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² Smith, R. S., Kingdoms of the Yoruba (London, 1969), 124, and also 58–9.Google Scholar

³ Aderibigbe, A. A. B., ‘Peoples of Southern Nigeria’ in A Thousand Years of West African History, eds. Ajayi, J. F. Ade and Espie, I. (Ibadan Univ. Press, 1969 rev. ed.) 199;Google ScholarFlint, J. E., Nigeria and Ghana (Prentice-Hall, 1966), 81;Google ScholarRyder, A. F. C., Benin and the Europeans, 1485–1897 (Longmans, 1969), 49 and note. See note 9 below.Google Scholar

⁴ Ryder, , op. cit. 46.Google Scholar

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ Ryder, , op. cit. 43.Google Scholar

⁷ Ryder, A. F. C., ‘The Benin Mission’, Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria, 1, 2 (1960), 233, 234–5, 234 n. I;Google ScholarBoxer, C. R., Four Centuries of Portuguese Expansion, 1415–1825 (Johannesburg, 1961), 7–8.Google Scholar

⁸ Streider, J., ‘Negerkunst von Benin und Deutsches Metallexportgewerbe im 15 und 16 Jahrhundert’, Zeitschrift für Ethnologie. Heft 4'6 (Berlin, 1933), 259;Google ScholarCipolla, C. M., Guns, Sails and Empires (Minerva Press, 1965), 26, 31 and footnotes 2, 3 and 4, 32 and note 3 above.Google Scholar

⁹ Ryder, Google Scholar (1969), op. cit. 52. In the 1530s small quantities of firearms were smuggled into Benin from São Tomé. Ibid. 68.

¹⁰ Sundström, L., The Trade of Guinea (Lund, 1965), 55.Google Scholar

¹¹ Ryder, Google Scholar, op. cit. 52. D. Ruiters (1623) does not list firearms among the Dutch imports into Benin nor does he refer to them when describing the wars of that kingdom. Ruiters, D., Toortse der Zee-Vaert (1623); Uitgegeven door S. P. L'Honoré Naber ('S-Gravenhage, 1913), 76, 78–9.Google Scholar

¹² Barbot, J., A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea (London, 1746), 357–8, 365.Google Scholar

¹³ Ryder, , op. cit. 148–9, 150, 199. See note 18 below.Google Scholar

¹⁴ Cf. ‘The Second Voyage to Guinea set out by Sir G. Barne, Sir J. Yorke [et. al.] in the yeare 1554’ in R.Hakluyt, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation 8 vols (London and Toronto), IV, 52; Europeans in West Africa 1450–1560, Trans. and ed. Blake, J. W., 2 vols (London, 1942), 1, 45, 51;Google Scholar ‘Wm. Towerson's First Voyage to Guinea 1555–56’ in ibid. II, 385, and ‘The Second Voyage to Guinea and the River Sestos by Mr. Baker in 1563’ in Astley, J., A New and General Collection of Voyages and Travels, 4 vols (London, 1745–1747), 1, 182.Google Scholar Also Ratelband, K., ‘West-Afrika’. Overdruk uit Nederland in de Vijf Werelddeelen (Leiden, 1947), 253.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Bijlage, VIII, ‘Vertoog of Deductie, opgesteld voor de Staten-Generaal der Vereen. Nederlanden, door den Directeur-Generaal van de Nederlandsche Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea, J. Valckenburg … Anno 1656’ in de Jonge, J. K. J., De Oorsprong van Nederlands Bezittingen op de Kust van Guinea ('S-Gravenhage, 1871), 53, 57, 67.Google Scholar Cf.Ruiters, op. cit. 72, 73 and Herman, H., ‘Onze besittingen op de Kust van Guinea en de Krygsverrichtingen alḍaar, 1598 tot 1872’, Eerste Deel 1598 tot 1816. Aanwinsten no. xii, I (Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague) (Jaar, 1925), 223. I wish to thank Mr A. van Dantzig of the University of Ghana for drawing my attention to this work.Google Scholar

¹⁶ de Marees, P., Beschryvinghe ende Historische Verhael van het Gout Koninchrijck van Guinea anders de Gout-Custe de Mina genaemt liggende in het deel van Africa; Uitgegeven door S. P. L'Honoré Naber ('S-Gravenhage, 1912), 95–96.Google Scholar

¹⁷ ‘T Cargasoen ofte coopmanschappen, geladen in tboot, genaemt De Goede Hoop, nae de costen van Guinea’ and ‘Reeckeninge van A. Adriaensz tot Schiedam van Uytredinge met sün ladinge op Guinea’ in van Gelder, H. E., ‘Scheepsrekeningen van Enkele der Vroegste Guinea-Vaarten’, Economisch-Historisch Jaarboek, Tweede Deel, 'S-Gravenhage (1918), 246, 249.Google Scholar The ‘musketten’ were probably matchlock muskets, and the ‘roers’ snaphaunce muskets. The snaphaunce was a prototype of the later flintlock musket. See note 84 below. Sundström, , op. cit. 199Google Scholar states that in the late sixteenth century guns were exported from LiÈge via Antwerp to Africa, however both matchlock and snaphaunce muskets were made in the Netherlands at this time. See Hayward, J. F., The Art of the Gunmaker, 2 vols (London, 1962–1963), 35, 127, 134.Google Scholar

¹⁸ Van, Gelder, op. cit. 239.Google Scholar Also Unger, W. S., ‘Nieuwe gegens betreffende het begin der vaart op Guinea’, Economisch-Historisch Jaarboek. Een en Twintigste Deel ('S-Gravenhage, 1940).Google Scholar In 1598 two yachts (jachten) visited ‘a city which they say is as large as Antwerp, called Benayn (Benin)’, and it is possible that a small number of firearms were sold there at this time. ibid. 205.

