Arriving in Coomassie, Bowdich and his party encountered an enormous crowd -- "upwards of 5000 people," most of whom were warriors. Amidst smoke, martial music, and a "confusion of flags," the military captains performed a dance. "The dress of the captains," Bowdich explained, "was a war cap, with gilded ram horns projecting in front, the sides extended beyond all proportion by immense plumes of eagles feathers, and fastened under the chin with bands of cowries. Their vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and saphies (scraps of Moorish writing, as charms against evil) in gold and silver; and embroidered cases of almost every colour, which flapped against their bodies as they moved, intermixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of animals, shells, and knives; long leopards tails hung down their backs, over a small bow covered with fetishes. They wore loose cotton trowsers, with immense boots of a dull red leather, coming half way up the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their cartouch or waist belt; these were also ornamented with bells, horses tails, strings of amulets, and innumerable shreds of leather; a small quiver of poisoned arrows hung from their right wrist, and they held a long iron chain between their teeth, with a scrap of Moorish writing affixed to the end of it. A small spear was in their left hands, covered with red cloth and silk tassels; their black countenances heightened the effect of this attire, and completed a figure scarcely human." (p. 32), Plate in T. Edward Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of Other Parts of the Interior of Africa (London: J. Murray, Albemarle-Street: printed by W. Pulmer and Co., Cleveland-Row, St. James's, 1819), p. 32., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
Date
Dec. 2, 1818
Location
Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Afri Bowd 12983.Q p 32, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2893
