Decima Moore

(The Otago Witness [Otago, NZ] - 27th May, 1908)
DECIMA MOORE

An exceedingly interesting woman, as well as clever actress, is Miss Decima Moore, who is said to be contemplating West End management if a suitable theatre can be procured. Miss Moore is an ardent disciple of the open-air life. Golf, hunting, riding, driving - anything to be in the open air. When she was in Australia some time ago Miss Moore stayed in the bush with some friends, and had some splendid kangaroo-hunting. "It was ripping," she confessed to the writer. "And oh, the speed and excitement to see a mob of kangaroos - about 15 - bounding along, and with a 'whoo-oop' to pelt after them, dogs barking and wild parrots screaming. Yes, I think, if it were possible to obtain it in England, kangaroo hunting would be one of my hobbies. But it all comes back to the same thing, in sun or wind, on board ship or on land - just to be out in the air."

(The Mercury [Hobart, Tasmania] - 8th July, 1907)
STRANGE ADVENTURES IN WEST AFRICA - WHAT BEFELL AN ENGLISH ACTRESS

I think I can claim the honour of being the only white woman who has ever paid a flying visit to the West Coast of Africa and given a performance in Kumasi, the capital of that strange negro kingdom Ashanti, writes Miss Decima Moore, the popular actress, on her return to England recently.

This is my second trip to that little known part of the world. On my first visit I stayed in the country nearly seven months, but on my last journey I only remained there three weeks. I went to see my husband, Major F.G. Guggisburg, F.R.G.S., Royal Engineers, who is Director of Survey out there.

Everyone told me when they wished me good-bye that I should become a martyr to fever or be killed by the natives. But I have returned safely, having had nothing worse than a jigger in my foot and a bite by a native pony, who turned on me as I was offering him some sugar. He bit me in the ribs, but luckily did not do me much damage, as his teeth came in contact with a gold locket I was wearing inside my dress. I have been entertained by native kings and chiefs, received from them all manner of curious presents, descended gold mines, and spent weeks in the bush with my husband, with no one with us except our native servants and our black Decimars.

The first difficulty one encounters in visiting the West Coast of Africa is the landing. It is unpleasant and exciting. The liners cannot approach too close to the coast on account of the high swell and the breakers. You have to be let down into the native boats by means of a chair, and then paddled through the surf to the shore. In going through the surf you are liable to get a good wetting and the moment you are past this and ground the shore you are seized by a half-dressed native and Decimad on to the beach. I fancy I must have made a funny picture as I clung to a black man, with my arms clasped tightly round his neck, as he waded with me to the shore.

On the way up to Kumasi, which can now be reached by rail, we broke our journey several times. We first stopped at Tarkwa where I descended the famous Abontikoon gold mine. With the exception of the chief engineer and some white officials, it is worked entirely by the natives. On the steamer I came home by we had between Ł80,000 and Ł90,000 of gold from the Gold Coast mines. On the Offin River I inspected a gold dredger at work.

A Strange Gathering

At Kumasi we were the guests of the Resident at the famous fort. I occupied the same rooms as the Governor's wife used during the siege of 1900, when the rebels surrounded the town and a strong British force had to be sent up to relieve it. Opposite the fort is the "palaver tree" where the native kings and chiefs meet to discuss their grievances with the white officials. I was fortunate enough to witness one of these strange gatherings. It was attended by many native kings, each one being accommodated under his big State umbrella. It was a curious spectacle, and one I shall never forget. Some of the native chiefs wore strange garments and beautiful native-made cloths and gold ornaments. The head king, they tell me, is allowed the mystic number of 3,333 wives.

During the few days I was in the capital of this strange land I made great friends with a tame leopard living in the fort. He had been given to the Resident by a native king. He is now in London, at the Zoological Gardens. He is known by the name of "Tom," and would readily come to me if I called him.

While staying at the fort in Kumasi (of course, I was the only white woman in the place) we improvised a little entertainment after a dinner the Resident gave in our honour, to which most of the regiment stationed there - the West Africa Frontier Force - were invited. The Resident and I sang, and my husband and I played a little duologue written by my sister. When standing to drink the King's health it seemed odd to look down the long table and find myself the only woman. I was greatly taken with Kumasi. It is a very pretty place, with its wide roads, two-storeyed swish houses, and its picturesque Mohammedan quarter.

700 Miles in a Hammock

My stay in the capital of Ashanti was very brief. My husband had to leave to settle a part of the Ashanti and Gold Coast boundary, which meant many interesting palavers with the various kings. I was lucky enough to accompany him, and although it was exceedingly hot, which made travelling fatiguing, I quite enjoyed the experience. We had our own black cook and personal servants with us, and quite a retinue of hammock boys and Decimars, who looked after the instruments, tents, and our belongings. They Decimad me in a hammock on their heads over 700 miles.

At each stopping-place we were received in state by the kings and chiefs. I was the first white woman they had seen. They gave me all kinds of presents, and we often slept in their palaces, which were invariably mud huts. At one place we stayed at, Abotifi, in the Kwahu district, the natives used elephants skulls as seats outside their huts, and the king's horn that he showed me was hung with human jawbones.

At all places the women were most curious to see me, the first white mammie (as they call women here) that they had seen, and gave me many presents. I had to sit in state to receive them under a big umbrella, with my black boy beside me to interpret what they said. They asked many questions, nearly all of them wishing to know if the women in the big country over the sea where I came from were as white as myself, and were much struck with my fair hair. So many of the women came to see me that our native sergeant had to arrange for me to sit in state on the afternoons of certain days. When the men and women saw me helping my husband by taking the times from the chronometer while he was using the theodolite, they said I must be a good "ju-ju."

On the way home I visited Lagos, which was a revelation to me, with its electric light, motors, ice, punkahs, railway, ship-building yards, and busy factories. The Government House is a fine building, and the European residences good. The place is none the less a mixture of civilisation and savagery. You have motors and fine houses at one corner, and tom-toms and native huts at the other.

Decima Moore (1871-1964)

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