The Fantees, and most of the other tribes, bury their dead within their houses ; and they are very reluctant to leave the spot where their relatives are interred. If any one die in a state of insolvency, his body does not receive the rites of burial till his debts are discharged ; and the corpses of persons guilty of suicide are burned, unless a considerable sum be paid to the elders for permission to commit them to the earth. In Apollonia funerals are in general solemnized by a mixture of condoling and carous ing; and every friend of the deceased contributes some thing expressive of regard for his memory. Cloth, spirits, and gunpowder, are lavished on these occasions ; and, till the body be deposited in the ground, there is a continual succession of dances, songs, volleys of guns, and lament able exclamations. These customary revellings, however, are performed by persons hired for the purpose, and, after the interment, the habitation of the deceased exhibits suffi cient tokens of real affliction. The dead body is exposed for several days to public view, decorated with ornaments and valuable articles ; and, when buried, gold, rich cloths, and other things of value, are put into the grave. At the funeral of any person of eminence, some of his slaves, ge nerally the old and infirm, are offered in sacrifice. " In the year 1800," says Mr Meredith, " when a king of Apollo nia died, one or two human beings were sacrificed every Saturday, until the grand ceremony took place, which did not happen till six months after his decease. On that occa sion, upwards of fifty persons were sacrificed, and two of his youngest wives were put into the grave. The lid of the coffin was covered with human blood, and gold dust sprink led upon it, and much gold and rich clothes were deposited in the grave.
The diseases incident to the natives of Guinea are, le prosy, which is greatly dreaded, and generally considered incurable ; though; in its milder form, and when early at tended to, it is sometimes removed. It is in some places supposed to be contagious, and the sufferers are excluded from society. The natives employ chiefly vesicating and excoriating substances in the milder cases. Yaws, ap pearing in white crusted spots on the skin, not a common but a very infectious disease, and though repressed for a time, is never radically cured. Elephantiasis, an enormous hard swelling of the legs, which is also incurable. Small pox, which causes great ravages wherever it appears, and to which the natives in general apply no remedy ; but in some parts of the coast, inoculation is practised, and the puncture usually made at the wrist. Guinea-worm, pecu liar to the sea coast, and supposed to be occasioned by drinking water full of animalculx, as it is seldom experi enced in places provided with good water. It is consider ed by others as rather produced by absorption through the ”ores of the skin, as persons are known to receive it by going to the pools for water, and by infection from others. The legs are the most common seat of the disease, though occasionally it. has appeared in other parts of the body. The worm itself appears no bigger than a large woollen thread of a whitish colour, and rather flattened in its form ; but some have been extracted above thirteen feet in length. Much pain is felt before it protrudes through the skin, and an inflammatory tumour is produced, through which the creature makes its appearance. The natives then apply a slip of wood to the sore ; and when the worm conies in contact with it, they carefully turn it round, so as to wind the worm upon it, leaving it suspended in this situation, that the weight may draw it out more speedily. If the animal is broken, the part remaining in the flesh general ly recedes, and may not reappear for months ; and, unless properly managed, much pain and dangerous sores are of ten the consequence.—Enlarged scrotum, supposed to be
caused by an immoderate use of palm wine.—Dysentery, which the natives treat with great success, by administer ing drastic purgatives, followed by stimulating astringent clysters, making use of suppositories, keeping the patient warm, and frequently imbrocating the loins and belly with a composition of pepper.—Ophthalmia, which, though not common, is troublesome at some seasons, but chiefly occa sioned by excesses in living ; and is treated by the natives only with topical remedies, inserting lime juice into the eye, and drawing blood from the temples.—Fevers, which are most prevalent after the periodical rains ; and excepting a few external applications, such as ablutions with warm water, and rubbing the body with certain herbs, arc left by the natives to the powers of nature.—Rheurnatism, a com mon disorder, successfully removed by tepid applications and warm clothing.—Internal inflammations, pleurisies, and pulmonary diseases, are very general during the rainy season. The medical practitioners of the country are prin cipally females, whose skill is transmiked from one gene ration to another, and who perform the operations of sca rification and cupping with great dexterity, as well as dis cover considerable botanical knowledge in the selection of herbs and plants. The male physicians are generally rank ed among the Fetish men, and are much greater empyrics than the women, imposing upon the credulity, or working upon the imaginations of their patients, by pretending to expel the evil influence, or extract the supposed cause of their sufferings.
The insalubrity of the climate to Europeans is under stood to have been greatly exaggerated, and to be chiefly owing to their own excesses and neglect of proper precau tions. The climate of Guinea is greatly superior to that of Guiana, which lies under the same parallel ; and any part of the coast, if cleared and improved, would not be less healthful, it has been affirmed, than Barbadoes, the most salubrious of the West India Islands. Strangers arriving in the country are directed, by Mr Meredith, to avoid, as much as possible, the meridian sun, by keeping within doors from eight o'clock in the morning to three•n the afternoon, but to take regular exercise before and after these hours; to travel during the night with heavy clothing to protect the body from the dews, or, if necessitated to go out in the day-time, to use an umbrella, and place a handker• chief or two between the bead and the hat, to rub the body well with coarse cloths, and put on warm clothing after getting wet, and, if much exposed to rain, to bathe in salt water, but never to apply spirits to the surface of the body; to use cold bathing frequently, to practice early rising, to take animal food only once a day, and to wear flannel next the body; to counteract the damp air of the wet season by heavy clothing, warm apartments, and even occasional fu migation of the rooms with vinegar, sulphur, or tobacco ; and, in the dry months of December and January, to be more attentive to exercise in the open air, temperance in living, and the use of cooling laxatives. Persons just arriv ed in the country are particularly warned to be sparing in diet, refraining from salt meat, and freely using vegetables and acid fruits ; to drink also sparingly, using chiefly rum and water, wine and water, lemonade, &c. ; to take the cold bath every day, and avoid the heat of the sun as much as possible ; and to keep the body gently open by means of salts, cream of tartar, or similar cooling purgatives, of which a dose should be taken every week for two months, till the constitution becomes habituated to the climate.