¹⁹ De Marees, ibid. French vessels traded regularly on the Gold Coast in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, and it is possible that French traders were another source of firearms. ibid. 87, 88 and Reizen naar West-Afrika van Pieter van den Broecke 1605–1614 Uitgegeven door K. Ratelband ('S-Gravenhage, 1950), 23.

²⁰ De, Marees, op. cit. 49.Google Scholar

²¹ Thus in 1603 the personal weapons of a crew of eight on a Dutch ship of 40 to 50 last were four muskets, eight long and twelve short pikes; a crew of 25 aboard a ship of 140 to 200 last carried 16 muskets, two dozen long and three dozen short pikes. Herman, , op. cit., 15.Google Scholar

²² On Dutch-Portuguese enmity in the early seventeenth century see Bijlage II, ‘Vertoog of remonstrantie van de Bewindehebbers der verschillen-de Compagnien, handelende op de Kust van Guinea, aan de Staten-Generaal overgeleverd … 1609–1611’ in de Jonge, op. cit. 36 ff. and no. 96 ‘Carts de D. Cristovão de Melo a El-Rei (5–2–1607)’ in Brasio, A., Monumenta Missionaria Africana (Lisboa, 1955), vol. 5, 249–51.Google ScholarBarbot, , op. cit. 164, says that the Dutch supplied the Fetu and Kommenda with arms to encourage them to rise against the Portuguese.Google Scholar See also de, Marees, op. cit. 218–19, 226.Google Scholar

²³ N.A. 375, fol. 262, 28 May 1612 and N. A. 645 A, fols. 29–30, 28 July 1617; ‘Consideratien van Handelaars over het belang van den Handel op de Kust van Guinea (1608?)’; Kroniek van het Historisch Genootschap, Gevestigd te Utrecht, Zeven en Twintigste Jaargang. Zesde Serie, Tweede Deel (Utrecht, 1872), 262;Google ScholarRuiters, , op. cit. 72;Google ScholarBrun, S., Schiffarten (1624). Uitgegeven door S. P. L'Honoré Naber ('S.Gravenhage, 1913), 26, 28.Google Scholar

²⁴ Herman, , op. cit. 25–6, 63;Google ScholarRatelband, , op. cit. 260.Google Scholar See also OWIC 2, ‘Secrete Notulen van de Vergadering van XIX …’ (March?) 1632, and Beilage 6, ‘Accord en Verbond aangegaan tusschen den Ed. Heer Directeur-Generaal (en) Tekki Addico, Coning van Groot en Klijn Commany’ [4 Oct. 1704] in Doorman, J. G., ‘Die Nederländisch WestIndische Compagnie an der Gold-Küste’, Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde, Deel XL (Batavia and 'S-Hage, 1898), 487–9.Google Scholar

²⁵ Bran, , op. cit. 28–9. The Accra king paid each musketeer two Benda (c. £16).Google Scholar

²⁶ Brun, , op. cit. 63.Google Scholar

²⁷ ‘An Annotated Dutch Map of 1629’, GNQ, no. 9 (1966), i. Also Dapper, O., Description de l'Afrique (Amsterdam, 1686), 284Google Scholar

²⁸ OWIC II. De Guverneur opt Fort Nassaw, 3 Feb. 1634. The Portuguese were relatively well-supplied with firearms. In 1635 their arsenal at Sāo Jorge da Mina had inter alia 100 matchlock muskets and 100 arquebuses. See no. 81 ‘Carts a El-Rei sobre a Mina (10–3–1635)’ in Brasio, (1960), op. cit VIII, 319.Google Scholar

²⁹ OWIC 13. ‘;Register op de Contracten en Accorden van wegens de Edele Generaale WIC gemaakt met de Naturellen …’, entry for x8 July 1640.

³⁰ Vijf Dagregisters van Het Kasteel São Jorge da Mina (Elmina) aan de Goudkust (1645–1647). Uitgegeven door K. Ratelband ('S-Gravenhage, 1953), 361–83, 385–6, 388–93; ‘Journaal gehouden by my Louys Dammaert uitgevaren met ‘t Schip Prins Wilem …’, entry for 7 Jan. 1655. Aanwinsten, no. XXII (1898), Algemeen Rijksarchief, The Hague; N.A. 3589, fol. 363, 15 Sept. 1671. See also note 23 above.Google Scholar

³¹ Vijf Dagregisters … op. cit. 224, 226, 260.Google Scholar

³² Ibid. 224, 225, 226, 260, and also 174.

³³ OWIC 11. Reyndrich Caarlof, Fiscael, tot XIX, Casteel del Mina, 26 [Oct.?] 1647; ‘Journaal gehouden by my Louys Dammert…’, op. cit. entry for 12 Oct. 1652.

