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A STREET IS OLD COO\IASSlf.
From a pt'n ....1 .nd ink dra\\i.ru! by LaLls lull r.
I
A VANISHED DYNASTY
ASHANTI
BY SIR FRANCIS FULLER
K.B.E., C.M.G.
LATE CHIEF' COMMISSIONER of' " SHANT!
WITH lLLIJSTRATIONS AND MAP
• i.' '-
LONDON
JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE S1 "" -"1, W, I
•
•
TO ALL THOSE OF MY COLLEAGUES WHO
SO LOYALLY AND ABLY ASSISTED ME TO
CONVERT A SULLEN AND SUSPICIOUS
RACE, STILL SMARTING FROM DEFEAT,
INTO A CONTENTED AND PROSPEROUS
PEOPLE. I GRATEFULLY DEDlCATE THIS
BOOK.
F. C. FULLER.
LONDON.
I n r ;l2N D, 1920
INTRODUCTION
THIS book claims to be only a brief, concise, and con-
secutive narrative of the traditional history of Ashanti,
blended with known facts.
With regard to the latter, the book is but a compila-
tion of excerpts from the records of former authors . I
know of no work, however, that deals exclusively with
Ashanti, and it has been my endeavour to reproduce
these facts in a convenient and epitomized form .
Another aim of these pages is to save the more im-
portant historical traditions of the country from inevit-
able oblivion.
The unborn generations of Ashantis will indubitably
suffer from impaired memories consequent on the
spread of education.
A lack of reverence for and love of past deeds is
already noticeable among the school-children of the
present day, and unless the ancient national traditions
are to be entirely lost, they should be set forth in print.
These reasons ",ust serve as an excuse for the pre-
sent publication.
Criticisms of past events have been purposely
avoided, for I hold the opinion that no useful purpose
would now be served by reopening controversy on
irreparable acts.
The "manners and customs" of the Ashantis have
received scant attention in these pages, as tbe wealth of
the subject-matter demands separate treatment. t
VII
•••
VIll INTRODUCTION
trust it will shortly receive this from a more competent
pen than mine.
For those who wish to dip deeper into the past history
of this bourgeoning blossom of Empire, I commend the
works of the following authors, named in chronological
order of publication: Bosman, Barbot, Astley, Mere-
dith, Bowditch, Hutton, Dupuis, Cruikshank,
Ricketts, Winwood Reade , Brackenbury, Freeman,
Armitage and Montanaro, Lady Hodgson, and, above
all, Claridge's monumental "History of the Gold
Coast and Ashanti."
My special thanks are due to Chiefs K wamin
Frimpon and Akwessi Inuama and Mr. J. S. Erbynn
for the enthusiastic assistance they gave me in my
endeavour to compile the national traditions of the
country.
F. C FULLER.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGa
I. EARLY DAYS OF THE ASHANTI CONFEDERATION I
II. FOUNDING OF THE DYNASTY-OSEI TUTU, 1695-1731 8
III. QPOKU WARE, KWtSSt OBODUM, QSEI KOJO, AND 05EI
KWAMINA, 1731-1799 2S
IV. 05El BONSU, 1800-1824 38
V. 05E1 VAO AKOTO, 1824-1838 - -
VI. KWEKU DUA r'J 1838-1867 - -
VII. KOFI KARl KARl, 1867-1873 100
VIII. THE FALL OF COOMASSIE, 1874 '32
•
IX. MENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II" 1874.,883 '47
X, KWERU DUA IJI. (PEREMPEL 1888-1896 164
XI_ IHE LAST RI~ING, 1896-J90I ISS
XII, DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY UNDER BRITISH
RULE, 1903-1920 2'4
I~DEX - 230
IX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A STREET IN OLD COOMASSIE frollfispitrt
THE FORT, COOMASSIE • '0
CHIEF KWAMIN FRIMPON ADENTIN HEr\E 40
AN ASHANTI VILI....\GE 60
... SINA NIP.\NK.I", SISTER or AKWF.:S:'iI INUM.IA 80
ASHANT! CHIEF .\ND RETINUE roo
CHIEF AKWESSI INUAMA, HEt\D LINGlTIST (20
INTERIOR COURTYARD OF J\N ASHANTI HOUSE
STATE SWORD, ASHANTJ STOOL, AND BRONZE WEIGHTS TO
WEIGH GOLD DUST 160
AMMA ACHINVA, DAUGHTER OF EX-KING PERltMPE 180
A VI1.LAGE SCENE, SHOWING COCOA-l)R YINC PLA. TFORMS :200
~MEETING OF CHIEFS .:218
VIEW OF MODERN COOMASSIE 218
MAP
THE GOLD COAST AND ASHANTI at tJtd
•
X>
A VANISHED DYNASTY
CHAPTER I
EARLY DAYS OF THE ASHANTI
CONFEDERATION
THE origin of the ASHANTlS, like that of all the AKAN
tribes, is veiled in mystery. Some claim that their
ancestors descended direct from heaven, and com-
menced their earthly existence at a place called
ESIAKWA, in the Kibbi District of the GOLD COAST
COLONY, but the more sensible portion of the com-
munity believe that their forbears came down from the
north. Indeed, this is the generally accepted theory,
and is supported by the fact that until recent times a
curious connection existed between the Ashanti Royal
Family and that of BONA, a town to the north of
BONTUKU, on the FRENCH IVORY COAST.
On the death of a King in COOMASSIE the news was
reported by special envoys to the Court of Bona and
vice versa, although no other known relations existed
between the two Courts, although enemy countries
separated the two powers, and although the envoys
were invariably sacrificed on those occasions. Only a
strong, albeit forgotten, traditional tie could have
upheld the survival of this custom through countless
generations.
Though the origin of the ASH ANTIS is uncertain ,
there is little doubt that the Ashanti confederation
2 THE ASHANTI CONFEDERATION
originated at a place called ESANTEM,\NSO, clooe to
the present village of EsuMEJA.
The tribes inhabiting that locality were known by the
name of AMANSE, and were the direct forbears of the
Confederation that assumed the name of ASANTIi
Why this latter name was adopted is unknown, but
ASANTE (aflglice ASHANTI) the name became, and
ASANTE it has remained.
Tradition says that the first to attain power over
the tribes were the two headmen named CHUM and
ENCHWI. They exercised a dual control over the
AMANSE. The two names have been taken hitherto
to represent one man only, who, under the name
CHUMIENCHWI, has been given the proud title of the
first King of ASHANTI. But in reality they were two
distinct persons, and there was no recognized King for
many years after their day, because the Amanse com-
munity was then scarcely large enough to aspire to a
Royal House. Moreover, they were subjects -of the
King of DENKERA. The word Duke, in the old feudal
sense, would perhaps best convey to a European mind
the status of these early Amanse chiefs.
On their demise the power fell into the hands of one
KOBIA AMENFI. Little is known of this man. He
was followed in turn by OT! AKENTEN, who showed a
spirit of enterprise.
He marched north, fought and partly conquered the
chief of DOMA, .one KOLI BATAFo, and drove the
DOMAs away from their southern settlement 0
OHWIM, five miles north of the present town of
COO MASSIE. OT! AKENTEN also founded a small
settlement called KWAMAN, which eventually became
the capital of the Confederation.
OBIRI YEBOA succeeded him. This chief vigor-
MATRILINEAL DESCENT 3
ously followed On's example and continued the fight
against the DOMAS, but with only partial success.
During this war he died. Some say he was killed by
the enemy, others that h<: died a natural death. Before
he died, however, his policy had attracted many of the
Amanse chiefs, who migrated north in consequence
and founded JUABEN, KUMAWU, NSUTA, and
MAMPoN, all of which formed part of the new Con-
federation and have survived to this day . The
BEKWAIS also joined the league. They did not move
from their original country, but remained there with
the object (it is said) of stemming the raids of the
DENI{ERAS, a tribe living to the south-"\vest, on the
OFIN River, and the then paramount power.
The nucleus thus planted by On AKENTEN' S
initiative and valour developed rapidly, and, once
established as a political entity, throve for wellnigh two
hundred years. '
A successor of OBIRI had to be found, and the
unanimous choice of the chiefs fell upon the deceased
leader's nephew, OSEI KOFI, who was to become the
celebrated OSEI TUTU, founder of the dynasty, and,
strictly speaking, the first King of ASHANn. The
tribes had already adopted the law of succession
through the female instead of the male line. The
. reason for this is not ,'rtain. In all probability it can
be ascribed to the looseness of morals then prevailmg /
/ among the women. A woman's child must of necessity
half belong to her family, but the same cannot be said
of a man's son. The father may be so by repute only,
and it is possible that his successor-with inheritance
following from father to son-does not possess a drop
of the blood of his family.
In any case, matrilineal descent is a very old custom
4 THE ASHANTI CONFEDERATION
among the majority of the Gold Coast tribes, and it is
so ingrained in their habits that a man's son counts for
nothing. The brothers come first in order of seniority,
after them the eldest sister's eldest son is the rightful
heir. The eldest sister failing male issue, inheritance
falls to the second sister's sons, and so on.
Claridge* also points out:
" Another reason that is given by the Ashantis for
the existence of this rule is that it was essential for so
warlike a race to make some arrangement whereby the
heir to the stool should usually have reached years of
discretion. Had the reigning monarch been killed
in battle and the stool descended to his son, a long
regency might often have been involved, whereas by
adopting a law of succession through the brothers and
nephews this risk was reduced to a minimum."
Rattray in his "Ashanti Proverbs" t gives the fol-
lowing story:
" There lived in former times a King of Adanse who
had a linguist named ABU. This Abu incurred the
King's anger and was heavily fined. Now, at that
time children used to inherit from their father. Abu
asked his children to assist him to pay the fine imposed
by the King, but they refused, and all went off to
their mother's relatives. But Abu's sister's children
rendered him assistance to payoff his debts, and Abu
therefore, when he died, left all his belongings to them.
Other people then copied him and willed their property
to the siste~' s children,"
but adds that he considers the story to be a myth
The reader can choose whichever explanation he
prefers.
* Claridge, II History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti," \'0J. i ,
p.211.
t P·41.
THE STOOL AND THE OATH 5
Two other customs should be mentioned before
proceeding further, for although the origin of each
is shrouded in mystery, they certainly formed an
integral part of the polity of the tribes earlier than
the advent of OSEI TUTU. The first of these is the
prevailing custom of ' , stools. ' , A family, when
influential enough, will establish a stool (a wooden
seat of quaint and artistic design), which is entailed,
so to speak, on the head of the family. As generations •
pass, this stool becomes the tangible emblem of the
family fortunes, and represents, to the living, the
terrestrial abode of the family manes. Libations
are poured over it and food placed near to it at stated
intervals.
The stool is washed with the idea of purifying the
souls of the departed. In fact, the stool acquires all
the virtues of a family shrine, besides remaining the
outward and visible sign of the occupant's status and
authority.
From a family stool it is but one step to the formation
of a stool for a congeries of families; thence to a tribal
stool, and so up the scale until the great national stool
is reached.
The second custom is the "oath" system, whereby
obligations of attendance, ordeal, or performance are
imposed by an individual upon himself, or upon whom-
soever he may choose. There are several recognized
oaths, all varying in degrees of importance. The most
common and least significant oath consists in a person
swearing by his or her own particular fetish that he or
she is innocent of an offence that he or she may have
been charged with; that he or she is speaking the
truth; that another (naming the person) is guilty of
a certain crime, etc. This, of course, involves legal
2
6 THE ASHANTI CONFEDERATION
procedure, and the loser has to pay the fee for
"breaking" the oath sworn. As the oath grew in
gravity, so did the "satisfaction" fee grow in pro-
portion. Fixed amounts were not attached to oaths.
These were determined by the presiding chief on the
merits of each case, so that a few shillings might be
sufficient to "satisfy" a common oath, while in
others enormous sums, sometimes several hundred
pounds, were charged.
Three oaths implied the death penalty-namely:
cursing the King, MEMENDA, and KOROMANTI:-I:
They could be used separately or collectively under
the name " NTEMKESE "= great oath.
Next in importance came the chief's oaths. If a
person swore one of these against another person, it
was tantamount to summoning him before that par-
ticular chief's court. The chief then heard the case
and delivered judgment. This not only included any
pen all y he may have chosen to impose, but al,o
decided which of the litigants had to pay the amount
determined upon to satisfy the oath fee. If a p!orson
failed to answer an oath sworn against him, he was
ipso facto found guilty and condemned to pay the fee.
Appeal was assured by the loser swearing a yet more
important oath, and so much is litigation beloved hy
the ASHANTIS that a losing litigant would sometimes
go to the extent of swearing a curse on the King
against his successful rival, thus incurring the death
penalty himself, but by so doing leaving the world
assured that he had placed his antagonist in the
dreadful predicament of returning the oath (and thus
forfeiting his life) or of fulfilling whatever obligation
was imposed upon him by the swearer.
The most serious oaths all referred to some national
POWER OF THE OATH 7
calamity, such as the violent death of a monarch,
defeat in battle, or some other dread occurrence. The
worst, and this carried an immediate death penalty
with it, was the sentence" OBOSUM NKUM OHENE "
(" Maya fetish kill the King ").
Although much can be said against the abuses that
this system entailed, it would be difficult to evolve a
more perfect substitute, among an illiterate people,
for our written summonses. It must also be borne in
mind that the swearing of oaths exercised a restraining
influence over the despotism of chiefs, because an
oath, no matter how great, could be sworn by any
commoner against any chief, thus implicating the
latter in endless litigation and exposing him to public
obloquy.
The "MEMENDA" Oath originated with OSEI
TUTU'S death, and will be referred to in the next
chapter.
CHAPTER II
THE FOUNDINGIOF THE DYNASTY-OSEI TUTU
1695-1731
THE following legend is related concerning OSEI
KOFI'S birth:
OBIRI YEBOA had an only sister named MANU,
who was childless. The fame of the fetish called
.. OTUTU" in AKWAMA having reached her, ~he sent
messengers to ANSA SASRAK u, the King, to obtain
medicine from the fetish. He complied with her
request, and MANU conceived and gave birth to a
boy, to whom the surname of .. Otutu .. was given.
Now, in accordance with custom this OSEI TUTu,
when a youth, was sent to the court of the King of
DENKARA as a hostage and sword-bearer, the AMANSES
(or ASHANTIS, as we shall can them hereafter) stin
being tributaries to that power.
While there he had an intrigue with the King's
sister, KWABENA BENS UA, who, as soon as she
realized she had conceived by him, advised him to
flee the country. This OSEI wisely did, and sought
refuge in AKWA~W, the home of his tutelary fetish,
where his personal beauty and intelligence gained
him great popularity. While he was there his uncle,
OBIRI YEBOA, died, and he received the summons
of the nobles of ASHANTI to return and assume the
reins of government. OSEI obeyed, and travelled
north at the head of an armed party, with, it is said,
s
OSEI TUTU 9
a large quantity of ammunition he had obtained from
the Danes. Tradition further states that while on this
journey north he worked himself a crown of elephant's
skin. This became the crown of ASHANT[, known by
the name of DENCHEMCHE, and was worn by every
King on his enstoolment down to PEREMPE. The
King also wore it when addressing his chiefs on the
eve of a campaign, imposing upon them, by oath,
the duty of defeating the enemy or of forfeiting their
lives. Whereupon all the chiefs had to respond to
the oath and declare that they would conquer or die.
