AXIM, or Ascot, a country of Africa, situated on the Gold Coast, and extending about seven leagues from the river Serpentino to the village of Bosna. The French, who were for'some time masters of this country, were expelled in 1515 by the Portuguese, who protected themselves by a fort. Axim remain ed in their possession, and they engrossed all the commerce of the Gold Coast till the 9th February 1692, when the Dutch attacked them, and made themselves masters of district. Some time after wards the Prussians arrived, and allured from their allegiance to the Dutch about one half of the na tives. The fort belonging to the Dutch is called St Anthony, and that of the Prussians, Fredericksburg.
The soil of Axim is extremely fertile, and pro duces great quantities of rice, which the inhabitants export to the other kingdoms on the coast for palm oil, yams, and millet. Its other productions are fruits of all kinds, black cattle, sheep, goats, and fowls. The gold of Axim, which is reckoned the best on the Gold Coast, is a considerable object of commerce. The Dutch have used every exertion to exclude other nations from this valuable traffic ; and the ne groes find it difficult to deceive them, as the chief village Ahambenc, or Axim, is under the cannon of Fort St Anthony. The negroes, however, often
carry the gold which they collect in the rivers, and in the interior of the country,-to the English and Irish smuggling vessels, from whom they obtain ar ticles of European merchandize at a much cheaper rate than they do from the Dutch.
The inhabitants of Axim also carry on a traffic in ivory and slaves, and likewise in large canoes, which they sell to foreigners for the convenience of landing with facility on their rocky coast. Salt is manufac tured in considerable quantities by the female ne groes.
The government of Axim is entrusted to two classes of the natives ; the Caboceroes, or chief men, and the Muncaroes, or young men. The principles of equity and humanity guide them in the administra tion of justice, and in the management of their pub lic concerns ; but bribery and corruption often de feat the great ends of public justice. See Modern Univers. Hist. vol. xiii. p. 391. ( (4)