Travels Of Richard And John Lander Into The Interior Of Africa For The Discovery Of The Course And Termination Of The Niger By Robert Huish
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The Portuguese In The Meantime Continued To Extend Their Discoveries
In Another Quarter, For In 1471, They Reached The Gold
Coast, when
dazzled by the importance and splendour of the commodity, the
commerce of which gave name to that region,
They built the fort of
Elmina or The Mine, making it the capital of their possessions on
that part of the continent. Pushing onward to Benin, they received a
curious account of an embassy said to be sent at the accession of
every new prince, to a court of a sovereign named Ogane, who was said
to reside seven or eight hundred miles in the interior. On the
introduction of the ambassadors, a silk curtain concealed the person
of his majesty from them, until the moment of their departure, when
the royal foot was graciously put forth from under the veil, and
reverence was done to it as a "holy thing." From this statement it
appears that the pope of Rome is not the only person, whose foot is
treated as a "holy thing;" there is not, however, any information
extant, that the Portuguese ambassadors kissed the great toe of the
African prince, and therefore the superiority of the pope in this
instance is at once decided. The statement, however, of the
Portuguese ambassadors excited greatly the curiosity of the court on
their return, and it was immediately surmised by them, that this
mysterious potentate was more likely to be Prester John, than any
person whom they had yet heard of.
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