OSE['S arrival in KWAMAN caused tumultuous joy,
and he was universally acclaimed King. As Reindorf
writes, * .. with his advent a new era began in the
history of the Asantes. ' , According to Bosman, t the
Ashanti-Denkera war took place between 1699 and
17oJ. If, therefore, the beginning of the Ashanti
Dynasty is to be reckoned from the enstoolment of
OSE[ TUTu, it dates back to the last years of the
seventeenth centt.;ry, probably 1695, as OSEI waged
several small wars before the levee en masse against
DENKERA occurred. Allowing an average of fifteen
years for each of OSEI'S predecessors, this places the
commencement of the AMANSE rise to power at 1635 ;
KOBIA AMEMFI circo 1650; OT! AKENTEN circa,
1665; and OBIRI YEBEO 1680.
When at the Denkera Court the youth OSEI had
won the heart of a celebrated fetish priest named
KOMFo (priest) ANOTCHW[, who was said to be a
native of AKWAPIM. Whether this man, who was
destined to become the Cardinal Wolsey of ASHANT!,
* Reindorf, II History of the Gold Coast and Ashanti," 18gS
t U New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea,"
17°5·
10 THE FOUNDING OF THE DYNASTY
actually accompanied OSE[ on his journey north or
whether he followed him is unknown, but certain it is
that no sooner had he joined OSE[ TUTU than he
became the young King's confidential adviser and
right-hand man. ANOTCHW[ appears to have adopted
at once the new kingdom as his own country, and from
the time of his advent he worked healt and soul for the
aggrandizement of ASH ANTI .
He commenced operations by planting a " KUMA"-
TREE, prophesying that as it throve, so would OSEI
TUTU'S power increase. Henceforth the name of the
capital became KUM-ASE (" under the kum-tree "-
anglice COO MASSIE) .
He then decreed that all the stools belonging to the
chiefs who had taken part in the war against the DOMAS
should be destroyed and buried and new stools made,
so ab to efface the disgrace of OBIRI YEBOA'S death.
As an example he himself fashioned a new stool for
OSE[ TUTU. It was partially covered with gold-leaf.
and became the celebrated" golden stool" of ASH.\NT[.
ORIR[ YEROA'S death had not been publicly
announced to the people by the nobles. His bones
were kept in a coffin until OSEI TUTU'S advent, when
they were taken to BANTAMA, half a mile outside the
town, where a building was provided for their recep-
tion. This was afterwards improved and became the
royal mausoleum.
No sooner was OSEI TUTU settled on the throne than.
with the unanimous support of his nobles, he prepared
to avenge his late uncle's death. He declared war
against ODAMARA KWESSI, the Doma Chief, and
completely routed his forces. Some of the refugees
escaped to the north-west and founded GVAOMAN (lit.
"you have deserted your country"), now called JAMAN,
MERGING THE CONQUERED II
while others founded OOUMASI, BEREKUM, and several
other towns, but all became tributary to COOMASSIE.
OSEI TUTU next fought and defeated one AKOSA of
AMOKUM, and appointed Eou PENIN to succeed
AKOSA. OSKI TUTU took a great liking to Eou
PENIN, and gave him his niece 'NVAKU in marriage.
AKOSA'S brother, BAFO, escaped to TEKIMAN, and
sought protection from AMO YAO, the chief of that
place, who established BAFO at a hamlet where three
old men resided, NKWAKORA MIENSA (lit. "three
'lId men "). From this the present town of NKORANZA
derived its name.
The next chief to whom OSKI TUTU turned his
attention was OSAFO of TAfo, a village only a few
miles distant from COOMASSIE . The TAFos were
aborigmes of the soil, and looked upon the invaders
with dislike . OSAFO was defeated, and admitted into
the Confederation. He afterwards conquered WIAFE
AKENTEN of OFINSU, whose territory was likewise
incorporated in the kingdom. .
Owing presumably to the wise statesmanship of
ANOTCHWI, all conquered tribes were given full rights
as ASHANTI citizens, and, beyond certain obligations of
tribute which were imposed on them, they experienced
no interference at the hands of their conquerors. By
this enlightened olicy erstwhile enemies became
friends. ,
After the lapse of a generation or two the conquered
were merged in the Confederation, and with the accre-
tion of the latter's power became proud of belonging
to the ASHANTI kingdom.
Now occurred a fateful event destined to cause all
upheaval and a redistribution of power. An impudent
demand for enhanced tribute from the King of DEN-
...
,S • •
----------------------------~
12 THE FOUNDING OF THE DYNASTY
KERA was met with a haughty refusal on the part of
OSEI and his nobles. Flushed with victory, they
were in no mood to submit tamely any longer to a
yoke that had become yearly more irksome and
degrading. There was but one alternative. Without
a dissentient voice the chiefs decided on open
rebellion.
Before proceeding, however, to relate the story
that tradition tells of the Denkera war, it might be
as well to examine the fighting formation evolved by
the ASHANTIS and their resources in men and ammu.-
nition at the time war was declared. •
The fighting formation consisted of a central column
in the following order: Scouts, advance-guard, main
body, the commander-in-chief, carriers, camp-followers,
and the rear-guard (which invariably faced in the
opposite direction to that of the advancing army).
The central column was flanked on both sides by the
right and left wings-five bodies to the right and five
to the left. The various bodies were composed of
clans irrespective of their numbers. Their positions
were assigned to them once and for all time.
The left wing was the more important, for with the
fourth body on that side was the King, if he took part
in the campaign. Even if he did, he was never allowed
to be in actual command of the military operations, in
order that he should avoid being cursed by the enemy
as the cause of all their misfortunes.
In big wars, whim all the head chiefs had to appear
in person, the army was commanded by the Chief of
BANTAMA or the Chief of MAMPON, generally the
latter. In smaller campaigns, when onIyrepresentatives
of the big chiefs attended, the commander was chosen
from the Jiasiwa, Ananta, or Chidom Stools.
WAR CONDITIONS 13
Each body of men went to war with its own supply
of ammunition, its own reserve of rations, and its own
doctors. The latter were called ESUMANKWAFO.
They were combatants, but attended the wounded as
best they could. The Commander-in-Chief communi-
cated with the various bodies of troops by means of
special runners called AFUNASUAFO (A.D.C.'s), and
received news of the progress of the battle in like
manner.
Non-compliance with orders resulted in courts-
martial. Each case was treated on its merits, and the
punishments meted out included death, degradation, and
fines. Cowardice on the field was invariably punished
with death. Under a similar penalty it was strictly
forbidden to disclose the number of deaths or casual-
ties. Military service was compulsory. Evasion of
service was punished with death. Age and infirmity
alone allowed an adult male to remain outside the
army.
Discipline in the ranks was extremely severe.
Obedience was ensured by the ease with which the
death penalty was meted out. It is impossible to
arrive at even the approximate number of fighting
men that the ASHANTIS could put in the field, but they
mw,t, even in OSEI TUTU'S time, have numbered many
thousands. OSEI TUT . had accumulated a large store
of gunpowder for those days, but flintlock guns were
still difficult to obtain, and it is doubtful whether at
the beginning of the Denkera w.ar 30 per cent. of the
men were armed with guns.
The following diagram illustrates the war-formation
on a complete footing (see p. 14).
The ASHANTIS explain that this formation was sug-
gested to them by the formation of ants on the
SCOUTS ~
~
>-l (AKWANSRAFO) oj>.
".
";..
Xz I • >-1
.. 5.'.;.': ~ . ADVANCE-GUARD ::r: ttl ~. " c: v ""> .z.. ttlZ (CHAFFO) t'l
''""
'0." ZZ
,,0 c: Z '" > ->
;.. ;.. tD Z "%]
.cII.: -n z '" "z' >'"
.. .. -z 0
: -" - >. c..:. c:'" .z,
0
'" ,E :- MAfH Boo\' ,, .
,>-''"" .'". -'0" ,' ." ~ ~ <".0 > c:: os > • ." •• (ADeNT") • - z c: - 0 Z -tj I I I z C'l
I 0
Commander-in-Chief (OSAHENE) '=l
with his Own warriors and >-1
A.D.C.'s. (AFUNASUAPO) ::r:
t'l
tj
Carriers and camp-followers
(ASS",SAFO) z><
I ;l> (Jl
RE4.R6CLTARD >-1
(CHIDOM) ><
facing the rear
I I
I
THE DENKERA WAR
march, which their forbears were wise enough to
adopt and improve upon as time went on.
It is highly improbable that the military organization
had attained to this pitch of perfection in OSEI TUTU'S
time, but the foundation for it had been laid years
before, and OSEI could depend on an efficient machine
that no other tribe could withstand. It was un-
doubtedly these powers of combination and co-ordina-
tion, so brilliantly displayed by the ASHANTIS, that
gave them an immense superiority over their neigh-
bours and raised their country to the proud position of
the paramount power among the surrounding Native
States for the space of two hundred years.
THE DENKERA WAR
According to Bosman, BOAAMPoNsEM, the King
of DENKERA, sent some of his wives to COO MASSIE to
congratulate his former shield-bearer, OSEI TUTU, on
his accession. They were well received and sent back
with valuable presents and friendly messages. OSI!!
shortly afterwards returned the compliment, and sent
some of his wives to DENKERA, "but the King cast a
wanton eye upon one of them, and, hurried on by
exorbitant lust, gratified his brutal desire. "* On the
return of the women te \.,OOMASSIE this was reported to
OS!!! TUTU, who, it is said, there and then determined
to throw of! the Denkera yoke and seek revenge for
the affront at the same time. Preparations for war
went on apace. Large quantities of ammunition were
brought up from the coast, which the unsuspecting
DENKERAS actually allowed to pass through their own
territor-v.
• Bosman, p. 75.
-
I
16 THE FOUNDING OF THE DYNASTY
On hearing of these preparations, BOAAMPONSEM
endeavoured to appease TUTU by the offer of a large
sum of gold; but TUTU was determined to fight, and
refused all overtures of peace. Another contributory
cause of the war may have been the arrival of Euro-
peans on the coast, as suggested by Claridge: *
" Hitherto the right of way to the sea had been of
no special value, but on the arrival of traders in ships
loaded with powder, guns, and other merchandise dear
to the heart of the African, it at once became a source
of wealth, and free access to it a matter of paramount
importance. "
The old King BOAAMPONSEM died while these
preparations were on foot. He was succeeded to the
stool of DENKERA by the youthful NTIM JAKARI, said
to have been OSEI TUTU'S own son by AKwABENu,\
BENSUA, the late King's sister; but this is doubtful,
owing to OSEI'S youth. This fact. however, did not
deter OSEI TUTU from his object, and there is no doubt
that he would have declared war against the DENKERAS
even had he not been given an excellent casus beUi by
the hot-headed NTIM, who very unwisely chose this
time of strained relations to send ambassadors to
COOMASSIE with a large brass pan, demanding that
"the King of Asante and his Chiefs must fill up the
brass pan with pure gold, and must send each the
fa\'ourite among his wives and their mothers to
Denkera to become his wives." t
On receipt of this impudent message, OSEI TUTU
held a great council of chiefs to hear the Denkera
demands. In the turbulent scene that followed the
ambassadors were ill-treated and sent back to DENKERA •
+ Claridge, \'01. i., p. [g6. t ReiDdorf, p. 53·
THE FIRST FIGHT
with abusive messages. This, of course, meant war.
But the ASHANTlS held back. They allowed the
wrathful NTlM J AKARI to advance north and attack
them.
OSEI TUTu wished to command in person, but
KOMFo ANOTCHWI prophesied that if he did so he
would conqaer and kill NTlM, but that he (OSEI) would
only live seven days after NTlM'S death. Hearing
this, BOATEN ANENTU, Chief of MAMPON, at once
offered his services as commander-in-chief, which
offer was accepted. The first clash of arms occurred
at a place called EOUNKUM (between ESUMEjA and
EjUMUM), where the DENKERAS had only a small
advance-guard to deal with, which continued to fall
back before the advancing forces, on a prearranged
plan to inveigle the enemy farther north. A brush
ensued at EpUTEUjA, close to JACHI. The ASHANTIS
again fell back on their main force, then encamped at
FEYASI, eight miles south-east of COOMASSIE, where
the two forces eventually met, to the bitter discomfiture
of the invading army. So certain had the DENKERAS
been of an easy victory that NTIM was surprised while
eating and killed by repeated blows from a knife by a
JUABEN man named ADAKWAYIADOM. The first blow
dented a gold bangle NTIM was wearing. This bangle
was afterwards the cau
war, and was richly
rewarded with trea-sure and slaves. The latter he sent
to AGUNA, of which he became chief on the demise of
DJEDU KUMENIN.
OSEI TUTU now turned his attention to the AKIMS,
a powerful and rich tribe that had helped the DENKERAS
against the ASHANTIS.
After a breathing-space of about two years' duration,
he invaded their territory, which was partly to the
north, but mainly to the south, of the River PRA, and
after one, some say two, battles defeated them com-
pletely. The AKIMS were made tributary to ASHANTI,
and a heavy indemnity was imposed upon them.
Now ensued a long period of much-needed peace.
Historians, presumably for want of detailed informa-
tion, have ignored the .,cars that intervened between
OSEI TUTU'S first and second invasion of AKIM. But
assuming that the first occurred as late as 1702, * we
know by OSEI TUTU'S death that the second did not
take place until '73', an interval of tweoty-nine years,
during which no important war was waged. Small
raids there must have been, but no fighting on a large
scale is to be recorded during those years .
.. Reindorf gives 1700 as tbe date of the invasion.
THE FOUNDING
then that 05El
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ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE , 21
The losing party had to pay the fee for breaking the
oath, called ATENYE.
As already stated, every oath carried a fixed fee
attached to it, but the ATENYE could be and often was
reduced by the King on the "begging" principle-e-
i.e., an appeal ad misericordiam.
The ATENYE belonged exclusively to the King.
The winning party had to pay "thanksgiving
money," called ASlDA, which was never a large
amount in comparison to the ATENYE. This was
fixed at the end of the trial by the linguist. Half of
the ASlDA went to the King, the other hall being
divided among the chiefs on a fixed scale.
" The administration of justice was no doubt expensive,
and often capricious and corrupt (especially in the case
of two rich men), but the redeeming feature of the
system, evolved by and for a barbaric people, was the
fair play meted out to the poor man. He had nothing
to bribe with, and was therefore listened to with
consideration.
The great blemish of the whole system lay in the
fact that little or no distinction was made between
civil and crinrinal matters. Excluding murder, any
criminal offence could be turned into a civil charge by
the swearing of an oath, and this indiscriminate inter-
change militated again-t just punishment, as culprits,
were they men of means, escaped by payment of fines.
A murderer, on the other hand, suffered terrible
penalties. No sooner was he condemned than he was
skewered through the cheeks and tongue, so that he
could not speak and curse the King, which meant
instant death. He was then taken round the town and
horribly mutilated before actual decapitation.
After this long interval of twenty-nine years, during
3
•
THE GREAT OATH
of frequent demands from the King. Ashanti mes-
sengers were on several occasions first abused and then
ill-treated. Finally a recognized act of open defiance
was committed, the head messenger's right-hand first
finger being cut off.