³⁴ Vijf Dagregisters… op. cit. 275Google Scholar

³⁵ Cf.ibid. 226.

³⁶ ‘Journaal gehouden by my Louys Dammaert…’ op. cit., entry for 9. Feb. 3654; Dapper, , op. cit. 302;Google ScholarDrvan Brakel, S., ‘Eene Memorie over den Handel der WIC omstreeks 1670’, Bijdragen en Mededeetingen van het Historische Genootschap, Vijf en Dertigste Deel (Amsterdam, 1914), 95.Google Scholar

³⁷ Vijf Dagregisters … op. cit. 68 and note 6, 93, 260.Google Scholar Daaku writes that ‘until some later period in the 17th Century, people from the states of Assin, Denkyira, Adanse and even Inta (Ashanti), … all came under the term Akani’ Daaku, K. Y., ‘Pre-Ashanti states’, GNQ, no. 9 (1966), 11.Google Scholar

³⁸ Vjjf Dagregisters … op. cit. 264.Google Scholar

³⁹ Ibid. 224, 261, 264. Dapper, op. cit. 289, says that the ‘Akany, used shields, lances and swords in war.

⁴⁰ Muller, W. J., Die Africanische auf der Guineisch Gold-Cust gelegene Landschafft Fetu (Graz, Austria, 1968), 60. The Abrambu paid an annual tribute to ‘Akany’. Vijf Dagregisters… op. cit. 264.Google Scholar

⁴¹ ‘Journaal gehouden by my Louys Dammaert…’ op. cit., entries for 20 and 21 Apr. 1653.

⁴² ‘Journaal gehouden by my Louys Dammaert …’ op. cit., entry for 2 Jan. 1654; ‘Rapport van den Generael Valckenburg gedoen in Sept. 1659’, Koninkijk Institut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkekunde Bibliotheek, Leiden; Bijiage VIII ‘Vertoog of Deductie …’ in de Jonge, op. cit. 57. There is no evidence that the Swedes sold guns on the Gold Coast in the 1650s. See Granlund, V., En Svensk Koloni i Afrika eller Svenska Afrikanska Kompaniets Historia (Stockholm, 1879), 128,Google Scholar and de Roever, N., ‘Twee Concurrenten van de Eerste West-Indische Compagnie’ Ou d-Holland—Zevende Jaargang (Amsterdam, 1889). Director-General Valkenburg refers to private Dutch traders on the Gold Coast, but he does not state whether or not they sold firearms. See ‘Rapport van Generael Valckenburg …’ op. cit.Google Scholar

⁴³ NBKG 81. ‘Dach Register’, entry for 6 June 1660; NBKG 228. ‘Cargasoen na de Kust van Guinea’, 9 Mar. 1663.

⁴⁴ See entries in T 70'309, passim, and T. 70'1221, passim. Also T 70'909, ‘Invoice of goods laden on board the Marmaduke (1662)’. The invoices also show that not all ships carried firearms at this time.

⁴⁵ De Reis van Michiel Adriaanszoon de Ruyter in 1664–1665. Uitgegeven door P. Verhoogen en L. Koelmans ('S-Gravenhage, 1961), 83, 245.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ ‘Inleiding’ in ibid. 80.

⁴⁷ Villault, de Bellefond, A Relation of the Coasts of Africk called Guinea (London, 1670), 254;Google ScholarMüller, , op. cit. 126–7, also pp. 134–5.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ Cf. Müller, op. cit. 127; Bosman, W., A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea (London, 1705), 186;Google ScholarOtto, Friedrich von der Gröben, Guineische Reisebeschreibung (Murjenwerder, 1694), 60, 61;Google ScholarRask, J., En Kort og Sandferdig Reisebeskrivelse til og fra Guinea (Trondhjem, 249–50Google Scholar and Larsen, K., De Danske i Guinea (København, 1938), 19.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ T 70'910. ‘Invoice of goods laden on board the Wm. Henery’, London, 15 11 1673; ‘Invoice of goods …’, London, 12 1674.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ T 70'20. ‘Inventory of goods remaining in the warehouse in Cape Coast Castle in Guinny belonging to the RAC of England taken the 12th day of January 1680’; T 70'1229. ‘Muskets’ in ‘Warehouse Book Kept at Cape Coast Castle from Feb. the 1st 1685 to Oct. 1689’.

⁵¹ T 70'20. N. Bradley, M. Hollis, A. Harbin, Cape Coast Castle, 28 Dec. 1678; Daaku, K. Y., ‘Trade and Politics on the Gold Coast: 1640–1720’ Ph.D. Thesis (Univ. of London, 1964), 349.Google Scholar

⁵² ‘Extracten uit Missiven aan de Kamer Amsterdam der OWIC van de Generaal Valkenburgh uit del Mina.’ Letter of 10 June 1658. (Koninlijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkekunde Bibliothek, Leiden); Müller, , op. cit., pp. 271, 273; Daaku (1966), op. cit. II, 12. The identification of Valkenburg's place-names is uncertain. Cf. also de Bellefond, op. cit. 278, 279, 281.Google Scholar

⁵³ Barbot, , op. cit. 189, 209, 211. Elsewhere, 186, he says that the Akwamu and Akyem bought firelocks and gunpowder from the Europeans. On Aowin see Bosman, , op. cit. 79, 186.Google Scholar For traditions on firearms in the pre-Asante states see Rattray, R. S., Ashanti Law and Constitution (Oxford, 1929), 148, 219,Google Scholar and Busia, K. A., The Position of the Chief in the Modern Political System of Ashanti (Oxford Univ. Press, 1951), 92.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Cf. de Marees, op. cit., 230–1; Ruiters, op. cit. 76; Viif Dagregisters … passim.

