, Battle of, 119 
 Anamabo, siege of. 111, 112 
 Anderson, Dr., Niger explorer, 211 
 Anderson, Major, 9 
 Armitage, Captain, Governor of 
 
 Gambia, 127, 129, 282 
 Ashanti, deposition of Prempi, 12J 
 , independence of, 123 
 
 Ashanti, journey to, 121 
 
 , tour through Western Province 
 
 of, 82 
 
 chiefs, conference with, 121 
 
 , personal characteristics of, 
 
 121 
 
 Wars, 112-119, 128-131 
 
 Ashantis, defeat of, at Coomassie, 119 
 
 , golden stool of, 127 
 
 , history of, 109, 121 
 
 , racial characteristics, 109, 110 
 
 , siege of Coomassie by, 128 
 
 , war indemnity of, 128 
 
 Atta, Nana Ofori, Omanhene of 
 Kibbi, 44 
 
 Attititi and Lome, need for railway 
 between, 57, 58 
 
 , journey from Addah to, 54 
 
 Awunagah, 55 
 
 Awunas, Fia of, address by, 55 
 
 , claim for British administra- 
 tion in Togoland, 55, 56 
 
 , gift of cloth by, 59 
 
 Baika, 63 
 
 Bali, 128 
 
 Bank of British West Africa, 302 
 
 Bantamo, sacred fetish tree at, 126 
 
 Barclay, President, of Liberia, 9 
 
 Baro, 213, 214 
 
 Bauchi military expedition (1906-7), 
 
 192 
 Bauchi plateau, 189 
 
 , description of, 192 
 
 , exploitation of, by Colonel 
 
 Laws, 196 
 
 , healthy climate of, 199 
 
 , suitable for hospital or 
 
 sanatorium, 199 
 , new railway necessary for, 
 
 241, 242 
 Bauchi railway, 197 
 Bauxite industry, 47 
 ISekwai, capture of, 119 
 BcDue River, 220 
 Bibiani, gold mine at, 103 
 
 , suggested railway to, 103, 105 
 
 Birth charms, 160
 
 INDEX 
 
 313 
 
 Bishop, Captain, 129, 130 
 
 Black magic, 263, 264 
 
 Blackwater fever, 228 
 
 Bolshevik movement, sinister possi- 
 bilities of, 97, 289 
 
 Bornu, 247 
 
 , cost of transport of merchan- 
 dise from, 247 
 
 , suggested railway to, 247 
 
 Bosumtwi, Tjake, 132 
 
 Boussa Rapids, 211 
 
 British colonization, influence and 
 results of, 283, 284 
 
 Bukeru, suggested railvyay to Udi, 
 246 
 
 Bungalows, 204, 206 
 
 Burutu, 267 
 
 Business openings and opportunities, 
 252, 253, 281 
 
 Cadell, Major Mackay, 9 
 Cameroons, British and French 
 
 administration in, 288 
 Camping, on trek, 125 
 Cannibals, 219 
 Cape Coast, 28, 139, 141 
 Cape Palmas, 302 
 Cardwell, Mr., 118 
 Cargo, sea-borne, difficulties in the 
 
 handling of, 286 
 Carriers, 84 
 
 , pay of, 88 
 
 Catholic Missions, 223, 236, 237 
 Cattle farms, 247 
 
 Cerebro-spinal meningitis, 132, 228 
 Children, climate unsuitable for, 
 
 298, 300 
 
 , illegitimate (native), 66, 67 
 
 , native, education of, 76, 97, 
 
 100, 191 
 Christian denominations, 236 
 Christianity, 233 
 
 among natives, 236 
 
 Christianborg, Castle of, 30 
 Church Missionary Society, 237 
 Civil Servants, advantages of, com- 
 pared with traders, i'50 
 , governmental tour of, 256, 
 
 257 
 , inadequate salaries of, 
 
 200, 279, 280 
 , increased expenses of, 279, 
 
 280 
 , lack of initiative among, 
 
 dangers of, 275 
 
 , leave, 256 
 
 , life and habits of, 279 
 
 , mental recreations of, 294 
 
 Civil Servants, red-tape and routine 
 
 among, 275 
 , types of, traits and 
 
 characteristics, 293-297 
 Civil Service, improved conditions in, 
 
 255, 257 
 . increased salaries in, 255, 
 
 279, 280 
 , openings and careers in, 
 
 254-260 
 
 , reforms in, 279 
 
 Clapperton, Captain, Niger explorer, 
 
 212 
 Clerks, in West Coast firms, 252, 253, 
 
 257, 
 — — , leave of, 256 
 , life and social conditions of, 
 
 253, 254 
 Clifford, Sir Hugh, 82, 83, 294 
 Climate, 149, 227, 259, 260, 309 
 Coalfield of Udi, 224, 225 
 Coasters, characteristics and spirit 
 
