Sir Charles and the Fanti army were defeated, the governor losing his life, but in 1826 the English gained a victory over the Ashanti at Dodowah. At this period, however, the home government, disgusted with the Gold Coast by reason of the perpetual disturbances in the protectorate and the trouble it occasioned, determined to abandon the settlements, and sent instructions for the forts to be destroyed and the Europeans brought home. The merchants, backed by Major Rickets, 2nd West India regiments, the administrator, protested, and as a compromise the forts were handed over to a committee of merchants (Sept. 1828), who were given a subsidy of £4000 a year. The merchants secured (1830) as their administrator Mr George Maclean—a gentleman with military experience on the Gold Coast and not engaged in trade. To Maclean is due the consolidation of British interests in the interior. He concluded, 1831, a treaty with the Ashanti advantageous to the Fanti, whilst with very inadequate means he contrived to extend British influence over the whole region of the present colony. In the words of a Fanti trader Maclean understood the people, “he settled things quietly with them and the people also loved him.”[1] Complaints that Maclean encouraged slavery reached England, but these were completely disproved, the governor being highly commended on his administration by the House of Commons Committee. It was decided, nevertheless, that the Colonial Office should resume direct control of the forts, which was done in 1843, Maclean continuing to direct native affairs until his death in 1847. The jurisdiction of England on the Gold Coast was defined by the bond of the 6th of March 1844, Danish and Dutch forts purchased. an agreement with the native chiefs by which the crown received the right of trying criminals, repressing human sacrifice, &c. The limits of the protectorate inland were not defined. The purchase of the Danish forts in 1850, and of the Dutch forts and territory in 1871, led to the consolidation of the British power along the coast; and the Ashanti war of 1873–74 resulted in the extension of the area of British influence. Since that time the colony has been chiefly engaged in the development of its material resources, a development accompanied by a slow but substantial advance in civilization among the native population. (For further historical information see Ashanti.)
For a time the Gold Coast formed officially a limb of the “West African Settlements” and was virtually a dependency of Sierra Leone. In 1874 the settlements on the Gold Coast and Lagos were created a separate crown colony, this arrangement lasting until 1886 when Lagos was cut off from the Gold Coast administration.
Northern Territories.
The Northern Territories of the Gold Coast form a British protectorate to the north of Ashanti. They are bounded W. and N.—where 11° N. is the frontier line except at the eastern extremity—by the French colonies of the Ivory Coast and Upper Senegal and Niger, E. by the German colony of Togoland. The southern frontier, separating the protectorate from Ashanti, is the Black Volta to a point a little above its junction with the White Volta. Thence the frontier turns south and afterwards east so as to include the Brumasi district in the protectorate, the frontier gaining the main Volta below Yeji. The Territories include nearly all the country from the meridian of Greenwich to 3° W. and between 8° and 11° N., and cover an area of about 33,000 sq. m.
Lying north of the great belt of primeval forest which extends parallel to the Guinea coast, the greater part of the protectorate consists of open country, well timbered, and much of it presenting a park-like appearance. There are also large stretches of grassy plains, and in the south-east an area of treeless steppe. The flora and fauna resemble those of Ashanti. The country is well watered, the Black Volta forming the west and southern frontier for some distance, while the White Volta traverses its central regions. Both rivers, and also the united stream, contain rapids which impede but do not prevent navigation (see Volta). The climate is much healthier than that of the coast districts, and the fever experienced is of a milder type. The rainfall is less than on the coast; the dry season lasts from November (when the harmattan begins to blow) to March. The mean temperature at Gambaga is 80° F., the mean annual rainfall 43 in. The inhabitants were officially estimated in 1907 to number “at least 1,000,000.” The Dagomba, Dagarti, Grunshi, Kangarga, Moshi and Zebarima, Negro or Negroid tribes, constitute the bulk of the people, and Fula, Hausa and Yoruba have settled as traders or cattle raisers. A large number of the natives are Moslems, the rest are fetish worshippers. The tribal organization is maintained by the British authorities, who found comparatively little difficulty in putting an end to slave-raiding and gaining the confidence of the chiefs. Trained by British officers, the natives make excellent soldiers.
