To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. IIBurton, Richard Francis, Sir
History
To The Gold Coast for Gold: A Personal Narrative. Vol. II
Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Ghana -- Description and travel; Gold mines and mining -- Ghana
In front rises Prince's Hill, clad in undergrowth with a topping tuft of
tall figs. At its eastern base lies the townlet, showing more whitewash
than usual; and, nearer still, the narrow mouth of the fiery little Yenna,
Prince's or St. John's River. The view is backed by the tall and wooded
ridge of Cape Threepoints, the southernmost headland of the Gold Coast,
behind which is Dixcove. It is interesting to us because a syndicate has
been formed, and engineers are being sent out to survey the pathless
'bush' between the sea and Tumento on the Ancobra, whose site was at the
time unknown. Cameron presently discovered that the Takwa ridge is nearer
Axim than Dixcove is, and that the line would pass within easy distance of
Kinyanko, one of its _raisons d'etre_.
This wild plan has been supported by sundry concessionists whose interests
lie behind Dixcove and at Kinyanko. Dixcove of the crocodile-worship has
one of the worst bars on the coast. Canoes and surf-boats must run within
biscuit-throw of the Rock Kum-Brenni [Footnote: In the Oji or
Ashanti-Fanti tongue _bro_ or _bronni_ (the Ga 'blofo') means somebody or
something European. It is derived from _abro_ (_blo_), maize, introduced
by white men; others say that when the first strangers landed upon the
coast, the women, who were grinding, said, 'These men are white as
maize-meal.' 'Abrokirri' (Europe) is, however, explained by the Rev. Mr.
Riis as perhaps a corruption of Puto, Porto, Portugal.] ('White Man's
Death'), and the surf will often shut up the landing-place for four or
five successive days. The place will become important, but not in this
way. The Rev. Mr. Milum, in whose pleasant society I voyaged, showed me
his sketch of the station with an isolated red 'butte,' possibly an island
of old, rising close behind the houses and trending north-south.
Grain-gold was found in it by the native schoolmaster, who dug where he
saw a thin smoke or vapour hovering over the ground: throughout the Coast
this, like the presence of certain ferns, is held a sure sign that the
precious ore is present. Moreover, a small nugget appeared in the swish
being prepared for a house-wall. Thus 'washing' will be easy and
inexpensive, and the Wesleyan mission may secure funds for extending
itself into the non-maritime regions.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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