On receipt of the news, OSEI TUTU and his chiefs
lost patience, and an invasion of AKIM on a large scale
was determined upon. They drove the AKIMS across
the River PRA and invaded their territory; but the
AKIMS, learning where OSEI TUTU was to cross the
river, laid an ambuscade for him, into which he fell, and
was killed, it is said, while actually crossing the river in
his litter. The ASHANTIS maintain that OSEI'S death
was kept secret, so as not to discourage the army, and
that they did not return until AKI M had been overrun
by them, during which time OPOKU WARE, the heir-
apparent, surreptitiously represented the deceased
monarch.
The King's death, however, proved a great blow to
the Ashanti chiefs, '1nd probably damped their ardour.
This view is supported by the fact that OPOKU WARE
had to recommence hostilities against the AKI MS soon
alter his accession, so that their defeat could not have
been complete as a result 01 this campaign. And so
died OSEI TUTU, surnamed" He who speaks through
Guns," immortalized U. the memory 01 the ASHANTlS
as the greatest 01 their national heroes.
The untoward circumstances of his death gave rise
to the greatest of the Ashanti oaths, MEMENDA (Satur-
day)-an oath so sacred that it could not be spoken
without the offender incurring the death penalty. It
could be alluded to in oblique phrases, such as .. the
great oath," .. the dreadful day," .. the day of punisr.-
men t I " et c.
24 THE FOUNDING OF THE DYNASTY
It has hitherto been generally accepted that the word
" KOROMANTIN" was attached to the oath, on the
assumption that OSEI was killed close to a small village
named AKROMANTIN, but this is not the Ashanti
ver.ion. According to them, "Koromantin" was a
separate and distinct oath established close on a
hundred years later.
•
CHAPTER III
OPOKU WARE-KWISSI OBODUM-OSEI KOJO-
OSEI KWAMINA
1731-1799
ON the return of the army to COOMASSIE from AKIM,
the ASHANTIS proceeded with the installation of OPOKU
WARE. He was OSEl TUTU'S grand-nephew, son of
the NVAKU KWISSlAMOA who had been given in
marriage to EDU PENIN of AMOKUM by her uncle
OSK!. The rival claimant to the stool, OKUKUADANI,
a nephew of OSEI TUTU, was discarded by the ABREM-
PON because his following was small. Moreover, OSEI
TUTU had named OPOKU WARE as his successor.
OPOKU was a weakling as an infant and subject to
severe shaking fits. KOMFo ANOTCHWI declared
that these fits meant that the child wanted to fight.
He therefore forged a sword for him, which he called
" M pomponsu, " which became the "Excalibur"
of ASHANTI. Upon this sword all swore allegiance to
, the new King, and to l ery King after him down to the
last-PEREMPE.
OPOKU'S father, EDU, died shortly after his mar-
raige to NVAKU. According to native custom, she
became the wife of his successor, EDU II., who also
died before OPOKU'S birth. He first saw the light in
EDU III. 's time.
The latter, strangely enough, died soon after OPOKU
was born. The rapid successive deaths of his mother's
25
EFFECTS OF THE VICTORY 27
as AHAFO. This tract of land became the game pre-
serve of the Ashanti Kings, the New Forest of the
conquerors.
The disgrace of having had their capital plundered
was considered too great to be commemorated, even
in the shape of an Oath.
Luckily for the Royal House, two of the Princesses
had been spared by EBIRIM. One had been sent as a
captiye to WASSA, which was then tributary to SEFWI.
•
The ASHANTIS, hearing of this, rescued her after the
defeat of the SEFWIS, and so preserved the Royal
strain. Her name was EKuA KRuKRu. On her return
to COOMASSIE, the King greeted her with the words
" EKu.\, efri iye" (soyez la bien venue).
The compound word " EFIRIYE" thus became the
general surname of the women of the blood-royal.
Mention was made on p. I I of one BAFO, who fled
from AMAKUM to TEKIMAN and founded NKoRANzA.
The King of TEKIMAN, A]';IO YAO, wishing to keep
on good terms with the powerful King at COOMASSIE,
sent a present of lhree bags of gold-dust to OPOKU
WARE through BAFO. BAFO thought he would like to
keep this valuable present, so he substituted flints,
lead, and powder, for the gold, and sent them in three
parcels to the King in the name of AMO YAO. OPOKU
WARE enquired the mr~ning of it. BAFO replied that
AMO YAO wished to defy the King, whereupon the
latter asked the reason of this sudden change of atti-
tude. BAFO, who took care that no messages were
interchanged except through himself, told AMO Y AO
that OPOKU was preparing to subdue him, and that
he (AMO YAO) should likewise prepare to resist the
onslaught. AMO Y AO, now thoroughly frightened,
asked BAFO to impart to him the secret of the strength
THE GREAT WIZARD
made to carry water in baskets, to plaster floors, and
to beg for her food.
OPOKU WARE, wishing to reward BAFO for his ser-
vices, enquired what he would like. The deceitful old
man answered he would accept nothing from the King,
and that the King was welcome to the ruined TEKIMAN
villages. Nevertheless, in the end, BAFO annexed
several outlying villages, Mo included .
Tekiman territory was incorporated in the Kingdom,
and placed under the Adamankwa stool.
About this time the wise and now ancient KOMFo
ANOTCHWI, who had settled in AGUNA, declared he
would discover the " Elixir vitre " and conquer death.
Telling his people he would require seven whole days to
accomplish his purpose, he adjured them not to wake
him during that time; nor to wail nor make any noise;
and, above all, not to fire guns, for if they did his spirit
would surely depart, never to return. He thereupon
retired to his sleeping chamber and fell into a trance.
His nephew and heir, SUAN ENIM, before the seven
days had elapsed, pretended to believe that the sage
was already dead, and fired off guns in accordance
with custom. ANOTCHWI, true to his prediction, did
not return to life. So slipped away the spirit of the
Great Wizard of ASHANTI; the man who so deftly
steered the kingship t J safe harbourage; the choice
soul that persistently foretold the white man's
supremacy in the land.
After the Tekiman war three years' peace ensued.
The King then heard that the chief of the JA MANS,
ABO KOBINA, had joined the Mahommedans at
BONTUKU, had arrogated kingly power to himself, and
was making a " golden stool" to rival his own. Where-
upon OPOKU WARE sent messengers to demand the
,
30 KWISSI OBODUM
stool. They were met with a point-blank refusal. He
sent a second time, warning ABO that he "would not
leave him alone" until he had yielded up this symbol
of greatness, to which he had no right.
ABo killed the head-messenger, and mutilated and
drove away the others.
The King then called a council, and the whole of the
ABREMPON declared for war.
A large army marched north, defeated ABO, and
sacked BONTuKu. But ABO succeeded in escaping.
The ASHANTls pursued him across the KUMA Ri\'er,
where he fell into the hands of the Mahommedans of
KONG, who, wishing to keep in with ASHANTI, gave
him up. He suffered grievously for his presumption,
undergoing torture and death. His skull was brought
back to COO MASSIE, and became one of a gruesome
collection of such trophies of war.
This was the last of OPOKU WARE'S campaigns
He died a natural death a few years later, after a
reign of eleven years.
OPOKU WARE'S uncle, KWISSI OBODUM, was
selected to succeed him. He was the son of NKETIA
TIMABAMU, own sister to OSEI TUTu.
Two descendants of OBIRI YEBOA through a col-
lateral line, both called DAKUN, forcibly claimed the
stool. They found no favour with the ABREMPON,
and were "lost" in the struggle that ensued.· This
meant death by strangulation, to avoid the spilling of
Royal blood. .
Several campaigns, notably that against DAHOMI,
have been ascribed to OBODUM'S time, but the present-
day ASHANTIS state that they occurred later.
* Tbey contested for tbe stool against OBODVII, not O.OItU
WARE, as stated by Reindorf, p. 6g.
\
THE WIVES OF OBODUM 31
OBODUM was an elderly mediocrity, who left the
business of governance to his chiefs and advisers. His
only nephew, OSEI KOlO, seduced several of
OBODUM'S wives, and only escaped death by the inter-
vention of the ABREMPON. He was sent to live at
EDUAMOA, a village close to Coomassie. One of
OBODUM'S sons followed OSEI KOlO'S example, but
he, not being the heir-apparent, underwent castration.
But OBODUM by no means forgave OSEI KOlO.
Knowing that the latter would succeed him, he dis-
posed of all the Royal treasure on which he could lay
hands. Some say that he buried it in the swamp sur-
rounding COOMASSIE, others that he sent it to a dis-
tance. Whatever he did with it, legend relates that
the gold, although eagerly sought for by his successor,
was never afterwards found.
Shortly after this OBODUM lost his sight, so he
abdicated in favour of his amorous nephew, to whom
be left the majority of his wives and a depleted
treasury.
OBODlJM lived a[ AMPABAMI until his death. He
was buried, not in tbe Royal mausoleum of BANTAMA,
but at ACHERE~IADE in Coomassie.
A description of the ceremonies performed on the
installation of a new Sovereign may not prove out of
place. When a new King had been selected by the
ABREMPON, the stool was taken to a particular place
outside the town by the head of the AKOMUS and there
kept for twenty-four hours, during which the King-
elect sat outside the palace. A procession was then
formed, and the stool, together with all the State
umbrellas, were marched round the town and back to
the palace.
Forty days were allowed for the outlying chiefs to
THE QUEEN-MOTHER 33
The new King was then lowered on to the stool three
times, and when finally seated took the sword
" BOSOMURU" and made oath as follows:
"I swear the Great Oath that I am a descendant
of OSEI TUTU and OPOKU WARE. As you have
given me the gun, the shield, and the sword belonging
to my ancestors, I will give due respect to my elders
and young men; beat and kill the enemies of my ances- ,
tors and all powers that may rise against me during
my reign, and add their skulls to the OJIRA fetish with-
out fail."
The King then donned the great war garment
(MATAKARl), took the gun and the sword, entered his
litter (APAKAN), and was carried in procession round
the town.
A somewhat similar ceremony was re-enacted in the
palace a few days later in the presence of all the out-
lying chiefs, when they all swore allegiance to the new
Sovereign, taking precedence in accordance with their
positions in the national fighting formation.
During the interregnum the Queen-Mother (who was
invariably a close relation of the new Sovereign, gener-
ally aunt or sister) represented the King on state occa-
sions, even to wearing Royal garments and ornaments.
If a strong personality, she wielded great influence, but
took no part in the a I ual discussion of affairs at a
council of chiefs. After the installation she sat on the
King's left, a foot or two behind him.
OSEI KOjo succeeded to the stool on KWlSSI
OBODUM'S abdication in 175z. He appears to have
made many fruitless attempts to recover the Royal
treasure, but he left his uncle severely alone, owing,
it is said, to a guilty conscience. .
Shortly after OSEI 's accession news reached
asRI
CIVIL WAR 35
sheep, and 1,000 fowls was imposed on YENDI,
one-tenth of which was given to KWAMIN PETE as a
reward for his services.
OSEI KOjo was next called npon to give the AKI MS
and AKWAPIMS another taste of the Ashanti power.
He invaded their territory and drove them before him,
although the FANTlS, who had been bribed by him not
to assist the rebels, treacherously did so.
Owing to a dispute concerning the jurisdiction over
certain northern villages, civil war now broke out
between MAMPON and J UABEN. An engagement
ensued, and the Chief of JUABEN was defeated. On
investigation, the King decided in favour of ATAKORA
of MAMPON, and AKU.\~IOA of JUABEN was deposed,
but was reinstated when the King realized that
AKUAMO.\'S successor, FETU, proved incompetent to
rule his people.
To quote Claridge:
"A new King now came to the throne of Dahomi, and
seeing the rapid extension of the Ashanti Empire and
the steady growth of its power, seems to have been
afraid another attempt might soon be made to avenge
the defeat of Osei Kwisi. He therefore sent a friendly
embassy to Kumassi to announce his accession, and
bear presents and a complimentary message to the
King of Ashanti. Thes( ambassadors were well enter-
tained, and the comr.liment was soon after returned by
the dispatch of a similar mission to the Court of ABOMI.
According to Cruikshank, it was during Kudjo's reign
tbat the first mention of Ashanti occurred in the reports
of Cape Coast Castle on the 10th of July, 1765, and
again in 1767 and 1772. The Council took into con-
sideration the probability of hostilities arising between
the Ashanti and Fantis, and in 1767 asked for men-of-
war to be stationed on the coast until affairs became
OSEI KWAMINA
more settled. They feared that if the Ashantis proved
victorious their settlements might be endangered, while,
should the Fantis conquer, it was expected that the
Company's trade would be ruined. "*
OSE1 Ko]o was now old and infirm. He was anxious
to revenge himself against the FANTlS, but before the
Ashanti army could take the field OSEI died in 1781,
after a reign of twenty-nine years. He is supposed to
have instituted the " Koromantin Oath" on the death
of two of his nieces from smallpox when they were at
KOROMANTlN.
The ASREMPON selected a boy named OSEI
KWAMINA, grand-nephew of the deceased King, to suc-
ceed him. But he was not enstooled for several years,
probably ten or twelve, during which time the head of
the ADENTIN, KWAMIN PETE, acted as Regent.
There was no campaign during these years of
tutelage. The oath supposed to have been 'worn
by the boy on his accession, "that he would neIther
enter his palace nor see his wives until he had avenged
the insult offered to his predecessor by the A sins," t
is pronounced by the ASHANTIS to be a pure myth, for
it would have been impossible for a mere child to
exercise any influence whatever over public affairs.
Although the ASSINS, who lived immediately south of
ASHANTI, may have been brought to book for their
defection, viewed in the light of those turbulent days,
fighting was on a small scale during this reign.
In fact, the only expedition that tradition asserts as
. having occurred in OSEI KWAMiNA's time was that
against the DENKERAS, who, rather than face the
danger, bought off the Ashanti army by yielding up the
head of their King and 1,000 pereguns (£8,000).
.. Claridgu_ vol i., p. 213. t Ibid., p. 223 .
DEATH OF OSEI KWAMINA 37
OSEI KWAMINA was ens tooled on reaching years of
puberty. He had evidently suffered restraint under
KWAMIN PETE, for no sooner was he in power than he
turned on his tutor and counsellor and demanded an
account of the expenditure of the Royal treasure; nor
was he satisfied until KWAMIN PETE had handed over
to him four villages. These villages gave rise to the
.. ETIPI M " stool.
The King's leanings towards the Mahommedan
religion were perceived by his chiefs with anxiety, and
when they realized that OSEI, who had proceeded to
JUABE:N for AKUAMOA'S funeral custom, had become
infatuated with a Juaben Princess (named EJEI BEDu),
that he remained on at J UABEN indefinitely, and that
he neglected all affairs of state, their patience gave
way. In 1799 they deposed him in favour of a
younger brother, OPOKU FOFIE, who only reigned for
forty to sixty days.
OSEI KWAMINA is supposed to have committed
suicide shortly after his deposition, and OPOKU
FOFIE'S sudden death is ascribed to a visitation of his
brother's ghost.
Yet another brother succeeded to the throne, the
youngest of the three, OSEI ASIBE KWAMINA, sur-
named BONSU (a whale), who was destined to become
one of the greatest Kir" of As HANTI.