 of, 4, 5, 292 
 
 , mental relaxations of, 294-295 
 
 , outfits for, 310 
 
 , proverbial bad habits of, 82 
 
 , psychology of, 292, 296 
 
 , types of, traits and character- 
 istics, 2, 215, 293-297, 308 
 Cocoa industry, 30, 33, 34-36, 38 
 
 , demand for labour in, 137 
 
 Cocoanuts, 219 
 
 Colonial enterprise and development, 
 
 152 
 Colonial Ofifice, policy, 102, 103 
 Commerce, see Trade 
 Commercial careers and openings, 
 
 251-254 
 Commodities, 257 
 
 , absence and scarcity of, 282 
 
 , increased cost of, 197, 279, 280 
 
 in Nigeria, 167, 180, 181 
 
 Conakry, 288 
 
 Coomassie, 126 
 
 and Accra, projected railway 
 
 between, 47, 53 
 , occupation by British Forces 
 
 (1874), 120 
 
 , relief of, 130 
 
 , siege of, 126, 128 
 
 , suggested railway to Tamale, 
 
 103 
 
 , train journey to Tarquah, 133 
 
 Cotton, cultivation in Zaria Province, 
 
 170 
 Cottonwood trees, 64 
 Creeks of River Niger, 261 
 Cult of dislike for West Africa, 1, 2
 
 314 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Currency in Togoland, 58, 59 
 Cypriots, suggested importation to 
 Gold Coast, 139 
 
 Dakar, 288 
 
 Decauville light railway system, 105 
 
 Disease, 227 
 
 District Commissioners, life of, 43, 
 
 90, 106 
 Doctors, 229 
 
 , aspects of the work of, 230-232 
 
 , "native," 232 
 
 Dodown, Battle of, 115 
 
 Domenase, 94 
 
 Duala, 288 
 
 Dunkwa, 83 
 
 , suggested railway from, to 
 
 Wioso and Bibiani, 103, 105 
 Dupuis, Mr., Resident at Coomassie, 
 
 114 
 
 Edjuanema, Mount, 47 
 
 Education, 76, 79, 97, 99, 100 
 
 , industrial, 183 
 
 , native, difficulties in adminis- 
 tration due to, 97, 273 
 
 , native, influence of newspapers 
 
 on, 277 
 
 Eguugun, 155 
 
 Ekumeku, native secret society, 223, 
 224 
 
 Elmina, 26, 139, 141 
 
 , bombardment and destruction 
 
 of, 117 
 
 , ghost stories of, 140 
 
 , purchase by British, 117 
 
 English language, neglect of, 76, 78 
 
 European civilisation, influence of, 
 166-169 
 
 Patuma, Amadi, 211 
 
 Faukner, Mr., Mayor of Monrovia, 
 
 14, 15 
 Fetish, 122 
 
 , of Lake Bosumtwi, 132 
 
 Fever, prevalence of, 227 
 Pish, Sacred, of the Tano, 121 
 Food, increased cost of, 197, 257, 
 
 279, 280 
 Forcados, 226, 268, 269 
 Forest jungle, 91, 93 
 Freetown, 148, 303 
 
 , amenities of, 303 
 
 , development of, 303-305 
 
 French West African j)0»scssions, 
 
 extent of, 283 
 Fulanis, 149, 153, 163 
 , fighting characteristics of, 173 
 
 Fulanis, Hausas conquered by, 173 
 
 Gambling, 296 
 German influence, 65, 66, 68 
 German-speaking natives, 76 
 Germans, sisal industry founded by, 
 
 72-74 
 Gin, 154, 265 
 Gold, resources, 103, 104 
 Gold Coast, administration, 137-139 
 , assisted immigration, 138, 
 
