The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi: A Novel (6 page)

On 7 January 1837, at eight o’clock in the morning, we
departed from Fort Elmina. Major-General Verveer and myself
were conveyed in palanquins each carried by four negroes. The
secretary, a physician, the resident of Fort Axim, an official of
the coastal administration and Welzing, a mulatto serving as
interpreter for the native tongues, were conveyed in hammocks
borne by two negroes. Thirty-six negroes were engaged for this
purpose, while another 192 served for the conveyance of the
goods, rations and other travelling necessities. A band of 380
slaves from the interior bearing gifts for the king of Ashanti
had already been sent ahead. They would wait for us to join
them in the vicinity of Kumasi.

Verveer’s palanquin was preceded by a petty officer with
the banner at the head of our military brass band which numbered thirteen musicians attended by two negro servants. In
his wake came the halberdier of Elmina, a brigade of sappers,
the engineering corps, the laundry boys and lesser servants
with a number of women, followed by the caboceer, four captains and a troupe of seventeen armed men who had been sent
by the king of Ashanti to escort us. Our party thus numbered
more than one thousand men.

Our journey started in a north-easterly direction across the
salt plain, past the plantation of one master Simons, where we
made a brief halt. The emissaries of the chiefs of Elmina, who
had accompanied us thus far, took their leave here, wishing us
success with our embassy in a land no regiment had ventured to
enter until now.

From there we proceeded on our journey through bush territory, where we observed scattered fields planted with sugar cane
and pineapple, and soon came upon the first settlement or
crom,
named Ameeäno. The population numbered about one hundred
and twenty, mostly living in wretched huts made of straw
smeared with clay and roofed with leaves of palm or banana.
The band struck up as we approached, as they would do upon
arrival at every settlement. They usually played our national
anthem or some other patriotic tune.

We continued in a north-westerly direction to the settlement
of Simmiën in the fertile valley where General Daendels used to
own an estate. We were welcomed by the firing of guns. We
made a halt to drink the pitchers of palm wine that were o fered
to us, in return for which we gave some bottles of rum. Finding a
large number of fallen trees on our path we were obliged to cover
the distance to the settlement of Afatau on foot. Arriving there
around one o’clock in the afternoon, we decided to set up camp
for the night. Our three tents were pitched. Two of them served
as accommodation for the officers, the third as a kitchen. As a
rule we consumed our main meal, prepared by a skilled negro
cook, at four or five o’clock. The evenings were spent listening to
our musicians, who would play for a few hours in the open air.
Sometimes, when it was worth our while, we visited private
dwellings.

Reveille was sounded each day at dawn, at which time the
bearers and servants were ready for departure. However, the
slowness of certain officers in preparing themselves often prevented us from setting off at an early hour, which is imperative
in these regions if the oppressive midday heat is to be avoided.
Sometimes we did not depart until ten o’clock.

On the second day we traversed a forest with tall trees. After
two hours we arrived in the settlement of Sodo fer, where the
local caboceer, surrounded by grandees and fetish priestesses,
came forward to welcome us. They o fered us palm wine, and we
gave them rum and Dutch pipes in return.

A long winding path led to the large settlement of
Abakrampa, the seat of the Fanti kingdom. Our ceremonial
entry, which took place at half past two, was unfortunately
ruined by a heavy downpour. A band of armed men rushed forward to greet us, firing their muskets and singing war songs. The
king of Fanti, a tall, handsome man aged about forty, awaited
us at the far end of a clearing within the settlement. He was surrounded by dignitaries, all crowded together in the shade of
enormous umbrellas held over their heads by slaves. We passed
them one by one, starting with the lowest ranks. We greeted them
all, but shook hands only with the king. To do so we had to side-step a huge fellow reeling off the titles, deeds and battle exploits
of his master while brandishing a silver-hilted sword in front of
our eyes. As it was still pouring with rain, the king invited us
into his home. We were led down a narrow passage into a courtyard with four open rooms facing the centre, three feet above the
ground. They were all clean and spacious. The earthen walls
were whitewashed, the floor was sprinkled with red earth. A few
negro stools and a leather armchair constituted the furniture.
While we sat there the bu foon continued to leap about and shout
at the top of his voice. His master seemed to find this amusing.
Meanwhile our tents were pitched. There we received the king’s
gift of two sheep, a pig, fifty yams and three pots of palm wine.
After a series of tedious expressions of gratitude we sent the king
two jerkins of silken chintz, bolts of brightly coloured cotton
cloth, each 14 or 16 ell in length, some strings of coral, a few
crocks of rum, tobacco and Dutch pipes.

The following day we left Abakrampa, which compared so
favourably with other settlements by virtue of the neatness of the
dwellings and the cleanliness of the eight hundred inhabitants.
We passed the settlement of Akroofoo, where our arrival was
once more celebrated with gunfire and where the women were
especially welcoming. From there to Tuacua and Ed Jerri our
route traversed several hills and the path had not been widened
to make room for our palanquins, so that we did not reach the
settlement of Paintry until four o’clock, after a most uncomfortable journey. We took to our cots early, but the rain persisted all
through the night and the roar of lions, leopards and other wild
animals in the vicinity of our tents alarmed us greatly.

