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Fifth Letter: Guinea 25 June 1784
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96 LETTERS ON WEST AFRICA AND THE SLAVE TRADE Fifth Letter Fort Prinzenstein at Quitta in Guinea 25 June 1784 ‘Dated from yet another new fort?’ you may say ‘How is that possible ?’ A fortress, after all is not a mushroom, which appears one day and disappears the next!’ Be that as it may, we have at present four of the most fortified towns in Africa,and we have begun to be considered by the Blacks to be the most esteemed nation, because as far back as the annals of the Blacks concerning the Europeans go,there is no memory of our having fought alongside them in war before,or of our having been present at their battles.But I shall carry on where I left off, and present this laudable history of a Guinean war as completely as possible. During the first days in our camp we were not in the best condition .Our earlier residence,the Kabossie’s house,||p.97 || together with the rest of the entire town, had been reduced to an ash heap. Therefore we were all forced to live in huts which we had to build ourselves.Our troops were greatly reduced in number,the majority having gone to Quitta to obtain supplies. Had the enemy troops been in a position to undertake the most trifling enterprise, they could have very easily taken us by surprise. It was often rumoured in camp that they would try just that, therefore we Whites had to sleep fully clothed and armed for 14 days.Then the number of our troops gradually increased. While walking on the beach one morning during this period I saw several of our Blacks sitting close to the breakers facing the sea,and working very industriously on something.This aroused my curiosity so I walked closer and saw that they were skeletonising human heads and hands.Therefore they sat close to the sea so that when they had peeled the flesh from the bones,the sea water,flow- 97 ing over them,washed the flesh away,To my question as to whether||p. 98|| they recognised individual heads of the enemy so well that during these preparation they did not get them mixed up,they answered,laughing,‘It does not matter.’And they even showed one head after another, saying,‘This one is Lieutenant Dacon, this one is so-and-so, and that one so-and-so.’ When the heads have been well polished, they are hung on the great drums. But the jawbones and the hands are hung on the smaller drums, or on the horns.1 Prince Ofoly Bossum,who had not been with our army earlier, arrived at this time with a part of his forces.He is the son of the late King Assiambo of Popo.2 On the 24th of last month he had sworn an oath of allegiance.Apparently he had come mainly to serve as a mediator between the Augnas and us, therefore he immediately made proposals for peace and negotiations.He sent one of his lieutenants to Kriko [Klikor],the closest town of the allies of theAugnas, to say that they were to send representatives to ask for peace.The representatives arrived on the 27th of that month. On the following day an official council was held, and the Augnas’ representative were made to understand that to avoid causing more bloodshed we desired to make peace with their people,|| p. 99 ||provided that they complied with the following terms: First: They would permit the building of a fort at Quitta; Second: They would allow free passage through their country over land and by water Third: They would permit the establishment of a lodge in the capital of their country; Fourth: TheAugnas themselves would no longer send canoes out to 1 For the ritual display of skulls, see Brun in Jones 1983:92-3; Müller in Jones 1983:199; Rømer 1760:132. see also Isert Third Letter n. 21. 2 Ofoly Bossum was Ofori Thosu, son of King Ashangmo [‘Assiambo’] of Accra (Reindorf 1895:136). SeeThird Letter. He held the post of governor of the town of Glidji in Popo during the last quarter of the eighteenth century (N. Gayibor, personal communication). FIFTH LETTER [18.232.88.17] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 15:26 GMT) 98 LETTERS ON WEST AFRICA AND THE SLAVE TRADE sea to meet ships, but would trade only with our nation. Fifth: After rebuilding their towns they should again...