Agriculture and Trade.—The chief crops are maize, guinea-corn, millet, yams, rice, beans, groundnuts, tobacco and cotton. Cotton is grown in most parts of the protectorate, the soil and climate in many districts being very suitable for its cultivation. Rubber is found in the north-western regions. When the protectorate was assumed by Great Britain the Territories were singularly destitute of fruit trees. The British have introduced the orange, citron, lime, guava, mango and soursop, and among plants the banana, pine-apple and papaw. A large number of vegetables and flowers have also been introduced by the administration.
Stock-raising is carried on extensively, and besides oxen and sheep there are large numbers of horses and donkeys in the Territories. The chief exports are cattle, dawa-dawa (a favourite flavouring matter for soup among the Ashanti and other tribes) and shea-butter—the latter used in cooking and as an illuminant. The principal imports are kola-nuts, salt and cotton goods. A large proportion of the European goods imported is German and comes through Togoland. The administration levies a tax on traders’ caravans, and in return ensures the safety of the roads. This tax is the chief local source of revenue. The revenue and expenditure of the Territories, as well as statistics of trade, are included in those of the Gold Coast.
Gold exists in quartz formation, chiefly in the valley of the Black Volta, and is found equally on the British and French sides of the frontier.
Towns.—The headquarters of the administration are at Tamale (or Tamari), a town in the centre of the Dagomba country east of the White Volta and 200 m. N.E. of Kumasi. Its inhabitants are keen traders, and it forms a distributing centre for the whole protectorate. Gambaga, an important commercial centre and from 1897 to 1907 the seat of government, is in Mamprusi, the north-east corner of the protectorate and is 85 m. N.N.E. of Tamale. A hundred and forty miles due south of Gambaga is Salaga. This town is situated on the caravan route from the Hausa states to Ashanti, and has a considerable trade in kola-nuts, shea-butter and salt. On the White Volta, midway between Gambaga and Salaga, is the thriving town of Daboya. On the western frontier are Bole (Baule) and Wa. They carry on an extensive trade with Bontuku, the capital of Jaman, and other places in the Ivory Coast colony. In all the towns the population largely consists of aliens—Hausa, Ashanti, Mandingos, &c.
Communications.—Lack of easy communication with the sea hinders the development of the country. The ancient caravan routes have been, however, supplemented by roads built by the British, who have further organized a service of boats on the Volta. Large cargo boats, chiefly laden with salt, ascend that river from Addah to Yeji and Daboya. From Yeji, the port of Salaga, a good road, 150 m. long, has been made to Gambaga. There is also a river service from Yeji to Longoro on the Black Volta, the port of Kintampo, in northern Ashanti. There is a complete telegraphic system connecting the towns of the protectorate with Kumasi and the Gold Coast ports.
History.—It was not until the last quarter of the 19th century that the country immediately north of Ashanti became known to Europeans. The first step forward was made by Monsieur M. J. Bonnat (one of the Kumasi captives, see Ashanti) who, ascending the Volta, reached Salaga (1875–1876). In 1882 Captain R. La Trobe Lonsdale, an officer in British colonial service, went farther, visiting Yendi in the north and Bontuku in the west. Two years later Captain Brandon Kirby made his way to Kintampo. In 1887–1889 Captain L. G. Binger, a French officer, traversed the country from north to south. Thereafter the whole region was visited by British, French and German political missions. Prominent among the British agents was Mr George E. Ferguson, a native of West Africa, who had previously explored northern Ashanti. Between 1892 and 1897 Ferguson concluded several treaties guarding British interests. In 1897 Lieutenant Henderson and Ferguson occupied Wa, where they were attacked by the sofas of Samory (see Senegal, § 3).
- ↑ Blue Book on Africa (Western Coast) (1865), p. 233.