⁵⁵ N.A. 3589 fol. 363, 15 Sept. 1671; Drvan Brakel, S., ‘Bescheiden over den Slavehandel der WIC’, Economisch-Historisch Jaarboek. Vierde, Deel ('S-Gravenhage, 1918), 77–81.Google Scholar Also Dapper, , op. cit. 305–6.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ T 70'20. ‘[Invoice of] goods most in demand at. ye Royall Comps' Factory at Ophra in Arda’, T. Clark and H. Elliott, 17 Sept. 1678; from J. Mildmay, Ophra in Ardra, 13 Oct. 1680.

⁵⁷ Dapper, , op. cit. 306; T 70'20. From J. Mildmay, Ophra in Ardra, 13 Oct. 1680.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ ‘A Voyage to Ardrah and Travels to the Capital Assem in 1669 and 1670. By the Sieur d'Elbée sent by the French West India Company’ in Astley, , op. cit. III, 67, 70, 73.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ Ibid., 66, 70, 71.

⁶⁰ T 70'20. ‘Invoice of goods most in demand at Ardra factory this present January 15 1681’ and H. Greenhill, W. Stapleton, H. Spurway, J. Nightingale, Cape Coast Castle, 10 June 1681.

⁶¹ T 70'911. ‘Invoice of goods laden on board the ‘Bohemiah’ bound for Ardra for the purchasing of 330 Negroes’, London, 19 July 1682; ‘Invoice of goods laden on board the Alexander bound for Ardra to purchase 360 Negroes’, London, 26 Aug. 1682; ‘Invoice of goods laden on board the ‘Merchants Bonaventer’ bound for Ardra’, London, 23 Nov. 1682.

⁶² T 70'1223, ‘Pro 490 slaves to be purchased by Capt. P. Weybourn & Comp. at Ardra …’, (London), 22 Mar. 1687.

⁶³ Herissé, A. Le, L'Ancien Royaume du Dahomey (Paris, 1911), 60–1;Google Scholar M. J. and Herskovits, F. S., Dahomean Narrative (Northwestern Univ. Press, 1958), 362.Google Scholar

⁶⁴ On Ardra-Whydah firearms trade see T 70'919 passim, T 70'920 passim, and T 70'922 passim. Dutch and French gun imports would raise the number of firearms imported into Whydah to well over 2,000 per annum. On Whydah merchants see Barbot, , op. cit. 327Google Scholar and Tylleman, E., En liden Enfoldig Beretning om Det Landskab Guinea op dets Beskkafenhed langs ved Sø-kanten (Kiøbenhafn, 1697), 130. An early eighteenth-century reference states that ‘Whydah cloths [are] made at Lucamee where no white men ever were’. T 70'7. Baldwin, Mabyn and Barlow, Whydah, 9 Aug. 1723. ‘Lucamee’ may in fact be the same as Oyo.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ Bosman, , op. cit. 184Google Scholar. Cf. Ratelband (1947), op. cit. 264. The firearms trade, like the trade in other commodities, was very lucrative. Brandenburg merchants made a profit of 130–158 per cent on carbines and muskets; other goods: 160 per cent on iron bars, 223 per cent on cloth, 550 per cent on glass-beads and 191 per cent on spirits. Schück, R., Brandenburg-Preussens Kolonial-Politik (Leipzig, 1889), 331.Google Scholar In 1787 the prime cost of 200 flintlock muskets was £130, the Committee of Merchants Trading to Africa paid £200 for them, and they were sold on the Guinea Coast for £300. It may be noted that mortars, hand grenades and the like were not sold to local merchants. Occasionally cannon were sold or presented as gifts. See Bosman, , op. cit. 187 and Voyage du Chevalier des Marchais en Guinée, Isles Voisines et à Cayenne, fait en 1725, 1726 and 1727, 4 vols. (Paris, 1730), II, 47.Google ScholarMr, N.Voyages au Côtes de Guinée et en Amerique (Amsterdam, 1719), 45 note.Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Davies, K. G., The Royal African Company (London, 1957), 177, 356.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ The Dutch sent firearms not only to West Africa but to England, Denmark and various other European states, as well as to North Africa and Asia. Alm, A. J., ‘Handelsgevär’, Livrustkammeren, Journal of the Royal Armoury Stockholm, v, 1–2 (Stockholm, 1949–1951), 74;Google ScholarLenk, T., Flintlåset (Stockholm, 1939), 26–9;Google ScholarDavies, op. cit. 173;Google ScholarBlackmore, H. L., British Military Firearms 1650–1850 (London, 1961), 37, 38–9;Google ScholarMoller, Th., Gamle Danske Military Vàben (Copenhagen, 1963), 11;Google ScholarCipolla, , op. cit. 48–51Google Scholar. Cf. also Tylleman, op. cit. 150 and Barbot, op. cit. 273.

