_peso_?),
for a pennyworth. Larger values go by weight; the _aki_ (_ackie_),
[Footnote: The word _aki_ sounds much like the Arab _roukkah_ or
_roukkiyah_. Its weight, the 16th of an ounce, never varies; but the value
ranges from 4_s_. 6_d_. to 5_s_., according as the ounce is worth 3_l_.
12_s_. to 4_l_. 10_s_., the average being assumed at 4_l_. Other
proportions are:--
The _toku_ (carat-seed) = 5_d_.
The _benna_ = 2 _akis_.
The _periquen_, _pereguen_, or _peredroano_ = 32 _akis_, or two ounces in
weight; and ranging in value from 9_l_. to 10_l_. (Bowdich, p. 283). The
word is Ashanti, little used by the Fantis.
For a list of these complicated gold weights, of which Mr. Grant has
promised me a set, see Appendix B, _ A Dictionary of the Asante and Fante
Language_, Rev. Christaller, Basel, 1881.] or sixteenth of an ounce, being
the unit of value. The people may be persuaded to take an English
sovereign, but they spurn a French napoleon. Amongst the many desiderata
of the Coast is a law making all our silver coins legal tenders. At
present the natives will scarcely take anything but threepenny-bits, new
and bright and bearing H.B.M.'s 'counterfeit presentment.
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