With his advent direct political relations between
Great Britain and ASH ANTI may be said to have com-
menced. Written records now become available, and
from henceforth oral tradition is checked, assisted, or
amplified by ascertained facts.
4
CHAPTER IV
OSEI BONSU
lBOO-IBU
OS!!! TUTu KWAMINA ASIBE BONSU, to give him his
full name generally known as OSEI BONsu-was
enstooled in 1800. Owing to the conquests of the last
century, the kingdom of ASHANTI had gradually ex-
panded, and at his accession included JAMAN, BANDA,
WENCHI, TEKIMAN, NKORANZA, and ATEBUBU.
He also exercised control right up to YENDI in the
north, and KWAHu, ASSIN, ADANSI, WASSA, DEN-
KERA, and SEFWI to the south-east and we~t.
It was by far the most powerful Native State in those
parts, and friendly messages poured in from outlying
tribes such as DAHoMI, YENDI, and KONG.
But great trouble was brewing for the ASHANTIS. A
small spark started a conflagration that only terminated
with the century. Their first conflict with the British
was close at hand-a conflict that grew as time went
on, and ended, as it could only end, sooner or later,
in the complete subjection of the weaker power.
The trouble started with a dispute between the people
of Ass IN. This. was a territory between the PRA River
and the Coast. It was subject to ASH ANTI and was
di\;ded into two principalities. The western was ruled
over by two chiefs named OTIBU and KWEKu ApOTOI,
the eastern by AMO ADAE.
In 1805 one of ApOTOI'S subjects rifled a grave of
one of AMO'S captains. AMO sought redress from
]8
•
OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES 39
ApOTOI for this outrage in vain, and in consequence
appealed to OSEI BONSU. The King summoned all
three chiefs to appear before him in COO MASSIE. OTIBU
excused himself on the score of old age, but ApOTOI
and AMO obeyed the summons. After hearing both
parties, BONSU gave judgment in favour of AMO and
detained OPOTOI, who, however, managed to escape.
AMO, unable to obtain compensation, took matters into
his own hands and invaded Western ASSIN. After
several fruitless attempts to reconcile the two parties,
the King marched an army into ASSIN and completely
routed OTIBU and ApOTOI'S forces. The two chiefs
escaped and sought refuge at ESSIKUMA, which
formed part of the growing Fanti Confederation.
Another exciting factor was the former treachery of
the FANTIS in OSEI KWAMINA's time. They had
accepted sixty pereguns to allow the ASHANTIS to pass
through FANTI, and had then attacked and killed 1,000
of them.
OSEI BONSU asked for the surrender of the fugitives,
who, fearing compliance, fled still farther to ABRA, the
principal Fanti town.
The King renewed his demand, but a council of F anti
chiefs not only refused to surrender them, but openly
defied the King and ill-treated his messengers.
ApPIA DANKWA (Na .tahene), the Ashanti general,
marched down on ABRA, defeated the FANTIS in two
engagements, and captured their King, ATTA, whom
he stupidly handed over to Chief AKUM of ESSIKUMA
for safe keeping. The latter, of course, allowed him
to escape.
As the two fugitives were still at large, further
negotiations occurred and more Ashanti messengers
were put to death. OSEI BONSU, now thoroughly
CHIEF' ""'.UII:'; FRI~[PON ADE:\T1N HE:\E.
From a photograph.
-
SIEGE OF ANAMABO
were occupied by the ASHANTIS, who had now been
reinforced by the main army, with which was the
King
Lieutenant-Colonel Ellis's narrative of the struggle
that ensued reads almost like an epic, and is well worth
quoting in full. He writes:
"Early on June 15th the Ashantis advanced to the
attack on Anamabo, and every Fanti who could carry a
musket took the field, while the old men, women, and
children crowded into the fort, the gates of which, as
soon as it was full, were closed and barricaded. For a
time a continuous roar of musketry was heard all round
the town, but the Anamabos were outnumbered, and
the circle of fire gradually contracted as they were
driven back . To intimidate the enemy, Mr. White
ordered one or two guns to be fired over the town, but
this did not produce the slightest effect, and by eleven
0' clock the Ashanti bullets were whistling all about
the fort.
" From all directions the Ashantis poured into the
town, and the wretched Anamabos fled to the beach,
hoping to be able to escape to sea in their canoes; but
the enemy pursued too closely, and a terrible slaughter
took place on the sands. The garrison of the fort did
their best to check the pursuit. A 24-pounder that
pointed to the west, along the seashore, swept down
dozens of Ashantis with each discharge of grape,
while a 3-pounder that flanked the eastern gate did
great execution. But on this side the Ashantis pushed
on over the heaps of dead, and actually seized and
carried off the terrified and shrieking women who were
standing close to the fort walls for protection. In the
meantime others had been keeping up a very hot fire,
by which White was shot in tbe mouth and left arm,
and obliged to resign the command to Mr. Meredith,
while one man was killed and an officer and two men
wounded.
OSEI BONSU
, , The whole force of the Ashantis was now directed
against the fort, which they imagined to contain a rich
booty, and thousands of black warriors swarmed round
it. The garrison consisted of twenty-nine men, includ-
ing Mr. White, four officers of the Company (Messrs.
H. Meredith, F. L. Swanzy, T. A. Smith, and
Barnes), and four free mulattoes. Of the remaining
twenty, several were servants and workmen; but all
fought with desperation, for they knew that if the
place were stormed they could hope for no mercy.
The Ashantis pressed on, but the walls were too high
to be scaled, and the two gates, one on the east and
one on the west, too strong and too well barricaded to
be forced.
" Possessing neither ladders for scaling nor canJloJl
for breaching, it is possible that the Ashantis might
have been beaten off, but for one fatal defect in the
construction of the fort. This was that the embrasures
yawned to such an extent that the gunners were abso-
lutely without cover; and, exposed to thousands of
musket-shots, so many were wounded that at last the
guns had to be abandoned, and the defence carried on
by musketry alone. Shortly after noon the garrison
was reduced by casualties to eight, of whom >four were
officers, and as the fire of the defenders slackened the
Ashantis strove to force the eastern gate. Twice they
advanced to it, and twice had to retire, having lost
heavily. The third time they brought fire, but the
man who carried the firebrands was shot dead, and
extinguished them by falling upon them. Thus the
afternoon passed in an incessant struggle, until, at
6 p.m., when darkness commenced to fall, the Ashantis
drew off. The last glimpse of daylight was used by
• the garrison in repairing damages and making prepara-
tion for a night attack.
"Day dawned upon a homole scene of bloodshed
and devastation. Eight thousand Fantis had perished,
most of them in the vicinity of the fort; heaps of dead
SIEGE OF ANAMABO 43
encumbered the beach in every direction, or were
washed hither and thither in the surf, and the sands
were red with blood.
" For a mile along the shore to the east nothing was
to be seen but flaming houses , or the black and charred
ruins of those that had already been devoured by fire.
Some two thousand refugees were in the fort, and to a
rock a few yards from shore, and surrounded by the
sea, two hundred panic-stricken wretches were cling-
ing. These were all the survivors of the populous
town of Anamabo.
" Soon after daybreak the Ashantis recommenced
the attack of the fort. They came coolly up in masses
to the very muzzles of the guns, and a perfect hail-
storm of lead flew about the defenders. On the eastern
side the garrison had been able to contrive some pro-
tection for the men working the guns, and two well-
served 3-pounders that flanked the eastern gate swept
away several of the foe at each discharge. The guns
that flanked the western gate, however, were so
exposed that it was found impossible to work them, and
two of the officers, Messrs. Meredith and Swanzy,
defended it with tr.uskets alone.
" In keeping this gate clear they expended nearly
three hundred rounds of ball-cartridges, and they fired
till their shoulders were so bruised that they could no
longer bear the recoil of their muskets. N at a round
was wasted, and the enemy were so near and so
crowded together tho· a ball frequently disabled two
men.
" So far the garrison had gallantly held their own,
but surrender was inevitable unless they were speedily
reinforced. Human endurance could not last much
longer, and there were no provisions for the fugitives
who crowded the courtyard, so that in another day
famine would compel them to capitulate. Added to
this, the bodies of the thousand slain on the previous
day were already beginning to putrefy under the bum-
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE BRITISH 45
.. Colonel Torrane, delighted to find the King dis-
posed to be friendly, sent him a considerable present,
and invited him to Cape Coast Castle to settle their
differences, an invitation which was declined. Even-
tually Torrane, finding that the King would not come
to him and that nothing could be definitely settled by
his messengers, decided to go to Anamabo, and, in
order to ensure a favourable reception, determined to
surrender to the King the two Assin chiefs, Tchibbu
and Kwamin Aputeh. The chiefs of Cape Coast were
indignant at this breach of faith, and resolutely declared
that they would never surrender those whom they had
promised to protect; but Torrane sent an armed force
unexpectedly to the houses occupied by the Assin
chiefs, where Tchibbu was seized, not without resist-
ance, while Aputeh beat off his assailants and escaped.
The unfortunate Tchibbu was at once sent to the
Ashanti camp, where he was put to death with the
most exquisite tortures, and his jawbone was affixed as
a trophy to the King's death-horn,'''
The first meeting between Colonel Torrane and the
Ashanti King took place on June 23rd. It was the
first of many; but although a general understanding
was temporarily arrived at, nothing was reduced to
writing, and it is impossible to say what actually
occurred.
It is thought that Colonel Torrane (who created an
extremely favourable ,mpression on the monarch)
acknowledged that the whole of FANTI, CAPE COAST
included, belonged to ASHANTI by right of conquest.
He reserved judicial authority over the towns under
the forts, but paid arrears of ground-rent for ANAMABO
Fort and CAPE COAST Castle.
The F anti refugees in ANAMABO Fort nearly proved
a stumbling-block to the successful issue of the nego-
• Ellis, "History of tbe Gold Coast," p. 113.
TEMPORARY CESSATION 47
AKWAPIMS down to ADDA, on the Coast. He failed to
capture KWAO ASAFOACHl, and contented himself with
keeping Mr. Lendt, the Danish Commandant of that
fort, captive until he was ransomed by his Government.
Towards the end of the year OPOKU again tried to
capture KWAO , and followed him as far as KROBO.
His efforts met with no success, and, on being recalled,
he returned to COOMASSIE. KWAO once more
assumed an independent position in AKWAPIM .
In the meantime ApPIA DANKWA with his army had
fought his way down to WINNEBA, where he engaged
and conquered a strong force of FANTIS. His objective
was ELM INA, so as to assist the ELM INAS against the
FANTIS; but his design was frustrated by ATTA, who
vigorously attacked the ASHANTIS in order to prevent
the junction of the two forces. ApPIA, whose original
force of 4,000 was by this time considerably reduced,
refused battle, and the force retreated in disorder. It
would doubtless have been exterminated had not
ATTA'S death put an end to the pursuit.
The unsuccessful invasion of the ASHANTIS in lSI I
stayed their ardour for the time being, but in 1814
OSEI BONSU, who had been practically hemmed in
for three years, determined to crush i\JlIN.\ x (L.S.)
" " BOITINNEE QUAMA x (L S.)
"(Signed) THOMAS ED\\',IRD BOWDITCH (L.S.)
" In the presence of
"(Signed) \\'ILLIAM HUTCHINSON, Resident.
u (Signed) H[~RY TEDLIE. Assistant-Surgeon.
Deputed from
"Th.. e mark of ApOKO( x the General " OnuMAT.\ x Assembly of
.... . NABBRA x Caboceers and " ASH.%XTEE x Captains to swear " with the King.
.. ( Lin~;tists to .. KABRA S.s EU!INA remained blockaded, for he
considered that to be a breach of the armistice and
suspected the sincerity of both English and allied
chiefs.
Major Ricketts endeavoured to induce the chiefs to
raise the siege, but without success, and it was not
until the conclusion of the year 1829 that it came to
an end.
As an outcome of all this unrest, the Home Govern-
ment decided to abandon the GOLD COAST altogether;
but on the urgent representations of the African mer-
chants, a compromise was effected by which the GOLD
COAST rema;ned technically a dependency of SIERRA
80
UQ,., while ita
ot
f
ABI!\.\ :\11'.\1"1\..\" SISTER OF AKWESSI INU.\l\I.\.
from ;:I. photograph.
MACLEAN'S TREATY OF PEACE 81
of Ashantee and all and each of the parties aforesaid, to
continue in all time coming. The above securities shall
remain in Cape Coast Castle for the space of six years
from this date .
.. 2. I n order to prevent all quarrels in future which
might lead to the infraction of this Treaty of Peace, we,
the parties aforesaid, have agreed to the following rules
and regulations for the better protection of lawful com-
merce.
" The paths shall be perfectly open and free to all
persons engaged in lawful traffic; and persons molest-
109 them in any way whatever, or forcing them to pur-
chase at any particular market, or influencing them by
any unfair means whatever, shall be declared guilty of
infringing this Treaty, and be liable to severest
punishment.
"Panyarring,* denouncing, and swearing on or by
any person or thing whatever, are hereby strictly for-
bidden, and all persons infringing this rule shall be
ri!!,orously punished; and no master or chief shall be
answerable for the crime of his servants, unless done by
his orders or consent, or when under his control.
" As the King of Ae:'antee has renounced all right or
title of any tribute or homage from the Kings of
Denk~ra, Assin, and others formerly his subjects, so,
on the other hand, these parlies are strictly prohibited
from insulting, by improper speaking or in any other
way, their former master, such conduct being calculated
to produce quarrels and w'r .
" All palavers are to be decided in the manner men-
tioned in the terms and conditions of peace already
agreed to by the parties to this Treaty.
" Signed in the Great Hall of Cape Coast Castle this
27th day of April, 1831, by the parties to this Treaty,
.. The word or Panyarring" (pronounced" payaring") meant
the seizure of persons, or their goods, in order to obtain
payment for debts due by relations or compatriots of the
seized.
x
x
x
x
x
x -.' ,"
OEF£AT OF JUABENS
demanded his !,cad, but Y AO AKOTO refused to accede
to this exorbitant, if not unusual, demand, and ordered
BOATIN to come to COOMASSIE to settle the dispute.
BOATIN (always inclined to claim equal rank with and
independence from COOMASSIE) sent a defiant message
in reply The King sent KWANTABlssA, the then
ADENTINHENE, to JUABEN to endeavour to pacify the
enraged chief. He was, however, not only refused
admission to the town, but was insulted and stoned, and •
BOATIN went so far as to curse the King in KWANTA-
BISSA'S hearing.
This affront could only be wiped out in blood, and the
King attacked and utterly routed the JUABENS. They
fled to KIBBI, where they remained for several years,
in spite of repeated efforts on AKOTO'S part to induce
them to return. BOATIN PENIN died at KIBBI, and
was succeeded by KOFI BOATIN.
OSEI YAO AROTO died towards the end of 1838,
and was succeeded by his nephew, KWERu OUA .
KWEKU DUA'S PEACEFUL POLICY 85
The JUABENS set out on their journey in 1839. KOFl
BOATlN, however, died on the way, and his death
delayed their journey. It was not until 1841 that the
Juaben Queen-Mother, OHlMMA JUABEN SEWA, made
her state entry into COOMASSIE, where she was most
cordial! y received.
The King placed ASAFu EJEl on the stool of J UABEN,
and the town was speedily rebuilt. In grateful com-
pliment the JUABENS surnamed KWEKu DUA "TI
ETUWA " (= healer).
K WEK U D UA soon dis pia yed statesmanlike qualities
of no mean order. Much to the surprise of his people, he
settled a quarrel with NKORANZA by skilJul diplomacy .
He thereby earned the surname of AJ 1M AN (= peace-
maker). by which title he was henceforward known.
He showed his clemency by releasing TAM lA, ex-
Queen-Mother of JAMAN, captured in the last Jaman
war. He sent her back to BONTuKu. This kindly
act was evidently both recognized and appreciated. for
the JAMANS. in return, sent him a present of 400 ounces
of gold. Freeman leturned to COOMASSlE in 1841,
accompanied by another missionary named Brooking,
and the two Ashanti princes. ANSA and INKwANTA-
BISSA. Perhaps the fact of the two latter being first-
cousins of the King ensured the missionaries a good
reception. Certainly thp presents from the Queen of
England and the Wesleyan Society which the mis-
sionaries took with them facilitated matters.
Among the presents was a carriage, sent by the
Society. The transport of this through the thick bush
and narrow paths gave much trouble, but, once in
Coomassie. was much appreciated by the King. who
used it on state occasions as a conveyance for his wives.
The vehicle itself was kept in the so-called '. fort" of
7
REFUSAL OF ASSINS TO RETURN 87
1848, for the Ashanti capital, accompanied by Freeman
and Captain Powell. He had an escort of a company
of the 1st West India Regiment. Winniett was well
received by the King, but since the ASHANTIS were
unwilling to abandon their barbaric custom of human
sacrifices, his mission proved unsuccessful.
KWEKU DUA, taking advantage of the Governor's
~resence, endeavoured to enlist his co-operation to
induce the ASSINS to return to ASHANTI. The
Governor promised that, provided the ASSINS were
willing to return, he would not place any obstacle in ,
the way of their departure from the Protectorate.
True to his promise, immediately on his return to
CAPE COAST he placed the project before the Assin
chiefs.
They preferred to remain under British protection .
I This decision was conveyed to the King, and he was
further informed that, since the ASSINS had decided to
remain in the Protectorate, they would in future be
,considered independent of ASHANTI.
About this time KWEKU DUA had trouble with
his sister, EFuA SAPON, the Queen-Mother. Her
son, OSEI KOlO, was supposed to be scheming-to oust
KWEKU DUA and to obtain the stool for himself. One
of OSEI KOlO's domestics informed the King that his
master had made a fetis' to kill the King.
A dispute arose between them, and the Queen-
Mother tried to shield her son, but KWEKl' DUA
deposed her and appointed her daughter, EFUA KOBI,
as her successor.
OS!I KOlO, who had occupied the ABAKUMAlUA
stool (founded by KWISSI BonUM for the heir-
apparent), was likewise removed and his stool given to
KOBINA ENIN, eldest son of EFUA KOBI.
88 KWEKU DUA I.
In 1852 KOjo OTIBU of ASSIN commenced plotting
with COO MASSIE for the return to ASHANTI 01 his
people, most of whom had been driven south of the
PRA years before.
The Ashanti King, who was only too willing to see
them return to their own homes, readily took the bait
offered by the wily OTIBU, and sent him 300 or more
pereguns* to assist the movement. But news having
reached the Governor of OTIBU'S negotiations, he
caused his arrest and brought him to CAPR COAST,
where he was tried by a tribunal composed of the
Governor, the Judicial Assessors, and several Fanti
chiefs. OTIBU was charged with three offences:
(a) Sending a man as prisoner to Coomassie, know-
ing he would be sacrificed;
(b) Receiving a bribe from the King, and using it to
induce his captains to accept Ashanti rule, and
(c) Setting the authority of the Governor at defiance
by detaining his soldier messenger.
OTIBU was found guilty on all counts, and sentenced
to be imprisoned for life. Another Assin chief named
JEBI received a lighter sentence.
OTIBU was released a few week9later on the petition
of the allied chiefs. As a guarantee of his good
behaviour, they handed over to the Governor as
hostages the heirs to all important stools in ASSIN.
No sooner was OTIBU reinstated than he recom-
menced his intrigues, and appealed to the King to send
a party of ASH ANTIS to DUNKwA, ostensibly to
the funeral custom for the late King of DRNKIRA He
stated that he would join the party on Its return journey
and compel as many of his people as he could to do
• The prosent-day value of • poregna equal. £8.
SElztJRE OF ASHANTI TRADERS 89
likewise. To this the King stupidly agreed, and wrote
to the Governor in March, 1853, of his intention to
send his brother ACHIEMPON with a party to DUNKWA
for a funeral custom.
On account of the great unrest caused among the
FANTlS by the advent of this party, ACHIEMPON and
his people were stopped at FEsu, beyond the PRA, by
Ensign Brownell.
OTlBU, now thoroughly ftightened, fled to CAPE
•
COAST. JEBI was confronted with ACHIEMPON, and
the whole plot was revealed.
The F.\NTlS, as a protest to ACHIEMPON'S presence
• among them, seized all the Ashanti traders on whom
'they could lay hands. This drastic measure had, natur-
lally enough, the contrary effect to that anticipated,
and prolonged ACHIEMPON'S visit, while he was being
reinforced steadily from COOMASSIIl.
He insisted on the release of the Ashanti traders and
all their goods.
Everything was now made ready for another invasion
by the As HANTlS. Tl,e completion of these preparations
induced the King to recall ACHIEMPON. The invasion
was, however, averted, for in April OTIBU and JERI
were beheaded at DUNKWA, in the presence of a large
concourse of allied chiefs.
The Governor alleged th1t KWEKU DUA had by this
I invasion of ACHIEMPON broken the Treaty of 1831,
and suggested a new one. The messenger returned to
CAPE COAST in January, 1854, with the King's reply.
He refused to sign a new Treaty-
" because I consider that I have not violated any of
the rules in the old Treaty since it was drawn up at Cape
Coast Castle until the occurrence of the recent excite-
ment, caused by the evil conduct of the Assins, in which
-
•
SOURCES .OF ROYAL REVENUE 91
geographical position that aliens were only allowed into
ASHANTI for trading purposes on special permission.
Thus they remained the middlemen lor all trade
between the countries to the north of ASHANTI and the
coast. A large market was established at SALAGA,
where the Mahommedan traders of the interior
exchanged their cattle and sheep for kola nuts and Euro-
pean goods.
Although the King did not himself own any gold-
mines, all nuggets exceeding a certain size were his by •
law.
The death duties exacted by him were extremely
heavy. All the property of a deceased ABREMPON
went to the King, who usually returned part of it to the
new chief. The only exceptions to this rule were in
connection with the stools of AOENTIN, MAMPON,
NsuTA, KUMAwu, JUABIN, OFINSU, BEKWAI,
KOKOFU, AOANSI, and EsuMEJA. On the death of a
chief occupying one of the above stools, only a few gold
ornaments went to the King, together with a male and
a female servant.
The King also derived his revenue from oath fees and
fines; road taxes in kind, on cattle and sheep; and
various trading ventures.
KWESSI BOOUM is reported to have been the richest
of all the Kings of ASHANTJ.
All went well until ,d62, when an ASHANTI named
JANIN fled to the coast for having failed to comply with
the Ashanti law that all gold nuggets recove~ed should
be sent to the King. Owing, presumably, to a guilty '
conscience, KWEKu JANIN refused to stand his trial in
COOMASSIE, and took several of his people away with
him. A runaway slave also joined him.
In December, 1862, a formal demand was made for
THE RETURN OF THE FUGITIVES 93
Coast Castle did not move from this agreement, but
always filled the rules of the said poor George Maclean,
except your time has destroyed the agreement. . . .
But one of my slaves, named Quarquah, who was wit-
ness to the said agreement, and who was the bearer of
the certificate for me, is absent in the town, and I have
sent messenger after him, but when he comes I will let
him come with the book, that you may see your
guiltiness. "
Although no mention of extradition existed in the
Treaty referred to-that of 1831-it may be safely
accepted that the King was under that impression.
Only ten years before, Cruikshank, who had been
Ju diciJI Asse",or, wrote as follows:
.. Another difficulty which our Gold Coast Govern-
ment has to contend against is the disposal of runaway
slaves from Ashantee. It was stipulated in our treaties
with the King that his fugitive subjects should be re-
<.Ielivered to him in the same way that Fantees flying
into his dominions were to be restored to the Governor.
This arrangement wa~ necessary to prevent malefactors
escaping from punishment. But in many cases the
runaway Ashantee seeks a refuge from the fate which is
likely to overtake him at the murderous customs which
are often taking place at Coomassie, and a natural
repugnance is, of course, felt about surrendering
him. . .. Under thesr rircumstances the Governor
is obliged to mediate as he best can, and refuses to
deliver up the runaway, except upon condition of suffi-
cient security being given that his life will be spared ....
The security for their safety is simply the King's great
oath taken on his behalf by his messengers. There is
no instance known of this oath, given under such cir-
cumstances, being violated. ,,*
• Cruiksbank, vol. il.l p. 2)6.
HOSTILITIES AFTER REFUSAL 95
ASHANTlS on their way back with ammunition from
ELMINA.
No actual declaration of war had yet been made, but
marauding bands of ASHANTlS crossed the PRA and
did all the damage they could.
In April, 1863, three armies invaded the Pro-
tectorate. One of about 2,000 men entered W ASSA,
with orders to hold the DENKERAS and W ASSAS in
check; a second and stronger force advanced from
PRAS U down into the centre of the Protectorate; while
a third, the main body, under Awusu KOKO, entered
AKIM and marched on EsslKuMA, where it surprised
an allied camp and completely routed it.
Major Cockrane, who had been sent to resist the
invaders and lead the allies, fell back on ANAMABO .
Ellis thus described what occurred:
.. On May loth the Ashantis advanced to within a
quarter of a mile of the camp of the allies, and a slight
skirmish took place between them and the native scouts,
in which several of the latter were killed. A general
engagement was now confidently expected for the next
day, and there was a reasonable prospect of victory, as
~he native contingent at BOBIKUMA numbered nearly
twenty thousand men; but to the astonishment and
indignation of the entire force, both Regular and native,
Major Cockrane issued orders for the whole of the
former and the greater , ortion of the Tatter to retire to
the village of Adijuma ; and this retrograde movement
was carried out on the day following, while the gallant
Commander himself proceeded to the seacoast town of
Mumford. On May 12th the remnant of the native
contingent left at Bobikuma was attacked in force by
the Ashantis at two o'clock in the afternoon, and by
five o'clock the allied natives were completely routed,
losing very heavily. The town of Bobikuma was
COLLAPSE OF THE ALLIES 97
and treat it as such, the difficulties attending which
would have been very great owing to past misunder-
standings, and would have steadily increased as time
went on and the power of the English grew and ex-
tended; the other was to conquer it, and by a firm and
just rule gradually eliminate what was objectionable,
and foster and encourage what was good in it. There
was no practicable middle COUri;e . *
But the representations he made to the Home
Government met with scant encouragement.
The Governor, expecting that the ASHANTIS would
resume warfare on the cessation of the rains, made all
the preparations he could to resist them . In January,
1864, a camp was established at l\V.Nsu, and in
February the whole of the troops in CAPE COAST were
encamped at PRASU, where a strong stockade was con-
structed. AnOther force was stationed in AKI M
SUEDRU.
The ASHANTIS, however, were firmly convinced that
the British troops and allies would not dare cross the
PRA River, so they aW:lited events in security.
The climate and exposure soon began to tell on the
forces of the allies; fever and dysentery broke out and
played havoc among them, and eventually compelled
them to withdraw.
On receiving the news of the evacuation of the allied
camps, the ASHANTIS openly exulted, and KWEKU
DUA is supposed to have said that ., the white man
may bring his cannon to the bush, but the bush is
stronger than the cannon."
It was alone due to the King's peaceable disposition
that no invasion followed on this abortive attempt to
overawe ASHANTJ.
... Claridge, vol I" p. J20.
98 KWEKU DUA 1.
An enquiry was once more held on the whole affairs
of the GOLD COAST. A select Committee of the House
of Commons was appointed to consider a special report
drawn up by Colonel ORO, R. E. As a result of its
deliberations the GOLD COAST became again a depen-
dency of SIERRA LEONE.
Owing to the deplorable failure of the recent cam- I
paign, British prestige had faUen to a very low ebb, and
the belief that the British were useless at bush war-
fare gradually gained ground. In consequence the
ASHANTIS, who had certainly achieved a moral victory
over the British, expected to dictate their own
terms .
George Blankson of ANAMABO was again sent to
COOMASSIE at the end of 1865, and the King sent an
embassy down to the Coast. Nothing was definitely
settled as the outcome of these negotiations, but the
Lieutenant-Governor, Lieutenant-Colonel Conran,
thought fit to issue a proclamation in January, 1866,
stating that the King of ASHANTI had sued for peace,
and that peace had accordingly been declared.
This action on his part only made matters worse, for
on hearing of it the King was greatly indignant with
Colonel Conran, and refused to take part in any fur-
ther negotiations until the Governor had complied with
his demand for JANIN'S surrender.
Later in the year KWEKU DUA offered assistance to
the AWUNAS (a Coast tribe), who had been at war with
the British, and had been severely punished in March,
1866. With this object he sent an army early in 1867
against the KRI!.PIS, who were allies of the ACCRAS. In
this way the AWUNAS were able to maintain their resISt-
ance to the ACCRAS, and the ASHANTIS assisted them
to pillage and fire towns in KROBO.
DEATH OF KWEKU DUA 99
KWEKU DUA died in April, 1867, after a reign of
twenty-nine years. He is talked of as having been the
most peaceable and generous of the Ashanti monarchs,
yet he had the misfortune to be involved in several
campaigns, all of which he believed to have been
caused by the perfidy of the British authorities.
,
•
"~'
-~ ~
"
-
EXCHANGE OF FORTS 101
did not swear that" My business shall be war" (as he
is said to have done) is doubtful, but it is certain that
after his accession, when returning thanks to the
ASREMPON, he wore a cap covered with flints, the
Ashanti emblem and presage of war.
In March, 1867, a Treaty had been signed in
London between the British and Dutch, whereby the
"Sweet River" was declared to be the boundary
between the two Powers on the GOLD COAST.
This implied the exchange ofthe forts in ApOLLONIA,
DIXCOVE, SEKONDI, and KOMENDA, for the Dutch
settlements at MORI, KOROMANTlN, APAM and
ACCRA. The affected tribes had to transfer their
allegiance to another power. This arrangement suited
some tribes, but not others, such as the DENKERAS and
W ASSAS, who found themselves at the mercy of the
ASHANTlS as a result of the exchange, the Dutch al-
ways having remained on friendly terms with ASHANTI.
The ASHANTlS were naturally delighted with the turn
of affairs.
The Treaty came into force on January 1st, 1868,
hut was not put into operation without great opposition
on the coast. It gave rise to the Fanti Confederation,
which included nearly all the tribes except the ELMINAS.
On this Rccount, ELM INA was attacked and invested
by the FANTlS. KOFI y, yer and Kuhne, If Four Years in \.shanti/' p. '29.
104 KOFI KARl KARl
inflicted severe losses on the ASHANTIS and intercepted
their convoys of ammunition. Eou, ascribing thi.
