the Gold Coast for Gold by Richard F. Burton.pdf

(638 KB) Pobierz
the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton
1
the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton
Project Gutenberg's To the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton Copyright laws are changing all over
the world. Be sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing this or
any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it.
Do not change or edit the header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the
bottom of this file. Included is important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how the file
may be used. You can also find out about how to make a donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get
involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
814100635.014.png 814100635.015.png 814100635.016.png 814100635.017.png 814100635.001.png 814100635.002.png 814100635.003.png 814100635.004.png 814100635.005.png 814100635.006.png 814100635.007.png 814100635.008.png 814100635.009.png
 
the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton
2
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
Title: To the Gold Coast for Gold A Personal Narrative in Two Volumes.--Vol. I
Author: Richard F. Burton
Release Date: September, 2005 [EBook #8821] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file
was first posted on August 13, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TO THE GOLD COAST FOR GOLD ***
Produced by Jim O'Connor and Distributed Proofreaders.
TO THE GOLD COAST FOR GOLD
A Personal Narrative
BY Richard F. Burton AND Verney Lovett Cameron
In Two Volumes--Vol. I.
TO OUR EXCELLENT FRIEND
JAMES IRVINE
(OF LIVERPOOL, F.R.G.S, F.S.A, &C.)
WE INSCRIBE THESE PAGES AS A TOKEN OF OUR APPRECIATION AND ADMIRATION FOR HIS
COURAGE AND ENERGY IN OPENING AND WORKING THE GOLDEN LANDS OF WESTERN
AFRICA
'Much have I travelled in the realms of gold'
SHAKESPEARE
PREFACE.
The following extract from 'Wanderings in West Africa,' a book which I wrote in 1862 and published
(anonymously) in 1863, will best explain the reasons which lately sent me to Western Africa:--
In several countries, for instance, Dinkira, Tueful, Wásá (Wassaw), and especially Akim, the hill-region lying
north of Accra, the people are still active in digging gold. The pits, varying from two to three feet in diameter,
and from twelve to fifty deep (eighty feet is the extreme), are often so near the roads that loss of life has been
the result. 'Shoring up' being little known, the miners are not unfrequently buried alive. The stuff is drawn up
by ropes in clay pots, or calabashes, and thus a workman at the bottom widens the pit to a pyriform shape;
tunnelling, however, is unknown. The excavated earth is carried down to be washed. Besides sinking these
814100635.010.png 814100635.011.png 814100635.012.png 814100635.013.png
 
