In the monarchical state of Apollonia, the right of suc cession devolves on the son of the king's sister. The reign ing sovereign is the sole administrator of justice ; and passes sentence without the advice of any of his subjects ; but, if the accused be a person of rank, he generally re ceives a message, requiring him to prove his innocence by the ordeal. This consists in swallowing a portion of a cer tain bark, accounted poisonous, which, if rejected from the stomach, is a token of innocence, but if retained, (in which case it commonly proves fatal,) it is an evidence of guilt. In the more mixed governments, as in the Fantce country, the administration of justice and of public affairs resides principally in the pynins or elders, who are elected by the public voice, and sometimes succeed by hereditary right. They are the oracles of the laws, which they commit to memory with extraordinary correctness; and, in the trial of causes, they act at once as judges and jurors. They as semble their courts in the market-place, where both par ties are attentively heard, witnesses regularly examined, and sentence duly pronounced. They have a share in all fines and forfeitures, and generally receive a present of rum when any cause of importance is brought before them. If the condemned party think himself aggrieved, he may appeal to the elders of another town or district, and some times to the governor of the neighbouring European fort. The natives are said to plead their causes with much abi lity, and to accompany their words with suitable and ener getic gesture. In consequence of the strictness of the laws, crimes are extremely mare ; but, during the prevalence of the slave trade, when false accusations and false witnesses abounded, condemnations occurred every day. But, though the natives rarely commit thefts against the property of their countrymen, every thing belonging to a white man is considered as a fair object of plunder. In cases of slander or evil speaking, a peculiar trial, called " braadeeina," is instituted between the parties. The injured person repairs to the market-place with a portion of spirits, and invites his accuser to make good his assertions, who is obliged to produce an equal quantity of liquor before he can obtain a hearing. The personifound guilty is required to make a pe cuniary compensation to the other ; and the spirits, which in the case of wealthy individuals sometimes exceed a hun dred gallons, go to the elders, and the friends of the per son who is acquitted.
The religion of the natives of Guinea is not easily de scribed. They have some notion of a Supreme Being ; but their worship consists in a mass of strange and unmeaning superstitions, of which they do not attempt to give any ac-, count. They do not generally engage in any external wor ship ; and though, on certain days, they abstain from their ordinary employments, they have no reason to assign, ex cept that it has been the custom. In some places there is an annual sacrifice of a deer to the divinity. They seem to hold the moon in greater veneration than the sun, and wel come her appearance with great rejoicings. Their system of belief, however, is little else than a constant fear of some malignant influence, and a superstitious confidence in cer tain charms to avert the dreaded evil. Their object of wor ship, whatever it be, bears the undefinable name of Fetish, a word which some suppose to be derived from thc Portu guesefetischo, witchcraft ; but which is applied with great latitude to any thing sacred, prohibited, unlucky, or unac countable, and is considered as equivalent to the " Obi" of the West Indies, perhaps also to the " taboo" of the South Sea islands. In Acra, the principal image, or deity, is a large mass of solid gold in the form of a human head. In
the Fantee capital, Abrah, their chief object of adoration, is denominated Woorah, woorah ! Agah, nannah ! that is, Master, master ! Father of all ! But every town or village has its own favourite idol, and even in every house is some object emblematic of a divinity. The Fetish-men or wo men, who are considered as alone possessed of any know ledge, are not only the priests, but also the lawyers and physicians of the country. They are supposed to have com munications with the demon or Fetish, and to be able to in struct their votaries in every case of actual or apprehended evil. Their good offices must be procured by presents, which are often of considerable value, and are appropriated to their own use. They are usually connected with per sons in power, and are frequently useful in enforcing the authority of the laws. Where there is no monarch, and the government is lodged in the community, these persons assume great consequence, and render it hazardous for any one to withstand their influence, or to be guilty of any ne glect towards the Fetish.
There are innumerable languages and dialects along the whole of the west coast of Africa ; but the most prevalent in Guinea is the Fantee, which is understood from Apollo nia to Acra, and to a considerable distance inland. It is soft and harmonious ; but has never been reduced to writ ing. The 'following specimen gives the proper names of men and women, according to the day of the week on which they were born.
The natives of the coast of Guinea are in general ex tremely similar in their physical qualities, and in their pre veiling customs ; but differ considerably in their disposi tions and morals. The diversity in this respect is ascribed, with sufficient probability, to their intercourse with Euro peans, and especially to the degree in which they engage in the slave trade ; but seems also to arise partly from the form and character of the native governments. In most of the districts they.are tall, well formed, with the usual negro features, thick lips, and flat noses. On the Grain Coast, especially in the western parts, they arc mild, peaceable, honest, and industrious ; but on the Ivory Coast they have become deceitful and cruel. In Apollonia, they arc ex tremely courteous, hospitable, and brave ; but generally re served in their manners, a circumstance which has been at tributed more to the despotic form of their government than their natural disposition. In the Ahantah country, they are friendly in their manners, and more free in con versation than the Apollonians, but less hospitable and cour teous. The people of Chatnah and Commenda arc very turbulent and ferocious, addicted to Frequent quarrels, and much inclined to maltreat Europeans. Those of Elmina have generally been found to be civil and peaceable ; but some recent instances have occurred of their ferocity when roused by provocation. The Fantees are generally an in dolent, ferocious, and faithless people ; and their petty chiefs are extremely avaricious and deceitful, watching every op portunity to gratify their vicious passions. The natives of the Agonna country, especially around Winncbah, have long been noted for every species of licentiousness, living entirely by plunder, and displaying a degree of ferocity un paralleled in any other part of the coast. In Acra and Adampe, the inhabitants are remarkably indolent, addicted to drunkemiess, and full of deceit ; but those of Acra have been considerably improved by their intercourse with the Ashantees, a powerful people in the interior, already men tioned, and who manifest a greater attention to the rules of decency and morality than any other tribe yet discovered in the country.