 139 
 , becomes a Grown Colony, 
 
 28 
 , climate and health, 1, 6, 
 
 309 
 , cocoa industry, 30, 35, 36, 
 
 38 
 , commercial potentialities, 
 
 95, 137, 142 
 , condition of roads in, 45, 
 
 46, 54, 124 
 , District Commissioners in, 
 
 90 
 , dormant commercial re- 
 sources of, 95, 96 
 • , early trading stations and 
 
 settlements, 26-28 
 , effect of British rule in, 
 
 284 
 
 , Governor of, 78 
 
 , history of, 26-28 
 
 , idleness and ill-discipline 
 
 of natives of, 89 
 , labour question in, 34, 36, 
 
 88, 95, 137 
 , lack of social amenities in, 
 
 4 
 , lawyers' and litigation in, 
 
 123, 124 
 , life and conditions in, 141, 
 
 309, 311 
 
 , native chiefs of, 165 
 
 , natives of, lack of disci- 
 pline in, 89 
 , natural resources of, 30, 
 
 35 
 , neglect of transport facili- 
 ties in, 102 
 
 , " pidgin" English in, 76 
 
 , prices and wages, 33, 34, 
 
 36 
 , progress and development 
 
 of, 28, 29, 137, 133 
 , retarded development of, 
 
 138, 139 
 , schools and education in, 
 
 76-79
 
 INDEX 
 
 315 
 
 Gold Coast, social improvements, 4 
 
 , staple industries and ex- 
 ports, 30, 35, 36 
 
 , suggested railways in, 103, 
 
 105 
 
 , , suitable port necessary 
 
 for, 30 
 
 , timber resources of, 94, 95 
 
 , travelling and transport 
 
 difficulties, 83, 91 
 
 , unpopularity of, 1-3, 309, 
 
 310 
 
 Gold mines, 134 
 
 Golden Stool, 127 
 
 Goldsmith, Mr., Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Kaduna, 208 
 
 Goldsmith's " Deserted Village," 201 
 
 Government Administration, see Ad- 
 ministration 
 
 Officials, see Civil Servants 
 
 Service, see Civil Service 
 
 Governmental tour, 256, 257 
 
 Governor, administrative changes by, 
 255, 274 
 
 , duties of A.D.C. to, 86, 87 
 
 , exacting nature of the duties 
 
 of, 141, 272, 282 
 
 , Private Secretary to, 87 
 
 , problems in administration 
 
 confronting, 141, 272, 282 
 
 Grand Bassam, social amenities of, 
 285 
 
 Grand Canary, 5 
 
 Ground-nuts, 170, 179 
 
 Guggisberg, General, Governor of 
 Gold Coast, 78, 79, 82, 83, 86, 
 282, 284, 294 
 
 , on the value of a well- 
 organised native press, 277 
 
 , visit to Tamale, 133 
 
 Guinea Company, 27 
 
 Gunpowder, profiteering in, in Togo- 
 land, 58 
 
 Hammocks, and hammock boys, 46, 
 
 85, 88, 91, 125 
 Harbours, need for construction of, 
 
 286 
 Harding, Col. Colin, 37 
 Kansas, 153, 187 
 
 . conquered by the Fulanis, 173 
 
 Hay, Dr., 129, 130 
 
 Health and sickness, 187, 227 
 
 Health conditions, 187 
 
 , Nigeria, 149 
 
 , housing in relation to, 
 
 205 
 
 Health conditions, improvement in, 
 
 150, 205, 258, 260 
 
 Officers, need for, 171 
 
 Heat fever and malaria, 217 
 
 Hell's Playground, 141 
 
 Hemp rope industry, 72-75 
 
 Hides, 170, 179 
 
 Hill, Commander, R.N., Governor of 
 
 Gold Coast, 116 
 Ho, suggested railway to, from 
 
 Koforidua, 103, 105 
 Hodgson, Sir Frederick, expedition 
 
 to Coomassie, 127 
 Honeymoon House, Kluto, 70 
 Hope-Smith, Mr., 113 
 Hospital at Kaduiia, 202 
 , Bauchi Plateau suitable for, 
 
 199 
 Hospitals, need for, 185, 187, 231 
 Hotel accommodation, lack of, 285, 
 
 291 
 Houghton, Major, Niger explorer, 
 
 210 
 Housing-question, 204-206 
 Howard, Captain, 20 
 Huts, native, 101, 125 
 
 Ibadan, 156 
 
 , Bale of, 156 
 
 , growth and commercial pros- 
 perity of, 156-159 
 
 , land tenure in, 153, 159 
 
 Iddo, 154 
 
 Illness, 187, 227 
 
 Ilorin, 159 
 
 , basket and pottery industries 
 
 at, 160 
 
 Immigrants, commercial openings 
 and careers for, 251, 254 
 
 , hints to, 251 
 
 , suggested Government assist- 
 ance to, 138 
 
 Industrial School at Kano, 183 
 
 Industrial strikes, 225 
 
 Industries, hampered by transport 
 difficulties, 241, 214, 246 
 
 , Gold Coast, development of, 
 
 hints on, 138 
 
 , Nigeria, 170, 179, 193, 224 
 
 Interpreters, 77 
 
 Intoxicants, 265, 266 
 
 Jackson, Major, Commandant 
 British Forces, Togoland, 6L, 
 .Tajade, 46 
 Jebba, 216, 217 
 
 , climate of, 216, 217 
 
 Jos, 189, 197, 198 
 
 of
 
 316 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Jos, high cost of food and com- 
 modities at, 197 
 
 , railway journey from Zaria to, 
 
 241, 242 
 
 Juju, 95, 107, 122, 132, 140, 155, 217, 
 232, 263 
 
 Jungle, travelling through, 83, 91-93 
 
 Kaduna, 200, 201, 204 
 
 , Botanical Garden, 206, 207 
 
 , formerly capital of Nigeria, 203 
 
 , foundation of, 201, 204 
 
 , hospital, 202 
 
 , housing, 204-206 
 
 , social amenities, 201, 202 
 
 Kano, 172 
 
 , area and population, 175, 284 
 
 , buildings and accommodation, 
 
 178, 180, 185 
 , Caravan trade from Zinder to, 
 
 248 
 
 , Emir's Palace at, 175, 176 
 
 , exports — ground nuts, skins 
 
 and hides, 179 
 
 , history of, 172-174 
 
 , Industrial School, 183 
 
 market life, 180-182 
 
 , prisoners and prisoa life at, 182 
 
 , railway to Lagos, 241, 242 
 
 railway station, 187 
 
 ■ , rapid development of, 148, 149 
 
 , suggested railway to Maidugari, 
 
 247 
 , suggested railway to Zinder, 
 
 248 
 
 Survey School, 184 
 
 , Emir of, 173, 175 
 
 , income of, 178 
 
 , reception by, 175, 176 
 
 KanoNigerian Railway, 241 
 Katsina, 179 
 
 , Emir of, 179 
 
 Kibbi, 42 
 
 , climate, 45 
 
 , District Commissioner at, 42, 
 
 43 
 
 , Queen Mother of, 44 
 
 , Omanhene of, 43 
 
 Kimberley, Lord, 118 
 King, Hon. Charles, 10, 17 
 , inauguration as Presi- 
 dent of Liberia, 20-23 
 Kluto, 70 
 
 , healthy climate of, 70, 71 
 
 , Honeymoon House at, 70 
 
 Koforidua, cocoa industry of, 38 
 
 , Omanhene of, 37 
 
 , police court at, 39-42 
 
 Koforidua, suggested railway to, from 
 Sekondi, 103 
 
 , value of land in, 38 
 
 Kokofu, destruction of, 130 
 
 Kola nuts, 157 
 
 Krobo Hill, 49 
 
 Kroo labour in Niger delta, 263 
 
 Labour, 88, 95 
 
 in Gold Coast, 34, 36, 88, 95, 
 
 137 
 
 in Niger delta, 263 
 
 , Nigeria, 191, 225 
 
 Lagos, 143, 285 
 
 , attractions and social amenities 
 
 of, 144, 145, 150, 206 
 , description and condition of, 
 
 146, 150 
 
 , extension of boundaries of, 153 
 
 , Government House, 144 
 
 , Government Rest House at, 206 
 
 , growth of trade and commerce, 
 
 147, 153 
 
 , history of, 152 
 
 , land tenure in, 158, 159 
 
 , markets of, 145 
 
 , native traders of, 157-159 
 
 , railway to Kano, 241, 242 
 
 , railway extension in, 146, 147 
 
 , rapid development under British 
 
 rule, 144-147, 152, 153, 154 
 
 , transport improvements in, 147 
 
 Laguna, 306 
 
 Lake Bosumtwi, 132 
 
 Lake Tchad, 248 
 
 Land tenure, 158, 159 
 
 Las Palmas, 5 
 
 Lauder, Richard, exploration of 
 
 River Niger by, 212 
 Laws, Col. W., 196 
 Lawyers and litigation in Gold Coast, 
 
 123, 124 
 Ledyard, John, Niger explorer, 210 
 Leper colony at Zaria, 169 
 Leprosy, 170 
 Leverhulme, Lord, 221 
 Liberia, 8, 302, 303 
 , British influence necessary for 
 
 prosperity of, 22, 25 
 , commercial stagnation in, 9, 
 
 10, 22 
 
 , development of, 12, 13, 22, 25 
 
 , Frontier Force and Miliiia of, 
 
 9, 19, 20 
 , Germans and German influence 
 
 in, 17 
 , inauguration of President, 19- 
 
 23
 
 INDEX 
 
 317 
 
 Liberia, life and social conditions in, 
 14-18, 23 
 
 , natural resources of, 12 
 
 , President of, 10, 11 
 
 , projected reforms — adminis- 
 tration, hygiene, roads, trans- 
 port, 22, 25 
 
 , Spanish traders in, 17 
 
 , U.S. projected loan to, 21 
 
 Life and social conditions, 309-311 
 
 , how improved, 4, 
 
 150, 278, 285 
 
 Liquor, duty and revenue, 2G5 
 
 in Southern Nigeria, 265 
 
 Litigation in the Gold Coast, 123, 
 124 
 
 Living, increased cost of, 197, 257, 
 279, 280 
 
 Loans, Colonial, 103, 104 
 
 Locomotives, shortage of, 245 
 
 Lokoja, 209, 218-220 
 
 , river journey to, 218 
 
 Lome, 287 _ _ 
 
 and Attititi, claim for railway 
 
 between, 57, 58 
 
 , churches and schools in, 66 
 
 , climate, 68, 69 
 
 , commercial importance of, as 
 
 seaport, 64, 65 
 
 , German influence and improve- 
 ments in, 65-68 
 
 , housing in, 67, 68 
 
 , life and social conditions, 65, 
 
 66 
 
 , neglected condition of, 57 
 
 London, suggested establishment of 
 W. A. Colonial Agencies in, 289 
 
 Lucas, Niger explorer, 210 
 
 Lugard, Sir Frederick, 173, 201, 216, 
 284 
 
 and Nigerian railway 
 
 system, 240 
 
 , attitude to mission- 
 aries, 233 
 
 , liquor duty imposed 
 
 by, 265 
 
 on railway construc- 
 tion, 245, 246 
 
 " Lugard's Folly," 201 
 
 Lyne, Mr,, sisal planter, 76 
 
 M'Carthy, Sir Charles, Governor of 
 
 Gold Coast (1822), 114 
 Maclean, George, Governor of the 
 
 Gold Coast, 115, 116 
 McLeod, Col., of the 42ud Black 
 
 Watch, 120 
 M'Praiso, 45, 46 
 
 IM'Praiso, journey to, 45 
 Maidugari, suggested railway to, 246, 
 
 247 
 IMalaria, 146, 217, 227 
 Maltese, suggested importation of, 
 
 to Gold Coast, 139 
 IMandingoes, 9 
 Iilangrove swamps, 261 
 
 , reclamation of, 146, 147 
 
 Market life, 167, 180, 198 
 IMarriage customs of Pagan communi- 
 ties, 190 
 Medical men, 229 
 , aspects of the work of, 
 
 230-232 
 Medical Service, difficulties of, 232 
 
 , need for, 171 
 
 , understaffed, 229, 230 
 
 Medical training, 171 
 
 Medicine, need for research institute, 
 
 230 
 
 , tropical, 228 
 
 Meredith, Mr., murder of, in second 
 
 Ashanti war, 1811 
 Miners' phthisis, 134 
 Minna, 214 
 Missahohe, 63 
 
 , spring water at, 69 
 
 Mission work, 66 
 Missionaries, 223, 233-239 
 
 , specimens of literature of, 235 
 
 Mitchell, Mr., Controller of Customs 
 
 in Liberia, 16 
 Mohammedanism, 233, 249 
 
 , Nigerian, 162 
 
 Mohammedans, and Christian 
 
 Missionaries, 234 
 Monrovia, 11 
 
 , accommodation in, 14 
 
 , Customs House at, 14 
 
 , election of President of, 8 
 
 , German bombardment of (1914), 
 
 17 
 , life and social conditions in, 
 
 14-18, 22, 23 
 Monte, Grand Canary, 5, 6 
 Mortality, of Europeans, reduction 
 
 in, 260 
 Mount Edjuanoma, 47 
 Mount Patti, 219 
 Mungo Park, Niger steamer, 270 
 Music, native, 101 
 
 Native Chiefs, of Gold Coast and 
 
 Nigeria compared, 165 
 children, education and schools, 
 
 99, 100 
 labour, 34. 36, 88, 95, 137
 
 318 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Native press, condition of, 277 
 
 , potentialities of, 277 
 
 traders, 157-159 
 
 Natives, advance from barbarous to 
 civilized state, 97, 273 
 
 , British administration benefi- 
 cial to, 284 
 
 , dangers of enforcing European 
 
 customs and religious beliefs on, 
 97, 274 
 
 , education of, 76, 79, 97 
 
 , education of, difficulties in 
 
 administration due to, 97, 273 
 
 , idleness and ill-discipline of, 
 
 89 
 
 , mental development of, factors 
 
 in, 89, 97, 273, 274 
 
 Natural resources, development, 
 transport necessary for, 102, 103 
 
 , Nigeria, 148, 219 
 
 .unknown to general public, 
 
 289 
 
 , vast wealth of, 94, 96 
 
 Newspapers, potentialities and value 
 of, 277 
 
 Niger Company, 153 
 
 Niger delta, black-man magic of, 263 
 
 , imports and exports, 263 
 
 , labour in, 263 
 
 Niger River, 147, 153 
 
 , condition of, 261, 262 
 
 , craft on, 214, 218, 270 
 
 , creeks of, 261 
 
 , explorers and exploration 
 
 of, 210 
 
 , journey down, 214-226, 
 
 261-267 
 
 , navigation on, 221 
 
 , settlements on, 262 
 
 , source and course of, 210 
 
 , tornado on, 222 
 
 Nigeria, amalgamation of Lagos and, 
 146, 153 
 
 , area of, 153 
 
 , climate, 149, 150 
 
 , coalfields, 224 
 
 , development under British 
 
 rule, 152, 153, 154, 284 
 
 , fruit and vegetables not appre- 
 ciated by natives, 207 
 
 , future problems in, 149, 248, 
 
 249 
 
 , high prices and scarcity of com- 
 modities in, 167 
 
 , history of, 153 
 
 , housing question, 204, 205 
 
 , industries and exports, 12, 13, 
 
 170, 179, 193, 224 
 
 Nigeria, labour question in, 191, 225 
 
 , lack of hospitals in, 186, 187 
 
 , Lagos or Kaduna as capital of, 
 
 203 
 
 , liquor prohibition in, 265, 266 
 
 — — , military centre of, 204 
 
 , Mohammedan natives of, 102, 
 
 169 
 , missionaries and religion, 233, 
 
 234 
 
 , mounted infantry, 185 
 
 , native chiefs of, 165 
 
 , natural resources of, 148, 219, 
 
 248, 249 
 
 , opening for immigrants, 248 
 
 , railway system of, suggested 
 
 improvements, 243-245, 246, 248 
 , railway travelling, discomforts 
 
 of, 242, 243 
 , rapid development of, 149, 152, 
 
 154 
 
 , river system of, 220 
 
 , South and North, amalgama- 
 tion of, 153 
 
 , tin mines of, 192-197 
 
 , transport difficulties in, 164, 
 
 245 
 , underpaid Government officials 
 
 in, 206 
 Nigerian Mohammedanism, 162 
 Northern Territories, independence 
 
 of, 123 
 — , retarded development of, 
 
 133 
 
 Odum trees, 42, 64 
 Onitsba, 221 
 
 ■ , Catholic mission at, 223, 224 
 
 , river journey to, 221, 222 
 
 Pagan tribes, 189 
 
 , huts and villages of, 191 
 
 , marriage customs of, 190 
 
 , religion of, 233 
 
 Palime, 69 
 
 Palm kernels, 154, 219 
 
 Palm oil, 154 
 
 , increasing export from 
 
 Gold Coast, 30 
 '* Palm oil ruffian," 154, 294 
 Park, Mungo, death of, 212 
 , expeditions to River Niger, 
 
 210-211 
 Pataboso. 101 
 "Pidgin" English, 28, 76 
 
 , examples of, 76, 78, 101 
 
 Piers, need for construction of, 286 
 Pinteado, 27
 
 INDEX 
 
 319 
 
 Place names, 43 , 
 
 Poole, Capt. .District Commissioner, 
 
 Quittah, 58, 59 
 Popularization of West Africa to 
 
 British public, 289 
 Port Harcourt, 224 
 
 , railway to Udi, 241 
 
 Ports, suggested improvemeuts of, 
 
 286 
 Prempi, King of Ashanti, deposition 
 
 of, 126, 131 
 Press, native, condition of, 277 
 Prices of food and commodities, 167, 
 
