Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/301

 TOPOGEAPHY OF THE GOLD COAST. 247 ever anxious to recover the land. On the other hand, the Xyphias gladim is a fish of good omen, whose sword is* regarded as a priceless heirloom, protecting the family from all mishaps. Trees, plants, rocks, streams, are all classed amongst the beneficent or hostile spirits, and Bosman tells us that, till recently, the second wife in wealthy circles was specially dedicated to the genii, and as such declared to be fetish. On the coast and uplands occur a great variety of tribal names, although most belong to the same stock as the Ashantis and Fantis, whom they resemble in speech, usages, political and social institutions, and religious views. Still the eastern tribes — Accras," Krobos, Awunas, Agotimes, Krepis — are distinguished from the Ashantis proper by greater physical strength, courage, and industry. They were formerlj^ collectively known as Minas or Aminas, a term now reserved for those living still further east on the Slave Coast. At present numerous stations are supported by the Catholics and Protestants, but especially by the Lutherans of the Basle Mission, successors of the Moravian Brothers who arrived in 1736. But although some new villages are exclusively occupied by converted Negroes, very rare, comparatively speaking, are those calling themselves Christians for disinterested motives. Some, no sooner than baptised, make themselves Mohammedans ; yet amongst them spring up new sects, which may, in many respects, be compared to that of the Chinese Taipings. The fetishes have lost their credit in the Adele and Akabu territories, east of the middle Volta, where the native missionaries are proclaiming a new gospel, announcing that a " son has been born unto God, who has forbidden all work on the Lord's day." When the Portuguese spoke to them of a supreme God the coast populations regarded him as the great fetish of the European peoples. " Not he," they said, " but the earth gives us gold ; not he, but our work has given us maize and rice ; the sea yields us fish, and to you, Portuguese, we owe the fruit-trees." This foreign god was for them a white being like the men that worshipped him. But were they not blacks, and how could they invoke any other fetish except one of their own colour ? By destiny itself their lot was made different from that of the whites. When the two first men had to choose between gold and letters, the Negro had taken the metal, while the white man learnt to read and write. Thus he became the stronger, and his God was the most powerful of all gods. Topography. West of Cape Three Points the English have no important seaport. Albnni, standing on the strip of sand between the lagoon and the sea, is a' mere hamlet sometimes called Ilalf-Assini, as compared with the French factory at the issue of the lakes. Behien, the Apollonia of the Portuguese, is a mere group of huts like all the palisaded villages following in a continuous line eastwards. This section of the coast is one of the most densely peopled in Africa, although till lately posses- sing only a single centre of population. On a hill between the two villages stands the fort of Axim, originally Portuguese, then Dutch, now English, erected to