Coast. European influences
have too long been at work on them. Before the town was English it was
Dutch; and it was English as early as 1661.

More than this. It is not certain that their fathers' fathers were the
_exact_ aborigines; in other words, a tribe akin to, but slightly
different from them, seems to have been the earlier possessors. These
were the Fetu--the remains of which can doubtless be met with among the
populations of the neighbourhood; since we find in the "Mithridates" a
_Fetu_ vocabulary and an _Affotoo_ one as well.

Now the Fantis that thus displaced the Fetu, were themselves fugitives
from the conquering Ashantis; all, however, being the members of one
stock, and the pressure being from the highlands of the interior towards
the lowlands of the coast.

All three are truly Negro in conformation, and miserably Pagan in creed,
the best measure of their political capacity being the organized kingdom
of the Ashantis; and the lowest form of it, the system of clanships,
chieftainships, or captainships of the proper Fantis of the coast. The
details of these are of importance.

I cannot ascertain upon what principle those different divisions which
are sometimes called _tribes_, sometimes _clans_, are formed; since it
is by no means safe to assume that they necessarily consist of
descendants from one common ancestor. The investigations concerning the
_tribes_ of ancient Rome show this.

It is easier to enumerate their external characteristics, and material
elements of their union. In the Native Town there are four quarters,
each occupied by a separate section of the population. This section has
its own proper head, its own proper standards, and its own proper band
of music.

What follows seems to apply to the rude state of society in the country
around. Each division has its badge or device; so that we have the
tribe, or clan, of the leopard, the cat, the dog, the hawk, the parrot,
&c. On certain days there are certain festivals and processions, when
the chief is carried in a long basket on the heads of two men, with
umbrellas above him, and attendants around proportionate to his rank.
When in distress, the Fanti has a claim upon the good offices of his
tribe.

When a Fanti government becomes extensive enough to require
organization, we find absolute monarchs with satraps (caboceers) under
them; under these the heads of the different villages or towns, and
under these captains of hundreds, fifties, an