 197, 257, 279, 280 
 Prisoners and prison life, 182, 183 
 Private Secretary to the Governor, 
 
 87 
 
 Quacks, native, 232 
 
 Quinine as specific for malaria, 227, 
 
 228 
 Quittah, 57, 58 
 
 , address of local chiefs at, 60 
 
 , condition of, 60 
 
 von Eaben, Dr., 71, 231 
 
 Railway carriages, improved type of, 
 
 244 
 Railway travelling, discomforts of, 
 
 242, 243 
 Railway wagons, shortage of, 244 
 Railways, necessary for development 
 
 of natural resources, 103 
 , suggested construction of in 
 
 Gold Coast, 103, 105 
 
 , Nigerian, 240, 243 
 
 , suggested improvements 
 
 and extension, 243, 244 
 
 , rolling stock of, 242, 243, 244 
 
 Ralph, Lieut., 129, 130 
 Religion, 236 
 
 , aspects of, 233 
 
 Religious customs, 162 
 
 Reuter news, 277 
 
 Roads, bad condition of, 45, 46, 95, 
 
 124, 164 
 
 , Freetown, 304 
 
 , Gold Coast, 45, 46, 54, 95, 124 
 
 , Nigeria, 164, 195 
 
 , Togoland, 63-65 
 
 Rope industry in Togoland, 72-75 
 Ropp Tin Company, 192, 194 
 Royal Niger Company, 153 
 Royal West African Company, 27 
 Saharan Railway, 248 
 
 St. Paul River, Liberia, 21 
 Salaga, rice industry of, 133 
 Sansandig, 211 
 Santa-Cruz de Teneriffe, 306 
 , social conditions in,. 
 
 306, 307 
 Sanusi, ex-Sergeant, 160 
 Sapelli, 262 
 Schools, 76, 78. 99, 100 
 
 , industrial, 183 
 
 Scottish Missions, 236, 237 
 
 Sefwi-Bakwi, 100 
 
 Sekondi, 81, 82 
 
 , life and social conditions at, 
 
 136 
 
 , railway institute at, 82 
 
 , suggested railway to Koforidua, 
 
 183 
 Serike Zozo, Emir of Zaria, 162-164 
 Settlers, careers and openings for, 
 
 251-260 
 
 , hints to, 251 
 
 , outfits for, 310 
 
 Shea-butter, 133 
 Shopkeepers, openings 
 
 tunities for, 281 
 Sickness, 187, 227 
 Siege of Coomassie, 126, 128 
 Sierra Leone, .148, 303-305 
 
 , climate of, 303, 304 
 
 social conditions in, 304, 
 
 and 
 
 oppor- 
 
 output and manufacture, 
 
 73, 74, 75 
 Sisal plant, cultivation of, 73-75 
 
 plantations, 72-75 
 
 , commercial and financial 
 
 aspect of, 73, 74 
 
 , labour on, 73 
 
 Slave trade, beginnings of, 27 
 Sleeping sickness, 70, 71, 231 
 Social amenities, how improved, 
 
 150 
 
 , lack of, 285 
 
 Sokoto, suggested railway to, from 
 
 Kano or Zaria, 249 
 
 , Sultan of, 174, 249 
 
 Spinal meningitis, 132, 228 
 Spirits, prohibition of, 2G5, 266 
 Spotted fever, 132, 228 
 " Square face" — liquor, 154, 265 
 Steamships, West African, life on, 
 
 307, 308 
 Strikes, industrial, 225 
 Surf boats, 13, 24, 81 
 Survey school at Kano, 184
 
 320 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Takaradi Bay, 137 
 
 Talbot, Capt. Amaury, 265 
 
 Tamale, Durbar at, 132 
 
 • , suggested railway to, from 
 
 Coomassie, 103 
 
 , undeveloped industries of, 133 
 
 Tano Dumase, 121 
 
 , conference with Ashanti 
 
 chiefs at, 121 
 Tano River, 121 
 Tarquah, gold mines at, 134 
 , train journey from Coomassie 
 
 to, 133 
 Temple, Mr., 233 
 
 Timber, vast resources of, 94, 96, 219 
 Tin industry, 192 
 , hampered by freightage 
 
