1. The Dutch raad can mean either ‘advice’ or ‘council’: “by my advice” should have been op mijn raad, whereas the Dutch text reads “met mijn Raad,” that is, ‘with my Council’. Bosman could—particularly in the absence of the Director-General, when he (Bosman) would be serving as President of the Council—refer to it as “his Council.”

2. In other words, extraordinarily small guns. The heavy guns of Elmina or Cape Coast Castle could fire balls up to thirty-six pounds.

3. It is not clear just which deadly disease Ado suffered from. If it was a venereal disease-as Bosman seems to suggest—it is not likely that he could have been operated on; perhaps his prostate was removed by the “Barber” or surgeon.

4. The buccaneer-gun was a long hunting gun originally used by the West Indian buccaneers for hunting wild bulls, whose meat they used to roast on a boucan or ‘grill’. It probably had a longer range than the ordinary carbines and flintlocks then in use.

5. Note the incorrect spelling in both the English and Dutch texts. “Crèvecoeur” literally means ‘heartbreak’, or that which takes away one's courage. The Dutch fort at Accra was named after a stronghold of the same name at 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), which was taken by the Stadhouder Frederik Hendrik in 1629, shortly after Piet Heyn's successful capture of the Spanish silver fleet in the West Indies. Part of the fleet's enormous booty was used for hiring soldiers, which the West India Company in turn sub-let to the Stadhouder. Some of these soldiers may later have served on the Guinea Coast.

6. The Dutch text reads “het groot Accrase Koningrijk,” that is, the kingdom centered around the ancient capital which the Europeans called Great Accra, which must have been in the area of modern Nsawam. In Dutch “the great Kingdom of Accra” would have been rendered het groote Koningrijk van Accra.

7. This strange spelling of the name Twifo is common in Dutch documents of the period, 't is a common abbreviation of the neutral particle het. “Juffer” means ‘young lady’ or ‘Miss’, yet ‘the young lady’ would be ‘de Juffer’.

8. Note that the English translator put the whole passage in the present tense, thus explaining the scarcity of gold at the windward forts by the end of the Komenda wars. This is inconsistent, however, with the later mention of poor gold receipts at Princes Town in 1694, while those wars were at their height. Bosman himself used an if clause: “if we live in peace with Komenda, the trade will no longer move to the West.” Earlier, he had explained the decline in gold receipts in that area to the Adorn wars.

9. The Dutch proverbial expression iets van St. Anna laten onderlopen means to allow a little cheating, to connive at something. St. Annaland was a small polder in Zealand which was repeatedly flooded, so that the land eventually became useless because of its salinity; finally the people connived to let parts of the polder be flooded by no longer taking care of the dykes.

10. The difference between the two texts here is significant, for the Dutch text did not exclude the Europeans on the coast from this admiration of the Denkyira ruler, whereas the English text certainly implied such an exclusion.

11. Here I have translated the Dutch word benadert ‘approached’ by ‘claimed’. It is not clear who this ‘good friend” might have been. Modern historians will readily share the chagrin Bosman expressed at the disappearance of these in this addition he made in the second edition of his book.

12. Sika ‘gold’ is an Akan word of Mande origin. Acanni Sica is not necessarily derived from ‘Akan’ but may be an independent expression derived directly from Mande meaning ‘good gold’: certainly Acani gold meant gold of superior quality on the coast at this time. It is significant that Bosman (like most of his Dutch contemporaries on the coast) used the term ‘Acanists’ instead of ‘Acaniërs’, which would have been the correct term to denote ‘the inhabitants of Acanny’. The suffix -ist denotes in Dutch (as it does in English) a profession or regular activity (e.g., piarusf, agriculturist, etc.). The Dutch originally regarded all those who brought akani sika–‘good gold’–to their trading posts as ‘Acanists’. By 1700, however, there definitely was a state in the interior which the Europeans called ‘Acanny’ or variants thereof. This state has generally been identified as Assin.

13. For more on “Kakeraas” see the gloss of p. 82 below.

14. A minor difference, but readers of the English text may get the false impression that Bosman thought that Aowin was on the coast.

15. Another Dutch idiomatic expression too literally translated in the English text: aan de man komen means ‘come forward’.

16. A ‘plastic’ description. Bosman probably meant that items made of gold dust tend to be less solid and more brittle to the touch.

17. A stuyver is one-twentieth of a guilder, or slightly more than a penny.

18. “Schey-const,” literally ‘separating art’. Even in modern Dutch, chemistry is still known as scheikunde.