• calamity to the capture of the white men, decided to
send hostages for the safety of the Europeans. These
hostages were sent to the Governor at CAPE CO.\ST
through KROBO.
The alarming reports of Eou's position also
induced the King to offer an exchange of prisoners.
The Governor, thinking that the King alluded to the
Europeans in his hands, caused the ASHANTlS in the
Protectorate to be collected and sent to PRAS U under
Major Brownell. But the Assin chiefs, unwilling to
surrender the Ashanti prisoners, closed the roads
just north of the PRA and caused a delay of seven
months.
In the meanwhile better news reached COOMASSI E
of Eou's situation, so that when the exchange did
actually occur in March, 187', the King onl}' yielded
up some FANTIS, excusing himself for not sending the
Europeans by saying that he had to await the return of
Eou BAFFuo, who had captured them.
The concerted attack on the Protectorate did not
eventuate.
The Dutch found themselves completely powerless
with the means at their disposal to impose law and
order in their possessions, and negotiations for the
transfer of all their rights to the British were com-
menced in November, 186g. These negotiations did
not culminate until 1872, the chief difficulties to be ur-
mounted being the presence of ACHIEMPON at ELMIN~
and the Ashanti claim to that town.
The Dutch had paid rent to the Ashanti Kings for
ELM INA Castle ever since the" Note" feU into OSEI
TUTU'S hands in 16gg or 1700, and Elmina territory
ASH ANTI CLAIM TO ELMINA 105
had, according to the ASHANTIS, ever since formed an
integral part of the kingdom.
In all negotiations, moreover, between the British
and ASHANTIS, this claim, if not actually acknowledged,
had been recognized.
As late as 1868 the Elmina chiefs, in refusing an
alliance with the FANTIS, had told Sir Arthur Kennedy
that they wished to continue to pay tribute to ASHANTI.
The presence of ACHIEMPON in ELM INA with his
warriors was in itself an enlightening fact.
But the Dutch, who were now only too anxious to
withdraw from the coast, denied the existence of the
Ashanti claim, or of " any treaty of official engagement
between Elmina and Ashanti. "*
The Dutch Governor admitted, however, that his
Government paid twenty ounces of gold annually to the
King of ASHANTI on an agreement entered into with
the Chief of DENKERA to encourage trade, adding that
" the King of Ashanti has no recognized claim upon
the territory or people of Elmina." t
In November, 1870, KOFI KARl KARl heard rumours
of this transfer, and in a letter dated November 24th,
1870, wrote as follows to Mr. Ussher, the Adminis-
trator :
" I beg to bring before your Excellency's kind con-
sideration regarding the Elmina, if it is included in the
change. The forts o. that place have. from time
immemorial paid annual tribute to my ancestors to the
present time by right of arms, when we conquered
Intim Gackidi, King of Denkera. Intim Gackidi hav-
ing purchased goods to the amount of nine thousand
pounds (£9,000) from the Dutch, the Dutch demanded
• Parliamentary Papers: Cession of Dutch Settlements.
t Ibid •
•
106 KOFI KARl KARl
of my father, Osei Tutu I., for the payment, who (Osei
Tutu) paid in full the nine thousand pounds (£9,000),
and the Dutch delivered the Elmina to him as his own,
and from that time tribute has been paid to us to this
present time. "*
Later he again protested in these words:
" From the ancient up to this time Elmina Ca,tle is
mine, and living with them as friends, and they also
paid yearly tribute to me, but as having understood
that it going in exchange to be your Excellency' 5 pro-
tection I do not understand." t
Colonel Nagtglas, the Dutch Governor, mamtained
his attitude of denial, and imprisoned ACHIEMPO:-l in
April, 187 I, to induce him to return to COO~l.\SSlE,
and in October the sale of munitions of war to A,hanti
traders was prohibited.
In May, 1871, the Dutch sent to COOM.\SSIE one
Henry PLANGE, a native clerk in their employ, to
obtain, if possible, a withdrawal of the King's claim to
ELlIlINA.
He there saw the European missionaries, besides a
British Government Native Agent who was negotiating
for their release. PLANGE left COO~tASSIE on Sep-
tember 2nd, and on his return presented the Dutch
Governor with the following document:
"CERTIFICATE OF APOLOGY.
.. I. These are to certify that the letter addressed to
his Excellency H. T. Ussher, the Admini,trator of Her
Britannic Majesty's Settlements on the Gold Coast,
•
ParliameDtary Papers, CessioD of Dutch SettlemeDIS.
t Ibid.
PLANGE'S CERTIFICATE OF APOLOGY 107
dated Coomassie, 24th Novembe., 1870, by me, Coffie
Calcalli, King of Ashantee, reside at Coomassie king-
dom, was totally misrepres.ented in the part of parties
entrusted with the writing and the dictating.
" 2. I therefore do solemnly declare, in the presence
of your Excellency's Ambassador, Mr. H. Plange,
profession, writer of the Government's office at st.
George d'Elmina, and my Chiefs, that I only meant
board, wage, or salary, and not tribute by right of arms
from the Dutch Government.
" 3. On account of circumstances relative to my
ancestor, Osei Tutu the 1st, having conquered Intim
Gackadi, the then King of Denkera, a friend or kind of
commission agent of some transactions for His Nether-
land Majesty's Government on the Gold Coast, the
said Intim Gackadi's liahilities with the Dutch Govern-
ment on the Gold Coast, to the amount of £9,000, my
said ancestor was caused to make it good by the said
Dutch Government, and in virtue of which the Custom
pay-note of the said Intim Gackadi was transferred to
my said ancestor, who enjoyed it in times immemorial,
and became heritable to his heirs the Kings of
Ashantee, who now hold the said Custom pay-note in
possession to this present moment.
"4. The said £9,000 was paid to ensure friendship
and goodwill, or feeling, towards the Dutch Govern-
ment on the Gold Coast Settlement in Elmina Fort,
ea stle or Fort .
.. 5· Tradition tells us that Ashanti and Elmina are
relations, offspring 01 one mother; they are brethren;
also they are not to have hostilities against each other
by oath of allegiance .
.. 6. In conclusion, I must acknowledge that the
forementioned letter, dated Coomassie, 24th Novem-
ber, 1870, about my communication to his Excellency
H. T. Ussher, concerning Elmina Fort, is a vague,
fo~, or nominal expression, the sentiments of
108 KOFI KARl KARl
which I therefore must now write that the whole is a
mistake .
.• Signed in the presence of the Ambassador and the
Chiefs, Coomassie, 19th August, 1871.
hi,
"(Signed) COFFIE CALCALLI X
mark
King of Ashantee.
Reside at Coomassie Kingdom.
" Chiefa-
his
"(Signed) INsuA x POKOO .
mark
, his
BOOACHIE X TURTSIN.
marl<
his
YOAR X NVCHWIE.
mark
"(Signed) H. PLANGE, Ambassador."
A copy of the document walt at once sent by the
Dutch authorities to the Administrator, Mr. Salmon,
at CAPE COAST. I t satisfied the British authorities, and
the Convention for the cession of the Dutch !tettlellients
was ratified on February 17th, 1872.
No doubt can now be entertained that the
was a forgery, but there is good proof that LieutenaDt-
Colonel Fergusson, the Dutch Governor, was no party
to the fraud, for he at once acknowledged the receipt
of the Certificate in a letter to KOFi KAlIl KAlIl, and
asked him to Withdraw ACHIEMPON from ELMlNA.
This letter arrived in COOMASSIE in December, and
the missionaries read it to the King, who to
understand the meaning of the contenjs. M-.
Ramseyer and KUhne, moreover, who bad in
•
DUTCH POSSESSIONS TAKEN OVER 109
COOMASSIE throughout PLANGE'S visit, had never
seen or heard of the "Certificate of Apology,"
although they were in the habit of reading and
interpreting the King's correspondence to him.
The first effect of the transfer of the Dutch settle-
ments was to place the whole Coast under one Govern-
ment. This modified the views of the ELMINAS, who
realized that they could now claim the protection of the
British flag in common with all their foes. Further,
they were influenced by the report of the withdrawal of
the Ashanti claim to their territory, and finally, when
ACHI EMPON was removed by the Dutch to ASHANTI,
they decided to accept their new rulers.
Mr. Pope Hennessy formally took over the Dutch
possessions in April, 1872, and the Dutch left the GOLD
COAST for ever, after an occupation of 274 years.
I n the meanwhile negotiations for the release of the
European missionaries had been renewed with ASHANTI,
but EDU BAFFUO, now in COO MASSIE, strongly resisted
their surre"der. It was eventually decided to claim the
exorbitant ransom "f I ,800 ounces of gold (about
£6,500). Only two chiefs (those of MAMPON and
ADANSI) were in favour of releasing the prisoners,
warning the assembly that if they did not do so they
must prepare for war. This was the very thing the
chiefs wanted, although the King himself was against
extreme measures.
In September, 1872, the captive missionaries wrote
to the Governor as follows:
" The King has often declared again and again that
he is the friend of your Excellency. that he truly wants
peace, and as for his part he would send the white
p~son~rs, but he seems to be entirely in the hands of
hIS ChIefs; he says they want the money. and it is to be
llO KOFI KARl KARl
seen clearly that he has not power enough to resi,t
them. We believe surely that they, on the pitch of
their excitement and in their blindness, would force the
King, by his great oath, to begin a new war. ,,*
Mr. Pope Hennessy endeavoured by a policy of
extreme generosity to gain his own ends. He sent
valuable presents to the King, offered to double the
annual payment made by the Dutch, released the
Ashanti hostages (among whom was EDtJ B.IHI·O'S
own son), and even went so far as to withdraw the
prohibition of the sale of arms and ammunitions, thus
giving the ASHtlNTlS every facility to prepare for war.
Moreover, he must needs select the questionable
PLANGE as his messenger-a person who was anything
but a persolta gmta at the Ashanti court.
PLANGE carried letters offering £ 1,000 in exchange
for the European prisoners. These conciliatory tactics
were doomed to failure. The Ashanti chiefs construed
them as an indication of fear, with the result that it
made them all the more determined to fight. PI -\. 'GI!
wa contemptuously received, and ignored lor. e\'eral
weeks.
The King held a large meeting of the ASREMPON on
September 2nd, 1872, to consider the subject. Great
indignation was expressed at the Governor's offer, but
KOFI KARl KARl induced the chiefs to decrease their
claim to £2,000.
PLANGE, when asked to give his opinion, declared
that the Governor would not pay more than £1,000,
whereupon a perfect uproar ensued.
The following is an extract from PLANGE'S journal,
taken from Brackenbury:
* II Transfer of Dutcb Pos'SessioDs." part i., P. I S+
PLANGE'S JOURNAL III
" King at Beckwy : If we do not accept the £! ,000,
and not agree to let these white men free to go to the
coast, what will come?
"H. Plange: Nothing will come; but the friendly
will not increase as before, because it will pain the
Governor.
" King at Duadin: Then war will come, but remem-
ber that from time immemorial or from ancient time you
never heard that the F antees declared war against
Ashantees, but always Ashantees against the Fantees ;
and how is it ? These white men we sell them for gold;
if Governor agree the price, he can buy them; if not,
we will keep them for curiosity. Another thing, if the
Governor has not money to pay the amount we ask,
let him give back the Assins, Ackims, and Dencirras,
in the place of these white men, and we will give them
up to him (Governor). but not any less money.
" H . Plange : I am not sent to decide old matters
which I don 't know; but this point I will not be scruple
to answer you; the Assins are refugees, and Governor
cannot give them to you as you wish; no, never.
" King: Put this aside, and let we manage the
money matter. Arthur (Plange), what you say about
the money?
"H. PlaILge: My master, the Governor, wrote a
letter to his friend, while I am already here, sent in by
Affilfa, request the King to pay that £ 1,000, even
£soo-the Basel missionaries are able to pay, as I
told you before; Governor offered this £1,000 to His
Majesty for the purpose maintain peace; but for any
money than the £I, 000 ?
" King: Can't Governor pay any money more than
the £I ,ooo?
"H. Plange: As it was in the letter.
"King at Fommanah: Governor is only pinching
us with the £1,000 to hear some words from us, and
that is all. Governor will hear is a war; and seeing I
am the King of Fo mmanah, even I am the smallest
112 KOFI KARl KARl
King, I know that the Governor will not able to come
to me.
" King's Mother : You think also that I am
woman; it is so, but my right arm is strong enough to
meet urulUmbered Fantees, whoever likes to declare
war against the Ashantees.
" A manquateah : If lice or louse are too much in the
hair and troubles you, should better to shave the hair
and get rest.
" H. Plange : Have I spoke any bad words to cause
you to anger? H ow you mean by these?
" King: Governor wants really to have war with me
but not for peace, reason why instead he has to pay the
half of the amount 600 praquen (£4,860) . The Chief,
Adu Boffu, asked only sent a letter to pay £I ,000.
For fight affairs I am not afraid; if you like I can show
you my magazine, to see so much quantity of ammuni-
tion I have, that you may tell the Governor and the
F antees. So far I know that the white man never
agree with raining and sunshine as we ran bear.
" H. Plange: I am not sent to make declaration of
war, but I was sent as messenger of peace; and if you
mean to declare war with the coast as you are hooting
at it now, I dare say if it is so I will never cross the
Prah before the roads will be shutted ; and not this I
am going to write to my master about it. If I do, the
matter will be spoiled .
" AU the Chwfs : Do so, war we never afraid; if you
boast us with war affairs we are not afraid, etc.
" H. Plange: I beg the King of Mampon to speak
with the King and chieves to be quiet, and I beg to
know something to enable me to inform my master, aa
the period of the affairs.
" Adu Boffu's Families: After our opinions are not
to be blamed the King on the coast, as the coast
will talk bad against our King, so we let the
comes to £4,000 .
.. King: Governor messenger, Arthur (PIaoge), ~
CHIEFS DESIRE WAR 113
to write a letter to the Governor just now, and that, as
for my side, I am willing to let these white men go to
their country free, without ask any cent, but the chiefs
sticks upon the said money, and I beg the chiefs are
here present, that as I wish to have peace with the
coast, the amount of £4,000 you said to be reduced as
to come to the amount of £2,000.
" King oj F ommanah: I beg the messenger Arthur
not to write Governor about these affairs, that we may
settle these affairs quietly.
" King: Do not mention this, because it shows that
you are afraid. I wish the messenger write the
Governor so."
In October the King sent OWUSU KUMA to CAPK
COAST with a large retinue to deliver his claim for
£2,000. KOFI KARl KARl, in his eagerness for peace,
however, had given his messenger a second letter
reducing his claim to £1,000. PLANGE, knowing this,
contrived to inform the Administrator, Mr. Salmon, of
this second letter, whereupon a firm attitude was
adopted, and it was finally arranged to hand the money
over to a Mr. Grant at CAPE COAST, to be held in trust
for the King until the release of the missionaries.
This was accordingly done, and the King informed
of the result of the negotiations.
