AN AFRICAN BANQUET.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume VIII, Issue 49, 5 December 1891, Page 654

AN AFRICAN BANQUET.

The following letter dated at Cape Coast Castle has been forwarded to the I‘all Mall Gazette :— ‘ I have just got down to the coast after an unusually long trip inland. The region I have tiavelled over I will call Barbary, for short, because it is due south—though a long way south—of the stri of coast that used to frighten our forefathers. All this is now French polished, and there is nothing to Le seen there except the reflection of ourselves. Inland there is still some interest. The tribes are independent and keep their own customs. They are prosperous too, many of them, and have acquired ideas of luxurious living that one would not expect to find in the heart of Africa. Just before making my way down to the Gold Coast 1 was present at a most interesting function that would have given your pressmen “copy” for a week. It was a gigantic banquet, given by the ancient chief of the tribe among whom I was staying to a young warrior, the ruler of a neighbouring tribe. All the swells of the tribe were there, ot course, the chief’s sons and daughters and other kin-men, and the principal counsellors and fighting men. Some of them had their wives, too, and they were all ver v much got up. ‘ Not being a professional reporter I cannot describe the costumes, except to say that there was a barbaric profusi n of gold. But tne gold worn by the guests was a mere speck of dust compared to the gold displayed by the old chief. There must have been enough gold in that African hall to buy up the Bank of England. Where it all came from I have no notion, but our pioneers in South Africa, now that they have been ousted from the Transvaal, had better make a trek to my Barbary. ‘To begin with, all the vessels out of which the guests ate and drank were of solid gold. The table, too, was thickly covered with the quaint ornaments that savages delight in. Some of them were cleverly wrought, so far as the art of the people goes, but for the most part their only merit, if it be one, was their solidity. It was the style of thing that would have delighted a flash pawnbroker from Whitechapel. ‘ The most gorgeous object of all was a golden bird. The body of the bird was soliu gold, and its feathers were built up with precious stones. lam not good at guessing values, and will not try, but 1 could guess nearly enough to know that if 1 could have carried off that bird, or even a bit of one of its wings, my fortune would have been made for life. Apparently the old chief had a notion that such calculations might pass through the minds of his guests, for he took caie that the bird was not brought out till he was there to watch it, and had it shut up again in a strong chest directly his back was turned. The golden bird, 1 was told, had been originally taken in war from a distant tribe, and another trophy, taken from a tribe in the same region, was produced to show the guests what a mighty sovereign they were dining with. This was a lion’s head, also of solid gold, with diamonds for the teeth and eyes. But it is no good continuing this list. I think you would have felt as I did, more disgust than pleasure. And as 1 came away after a really good dinner, but with my pockets empty—l hadn’t lifted even a salt spoon—my principal feeling was one of gratification that in Europe we had got beyond this savage ostentation. ’