19. Part of the powerful Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam originated from Brazil. During the Dutch occupation of northeast Brazil (1630-1654), the Jews there had enjoyed much greater religious freedom than they had under Portuguese rule; when the Portuguese recovered the area, Jews suffered increased persecution, both because of their religion and because they had collaborated with the Dutch. As a result, many of them emigrated to the Netherlands, while others settled on the Dutch, English, and French West Indian islands, where they introduced the sugar technology.

20. ‘Hoofd-plaats” can indeed be translated as “chief place,” but it normally stands for ‘capital’, “de Hoofd-plaats van” in the Dutch text shows clearly that Bosman regarded Elmina as the capital of the Gold Coast. “Our chief place on” would be onze hoofd plaats op.

21. Here is another passage which was obviously added to the second edition of 1708.

22. In the Dutch text, the Ryxdaalder (Imperial Dollar) unit is used in many of the examples: in this case 12 Ryxdaalders, because 12 times 2½ Guilders equals 30 Guilders, rather than 25.

23. Another literal translation in the English edition. The Dutch expression in de wandeling really means ‘popularly’ and not “in the walk[ing]”.

24. “Toehoorder” means ‘listener’, that is, the same as the term “auditor” originally did.

25. As is explicit from the text, this was another addition to the 1708 second edition.

26. In other words, Bosman—having resigned from the Council (and, for that matter, from the service of the Company)-considered that only then could he, without lying, call himself “etc.,” or the true and devoted friend of his correspondent.

27. In the Dutch text there is no reference to “the Natives” in this phrase.

28. In the original text: “een schrale Keuken,” i.e., ‘a meagre Kitchen’ (in the sense of cuisine).

29. That is, the Europeans (not the Negroes!).

30. Not a “decoction,” but rather a kind of parcel of leaves (sometimes boiled) is put on the wound. This practice is still much in use in Ghana and often quite effective.

31. By “Fruits” is probably meant aardvructen (i.e., fruits of the earth, like cassava or yam tubers). Indeed, the region of Axim is today known for its many tree-plantations, like oil-palm, coconut, rubber, and citrus.

32. Which shows that fort “Nassau” at that time still had pitched tile roofs. In the early eighteenth century most of the forts' roofs were converted into flat ones made of wooden boards covered with bricks and a layer of “tarrass” (a mixture of mortar and stone fragments). Although such roofs were cumbersome to construct and difficult to maintain, they were said to improve the defensibility of the buildings. Moreover, these buildings were often exposed to strong gusts of wind, in which tiles could easily be blown off.

33. Dr. T. Beer, a meteorological specialist of the Department of Physics, University of Ghana, was kind enough to make some further comments on Bosman's description of the climate of the Coast.

Concerning the variability of the seasons, he notes that although on a long-term average the coastal rainy season does start in early March, the timing and severity of the tropical climate is notoriously variable. There is evidence for both a biennial (twenty-four month) oscillation as well as a thirty-year cycle. Although Bosman's description of the humidity of Axim may be somewhat exaggerated, the average annual rainfall in that area is 208 cm, whereas those of Sekondi, Cape Coast and Accra are respectively 127 cm, 89 cm, and 70 cm.

Concerning the Travadoes mentioned on page 112, nowadays called “line squalls,” he remarks that they are a unique feature of West African meteorology, but are not yet fully explained.

Concerning the effects of lightning and thunder (page 113), he notes that the effects of a lightning strike are those of a very strong electrical current and would include fusing, burning, splintering, etc. Strong blasts of thunder are synchronous with lightning flashes, and it would seem more correct to attribute the phenomena mentioned by Bosman to lightning rather than to thunder. (Since the actual effects of lightning are not yet fully understood, however, one could not dismiss Bosman's narrative out of hand.)

Concerning the whitish aspect of the earth “as if it were with frost" after cold nights, this might be attributed to whitish Saharan dust carried by the Harmattan during the dry season. The extreme dryness of the atmosphere during such a period of Harmattan may also account for the drying up of ink (in a nearly empty ink-well), which may have looked as if it had “frozen.”

34. In the Dutch text: “Negers of Negros.” The common Dutch word for Negro is Neger, but in Bosman's time the expression Negro (in the Spanish or Portuguese pronunciation) may also have been in use on the Coast.

35. The English translator must have been confused here by a printing error in the Dutch text which must have survived in the second and later editions: the word “blyven” (‘remain’) should have been blyken ’show’.

36. This appellation is no longer in use in English-speaking West African countries, but in French such pieces of cloth are still known as pagnes.

37 Dier in old Dutch is indeed ‘dear’. “Diertje” could therefore be “little Darling”; but the noun dier means ‘animal’, and Diertje therefore also ‘little Animal’. Bosman must have been fully aware of (and probably intended) this ambiguity.