But the unrest among the Ashanti chiefs was in-
creasing. The accuml"l'ed effect of the refusal to
surrender JANIN in the last reign and the recent loss of
ELM INA was in itself sufficient to engender fierce
resentment, but the deciding factor in favour of hos-
tilities-the real cause of the war-was the extreme
jealousy aroused among the ABREMPON by the success
of Eou BAFFUO,
Eou was a junior chief when he ventured on his
K rppi campaign, but his successes had raised him to a
"4 KOFl KARl KARl
position of great importance. He was now a large
slave-owner and had acquired great wealth. This was
gall and wormwood to all his seniors in rank. B EN I M P.\,
the CHIDOMHENE, and four of his elders, headed the
war-party. They were spoiling for an opportunity to
distinguish themselves, and argued that the chances of
self-aggrandizement offered by success in the field far
out weighed the hardships and disadvantages of war-
fare. Their assurance of the British Government',
dread of hostilities, moreover, acted as a welcome spur
to their inclinations, and war became inevitable.
I t was decided upon at a meeting held by the King
on October 2 2nd. The chiefs swore to march to the
Coast, and the King replied: "If you go, I go with
you. "
On November 8th PLANGE and the missionaries were
sent to FOMENA (thirty-three miles south of COO-
MASSIE, on the CAPE COAST road). Whether this was
done to get them out of the way during mobilization, or
whether the King really intended to release them and
altered his mind on receipt of the news that the ransom
would only be paid at CAPE COAST, is uncertain. The
captives were detained at FOMENA until December 8th,
and then brought back to COOMASSIE.
The usual tactics of a simultaneous attack on three
sides were again adopted.
KOFI BENTUO (Chief of MARAWERE) was to march
south-east with a small force of two or three thousand
men, to hold the AKI MS in check, and give free move-
ment to the central column; EDU BAFFUO, with four
or five thousand men, was to overrun DENKERA and
WASSA; while the main army, under A~IA,'KWA TJA
of BANTAMA, of some 20,000 (with reserves), was to
advance due south to the coast.
INVASION OF THE PROTECTORATE "s
Eou BAFFUO'S division marched first, and took the
lIhr-;sv ; '''WANTA road, It consisted of all Eou's
own people, called JIASIWA, belonging to AGOGo,
JI'ICHI, and several more villages. He crossed the
OFIN mto SEFWI, and went as far as WIOSO before he
tllmed down into ApOLLONIA, where he had three
engagement. and captured INSAMA.
The main army followed a week bter, under
AMANKWA TIA, and marched straight for the PRA,
where the concentration was effected. This army con-
sisted of all the COOMASSIES, the TEKIMANs (under
the DOMAKWAI stool), the WENCH IS and MANSU
NKW.INTAS (under ASAFO), the ASH.INTI AKIMS
(under the OOUM stool), the OBOGllS (under the
AN~NTAHENE), the BEREKUMS and DENYASIS (under
B.~NTAMA). the AHAFOS (under ANKASE), AGUNA
(under AOENTIN), and the NKORANZAS, WAMS,
OFINSUS, KllMAwus, EJIsus, MAMPONS, JUABENS,
BEKWAIS, KOKoFus, and AOANSIS-all in their own
separate formations, in accordance with the established
rule described on p. q.
KOFI BENTUO left COOMASSIE with all the MARA-
WERE people about forty days after the main army, and
followed the EJlsu road, with the intention of guarding
the AKIM frontier; but he was recalled, as the King
heard that the DENKERAS had hidden their heirlooms
in a forest called YINABA. ORO, close to IMBRAIM, and
sent BENTUO to recover them. He failed in his mission,
and returned to COOMASSIE on hearing of the defeat of
A~I.\NKWA TIA.
The main army commenced to cross the PRA in
January, 1873. This is said to have occupied five
days. Several Assin villages were burnt and plundered.
The GO"crnment first received definite information of
II6 KOFI KARl KARl
the invasion on January 31st. Taken completely by
surprise. the British authorities refused to believe the
news until the ASHANTIS attacked a camp of hastily
collected allies at YANKUMASI Ass IN on February 9th,
and occupied that place. The allies fell back on
YANKUMASI FANTI (about thirty-five miles), where a
large camp was established.
Although they made preparations to attack the
invaders, the allies were surprised by the ASHANTIS on
March 10th and completely routed, after a hard fight.
The news of this battle caused the greatest dismay on
the coast, as it left the ASHANTIS encamped within
• thirty miles of CAPE COAST . Fortunately for the allies,
AMANKWA TIA did not follow up his victory. This
gave the allies (who had now been reinforced by an
officer and 100 men of the West India Regiment) time
to concentrate at DUNKWA, a village four miles south
of the Ashanti camp. A pause ensued, as the allied
chiefs could not be persuaded to attack, and AMANKWA
T IA waited for reinforcements and ammunition. This
delay enabled Eou BAFFuo (who had defeated the
DENKERAS and WASSAS, and had been reinforced by
the SEFWIS) to join the main army.
The ASHANTIS attacked at their leisure on April 8th,
but they were met with the resistance of desperation
and neither side could claim a victory. On April 14th
the ASHANTIS again attacked the allies, and a fierce
battle, lasting from daylight to dark, was fought with-
out definite result. The ASHANTIS were so disheartened
that they prepared to retreat. But before their pre-
parations were complete they heard that their enemies
were in full flight on CAPE COAST. Had the ASHANTIS
followed them up then and there, nothing could have
opposed their march to the coast. They were, bow-
ELJ\UNA'S REVOLT SUPPRESSED 117
ever, in a wretched plight themselves . Food was
scarce and disease ravaged their ranks. Under these
circumstances, AMANKWA TIA contented himself with
formmg a large camp at DUNKwA, where his force
remamed until the middle of May. They moved on
JUKWA (fourteen miles south-west), where they
attacked and routed a combined force of FANTlS and
DENKER.IS on June 5th. The fugitives fled to CAPE
COAST, and a general panic seized the whole country-
side •
Between [5,000 and 20,000 natives sought the pro-
tection of the Castle guns. The Governor held a meet-
ing of chiefs on June 6th, and tried to rally them, but
without success. The ELMINAS rose in revolt, and
were bombarded from the Castle on June 13th. They
promptly retreated, but, having been reinforced by a
party of some 3,000 ASHANTlS, returned to the attack.
The steady volleys of the British troops, however,
caused them to retreat, with the loss of about 200
dead.
This action proved of great importance, as it caused
the ELMINAS to reconsider their position and acknow-
ledge the supremacy of the British Government; it con-
vinced the ASHANTlS that the capture of the Castle was
beyond their power; while it also made the Home
authorities realize the seriousness of the Ashanti inva-
sion and of the absolule necessity for the adoption of
strong measures against such a formidable foe.
But the plight of the ASHANTlS, although better
than that of their enemies, was far from enviable. Small-
pox and dysentery played havoc among their men; the
rainy season was at its height; the camps were swampy
and ill sanitary , and the indecision of AMANKW.\ TI \
caused great dissatisfaction.
9
118 KOFI KARl KARl
KaFI KARl KARl would not recall them, howeycr
To an appeal from his chiefs he replied:
"You wished for war, and you have it, you swore
you would not return till you could bring me the walls
of Cape Coast, and now you want me to recall you
because many Chiefs have fallen and you are suffering.
I t was not I ; it was you who wished it.' '*
Reinforcements consisting of 13 officers and 360 men
of the 2nd West India Regiment arrived in July, and
170 officers and men of the Royal Marine Light
Infantry and Artillery in August.
With the exception of a few skirmishes, however,
both sides remained inactive for several weeks.
In the meantime Sir Garnet Wolseley had been
appointed Civil Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
He arrived with his staff of thirty-six specially-selected
officers at CAPE COAST on October 2nd.
The instructions he received were as follows : t
"No.1. H Dow,sI1'i(; ~TREETt
II loth Septembe,. 1873.
" SIR ,
"Her Majesty's Government ha\'ing deter-
mined, in consequence of the critical state of affairs on
the Gold Coast caused by the Ashanti invasion, to unite
the chief civil and military command in the settlement
in the hands of an officer of high reputation and experi-
ence, I have the honour to acquaint you that Her
Maje5ty has been pleased to approve of your appoint-
ment to administer the government of the Gold Coast
Settlement, and I transmit to you herewith Her
Majesty's commission as Administrator,
, " 2. You will, as Administrator, correspond directly
with this office, and not through the Go\'ernor-in-Chief
• Ramseyer and Kuhne, p. 239.
t Brackenbury, \'01. i., p. 129 rl "q.
SIR G. WOLSELEY'S INSTRUCTIONS '19
of the West African Settlements, who wili be instructed
during your tenure of office to abstain from all inter-
ference in the affairs of the Gold Coast.
" 3. The circumstances which have led to the
present posItion of affairs on the Gold Coast appear to
be bnefty as follows:
.. 4 The King of Ashanti, as you will find on
referring to the document dated 19th of August, 1871,
which is printed at p. 34 of the correspondence pre-
sented to Parliament on Gold Coast affairs in February,
1872, disclaimed the pretension put forward in his letter
to Mr. Ussher, No. 24, of the 24th November, 1870,
that Elmina was his by right; but in his letter to Colonel
Harley of 20th of last March the King again asserted
that the fort of Elmina and its dependencies are his,
and it seems beyond a doubt that one of the main
objects of his mission was the assertion of Ashanti
supremacy over Elmina.
"5. But independently of Elmina, it must be
remembered that peace had never been formally re-
established with the Ashanti kingdom since the war of
1864, and that a petty warfare had from time to time
been carried on between the Ashantis and the border
tribes.
"6. [t has been asserted that Mr. Plange, the mes-
senger sent by Mr. Hennessey to Coomassie, did not
faithfully deliver the friendly messages with which he
was instructed from the British authorities to the King,
it is, however, a remarkable fact that almost up to the
time of the news arrivinb of the invasion the Gold Coast
Government was in apparently friendly communication
both with the King of Ashanti and his ambassadors at
Cape Coast, and that the Administrator was In daily
expectation of hearing that the captive missionaries
had been released, and that amicable relations had been
permanently established with the Ashanti kingdom .
"7 No indication had been given by the King of
Ashanti that he had any serious ground of quarrel with
J20 KOFI KARl KARl
the British Government, whether as regards Elmina or
any other matter ; and no opportunity was afforded to
the Adminis trator to endeavour to remove peacefully
any cause of complaint which the King might allege
against the British Government or against the tribes in
alliance with Her Majesty.
"8. The statement in a letter from ~Ir. Salmon.
then Acting Administrator. to Mr. Hennessey, dated
8th of November, 1872, that the Ashantis were at that
time and had been purchasing very large quantities of
ammunition, guns, gunpowder, and lead bars, seems to
show that the invasion had been deliberately planned,
and that it was not the result of a sudden outbreak of
savage violence, on account of any supposed affront or
neglect on the part of the British authorities. It is to
be observed, moreover, that in the letter to Colonel
Harley, to which I have referred above, the King of
Ashanti by no means limits his demands to Elmina, but
calls upon the Administrator to restore the Denkeras,
Akims, and Assins to their former position as his sub-
jects, in direct contravention of the Treaty of 1831,
in which it is stated that ' the King of Ashanti has
renounced all right or title to any tribute or homage
from the Kings of Denkera, Assin, and others formerly
his subjects.'
"9. I need scarcely say that Her Majesty's
Government cannot for a moment listen to such pre-
posterous demands. nor can they allow the territories of
the tribe in alliance with Her Majesty to be devastated.
the inhabitants butchered or driven away into slavery,
and all progress and commerce stopped on the Coast
by hordes of bariJarians.
" 10. At the same time, Her Majesty's Govern-
ment have never had any desire to prevent the Ashantis
from peaceful intercourse with the Coast; on the con-
trary, they have been anxious in every way to foster and
encourage such intercourse; and one of the ad\,antages
which they anticipated from the possession of the fom
elln.F' A'h:WESSI I:\UA~L\, HEAD LINGUIST.
I '0 From a photograph.
SIR G. WOLSELEY'S INSTRUCTIONS 121
at Elmina was that, through the friendly connection
between the Elminas and the Ashantis, increased facili-
ties would have been afforded for trade with the
latter.
" 1[. On your assuming the government} or as soon
after as you may think ad"isable, you will address a
communication to the King of Ashanti, summoning him
to wIthdraw his forces from the territories of our allies
within such a period as you may fix, and to make
adequate reparation for the injuries and losses which he
has inflicted upon our allies, and give securities for the
maintenance of peace in future. I have in another dis-
patch indi"ated to you generally the nature of the con-
ditions whi 'h Her Majesty's Government would con-
,ider equitable
" 12. You will intimate to him that active measures
are in prcparation against him, and that if he refuses to
comply with our demands, or delays to withdraw his
forces within the time named, he may rest assured that
means will not be wanting to compel h.im to do so, and
to inAict ,uch a defeat upon him as will effectually
detcr him from repeating his aggressions.
" 1.1· Colonel Harley has been instructed to invite
the principal kings and chiefs of the friendly tribes to
meet you on your arrival at Cape Coast, and you will,
of course, lose no time in endeavouring to collect and
organize any native force which you may judge to be
necessary for conducting any operations which may
appear to you certain, or in a high degree likely, to be
undertaken.
"14· You should state to the native kings that the
Queen, on learning the calamitous position in which her
allies are placed by the invasion of their country by the
Ashantis, and their inability, without further assistance,
to r7pel the in,vaders, has sent out specially an officer
of hIgh. authonty and experience, uniting the chief civil
and mlhtary command, for the purpose of rendering
them that assistance.
12~ KOFI KARl KARl
15. You should explain to them that while Her
Majesty's Government are prepared to take such
measures as may be found expedient on your advice to
aid them in carrying on the war against the Ashantis,
they expect the native tribes to use their utmost efforts
to defend themselves, and to place their resources
unreservedly at your disposal.
.. 16. The native tribes undoubtedly made consider-
able efforts at the beginning of the war, but since their
last defeat they appear to have been unaLle to rouse
themselves to even the most necessary exertions for
their own protection. The reports received by Her
Majesty's Government show that at Cape Coast the
natives have not even taken steps to clear away the
bush, which endangers the safety of the town, 'and that
nothing has been done by them to obtain trustworthy
information of the movements of the Ashantis. You
will intimate plainly to the native kings that it is impos-
sible to help those who are unwilling to help themsclres ;
and that unless they unite together cordially in their
own defence and show themselves prepared to make
every sacrifice in their power to maintain themselves
against the invader, they must not long look for aid to
Her Majesty's GO\'ernment .
.. 17. Her Majesty's Government are unable to give
yeu more precise instructions as to the measures which
should be taken in order to bring the war to a speedy
and successful termination, without further information
than they at present possess. Much will depend upon
the amount of co-operation which you may be able to
obtain from the friendly tribes, the position and force
of the Ashantis, concerning which but imperfect intelli-
gence has hitherto been received, and upon the opinion
which you may form after examination of the state of
affairs on the spot as to the practicability of an expedi-
tion into the interior, and the number and composition
of the force with which you might recommend that
such an expedition should be undertaken.
SIR G. WOLSELEY'S INSTRUCTIONS 123
.. It may be that you will find the forces at your dis-
posal upon the Coast sufficient for the accomplishment
of any object which you may think it proper to under-
take. But if you should find it necessary to ask for
any considerable reinforcement of European troops, I
have to request that you will enter into full explanations
as to the circumstances in which you propose to
employ them, and the reasons which may lead you to
believe that they can be employed without an unjusti-
fiable exposure, and with a well-grounded anticipation
of success.
Cf 1 have, etc.,
.. KIMBERLEY."
