Note 85 — Chapter V

In Ahanta, at the Contoom or Harvest custom, each family erects its rude altar, composed of four sticks driven in the ground, and twigs laid across the top; the whole is then covered with fresh pulled leaves. A hog, a sheep, a goat, or a fowl is killed, according to the means of the family, and the most delicate parts laid on the altar, a mixture is made of eggs, palm oil, palm wine, the blood of the animal slain, and other ingredients, and also dedicated to the fetish, in small pots placed on the altar. In a few days these altars become so offensive as to render it disagreeable to pass them, but they are never removed.