⁶⁸ WIC 54. De Vergaderinge der thiener aan den Directeur-Generaal Sweerts, N. op El Mina, Amsterdam, 9 10 1688.Google Scholar

⁶⁹ WIC 124. ‘Extract uyt bet Register der resolutien gehouden by den Heer Dir. Gen. en Raden over de Noort en Zuyt Cust van Africa ter s'gaderinge mt Castell St. George del Mina’ Jan. 1690; WIC 97. ‘Formulier en Petie van Koopmansz welke tot voort zetting van de Handel op de Gout Custe van Guinea dienstig…’ Casteel St. George d'Elmina, 15 Apr. 1700.

⁷⁰ WIC 98. ‘Generall Restant des Koopmansz dewelke moet en komente resteeren op de Kuste van Guinea op alle Comps fort en Logien en Scheepen dezen ultmo July 1704.’

⁷¹ WIC 98. ‘Extract der Coopmansz de welke door ordre van den Dir. Gen. W. de la Palma zyn vernegotieert in de maanden Juny & July 1704 in de logic tot Bercoe in Guinea.’ Barbot, op. cit. 273, stated that the French sold more muskets than the English and Dutch.

⁷² Westergaard, W., The Danish West Indies under Company Rule (New York, 1917), 151–2. Brandenburg trade seems to have been equally small.Google Scholar

⁷³ Nørregard, G.,‘ Varer til Guinea’ Handels- og Safarts Museet på Kronborg. (årbog, 1951), 61.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ Von Gröben, op. cit. 61; VVWIS II66.‘Copia van de Reeckeninge van Kosten, schaden, ende Interessen mitsgaders reparatie voor het gewelt geleden by de Churfurstelycke Brand. Afri. Comp. door die van de N.W.I.C. ende hare Gouverneur Generael Sweerts, op‘t fort del Mina.’

⁷⁵ Cf. T 70'To. From Agent N. Bradley, Cabo Corso Castle 29 05 1679; T 70'II. From Nurse, H. & Humfreyes, S., Cabo Corso Castle, 10. 1685; T 7016. From Phipps, J., Cape Coast Castle, 30 04 1716; Bosman, , op. cit., 5–6; Rask, op. cit. 78–9.Google Scholar

⁷⁶ VVWIS 929.‘In den Jare 1725 ter Kust van Guinea verovert der Enterloper de Witte Moor met de onder-genoemde Goederen geconfisquiert’ and‘In den Jare 1726 ter Kust van Guinea verovert der Enterloper der 3 Marries en met de zelve de ondergenoemde Koopmanschappen geconfisqueert'. See also the entries for Feb. and Aug.1728.

⁷⁷ T 70'5. SirDalby, Thomas, Cape Coast Castle, 30 09. 1708.Google Scholar

⁷⁸ See notes 83 and 85 below where references to invoices are given; also Dzn, J. Hudig, De Scheepvaart op West-Afrika en West-Indif in de Actiende eeuw (Amsterdam [1927]), 16.Google Scholar For the period 1846–1869 Szoon estimated that firearms and munitions constituted 9 per cent of the total Dutch trade to the Gold Coast. Szoon, H. M., De Afstand der Kust van Guinea aan England (Rotterdam, 1871), 4.Google Scholar

⁷⁹ T 70'125.‘At Committee of Goods…’ 20 Feb. 1682; T 70'126.‘At Committee of Goods.…’ 27 Mar. 1683. For descriptions of these arms and locks see Alm, , op. cit. Blackmore, op. cit. 20, 21, 26, 29–30, 32, 36, 49Google Scholar and Carmen, W. Y., A History of firearms (London, 1955).Google Scholar

⁸⁰ T 70'126.‘At Committee of Goods’ 20 Aug. 1684; T 70f II. From Greenhill, A., Master, W., Adams, T., Cape Coast Castle, 14 12. 1683; From the same 5 01. 1684; Davies, op. cit. 173 note 3.Google Scholar

⁸¹ T 70'51. To Buckeridge, N., Cooper, W. and Brom, T. from Hall, W., Dept. Governor,[et al], London, 9 06 1698.Google Scholar

⁸² Cf Tylleman. ibid.

⁸³ See e.g. the invoices in T 70'128 passim, T 70'129 passim, T 70'919 passim, T 70'920 passim, T 70'921 passim, and T 70'922 passlm.

⁸⁴ Carmen, op. cit. 101; Hayward, op. cit. 1, 134; Blackmore, op. cit. 32, 61; T 70'229, ‘Committee of Goods', 6 Feb. I700; T 70'26, Sir Dalby Thomas [Cape Coast Castle], 31 Aug. 1708.Carmen , ibid. states that the snaphaunce is the same as the flintlock ‘except for a slight rearrangement of the parts already in use, with the addition of the “frizzen” or battery. It is a point of manufacturing rather than invention.’

