Mr. Hutton has given nearly the same comparative estimate
of the persons of the Fantis and Ashantis.
2. Acra race* The people of Acra, near - Ghristianbürg,
though surrounded by tribes of the Inta nation, are a distinct
race, having a language of their own and peculiar manners.
Acra Was a powerful state until it was conquered by
the people of Aquambo, when many of them fled to Little
Popo, and founded a new state on the Slave Coast. The
Mountain Negroes of Adampi speak the language of Acra.
The people Of Acra practise circumcision—uiriusque sewüs
—•which is elsewhere, in these countries, unknown. The peculiar
language and customs of these people, their situation
on the coast, surrounded by people of the Inta race, indicate
them to be the remains of a more ancient people^ who
probably possessed these countries before the Fantis emigrated
from the interior.
The following is a description of the persons of these Negroes,
chiefly, as it seems, applicable to the race of Acra,'by
Isert, the Danish traveller:
“ Almost all the Negroes are of a good stature, and the Acra
Negroes have remarkably fine features. The contour of the
face, indeed, among the generality of these people, is different
from that of Europeans; but, at the same time, faces are
found among them, which, excepting the black colour, would
in Europe be considered as beautiful. Commonly, however,
they have something apish. The cheek-bones and chin project
very much, and the bones of the nose are smaller than
among Europeans. This last circumstance has probably
given rise to the assertion, that the Negro women flatten the
noses of their children as soon as they are born. But noses
may be seen among some of them as much elevated and as
regular as those of Europeans. Their hair is woolly, curled,
and black; but sometimes red. When continually combed,
it may be brought to the length of half a yard; but it never
can be kept smooth.” *
* P. E. Isert, Reis na Guinea; Dordrecht, 1790 s translated in Philos. Mag.
vol. iii. p. 144.
Section VI.—0 / the Foy Race, including the Whidah, Pu~
pah, Dahomeh, and several other Nâtiôns of the Slave
Coast, and the adjoining inland Country*
That part Of Guinea which Mestótbè eastward of the Gold
Coast and tlii' Bio Volta is termed the Slave Coast. It is
of indefinite extent towards the east; It obviously derives its
name from the fact, that this part of Guinea Was Ioûg the principal
seat of that diabolical traffic Which our legislature, after
maintaining for centuries' its lawfulness, has, through thé
greying influence of Christianity on pubic opinion, at length
proscribed. A dong’ tract of this éoeist, reaching from thé
mouth of thé Volta to the neighbourhood Badagry, as
well as a wide country in the interior, is inhabited by several
nations, who belong to one race, and speakj^r the most part,
dialects' of the .same language;, and resemble each other in
person, manners, and habits. They occupy nearly the whole
country which extends from thé Volta to the narrow strip of
lahd belonging to the inland kingdom of Yarribâ, and reaching
down to the Sea at Badagry.
The people of Koto, near the limits of the Gold Coast,
speak the language of Acra, which is different from that Of
the Slave Coast, as do likewise the people of Little Popo Or
Papaw, which wâs founded by fugitives fitun Acfa, driven out
of their country by the Aquamboes in 1689» These are to
be considered as foreign colonies On the Slave Coast.
The most powerful nation on the Slave Coast was formerly
the people of Great Ardrah, and, it is Said, that the other
states were tributary to them J their principal rivals were the
Whidahs,a warlike nation on theeoust, whose country was
celebrated by all voyagers for its beauty and fertility*, and the
great number of its villages and inhabitants. Great ' Popo,
to the westward of Whidah, was another flourishing state,
until all these countries were depopulated by the Dahomans,
a people farther in the interior, who speak a dialect of the
language of Great Ardrah ; th i’ ï Mâhas ^ e another nation i i
the westward of Dahomeh, who have also the same speech*
The Dahomans were formerly called Foys, and inhabited a