Anthony Fort, in northern
Axim, and on other parts of the seaboard.
Axim, the gate of this El Dorado, has not yet much reason to thank England
for ruling her. A mean economy annually hoards from 20,000_l_. to
30,000_l_, [Footnote: In 1878 the revenue was 105,091_l_. and the
expenditure 68,410_l_., and in other years the contrast was even greater.
The omniscient 'Whittaker' tells us that in 1879 the figures stood at
54,908_l_. income versus an outlay of 46,281_l_.; and there was no debt.]
forwarded to the colonial _caisse_, to be wasted upon 'little wars,' and
similar miseries, instead of being spent upon local improvements. The
unwholesome bush (the Dutch 'bosch') or wood, backed by the primaeval
forest, surges up to the very doors. The little plank-bridges are out of
repair, and the merchants will not supply the Government with new boards,
save for ready money; otherwise payment may be delayed for a year. The
highway to head-quarters, Cape Coast Castle, is a yellow thread streaking
the green, a hunter's path trodden in the jungle. For 16_s_. 6_d_. a
private messenger goes to and returns from the capital, a distance of
eighty-two miles, in four or five days.
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