⁸⁵ See references in note 83 above and also the invoices in T 70'923 passim, T 70'924 passim, T 70'925 passim, T 70'1231 passim and T 70'1466 passim. For descriptions of these guns and locks see Alm, , op. cit. 87–8, 90, Lenk, op. cit. 27, 28, Blackmore, op. cit. 9, 3. Carmen, op. cit. 102, says that seventeenth century European flintlocks carried 14 lead bullets (balls) to the pound. The prices of the ordinary trade guns varied over the decades. The cheapest was the trading gun at 6s. 6d. (in the 1720S it cost us, to 12S. 6d.) while the blunderbuss was the dearest at 26s. 8d.Google Scholar

⁸⁶ WIC 484 passim; WIC 485 passim; WIC 97,‘Formulier en Petitie van Koopmansz welke tot voort zetting van de Handel op de Gout Custe van Guinea.…’ Casteel St. Geo d'Elmina, 15 Apr. 1700; WIC 1024,‘Reek. der Handelde als Resterende Coopmanschappe en de welke door andre van de Bewint hebbers der Geoctroyeerde WIC.…’ 13 Oct. 1691, and ‘Generaale Reekening alsmede bewys der resterende Coopmanschappen…zedert ulto Oct. 1690 tot den laasten Nov. 1691 ten comptoire van Offra Ardra.…’; Wisse, A., De Commercie-Compagnie te MiddeThurg ban hoar Oprichting tot het Jaar 1754 (Utrecht, 7933), 56, 57–8.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ T 70'6. Johnson, Mr to Capt. Wheeler, R. of ye Experiment, Cape Coast Castle, 5 04 1718.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Tylleman , ibid.

⁸⁹ N/rregåhd, , op. cit. 61–2 and note 5.Google Scholar

⁹⁰ T 70'26. Sir Dalby, Thomas [;Cape Coast Castle], 2 08. 1708.Google Scholar

⁹¹ T 70'22.‘Remarks’ by Sir Dalby, Thomas in‘Warehouse Keepers ACCO. for the month of May, Cape Coast Castle, 1707’ ‘Remarks on the Scheme of Trade’ in‘Cape Coast Castle Warehouse Keeper Accot. for the month of Feb. 1708’, Wm. Hicks.Google Scholar

⁹² Marchais, , op. cit. at, 243, 278.Google Scholar

⁹³ T 70'22.‘An Account of goods disposed of for Gold, Elephant Teeth, Slaves, etc. with the months charge at Cape Coast Castle and Out factories for the month of Sept. 1709.’

⁹⁴ T 70'22. Sir Dalby, Thomas, Cape Coast Castle, 12 09. 1709. Muskets with bayonets were never extensively used by soldiers of the Gold and Slave Coast states. The Dahomey king Ghezo seems to have thought highly of flintlock muskets with bayonets. FO 84'886.‘Facts relating to my second visit to Abomey’ (L. Fraser, H.M. Vice Consul for the Kingdom of Dahomey), entry for 16 Aug. 1851.Google Scholar

⁹⁵ Romer, L. F., Tilforladelig Efterretning om Kysten Guinea (Kiobenhavn, 1760), 213–14. Romer states that the Danish musket came originally from Zelle (Celle) in Hanover. In the 1780s the Danes obtained their firearms for the Gold and Slave Coast trade at Suhl, but in the early nineteenth century these weapons came from near Hamburg.‘Fractura over et Skibs Kargo of 130 Kommerz Laester for Missionen i Guinea’, Archiv for Statistik, Politik og Huusholdnings Videnskaber. Udgivet af Prof.Google ScholarThaarup, F.. Tredie Bind (Kj/benhavn, 1797–1798), 251;Google ScholarMonrad, H. C., Bidrag till en Skildring af GuineaKysten og dens Indbyggere, og til en Beskrivelse over de Danske Colonier paa denne Kyst (Kj/benhavn, 1822), 284–5.Google Scholar

⁹⁶ T 70'926 passim; T 70'927 passim; T 70'928 passim; T 70'929 passim; T 70'930 passim; T 707sol;974 passim.

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¹¹³ Cf . T 70'22 passim.

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¹¹⁸ T 70'20.‘Goods remaining in Cape Coast Castle… belonging to the RAC of England’, 52 Aug. 1679.

¹¹⁹ T 70'528.‘Committe of Goods’, 18 July 1695; T 70'54, Sir Dalby, Thomas, Cape Coast Castle, 16 11. 1704; WIC 97.Google ScholarWilhelm de la Palma [Elmina Castle], 26 06 1707.Google Scholar

¹²⁰ T 70'22. SirThomas, Dalby, Cape Coast Castle, 28 04 1709.Google Scholar

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¹²³ T 70'1158. Williams, Fort, Whydah, , Daybook, , entry for 30 06 1758.Google Scholar For other references to faulty firearms see Alm, , op. cit. 75–6;Google ScholarBerbain, , op cit. 85;Google ScholarSchnappers, , op. Cit. p. 116Google Scholar and notes 5 and 6, and Smith, B. M. D.,‘The Galtons of Birmingham: Quaker Gun Merchants and Bankers, 1702–1831’, Business History, IX. nos. 1 and 2 (1967), 135 and note 2, 138–9.Google Scholar

¹²⁴ T 70'22 passim. Referring to the stocks of firearms, Melvill wrote that a ‘glued stock will never do in that hot moist air’. T 70'1694. Melvill, T., ‘Cape Coast Castle’, 17 03. 1755. Blunderbusses, musketoons,‘fine guns’, pistols, Buccaneer guns and the like appear to have been of better quality than the ordinary trade muskets (‘fuzee’, Dane gun, etc.).Google Scholar