The following day, 10 January, we reached Jan Comadie,
residence of the king of Assim. Three hundred clamouring
negroes milled around, firing their guns dangerously, while
the population danced and sang to the beat of our brass band.
His Highness was flanked by a fetish priest and priestess with
painted torsos and surrounded by a troupe of slaves wearing
multicoloured tunics covered in bells. He was presented with
an East Indian silken chintz tunic, strings of beads, rum,
tobacco and pipes, whereas all we received in return was one
cabree
or African goat, and eleven bunches of bananas. The
aim of our visit was to dispel a rumour that a Dutch general
had disembarked at Elmina with a large party of officers to
eradicate the Assimers. It transpired that some of our own
slaves, young Ashantis, had been spreading the rumour. This
palaver lasted for some time and yet we returned to our tents
without having resolved the situation. But hardly had we
arrived there than the king came with the o fer of a recruit,
whom we engaged in the service of King Willem against payment of two ounces of gold (eighty guilders). Here we had our
first experience of the great difficulty in reaching agreement
with these people on the value of our gold, because of their
endless queries about the weight and quality.

That evening we invited His Highness for a glass of punch,
in the hope of gaining his favour. He arrived with eight musicians playing drums, hollow elephants’ tusks or bu falo horns,
and gourds filled with gravel. They wished to enter into a competition with our band! When it was over His Highness was moved
to observe that, however pleasing his music had sounded to him
previously, it no longer did so. He ordered his men to desist from
playing.

The caboceer had a curious way of sharing the drink with
his slave boys. They opened their mouths wide as if to shout,
whereupon he took a sip of the punch and squirted it straight
into their mouths from a considerable distance. His adroitness
was such that it was clearly a common practice.

After the departure of the guests we missed a fine goblet from
one of the travel cases. News of this was conveyed to the king.
An hour later the glass was returned with the message that the
miscreant had already received his punishment, consisting of
cutting off both his ears.

The next morning found us on a rough track that had not
been previously widened. Our progress was slow. The following
day the route up to the river Curacio was fair, but when we had
crossed to the other side we had to force our way through dense
undergrowth. Before we could enter the settlement of Koochua
we had to traverse a vast marshland and after fording yet
another river we came upon the settlements of Abandu and
Fusu. It was in this manner that our journey proceeded for days
on end: through rivers teeming with highly dangerous creatures
and across hills covered in tall guinea grass, which hampers passage and stifles the breath. At the settlement of Prasso we crossed
the river of the same name in a canoe. Having arrived at the
other side we entered Ashanti territory at last!

Our journey during the following days took us through a
rolling landscape dotted with pools and a small, steep mountain,
the only one we saw on our entire journey. The vegetation
became progressively less pleasing.

In the settlement of Eduabin our sojourn was unfortunately
protracted. First of all we received a messenger from the king of
Ashanti, who welcomed us heartily into his territory and also
brought instructions for the caboceer. The nature of those
instructions soon became horribly clear. Not long after our
arrival we saw a multitude of men and several women emerging
from their dwellings. We then heard that the king of Kokofu,
chief ruler in the realm of the Ashanti king, had died. “His tree
has fallen,” is the local expression. The fleeing women were his
blood relatives. Within a few minutes two negroes appeared;
they had leafy branches around their necks and carried large
knives. They searched all the dwellings for slaves that had
belonged to the deceased ruler, in order to slaughter them. We
were informed that in Bipolsa, a previous settlement where our
music had made a very good impression, some sixty men had
already had their throats cut.

That same evening we observed how forty men were taken
prisoner in order to be sacrificed in Kokofu during the funeral
ceremony. At one o’clock in the night several Ashanti officials
and courtiers came to tell us on behalf of His Highness that the
demise of his highest-ranking subject necessitated his absenting
himself from the capital Kumasi; he was due to attend the
funeral ceremonies in Kokofu with his entire retinue as well as
the full party of dignitaries who had travelled to the capital from
all regions to witness the arrival of our embassy. His Highness
requested us to remain where we were until further notice.

Messengers from the king came daily, bringing us palm wine
and a sheep, and inquiring after our well-being. On 24 January,
in the hope of persuading the king not to keep us waiting too
long, we sent the halberdier of Elmina and our interpreter to
Kokofu with gifts of one chest of loaf-sugar, one chest of wax
candles, several pounds of tea and a small porcelain tea service. They returned with disheartening tidings: we were to
remain in this wretched place for at least another ten days. On
the 26th a hurricane known as Travados struck, with heavy
thunderstorms, and we were obliged to abandon our tents and
seek refuge in a house. To distract us from the violence of the
elements, our palanquin bearers and porters from Elmina
o fered us two serenades with dance, which lasted until late at
night and attracted the participation of the local population.