At Apatim, the name of the district as well as the village, we were
civilly received by the chief, Kwabina Sensense. He is also lessor of the
unfortunate Akankon concession, and his right to sell or to let either of
them has been seriously disputed. This practice, again, may lead, unless
checked, to serious difficulties. When the local government shall have
established a regular department and a staff of Gold-commissioners, every
owner should be compelled legally to prove his title to the land. West
Africans know nothing of yards and fathoms; they have hardly any words to
express north or south. [Footnote: The four points are taken from the
buried body, the feet being to the east and the head lying west.]
Consequently they will sell, either wittingly or in their ignorance of
dimension and direction, the same ground, or parts of it, to two or three
purchasers. Indeed, they would like nothing better, and consequently
'jumpers' must be expected.
Sensense is a dark man, apparently on the wrong side of fifty. His grizzly
beard, grown comparatively long, his closely-trimmed mustachios, and his
head-cloth, worn like a turban, made me take him at first sight for a
Moslem.
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