¹²⁵ T 70'20. Lamber, R., factor on the‘Chineas’ (1678)Google Scholar; Tylleman , ibid.; T 70'22. SirThomas, Dalby, Cape Coast Castle 16 04. 1709; the same, 8 05 1709.Google Scholar

¹²⁶ T 70'927.‘Invoice of the cost and charge of Goods shipped by the Committee of the Company of Merchants Trading to Africa… and consigned to the Governor and Council of Cape Coast Castle…’, London, I Jan. 1759;‘Invoice of the cost and charge of Goods [etc.]’, London, i Mar. 1760; T 70'930.‘A List ordered by the Committee to be annexed to the present cargo of the Prince…’, African Office, London, 28 Apr. 1795. The latter also refers to‘fine Tower proof gunpowder‘. For a discussion of different kinds of gunpowder see White, G.,‘Firearms in Africa: an introduction’, in this number of J. Afr. Hist., pp. 173–84.Google Scholar

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¹²⁹ Schnapper, ibid., note 2.

¹³⁰ Ibid. 117 note 2.

¹³¹ White, ibid.Marchais, , op. cit. 11, 278, remarks that the gunpowder used at Ardra in the early eighteenth century was inferior to European gunpowder which (presumably because of its higher saltpetre content) tended to burst the barrels of Ardra firearms.Google Scholar

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¹³³ T 70'22. ‘Remarks on the Scheme of Trade’ in ‘Cape Coast Castle Warehouse Keeper Anot. for the month of Feb. 1708’.

¹³⁴ Monrad, , op. cit. 288–9. Gunpowder was sold in barrels ranging from 10 to 100 lb. weight. The English sold gunpowder barrels in three sizes: 100 lb. (whole), 50 lb. (half) and 25 lb. (quarter). Powder was also sold in kegs and bags.Google Scholar

¹³⁵ Loyer, R. PÈre Godefroy, Relation du Voyage du Royaume D'Issyny, Côte d'Or, Païs de Guinée en Afrique (Paris, 1714), 259. He adds that the Assini kept their muskets as bright as silver.Google Scholar

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¹³⁷ CO 879'4. Affairs of the Gold Coast, 1872 and 1873. Enclosure in No. 129. To the Administrator in Chief from D. P. Chalmers, Chief Magistrate, Cape Coast Castle, 13 July 1872. On Ewe and Dahomey blacksmiths see Klose, , op. cit. 174–5, 262,Google Scholar and Commandant, Grandin, Le Dahomey a l'Assaut du Pays des Noirs. 2 vols. (Paris, 1895), 1, 125.Google Scholar

¹³⁸ ‘Rapport du Commandant Audçoud sur Ia mission d'Abomey (1891)’.‘L’Histoire Dahoméenne de la fin du XIX^e siÈcle à travers les Textes’, Etudes Dahoméennes, IX (1953), 118.Google Scholar Goody states that Africans did not manufacture guns because they lacked the requisite level of craft skill in iron-working, Goody, J., ‘Economy and Feudalism in Africa’. The Economic History Review, and Series. XXII. no. 3. (12. 1969), 398. However, cf. White, op. cit. i.Google Scholar

¹³⁹ D'Albéca, , op. cit. 228;Google ScholarSchelaumer, F., Souvenirs de la Campagne du Dahomey (Paris, n.d.), 232. Kana was in fact a manufacturing centre with ‘numerous blacksmiths’ forges’. See B. Cruickshank, ‘Letters from the Gold Coast and Slave Coast with an Account of a Mission to the King of Dahomey’ ‘Gold Coast Papers, 1848’, 52a (in SOAS library).Google Scholar

¹⁴⁰ D'Albéca, ibid.

¹⁴¹ FO 84'886. ‘Facts Relating to my Second Visit to Abomey’, op. cit., entries for 21 and 22 August 1851. White, , op. cit. 174, states that sulphur need not be used in the preparation of gunpowder, ‘but to omit it reduces the force of the musket charge by about half’.Google Scholar

¹⁴² Kyerematen, A. A. Y., Panoply of Ghana (Longmans, 1964), 39;Google Scholar according to a nineteenth-century report, Asante firearms were said to be of diverse form and quality. Plauchut, E., ‘La Guerre des Achantis’, Revue des Deux Mondes, XLIII^e Année, Seconde Période, Tome Cent HuitiÈme (Paris, 1873), 856.Google Scholar

¹⁴³ Rask's early nineteenth-century compilation of Gā words and phrases included the term ‘Bøssemager’ (gunsmith). Rask, R., Vejiedning til Akra-sproget paa Kysten Guinea med et Tillaeg om Akuambuisk, Kjøbenhavn, 1828).Google Scholar On the manufacture of firearms in Benin and the Yoruba states see Talbot, P. A., The Peoples of Southern Nigeria, 3 vols (Oxford Univ. Press, 1926), 111, 825,Google ScholarAjayi, J. F. Ade and Smith, R. S., Yoruba Warfare in the 19th Century (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1964), 18 note i;Google ScholarOjo, G. F. A., Yoruba Culture (Univ. of London Press, 1966), 42–3;Google ScholarSmith, R., ‘Yoruba Armament’, Journal of African History, VIII, I (1967), 101 note 42;Google Scholar Fawckner quoted in Ling, Roth, op. cit. 125.Google Scholar

