e inured to war_,
and ready to assist the European traders in procuring loadings for the
great number of vessels which come yearly on those coasts for slaves.
This part of Guinea is agreed by historians to be, in general,
_extraordinary fruitful and agreeable_; producing (according to the
difference of the soil) vast quantities of rice and other grain; plenty
of fruit and roots; palm wine and oil, and fish in great abundance, with
much tame and wild cattle. Bosman, principal factor for the Dutch at
D'Elmina, speaking of the country of Axim, which is situate towards the
beginning of the Gold Coast, says,[A] "The Negro inhabitants are
generally very rich, driving a great trade with the Europeans for gold.
That they are industriously employed either in trade, fishing, or
agriculture; but chiefly in the culture of rice, which grows here in an
incredible abundance, and is transported hence all over the Gold Coast.
The inhabitants, in lieu, returning full fraught with millet, jamms,
potatoes, and palm oil." The same author speaking of the country of
Ante, says,[B] "This country, as well as the Gold Coast, abounds with
hills, enriched with extraordinary high and beautiful trees; its
valleys, betwixt the hills, are wide and extensive, producing in great
abundance very good rice, millet, jamms, potatoes, and other fruits, all
good in their kind." He adds, "In short, it is a land that yields its
manurers as plentiful a crop as they can wish, with great quantities of
palm wine and oil, besides being well furnished with all sorts of tame,
as well as wild beasts; but that the last fatal wars had reduced it to a
miserable condition, and stripped it of most of its inhabitants." The
adjoining country of Fetu, he says,[C] "was formerly so powerful and
populous, that it struck terror into all the neighbouring nations; but
it is at present so drained by continual wars, that it is entirely
ruined; there does not remain inhabitants sufficient to till the
country, tho' it is so fruitful and pleasant that it may be compared to
the country of Ante just before described; frequently, says that author,
when walking through it before the last war, I have seen it abound with
fine well built and populous towns, agreeably enriched with vast
quantities of corn, cattle, palm wine, and oil. The inhabitants all
applying themselves without any distinction to agriculture; some sow
corn, others press oil, and draw wine from palm trees, with both which
it is