38. Bosman was a protestant and—quite in conformity with protestant attitudes of those days—did not let go by an opportunity to mock at the Pope.

39. In the Dutch text: “Greyn,” meaning West African pepper, in English also known as ‘grain’, like in ‘Grain Coast’, also known as the Malagueta Coast (Liberia). The Dutch word for grain in the sense of corn would be graan.

40. In the Dutch text the word translated here as “Officials” was indeed “Dienaars,” meaning normally ‘Servants’. Bosman, however, obviously used the term as short for Compagnies Dienaars ‘servants of the Company’, which was the term commonly used for Company officials. The word translated here as “Cases” was in the Dutch text “Kelders.” Kelder indeed means ‘cellar’ or ‘basement’, but also ‘case containing twelve bottles’, which is what is probably meant here.

41. “welke van weerkanten met Schilden bedekt zin” (lit. ‘who on both sides are covered by shields’) ; but schild could also be short for schildwacht ‘guardian’ or ‘guard[sman]’.

42. Note that the Dutch text states just the opposite: those of “Jummoré” (i.e., the Nzema) are able to understand those of “Egira, Abocroe, Ancober and Axim” (i.e., the Gwira and Evalue of the Ankobra basin). The English translator was perhaps confused by the Dutch idiomatic expression here: “können met die van … te regt raken,” meaning literally ‘are able to get straight with those of…’.

43. The idea which Bosman probably wanted to convey here is that some languages are quite similar, like those of the Brabanders (Flemish) and the people of Holland (northern Dutch), whereas others are as different as Dutch and English. That he used for the latter the expression “overseas” (over Zee) is probably to be understood in comparison with the language of the Brabanders, commonly called by those of Holland ‘those on the other side of the Rivers’ (over de Rivieren, i.e., south of the Rhine-Msuse delta).

44. “O.D.” in the Dutch text obviously stands for Olfert Dapper, as the English translator rightly assumed. His Naeukeurige Beschryvinghe der Africaensche Gewesten [Accurate Description of the African Regions], published in Amsterdam in 1668, is based on the writings of others, some never printed. His word-lists probably derive from de Marées', Pieter Beschryvinghe ende Historische Verhael van het Goutconinckryck van Guinea (1602)Google Scholar, which was not yet published at that time.

45. Bosman must have looked down on Dapper, whose book was the last to be published in Dutch on this subject, as an “uncertain Author” on whose work he intended to improve. Dapper, following de Marées and others, did mention “noblemen,” a translation of the Portuguese fidalgo. In fact, the Dutch continued to apply this Portuguese term even in the eighteenth century to chiefs along the Slave Coast: e.g., the “Fidalgo of Jaquin.”

46. It seems that Bosman is really referring here (as appears also from what follows) to the asafo companies, whose leadership is patrilinear (whereas most Akan chieftaincies are matrilinear).

47. The English translator suggests that in fact two oaths were taken, but this does not appear from the Dutch original. The Dutch claimed that the people of the Axim area were their “vassals by conquest,” as they had driven the Portuguese from Axim fort by force of arms, and shortly afterwards tracked some of them down in the forest. The Portuguese had exercised considerable influence (even jurisdiction) in the Axim hinterland, and the Dutch took that influence over from them. The idea behind this oath was that the Axim caboceers recognise their dual allegiance to both their own nations and Holland, which gave the WIC a kind of indirect rule in the area. Nowhere else along the Coast—not even at Elmina—did the Company exercise such authority, and Bosman's choice of Axim to illustrate this subject is therefore rather misleading. Perhaps Bosman wanted to give the impression that the situation at Axim was an ideal one, to be emulated elsewhere.

48. The English translator may have left out this passage for being irrelevant to English readers. In the eighteenth century it became quite fashionable to build comfortable countryseats with beautiful parks along such ‘waterways’ (vaarteri) as the Vecht and the Amstel, near Amsterdam.

49. These drums, called donno in Akan, were not really “invented” on the Coast as Bosman seems to suggest, but were probably introduced in his days from the North. When played, they are carried between the upper arm and the body, and their sound can be varied by the amount of pressure exercised by the arm. The rommelpotten or rumbling pots with which Bosman compares them were also double-membraned drums, but the sound was produced by moving a stick through holes in the middle of the membranes. I am grateful to Professor Nketia of the Institute of African Studies, Legon, for information supplied on this subject.

50. It is rather surprising that Bosman shows to have such a low opinion of mulattoes, having fathered at least one himself (whom, at least, he allowed to carry his name). Perhaps he was over-compensating for a guilty conscience or trying to avoid suspicion among his readers in Holland, especially the ladies, one of whom he may have intended to marry, as he stated earlier in this letter.