In 1842 the first
stragglers who had crossed the Sierra del Crystal are said to
have been seen upon the head waters of the Gaboon. I cannot,
however, but suspect that they are the "Paamways" of whom Bowdich
("Sketch of Gaboon," p. 429) wrote in the beginning of the
century, "All the natives on this route are said to be cannibals,
the Paamways not so voraciously as the others, because they
cultivate a large breed of dogs for their eating." Mr. W. Winwood
Reade suspects them to be an offshoot of the great Fulah race,
and there is nothing in point of dialect to disprove what we must
at present consider a pure conjecture. "The Fulah pronouns have
striking analogies with those of the Yoruba, Accra, Ashantee, and
Timmanee, and even of the great Kaffir class of dialects, which
reaches from the equator to the Cape," wrote the late learned E.
Norris, in his "Introduction to the Grammar of the Fulah
Language" (London: Harrison, 1854).
According to the people of the upper river the Fan were expelled
by the Bati or Batti--not "Bari" as it has been written-from
their ancient seats; and they are still pushing them seawards.
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