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Archiver > CARIBBEAN > 2003-08 > 1060455026


From: "Richard Allicock" <>
Subject: Slave Immigrants from West Africa/British Guiana/Guyana/Berbice/Essequibo/Demerara
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 14:56:21 -0700


I am continuing my identification of the origins of the Africans who were taken to Dutch Colonies of Berbice, Essequibo and Demerara,(1600's to 1796, British Colonies thereafter) which altogether became British Guiana in 1831 and Guyana in 1966.

I am still using the work of Dalton/Hartsinck. In my Email of 20/07/03 D'Elmina was mentioned as a point of export. In the case of the last, Dalton points out, following Hartsinck, that the people who were sent from there included the Asiantyn, Hautaschi, Fantysche, Alguirasche/Acquirras, Wassaches, and Akinsche countries. He mentioned also that the Fantynes were called Annamboes, and among this nation were also found the Akinsche and the Ashantees. Dalton also mentiones the Abo and Papa, the Cormantyn and the Loango or Goango. Richard Bond was correct in pointing out that the names of the above tribes were the Dutch equivalents of the names, but I think transliterated from Portuguese who were first to West Africa.

I have already dealt with the Annamboes, the Papa or Papaws, the Cormantyns, and Loango and Goango (also mentioned by Tim Anderson in the case of Antigua, as a place in the Congo). I think instead however, as the names of tribes, these may have been the Gua/Huanga.

I did not deal with the Abo. This last group I think are of or from Abomey. We are told that the Aja (Ardras) living at Abomey mixed with the locals thus forming the Fou or Dahomey ethnic group. The Abo may thus have been also called Dahomeans. But we should note that the City of Abomey is now in Benin.

I can entertain the possibiity that Abo can also be Ibo (also spelt Igbo) from a spelling like Ebo/Eybo or Aybo, becoming Abo. If the Abo are really Ibo, the latter are in Equatorial Guinea, and Nigeria.

In a previous email, I had also pointed out that the Ardras/Aja of Little Ardra, Porto Novo (now in Benin on the coastal border with Nigeria) spoke Ewe. The Ewe are present in Togo, Benin and Ghana, and in the last probably because Ghana was formed from the Gold Coast and the Togoland Trust Territory. The Ardras/Aja/Adja are also found inTogo.

The other names mentioned by Dalton Asiantyn, Hautasche and Fantyn, are most likely the Ashanti, Hausa, and Fanti. The last Dalton points out were also called Annamboes. Could this be because they came from the Fort/Castle of Annaboe? This is now in Benin.

Dalton also mentions the Akinshe, which are most likely Akan.

We should note that Dalton also uses the word Ashantee as well as Asiantyn. I think that they are one and the same. My guess is that by the time he was writing, the English name Ashantee was common, but citing Hartsinck, he uses the Dutch equivalent.

Dalton also mentioned the Alquirasche/Acquirras and the Wassache. The last is most likely the Wasa, while I am yet unable to ascertain who the Alquirasche/ Acquirras were. Could these be the Awerri mentioned by John Barbot in one of his books? (Books mentioned in a previous email on the use of the name Ethiopia in regard to West Africa. Email of 24/07/03). The Alquirasche/Acquirra might well be the Awerri.

Many of these names mentioned by Hartsinck / Dalton look suspiciously like Portuguese (who were first to West Africa) transliterated to Dutch, so Alquirasche/Acquirras might indeed be the Awerri in the English of John Barbot's works.

According to Barbot, the Awerri were of the "kingdom of Ouwere or Oveiro, [which] lies along Rio Forcado, which falls into the ocean about eighteen leagues south south-east of Rio Fermosa or Benin river; the inhabitants were by the ancients called Derbici Aethiopes...In this chapter I shall speak of the kingdom of Ouwere or Forcado, and of the coast from cape Fermosa, where the Ethiopian gulph or bight of Guinea commences, to the river of new Calabar or Calbary.."

From this we can guess the probable location of Ouwere. The area described by Barbot now seems to be in Nigeria. It spans Benin of today, including Porto Novo, where the Gulf of Guinea begins to Calabar City, i.e., the coast of the whole of Nigeria. There is Benin City in Nigeria and South-East of it is the City of Warri. Could this be where the Alquirasche/Acquirras/Awerri came from?

See Map at: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshells/africa/nigeria/nigeria.htm

The Akan, Wasa, Gua/Huanga can still be found in present day Ghana.

The Akan are also found in the Cote D'Ivoire.

The Fou and Foin mentioned by Dalton may also be the Fon found in Benin as the majority (90%) of the population. Could these also be the Fang of Gabon?

Dalton/Hartsinck also mentioned the Nagas. Benin also is the home of the Nagos, which sounds suspiciously like the Nagas mentioned by Hartsinck/Dalton.

There are also Yorubas in Benin, which I indentitied in an earlier email as Ayois from Oyo a Yoruba city and the people of which were called Oyeos or Eyeos by the old writers.


Dalton / Hartsinck also mentioned the Kru. There are Krous in Cote D'Ivoire, and Kru in Liberia.

The Hausa also mentiond are in Niger and Nigeria.


Dalton/Hartsinck stated that the Ardras, also called Dongos from the cut marks on their bodies, and all slaves so marked, were called Dongos. But there are also the Dong in Nigeria (Adamawa State) and the Dungu (Kaduna State) and there are also the Dongotono in Southern Sudan.

The Tibou also mentioned by Dalton/Hartsick I have not been able to identify positively, but I wonder if they may not have been the speakers of Tem/Temou languages in Togo?


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