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¹⁴⁷ ibid. 37; Capt., H. J. Biss, The Relief of Kumasi (London, 1901), 142.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁸ Laffitte, M. L'Abbé, Le Dahomé. Souvenirs de Voyage et de Mission (Tours, 1880 5th ed.), 106.Google Scholar In the nineteenth century the government provided each soldier with arms and animunition. Skertchly, J. A., Dahomey as it is (London, 1874), 447.Google Scholar

¹⁴⁹ Firearms were used in hunting and in protecting crops from wild animals. See, e.g., Müller, , op. cit. 242–3,Google ScholarBarbot, , op. cit. 207, 209, 218,Google ScholarRask, , op. cit. 237,Google Scholar and Monrad, , op. cit. 124–25, 147. They were also employed during festive and commemorative occasions. J. Swanzy stated in 1816 that not one barrel of gunpowder in a 1,000 was consumed on the Gold Coast for war, but gunpowder was ‘almost wholly expended in amusement and funeral Customs’. British Parliamentary Papers. Reports from Select Committees.…on the State of the Settlements and Forts on the Coast of Africa (1801–1817). Colonies Africa I. (Shannon, Ireland, 1968), 29–30.Google ScholarCruickshank, , op. cit. 84 a, estimated that 1,500 to 2,000 lbs. of gunpowder were expended during his visit to Abomey during various ceremonies, ‘and at all seasons this saluting is going on’.Google Scholar

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¹⁵⁹ Bosman, , 182 and 184;Google Scholar see also Bellefond, , op. cit. 254;Google ScholarBarbot, , op. cit. 295.Google Scholar

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¹⁶³ Bellefond, , op. cit. 259–60;Google ScholarMüller, , op. cit. 537; ‘Phillip's Voyage to Guinea, 1693’, op. cit. 410.Google Scholar

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¹⁶⁵ Ibid. 60.

¹⁶⁶ See 22 above.

¹⁶⁷ Bosman, , op. cit. 27, 184.Google Scholar A Brandenburg official, Niemann, wrote in 1684 that ‘Sie sind ganz sicher im Schiessen und rasch im Gewehrladen…’. Quoted in Schück, , op. cit. 328.Google Scholar

¹⁶⁸ De, Marée, op. cit. II, 264–5.Google Scholar The Asante employed the countermarch, i.e. firing by successive ranks, and they made use of loaders. Biss, , op. cit. 59;Google ScholarMajor, F. Myatt, The Golden Stool. An Account of the Ashanti War of 1900 (London, 1966), 89.Google Scholar

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¹⁷⁵ NBKG 299. ‘Verklaring der Koningen, Terre Grandes en Vaandrigs uyt de Seeven Qvartieren van Elmina aangaande't op trekken naar Axim’ 2 Oct. 1763 (no. 74).

¹⁷⁶ T 70'1695. ‘Names of those that took the oath etc. at Cape Coast Castle, Feb. 6, 1753, and signed the recognition’; T 70'989. Annamaboe Fort (Day Book)…. Accounts for the Months of Nov. and Dec. 7770, entry for 25 Dec. 1770.

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¹⁷⁹ For Whydah see Marchais, , op. cit. 11, 47, 62, 194, 195, 196, 268; for Dahomey see note 149 above and [Pruneau de Pommegorge], op. cit. 167, 174–5, 181.Google Scholar

¹⁸⁰ Tylleman, , op. cit. 129;Google ScholarBosman, , op. cit. 396;Google ScholarMr N., op. cit. 43;Google ScholarMarchais, , op. cit. II, 238, 240, 243–4, 245.Google Scholar Cf. also Atkins, J., A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West Indies (London, 1737 znd. ed.), 111.Google ScholarBosman, , op. cit. 395–6Google Scholar and Tylleman, , op. cit. 129–30, state that Whydah obtained many of its musketeers from Akwamu.Google Scholar

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¹⁸² Marchais, ibid. 235. Bosman, , op. cit. 347, refers to a Whydah official who had 2,000 lb. of gunpowder in his house, presumably for distribution to his soldiers.Google Scholar

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¹⁸⁴ Marchais, ibid. 15; T 70'54, From Wm. Bailie, Williams Fort, to Cape Coast Castle, 10 May 1720. Cf.Rask, op. cit. 207–8.

¹⁸⁵ Marchais, , op. cit. II, 237.Google Scholar Cf. Mr N., op. cit. 45. The latter, 46, states that couriers attached to the Whydah army rode on horses.Google Scholar

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¹⁸⁷ [Pruneau de Pommegorge], op. cit. 225–6.Google Scholar The latter describes a Popo army of 1763, but his description is applicable to the Whydah army of the early eighteenth century. Cf. Mr N., op. cit. 46–7.

¹⁸⁸ Marchais, , op. cit. II, 238.Google Scholar

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¹⁹² D'Albéca, , op. cit. 216–17.Google Scholar There was ammunition for all of these arms. See ibid. 44 note 1, 215–18 and Brunet, et Giethen, op. cit. 140. See also p. 206 above.Google Scholar

¹⁹³ I wish to thank the Central Research Fund, University of London, for providing me with a grant to enable me to carry out research in the Netherlands. I am also grateful to Dr Hart of the Gemeente Archief, Amsterdam, for his invaluable assistance.