NOTES 

c 

52.

The  righf  to  use the  few  emblems,  honours,  e t c .,  mentioned,

has been gathered  mostly  from  Chiefs  in  the  Ashanti-Akim  District
and must not  be  read as absolutely  accurate,  it  being  possible,  if
not  probable,  that  they  wished  to  agrandize  their  own  divisions.

EAST AFRICAN  STUDIES

During  the  Long Vacation  three  pupils  of  the  Institute  will

visit  Kenya  and Tanzania  to  carry  out  field  work  in  connection  with
their  M . A.  theses.  They  will  be  the  first  pupils  of  the  Institute  to
have  worked  ir» East  Africa.

Mr.  Charles  Darkwah  will  first  visit  Mombasa  to  collect  original
material  for  an account  of  J-he history  of  the  Mazrui  family,  who  ruled
Mombasa  as governors  appointed  by  Oman  from  1741  \o  1837.  Some
epitaphs  in  their  family  cemetery  were  published  by  Charles  Guillain
as  long  ago  as  1856,  but  it  is known 

that  his  collection  was  incomplete.

Mr.  G . O.  Ekemode  is writing  a history  of  the  Kilindi  Kingdom

of Vuga  in  Northern  Tanzania,  and  will  first  visit  Vuga  before
proceeding  to  Dar-es-Salaam  to  work  on  Gernan  material  in  the
university  library  there.  At  Vuga  he will  meet  the  hereditary  sultan
who  kesps  i  pack  of  hunting  dogs who  are  descended  from  the  pack
of  hunting  dogs founded  by  ihe  first  of  the  Kilindi  dynasty  in  the  early
eighteenth  century.

Mr.  G . A.  Akinola  will  be  doing  field  work  in  southern

Tanzania,  visiting  Kilwa  Kisiwani  and  Lindi  in  connection  with  a
history  of  French  trading  activities  in  this  area  in  the  eighteenth
century.  For  this  he  is also  using  a  hitherto  unknown  collection  of
French  documents  I discovered  in  the  French  National  Archives  last
year.

I  have  received  permission  from 

the  Vice-Chancellor  to
accept  the  invitation  of  Columbia  University,  New  York,  to be
Visiting  Professor  of  African  History 

for  the  fall  semester,  1965-66.

NOTES 

53.

I  shall  also  give  occasional  lectures  at  Indiana,  North-Western  and
other  United  States  universities. 
end of  January.  During  July  I shall  work  \n  the  Archives  of  the
Augustinian  Order  and  the  S.  Congregatio  de  Propaganda  Fide  in  Rome,
concerning  missionary  activity  on  the  eastern  African  coast  during  the
seventeenth  century.

I shall  not  return  to  Ghana  until  the

G.S.P.  Freeman-Grenville.

RESEARCH  ON  YAMS

This  Department  has recently  initiated  an extensive  programme

of  research  on yams  (Diosconsg spp).  The  programme  is devoted  primarily
to  a  study of  biochemical'problems  associated with  the  deterioration  of
yams during  storage.  This  involves  major  economic  problems  in  many
West  African  countries,  as the  total  storage  losses throughout  the yam
zone  of  West Africa  have  beon estimated at  almost  a million  tons per  year.

Other  aspects  of  the  use of  the  yams as food  crops are  also
receiving  attention,  however,  especially  the  processing  involved  in
their  preparation  as food.  These  investigations  may  be  of  relevance
in  connection  with  the  possibility  of  developing  industries  to  manufacture
edible  yam  products  within  Ghana.  At  present,  however,  these  studies
are  confined  to  the  traditional  West  African  processing  methods.

The yams,  like  many  other  crops used primarily  for  local  food,
were  much neglected  by  research  workers  during  the  Colonial  Era,  and
a  large,  and,  it  is hoped,  fruitful  field  for  research  lies open.  The yams
are  of  particular  interest  in  the  West  African  matrix,  as they  are among
the  very  few  major  food  crops  indigenous  to  the  area,  and  it  appears  likely
that  their  cultivation  originated  in  Ghana  or  in  neighbouring  parts  of
Africa.  The writer  has already  spent  some years on work  with  the yams
in  other  parts of  Africa,  which  experience  should be of  service  in  the
current  research  programme.

Department  of  Biochemistry,  Nutrition  &  Food  Science.

D . G.  Coursey