Note 153 — Chapter XIX · LAND TENURE AND LABOUR IN WEST AFRICA

“According to native ideas there is no land without owners. What is now a forest or unused land will, as years go on, come under cultivation by the subjects of the Stool, or members of the village community, or other members of the family” (“Fanti Customary Law,” J. M. Sarbah). What holds good in the Gold Coast is equally applicable to the rivers and to Lagos, indeed throughout West Africa, wherever Negro culture is met with.