West-African Sketches |
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West-African Sketches: Compiled from the Reports of Sir G. R. Collier, Sir ... G. R. Collier No preview available - 2017 |
Common terms and phrases
Accra Africa Agoona answer Apollonia appears Ashantee bars Benin Braffae British Buncatoo caboceers called canoes Cape Coast Castle captured negroes carried cassada cattle chief civil climate cloth colony Conay considerable considered Coomassie corn cotton crime Crundell cultivation death European Fantee father Fetish formed Foulahs Free Town friends Gambia give Gold Coast governor gree-grees ground head houses hundred improvement industry inhabitants interior Island killed king Kittam Kizell Kroo Kroomen labour land Lantamas laws Leicester mountain letter Mandingoes ment miles missionary natives occasion palaver palm oil palm wine persons plants present prince punished received Regent's Town respect rice river river Gambia saphies season sell sent settlement Sherbro shew shore Sierra Leone Sir Charles Sketch slave ships slave trade soil sold thing tion tobacco told tree vessel white slave dealer wives women young
Popular passages
Page 152 - The charm dissolves apace ; And as the morning steals upon the night, Melting the darkness, so their rising senses Begin to chase the ignorant fumes that mantle Their clearer reason.
Page 237 - To associate all the branches of mankind ; And if a boundless plenty be the robe, Trade is the golden girdle of the globe. Wise to promote whatever end he means, God opens fruitful nature's various scenes : Each climate needs what other climes produce, And offers something to the general use ; No land but listens to the common call, And in return receives supply from all.
Page 218 - The sun was reflected, with a glare scarcely more supportable than the heat, from the massy gold ornaments, which glistened in every direction. More than a hundred bands burst at once on our arrival, with the peculiar airs of their several chiefs ; the horns flourished their defiances, with the beating of innumerable drums and metal instruments, and then yielded, for a while, to the soft breathings of their long flutes, which were truly harmonious; and a pleasing instrument, like a bagpipe without...
Page 217 - ... in the firing and music, but their gestures were in character with the scene. When we reached the palace, about half a mile from the place where we entered, we were again halted, and an open file was made, through which the bearers were passed, to deposit the presents and baggage in the house assigned to us.
Page 223 - He stopped to enquire our names a second time, and to wish us good night; his address was mild and deliberate : he was followed by his aunts, sisters, and others of his family, with rows of fine gold chains around their necks. Numerous chiefs succeeded ; and it was long before we were at liberty to retire. We agreed in estimating the number of warriors at 30,000.
Page 40 - ... or south-west winds, which meet with nothing on the shore to mitigate their severity ; and partly because the air is there impregnated with saline particles thrown up by a constant and generally violent surf. About two or three miles from the sea, the soil is found to be much more productive ; and it gradually improves as it recedes, till, at the distance of six or eight miles from the shore, it is so fertile as to be well adapted for the growth of almost every article, of tropical culture. The...
Page 116 - Then the friends inquire what he has brought with him; the man tells them. They then tell him to go and bring a quantity of palm wine. When he returns, they again call the family together; they all place themselves on the ground, and drink the wine, and then give him his wife. In this case, all the children he has by her are his : but, if he gives nothing for his wife, then the children will all be taken from...
Page 86 - ... as he called it, all night. In general. I think, the case is nearly the same. They have little or no curiosity about things which are of no use in their own country: they are careless about our comforts and luxuries: none of them have been rendered necessary by habit, and they would often be inconsistent with the principal objects of their pursuit. But...
Page 218 - ... figure of 8 ; one ear was cut off and carried before him, the other hung to his head by a small bit of skin ; there were several gashes in his back, and a knife was thrust under each shoulder-blade; he was led with a cord passed through his nose, by men disfigured with immense caps of shaggy black skins, and drums beat before him ; the feeling this horrid barbarity excited must be imagined.
Page 220 - ... thickly hung to them ; on their hips and shoulders was a cluster of knives ; iron chains and collars dignified the most daring, who were prouder of them than of gold ; their muskets...