STRANGE ADVENTURES IN WEST AFRICA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13497, 25 May 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

STRANGE ADVENTURES IN WEST AFRICA.

WHAT BEFELL AN ENGLISH ACTRESS. I think I can claim the honour of being the only white woman who has ever paid a flying visit to the West Coast of Africa and given a performance in Kumasi, the capital of that strange •; negro kingdom, Ashanti, writes Miss Decima Moore, the popular access, on her return to England recently. ' '' ' ' *~ -

This is my second trip to that littleknown part of the world. On my first visit I stayed.in the country nearly seven months, but on my last'journey I only remained there three- weeks. I went to see my husband, Major F. G. Guggisberg, F.R.G.S., Royal Engineers, who is Director of Survey out there. Everyone told me when they wished me good-bye that I should become a martyr to lever or be killed by the natives. But I have returned, safely, ' having .had nothing[ worse than a jigger in my loot and. a" bite j by a native pony, "who turned on me as' I "was offering him some sugar. He bit me in the ribs, but luckily did not do me much damage, as his teeth came in contact with j a gold, locket ' I was wearing inside my; dress. ; I have been .entertained by native i kings and chief.?, received from them all manner of curious presents, descended gold mines, and spent weeks in the bush with my husband, with no one with us except our native servants and our black carriers.

The first difficulty one encounters in! visiting the West Coast of. Africa is thei landing. It is unpleasant and exciting, I The linars cannot approach too close to the coast !on account of the high swell and the breakers.« You have: to be let down into the native boats by means of- a chair, and then paddled through the surf to the shore. In going through the surf you are liable to get a j good wetting, and the moment you are past this and ground the shore you are seized by a half-dressed native and carried on to the beach. I fancy I must have made a j funny picture as I'clung to a. black man,[ with my arms clasped tightly round his j neck, as he waded with me to the shore. j On the way -up to Kumasi, which can now be reached by rail, we broke our journey several times. 'We first stopped at Tarkwa, where I descended the : famous j !Abontikoon gold mine. With the exception \ of the chief engineer and some white officials, it is worked entirely by the natives. On the steamer I came home by we had between' £80,000 and £90,000 of gold from I the Gold Coast mines. On the Offin River jl inspected a gold dredger at work.

A STRANGE GATHERING. At Kumasi we were the guests of the Resident at the famous fort. I occupied the same rooms as the Governor's wife used' during the siege of 1900, when the rebels surrounded the town and a strong British force had to be sent up to relieve it. Opposite the fort is the " palaver tree," where the native kings and chiefs meet to discuss their grievances with the white officials. I was fortunate enough to witness one of these strange gatherings. It was attended) by many native kings, each one being accommodated under his big State umbrella. j It was a curious spectacle, and one I shall never forget. Some of the*native chiefs wore strange garments and beautiful nativemade cloths and gold ornaments. The head king, they tell me, is allowed the mystic number of; 3333 wives.

. During the few days I was in the capiI tal of this strange laud I made great • friends with a tame leopard living in the fort. He had been given to the Resident by a native king. "■, He is now in London, at the Zoological Gardens. He is known by the name of "Tom," and would readily come to me if I called him.

. While staying at the fort in Kumasi (of course I was the only white woman m the place) we improvised a little entertainment after a dinner the : Resident gave in our honour, to which most of the regiment stationed there—the West Africa Frontier Force— invited. The Resident and I. sang, and my husband and I played a little duologue ■ written by my sister. When standing to drink the King's health it seemed odd to look down.: the long table ; and find, myself the only woman. . I was greatly: taken, with Kumasi.,; litis a yery pretty place",. with its-wide roads, two-storeyed swish houses, and its picturesque MohamI medan quarter.,/ ■■ , . . , ;

: 700 MILES IN A .HAMMOCK. , My stay in the, capital of Ashanti. was very brief. My husband had to leave to settle a part of the Ashanti and Gold ''Coast boundary, .which ' meant many interesting palavers* with the 'various kings. I was lucky enough to accompany him, and although it was exceedingly hot;, which made travelling fatiguing, I quit© enjoyed the experience. We had our own black cook and personal servants with us, and quite a, retinue of hammock '":. boys and carriers, who looked after the instruments, tents, and our belongings. 'They carried me in a hammock on their heads over 700 miles. At each stopping-plaoe we were received in state by the kings and chiefs: /I was the first white woman they had seen. They gave me all kinds of presents," and we often slept in their palaces,- which were invariably mud huts. At one place we stayed at, Abetifi, in the Kwahu district, the natives used elephants' skulls' as seats outside their huts, and the king's horn that he showed me was nnng with human jawbones. * ! At all places the women were most curi- j ous to see me, the first white mammie (as ! they call women here) that they had seen, J and gave me many presents. I had to sit ] in state to receive them under a big umbrella, with my black boy beside me to in-! terpret what they said. They asked many! questions, nearly all of them wishing to! know if the women in the big country over the sea where I came from were as whit* as myself, and were much struck with my fair hair. So many of the women came to see me that our native sergeant had to arrange for me to sit in state on the afternoon of certain days. When the men and! women saw me helping my husband by! taking the times from the chronometer! while he was using the theodolite, they said I must be a good "ju-ju." I On the way" home I visited Lagos, which j was a revelation to me. with its electric! light, motors, ice, punkahs, railway, shipbuilding yards, and busy factories. The! Government House is a fine building, and | the European residences good. The place is none the less a mixture of civilisation; and • savagery. You have motors and fine! houses at -one corner, and tom-toms and-