 and lack of Government support, 
 
 192, 193, 194, 197 
 , hampered by lack and 
 
 cost of transport, 246 
 , output and financial 
 
 aspect of, 193 
 Tin mines, Imperial importance of, 
 
 193 
 Togoland, development of resources, 
 
 56, 57 
 
 , French and British adminis- 
 tration, 287, 288 
 
 , German-speaking natives, 76 
 
 ■ — — , German road construction, 04 
 
 , gunpowder profiteering, 58 
 
 , hemp rope industry, 72-76 
 
 ■ , native claim for British ad- 
 ministration, 56 
 
 , paper currency, 58 
 
 , "pidgin" English, 76 
 
 , popularity of the British, 56 
 
 , sisal plantations, 72-75 
 
 , state of roads, 63, 64 
 
 , traffic and transport difficulties, 
 
 57, 58 
 
 Tornadoes, 160, 168, 196, 222 
 
 Torrane, Colonel, 111, 112 
 
 Towns, general lack of accommoda- 
 tion and social amenities in, 4, 
 150, 285, 291 
 
 Trade and commerce, development 
 of, hints on, 137, 138, 239 
 
 , hampered by trans- 
 sport difficulties, 241, 244, 246, 
 286 
 
 , encouragement of, by exhibits 
 
 of local industries in British 
 towns, 289 
 
 Traders' at Lagos, 157-159 
 
 ■ , Government officials and, in- 
 comes of, 279 
 
 Traders, openings and opportunities 
 
 for, 252-254, 281 
 Trading stations, early establishment 
 
 of, 26 
 Transport difficulties, 95, 102, 10 1, 
 
 105 
 , Nigeria, 164, 195, 2-10, 
 
 245, 246 
 , suggested improvements, 
 
 286 
 
 , Togoland, 57, 58, 63, 64 
 
 , trade and commerce ham- 
 pered by, 102, 104, 105, 286 
 Travelling, camping during, 125 
 difficulties and discomforts of, 
 
 83, 88, 91, 95, 102, 105 
 
 , humours of, 88 
 
 , railway, 241, 242, 244 
 
 Travelling party, organisation and 
 
 standing orders for, 84 
 Tropical medicine and disease, 228 
 , need for research institute, 
 
 230 
 Tsetse-fly, 70, 71 
 Tuton-an-Wada, 196 
 Tutu, king of the Ashantis, 110, 111 
 
 Udi, coalfield of, importance to W. A. 
 
 industry, 224 
 
 railway to Port Harcourt, 241 
 
 , suggested railway to Bukeru, 
 
 246 
 
 Vais, 9 
 
 Vegetation, Gold Coast, 42 
 
 Volta river, 51, 52 
 
 , claim for railway on, 57, 
 
 58 
 
 , condition of, 52, 54 
 
 , journey down, 51 
 
 '* Vulture," Nigerian river steamer, 
 
 214, 218, 221, 222 
 
 Wages, 137, 138 
 Warri, 262 
 Water, 70 
 
 , lack of, 105 
 
 West African Agencies, suggested 
 
 establishment of, in London, 
 
 289, 290 
 West African Company, 112, 114 
 Wilkinson, Governor, of Sierra Leone, 
 
 294 
 Willcocks, Col., relief of Coomassie 
 
 by, 130
 
 INDEX 
 
 321 
 
 Windham. Capt. Thos., first English 
 
 settler in Gold Coast, 27 
 Wioso, 94, 99 
 
 , suggested railway to, 103, 105 
 
 Wives of Government officials, 298- 
 
 300 
 Wolseley, Sir Garnet, 126 
 , arrival at Gold Coast, 
 
 1873, 118 
 , peace terms of, to 
 
 Ashantis (1874), 119 
 Women, European, 3 
 , types of, 299, 300 
 
 Yams, 207, 208 
 Yellow fever, 229 
 
 Zano, Emir of, personal character- 
 istics, 177 
 
 Zappa, Father, Catholic missionary, 
 223 
 
 Zaria, 162 
 
 Zaria, exports from, hides, ground- 
 nuts and cotton, 170 
 
 , high cost of food, 197 
 
 , influence of European civilisa- 
 tion, 166-169 
 
 , health and disease in Province 
 
 of, 171 
 
 , leper colony, 169 
 
 , life and social conditions, 165- 
 
 169 
 
 , public improvements, 167-168 
 
 , railway to Bauchi Plateau, 241 
 
 , journey to Jos, 241, 242 
 
 , Treasury at, 166 
 
 , Emir of, 162-164 
 
 , income of, 165 
 
 , personal character, 164- 
 
 166 
 
 , reception by, 163 
 
 Zinder. caravan trade to Kano, 248 
 
 , suggested railway from Kano, 
 
 248 
 
 Zungeru, 201 
 
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