the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton
3
holes, they pan in the beds of rivers, and in places collect quartz, which is roughly pounded.
They (the natives) often refuse to dig deeper than the chin, for fear of the earth 'caving in;' and,
quartz-crushing and the use of quicksilver being unknown, they will not wash unless the gold 'show colour' to
the naked eye.
As we advance northwards from the Gold Coast the yield becomes richer....
It is becoming evident that Africa will one day equal half-a-dozen Californias....
Will our grandsons believe in these times ... that this Ophir--that this California, where every river is a Tmolus
and a Pactolus, every hillock is a gold-field--does not contain a cradle, a puddling-machine, a quartz-crusher,
a pound of mercury? That half the washings are wasted because quicksilver is unknown? That whilst convict
labour is attainable, not a company has been formed, not a surveyor has been sent out? I exclaim with
Dominie Sampson--'Pro-di-gious!'
Western Africa was the first field that supplied the precious metal to mediaeval Europe. The French claim to
have imported it from Elmina as early as A.D. 1382. In 1442 Gonçales Baldeza returned from his second
voyage to the regions about Bojador, bringing with him the first gold. Presently a company was formed for
the purpose of carrying on the gold-trade between Portugal and Africa. Its leading men were the navigators
Lanzarote and Gilianez, and Prince Henry 'the Navigator' did not disdain to become a member. In 1471 João
de Santarem and Pedro Escobar reached a place on the Gold Coast to which, from the abundance of gold
found there, they gave the name of 'São Jorje da Mina,' the present Elmina. After this a flood of gold poured
into the lap of Europe; and at last, cupidity having mastered terror of the Papal Bull, which assigned to
Portugal an exclusive right to the Eastern Hemisphere, English, French, and Dutch adventurers hastened to
share the spoils.
For long years my words fell upon flat ears. Presently the Ashanti war of 1873-74 brought the subject before
the public. The Protectorate was overrun by British officers, and their reports and itineraries never failed to
contain, with a marvellous unanimity of iteration, the magic word--Gold.
The fraction of country, twenty-six miles of seaboard out of two hundred, by a depth of sixty--in fact, the
valley of the Ancobra River--now (early 1882) contains five working companies. Upwards of seventy
concessions, to my knowledge, have been obtained from native owners, and many more are spoken of. In fact,
development has at length begun, and the line of progress is clearly traced.
At Madeira I was joined (January 8, 1882) by Captain Cameron, R.N., C.B., &c. Our object was to explore the
so-called Kong Mountains, which of late years have become quasi -mythical. He came out admirably
equipped; nor was I less prepared. But inevitable business had delayed us both, and we landed on the Gold
Coast at the end of January instead of early October. The hot-dry season had set in with a heat and a drought
unknown for years; the climate was exceptionally trying, and all experts predicted early and violent rains.
Finally, we found so much to do upon the Ancobra River that we had no time for exploration. Geography is
good, but Gold is better.
In this joint book my energetic and hard-working friend and fellow-traveller has described the five working
mines which I was unable to visit. He has also made an excellent route-survey of the country, corrected by
many and careful astronomical observations. It is curious to compare his work with the sketches of previous
observers, Jeekel, Wyatt, Bonnat, and Dahse. To my companion's industry also are mainly due our collections
of natural history.
We are answerable only for our own, not for each other's statements. As regards my part, I have described the
Gold-land as minutely as possible, despite the many and obvious disadvantages of the 'photographic style.'
the Gold Coast for Gold, by Richard F. Burton
4
Indeed, we travellers often find ourselves in a serious dilemma. If we do not draw our landscapes somewhat in
pre-Raphaelite fashion, they do not impress the reader; if we do, critics tell us that they are wearisome
longueurs, and that the half would be better than the whole. The latter alternative must often be risked,
especially in writing about a country where many at home have friends and relatives. Of course they desire to
have as much detail about it as possible; hence the reader will probably pardon my 'curiosity.'
The Appendix discusses at some length the various objections made to the Gold Coast mines by the public,
which suffers equally from the 'bull' and the 'bear' and from the wild rumours set afloat by those not interested
in the speculation. I first dispose of the dangers menaced by Ashanti invasions. The second number notices
the threatened labour-famine, and shows how immigration of Chinese, of coolies, and of Zanzibar-men will,
when wanted, supply not only the Gold Coast, but also the whole of our unhappy West African stations,
miscalled colonies, which are now starving for lack of hands. The third briefly sketches the history of the
Gold-trade in the north-western section of the Dark Continent, discusses the position and the connections of
the auriferous Kong Mountains, and suggests the easiest system of 'getting' the precious metal. This is by
shallow working, by washing, and by the 'hydraulicking' which I had studied in California. The earlier miners
have, it is believed, begun at the wrong end with deep workings, shafts, and tunnels; with quartz-crushers,
stamps, and heavy and expensive machinery, when flumes and force-pumps would have cost less and brought
more. Our observations and deductions, drawn from a section of coast, will apply if true, as I believe they are,
to the whole region between the Assini and the Volta Rivers.
I went to the Gold Coast with small expectations. I found the Wásá (Wassaw) country, Ancobra section, far
richer than the most glowing descriptions had represented it. Gold and other metals are there in abundance,
and there are good signs of diamond, ruby, and sapphire.
Remains to be seen if England has still honesty and public spirit enough to work this old-new California as it
should be worked. I will answer for its success if the workers will avoid over-exclusiveness, undue jealousy
and rivalry, stockjobbing, and the rings of 'guinea-pigs' and 'guinea-worms.'
RICHARD F. BURTON.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
CHAPTER
5
CHAPTER
I.
PRELIMINARY: TRIESTE TO LISBON
II. FROM LISBON TO MADEIRA
III. A FORTNIGHT AT MADEIRA
IV. MADEIRA (continued) --CHRISTMAS--SMALL INDUSTRIES--WINE--DEPARTURE FOR
TENERIFE
V. TO TENERIFE, LA LAGUNA, AND OROTAVA
VI. THE ROUTINE ASCENT OF MOUNT ATLAS, THE 'PIKE' OF TENERIFE
VII. THE SPANISH ACCOUNT OF THE REPULSE OF NELSON FROM SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE
VIII. TO GRAND CANARY--LAS PALMAS, THE CAPITAL
IX. THE COCHINEAL--THE 'GALLO'--CANARY 'SACK'--ADIEU TO THE CANARIES
X. THE RUINED RIVER--PORT AND THE TATTERED FLAG
XI. SIERRA LEONE: THE CHANGE FOR THE BETTER
TO THE GOLD COAST FOR GOLD.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin