Year: 1873

wear their attire far moro gracefully than the
women draping their clothes over one shoulder and
letting them fall in natural folds. The women alter
the whole outline Of their figure by wearing hustle
as big as pillow. Upon this child is generally
perched and the cloth is worn tightly wrapped
round the figure, just leaving the child's head free
to dangle about on one side or the other. The men
wear their hair quite short the women dress theirs
in the most elaborate fashions some do it in one
spike sticking stffly up from the top of the head
some do 1t in two spikes some in four. Some divide
the whole of the head into regular shapes, giving it
the appearance of a skull prepared for phreno
logical lecture, but with little fanciful plat in the
center of each division. Altogether their ways OF
doing their hair are endless and the most accom-
pished Broadway hairdresscr would be surprised TO
see how much is to be made out of the slightest ma
terials for the most favored of these ladies cannot
boast OF length of har surprising eight inches
The dress OF men and women alike is square Of
colored calico of about six feet either way. The
prevailing color is blue, but some employ pink or
red and very many of the men wear white. They
either wear them twisted round their waists and
falling to theif nees or drs1S gracefully over one
sno2nder; the women wear them bound tightly
round their body, and sometimes, but very seldom
covering the shoulders.


CAPE COAST CASTLE.


The town Of Cape Coast is one of the most singu-
lar / ever saw. The natural mode of bnilding
houses in an extremely wet climate such rs this 49,
is with high roofs, throw off the water rapidly
Such was originally the style of architecture OF
Cape Coast Castle, il is of all other native towns
and villages upon the coast. great fire having
half century ago. swept away the neighboring
town of Elnina, the Cape Coast people were seized
with panic, pulled Oft all the old thatch roofs
h,,.1f At Of
zontaIly from side TO side of the walls The conse
quence is the place has exactly the appearance of an
Egyptian town. A system, however, which does
exceedingly well IN Egypt, where rain only falls
or twice year, is by means suitable fora
country where il rains inceSsanly for six months IN
the year. Last season happened to be an unusually
wet one down tunbled house after house, until at
least half the houses inhabited by tie natives
were in ruins, mere clay heaps with tho ends Of
broken poles projecting here and there. The town
was very much crowded at the time, owing to the
influx of Fantees driven in by the INVASION and
although in ninety-nine cases out of hundred the
dripping through of the rain the bulging inward of
the roofs and the cracking of the poles, gave sui-
cient warning of the coming catastrophe 10 allow
the inmates to escape in time yet il is known that
64 lives were lost. Owing 10 the number OF
strangers about whom no one made inquiries, and



owners. for shelter from the tremendous downpour,
it is believed that the real number of deaths greatly
exceeds this 1t is not only the roofs which have
fallen in The sides are built Of clay and mud, and
sometimes one side only, sometimes AL four, have
shared in the collapse Of the roof The present Is
not the time for even the most speculative OF
builders TO set TO work Labor is extremely scarce,
trade is absolutely at standstill and were il not
for the money which is being paid by the British TO
the fighting men and laborers the distress would be
very great The result is, the ruins remain inst as
they fell and the town presents the appearance OF
place which has suffered from a severe and pro-
lopged commandment. The Fantee is not brave, but
he il merry cheerful, and good tempered. He does
not ike work but he viii work fairly when paid
for it, ard is in every respect superior to the lazy
impndent negro of Sierra Leone. who considers that
he ia the white MANS equal in all things. his superior
in most, and that although he may, as matter of
favor take the white mans money, 1t is with the
fixed determination TO do as little of the white
mans work as possible. A good many OF these fel-
lows engaged themselves TO work down here, but
they would give anything now II they could return
They absolutely find themselves obliged to do some
work. not so much work, certainly, as would be
done by Fantee woman Of ordinary strength, but
still some sort of work. They are Obliged to be
w,
horror they find that if they insolent as well as
law that they are seized tied up, and get dozen
blows with stick The fact is they enlisted to
serve the Queen for six months, and are therefore
under the same law as soldiers and with an enemy
oply few miles of, and an amount of work to be
colnpleted which is bewildering 10 contemplate.


LAND OF DEATH.


Since the arrival of Sir Garnet Woseley, i'm
nense sanitary improvements have taken place
and although during the tropical rains 1t Will al
WAYS he unhealthy for Europeans, 1T is probable
that the mortality will never again approach the
terrible percentage which has hitherto distinguished
II The average life of a European here was less
than two years. Much of this was due to the In
berent defect of the climate but far 10 the alb
sence of all sanitary precautions. The primal diff
cutv of inducing the natives TO adhere to any san-
tary regulation great that this and'a1 other
precautionst appear to have been abandoned In de-
spair The springs and little streams are fouled
with every kind of animal and vegetable matter.
The wells are poisoned from the water percolating
through soil soaked with impurities. The dead
are an buried under the floors of the houses and add
their share to the general poison; and, lastly the
tanks in the earth from which the troops drew their
supply were as foul as fetd and poisonous as the
general supply Such condition of things would
generate fever in a week in any city In temperate
climate Can we wonder, then. that Cape Coast was
deadly 20 the white mani At present all the water
used for the troops filtered in the admirable tank


filters invented by Capt Cream and used IN the Brit
ish navy They are simple economical, impossible
to get out Of order and unbounded in their supply
I recommend them to the attention OF ship-owners
in the United States. 1t is to them that IL is due
that the health of the officers and men here at Pres
ent continues 80 much better than had been antic-
Ne
have been made and before the termination OF Sir
Garnet Woseley's rule, it is hoped that supply OF
pnre water sufficient for all the wants of the town
will be brought in bamboo troughs from the Sweet