II NO.2. If DOWNING STREET,
II loth September, 1873.
"SIR •
.. Her Majesty's Government wish to leave you
a large discretion as to the terms which you may think
it advisable to require from the King of Ashanti, but I
may point out to you that the Treaty which was con-
cluded with Ashanti in 183 I, and of which I enclose a
copy for your information, seems to afford a reasonable
basis for any fresh cvnvention .
.. 2. I t would certainly be desirable to include in
such a convention an explicit renewal by the King of
Ashanti of the renunciation, contained in the Treaty of
183 I, of all claim to tribute or homage from the native
kings who are in alliance with Her Majesty, and, fur-
ther, a renunciation or his part to supremacy over
Elmina, or over any of the tribes formerly connected
with the Dutch, and to any tribute or homage from
such tribes, as well as to any payment or acknowledg-
ment in any shape by the British Government in respect
of Elmina or any other of the British forts or posses-
sions on the Coast .
.. 3· The King should also, for his own interest no
less than with a view to the general benefit of the
124 KOFI KARl KARl
country, engage to keep the paths open through his
dominions, to promote lawful commerce to and through
the Ashanti country, and to protect all peaceful traders
passing through his dominions to the coast; and it
might be expedient that a stipulation should be made
that a resident British Consul or Agent should be
received at the Ashanti capital if Her Majesty should
think fit at any time to appoint one.
"4. You will, of course, be careful to avoid as far
as possible anything which may endanger the lives of
the European missionaries and their familie. who have
so long been held in captivity at Coomassie, without any
fault of their own so far as Her Majesty's Government
are aware, and you will make every effort to secure
their safe release.
" S. You will also endeavour to procure the sur-
render of all the prisoners taken by the Ashantis from
the tribes in alliance with Her Majesty.
"6. It is a usual practice with the native tribes to
demand hostages for the faithful performance of treaties
of peace. This was done tn ,831. when two hostages
of high rank were delivered over to the British Govern-
ment by the King of Ashanti. If you should find it
advisable to make a similar demand on the present
occasion, you will bear in mind that the hostages shonld
be men of high rank and position in Ashanti.
" 7. It would be reasonable to exact from the King
the payment of such an indemnity as may be within his
means, which are said to be considerable. for the
expense of the war and the injuries inflicted on Her
Majesty's allies.
"8. Lastly, the opportunity should not be lost for
putting an end .. if possible. to the human sacrifires and
the slave-hunting which, with other barbarities. prevail
in the Ashanti kingdom.
" J have. etc.,
" KIMBERLEY."
SIR G WOLSELEY'S MEASURES 125
On arrival, Sir Garnet found only 600 or 700 men
of the 2nd West India Regiment, and these were scat-
tered along the coast, so that he could only depend on
about 300 for actual service in the field. He at once
took steps to raise a native force, and detailed officers
to recruit in GAMBIA, SIERRA LEONE, and LAGOS. He
held a big meeting of chiefs at CAPE COAST, and
promised them assistance if they would combine against
the common enemy.
Ten pounds a month were promised to the chiefs for
every thousand men they put in the field. He under-
took to supply them with arms, ammunition, and a cer-
tain amount of rations, besides paying each man I!d. a
day . The chiefs promised to do their best, provided
that they were led by English officers, but they showed
no eagerness to fight.
The ASHANTIS, who were encamped at MAMPON
and EFUTU, kept in close touch with ELM INA and the
surrounding villages, whence they drew large supplies
of smoked fish and foodstuffs.
Sir Gamet determined to drive them out of the vil-
loges, but owing to the small number of troops at his
disposal, he could only hope to do so by surprising
them.
Troops were secretly moved from CAPE COAST to
ELM INA by night, and a column marched out early on
the morning of Octobe 4th, under Colonel Wood,
\' C. (90th Regiment)'.
This column drove the Ashanb outposts out of
ESSAMAN and destroyed several small villages which
had harboured the enemy. But although this small
~xpedition made a good impression, the chiefs could not
mduce their men to mobilize.
The recruiting missions had, moreover, proved un-
•
KOFI KARl KARl
successful, and Sir Garnet was compelled to demand a
large force of European troops with which to conduct
the campaign.
He also addressed a letter to KOFI KARl K\RI in
which he demanded the withdrawal of all the Ashanti
forces in the Protectorate, the immediate surrender of
all prisoners, and guarantees for the payment of com-
pensation. He concluded by writing:
" If you, in good faith, consent to these conditions I
shall be ready to treat with you in a friendly spirit, and
to consider any reasonable proposals you may make.
But if within twenty days I have not received from you
an assurance of your readiness to comply with Her
Majesty's wishes, or if you have not, within the date
already mentioned, withdrawn all your forces within
your own territory beyond the Pra River, having given
such guarantees as may satisfy me for the fulfilment of
the above-mentioned terms, I hereby warn you to
expect the full punishment which your deeds have
merited. Rest well assured that power will not be
wanting to that end. I can scarcely believe that you
do not know how unequal would be the struggle which
you invite. 1/*
Although three copies of this letter were dispatched,
none ever reached the King. Two were intercepted
by AMANKWA TIA-the third was lost.
AMANKWA TIA, without forwarding the letter to the
King, took upon himself to reply as follows:
... Parliamentary Papers; AsbaDU \rar.
AMANKWA TIA'S REPLY 127
"To His Excellency's Governor-in-Chief of
Her Majesty's Fort.
If MAMPON,
n October 20111, 1873.
" SIR •
.. I have received those two letters which you
sent to me in order to send them to the King of
Ashantee . For what purpose I came here is that:
Assin, Dankra, Akyem, Wassaw. Those four nations
belong to the King of Ashantee, and they refused to
serve the King, and they escaped away unto you. If
the King sends his servants to or to buy something at
Cape Coast they catch them and plundered their good
to. And tho,e nations ordered the King of Ashantee
that he may come and fight with them. Therefore I
said that they are not a friends with the King. On
account of that I shall come down here to catch those
four chieves who ordered the King of Ashantee to come
to fight with them.
,. And they fought with me six times, and I drove
them away, and they escaped to be under you. But
the King did not send me into Cape Coast, and when
you deliver Assin, Dar,kra, Akyem, and Wassaw unto
me, I shall bring unto the King there is no any quarrel
with you
• I send my love to you.
t. I am your,
"(Signed) AIIIANKIVA TIA. "*
But in spite of the boastful tone of the reply, the
ASH\NTIS had had enough fighting for the time being,
and AMANKWA TIA decided to retire towards the PRA.
As soon as he received news of the retreat, Sir
Garnet determined to follow them un and keep them
on the move. .
., Parliamentary Papers: Asbanti vVar.
128 KOFI KARl KARl
On October 26th he pushed on to ABRAK~~IP.I,
hoping to outflank the ASHANTIS, while orders were
given to Colonel Festing to advance from DU!,;KwA.
This column surprised an Ashanti camp at ISKABIO on
the 27th, under cover of a thunder-storm, The
ASHANTIS rallied and fought hard for a time, but even-
tually gave way before the West India troops
Next day Sir Garnet advanced on ASI!';rHI, only to
find the enemy camp deserted. But he was unable to
follow up the retreating detachments owing to the
pusillanimity of his native levies. Strong reconnais-
sances were made on November 3rd. Colonel Festing
again came in contact with the ASH~NTIS at ISKABIO.
He was compelled to fall back before their fire, but not
until he had inflicted severe losses on the enemy.
On November 5th the Ashanti main body attacked
ABRAKAMPA from the west. But the bush had been
cleared all round the village, and they could make no
headway against the galling fire of superior weapons.
Nevertheless, they continued the engagement up to
midnight. Next morning they resumed their attack
from ADAMADI, AMANKw~ TIA's camp. Experience
had taught them not to expose themselves in the open,
and they contented themseh'es with firing into the vil-
lage from the bush. Their weapons, however, were
completely outranged, and they inflicted little loss on
the garrison, while they suffered heavily • 'ext day
(November 7th) it was learnt that the ASH I'iTiS had
retreated. .
The Ashanti camp at ADUIADI lVas rushed and
AM.~NKW.I Tl.\'s rear-guard surpri;,ed; but although
every sign of a precipitate Right was vi ible, the officers
could not induce the native levies to follow up their
advantage.
CLEVER RETREAT OF THE ASHANTIS 129
AMANKWA TIA first fell back on AINSA, intending
to retreat up the PRASU road from DUNKwA ; but find-
ing not only the latter place strongly occupied by
Colonel F esting, but strong posts established as far
north as MANSU, he cut his way through the thick
bush for days, and actually succeeded in reaching
N S UTA on the 24th before being harassed.
On the 26th Colonel Wood advanced on NSUTA, and
found camp-fires still burning in the recently evacuated
Ashanti camp. He learnt that the enemy were at
Fosu, and followed them up with a trained force of
about 300 men. There the ASHANTIS fought a rear-
guard action under the personal leadership of the old
general, ASA~IOA NKwANTA, who had been detailed
for the purpose by A~IANKWA TIA, and drove back
their pursuers. This action enabled the main body to
reach the PRA, which was precipitately crossed, not,
hvwever, without considerable loss of life, owing to lack
of canoes. Although the As HANTIS had been in fuU
flight since their last effort at ABRAKAMPA, the retreat
had been conducted ;n a masterly manner, and Colonel
Brackenbury's comment on it was that "the army
of a civilized nation need not have been ashamed
of a retreat conducted with such skill and such
success. 11*
ASAMOA NKWANTA became known henceforth as
SRAFO KRA (he who sa ed the warrior's soul).
The remnants of the Ashanti army crossed the PRA
on the last day of November. Captain Butler, with a
detachment of the 2nd West India Regiment, reached
PRASU on December 10th.
When the Ashanti camp at MAMPON was visited it
was found to have been nearly a mile square:
* Brackenbury, vol. 1., p. 302.
130 KOFI KARl KARl
"covered with huts; but the enormous number of
graves and the skeletons, skulls, and bones that lay
around on every side, bore eloquent testimony to the
truth of the reports that had been received of the
number of men who had died from wounds, disease,
and starvation." *
The news of AMANKWA TIA'S reverses caused
great dismay in COOMASSIE. A council of the
ASANTE KOToKo (KoToKo=porcupine, the animal
emblem of the kingdom; ASANTE KOTOKO was
the name given to any important gathering of
chiefs) was held at MENHIA (a village outside
COOMASSIE where the King kept his store of gun-
powder) on October 27th. The chiefs clamoured [or
the recall of the army, but KOFI KARl KARl was
annoyed with them for losing heart, and pointed out
that war had been their wish, not his. He had spent a
large sum on the campaign, which they must agree to
refund before he would order AMANKWA TIA home.
To this they consented, whereupon instructions to
return were sent to the general-not, however, before
he had begun his retreat.
Another letter from Sir Garnet reached COO MASSIE
on November 20th, similar to those he had sent pre-
viously and which had been intercepted. This induced
the Queen-Mother to make a complete volle face. She
had been eager for war a year ago. Hor words now
were:
" From old times it has been seen that God fight,
for Ashanti if the war is a just one This one is unjust
The Europeans begged for the imprisoned white men.
They were told to await until Eou BAFFUO returned.
+ Claridge, vol. ii., p. 79.
RETURN OF DEFEATED ARMY - 131
EDU BAFFUO came back; then they said they wanted
money. The money was offered and even weighed.
How can this war be justified? Taking all intO' con-
sideration, I strongly advise that the white men should
be sent back at once, and God can help us.' ,*
In reply, the King told Sir Garnet that he had not
sent his army against the white men nor to attack the
forts. He had declared war against the King of
DENKERA on hearing from Plange that ELMINA had
been given to him, but now that news of K WEK U
FRAM's death had reached him he had recalled his
army. He, however, complained of the attack on his
army at Fosu, while it was in the act of withdrawing
from the Protectorate.
The Ashanti army, beaten, wearied, and disheart-
ened, reached COOMASSIE at the end of December.
Several of the leading men-namely, YAO ACHIRE of
JUABEN, KRAPA of ANKASE, ESUBUANTIN of WAM,
ADOM of PAMPASO, and ADO of BOAMAN, lost their
lives in this last venture, in addition to hundreds of
minor chiefs .
Indeed, of all the splendid army which had set forth,
less than one-half returned .
... Ramseyer and Kuhne, p. 247 .
•
CHAPTER VIII
THE FALL OF COO MASSIE, 1874
SIR GARNET could now make his preparations for an
invasion of ASHANTI without molestation. His plan was
to attack with several columns which would cross the
PRA at different places and then com-erge on
COOMASS IE. Captain Glover, with his I busas and
native allies, was to attack from the east, Captain
Butler, with a force of AKIMS, from the south-east
through AKlM; the main body would advance from
PRASU; and Captain Dalrymple, with his DENKERAS
and WASSAS, would attack through DE"'KER.~, to the
west of the main column . Before this could be accom-
plished camps had to be prepared for European troops,
roads made, and transport organized. Sir Gamet
arranged for a simultaneous advance on January 15th,
1874.
The European troops commenced to arrive in
December-the 2nd Battalion of the Rifle Brigade and
some Royal Engineers on the 22nd, the 2Jrd Royal
Welsh Fusiliers on the 12th, and the 42nd Highlanders
on the 17th. The 1st West India Regiment from
Jamaica arrh'ed on the 27th.
Sir Gamet now had at his disposal over 4,000 Euro-
pean troops and two battalions of West I ndia Regi-
ments, besides some 200 officers. :'Ilost of these
. troops he concentrated at PR.ASt;. where he him-
self arrived on January 2nd. Ashanti mes enger,
bearing the two letters from KO!'l KARl KARl already
alluded to, met him there. I twas ob,;ous that the
13'
SIR GARNET WARNS THE KING 133 -
King had been kept in ignorance of the real state of
affairs, so Sir Gamet sent a letter recapitulating recent
events, and adding:
.. When AMANKwA TIA attacked ABRAKAMPA there
were only fifty white men there; yet, after two days'
fighting, he was forced to retreat in confusion with
great loss; and many of your war-drums, chiefs' chairs,
and other military trophies, besides much baggage,
were captured by my troops. As regards the attack
upon your retreating army at FAISOO, it was made
only by a small party of my undrilled black troops, who
were ordered to fall back as soon as they found where
your army was; yet it caused the whole of the Ashanti
army to retreat in the utmost haste and confusion, leav-
ing their dead and dying everywhere along the
path. . .. I wish to impress upon your Majesty that
hitherto your soldiers have only had to fight against
black men, helped by a few Englishmen. If, however,
you should now be so ill-advised as to continue this war,
your troops will have to meet an army of white soldiers.
These white troops are now on their march from Cape
Coast for the purpose of invading your territory, to
enforce compliance with my just demands, which I
shall presently lay before you. . .. This war has
already entailed many defeats upon your enemies; you
have lost thousands of men in battle and from want and
disease.
"I am well aware of all these facts_ You are sur-
rounded by hostile tribe< who long for your destruction.
Be warned in time, and do not listen to the advice of
evil counsellors, who for their own purposes might urge
you to continue a hopeless struggle against an army
of white men, a struggle that can only lead to the
destruction of your military power, and that must cer-
tainly bring great misery on your people and danger to
your Majesty's dynasty."*
... B'rackenbury. vol. iL, p. 48.
10
134 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
The peace terms offered were:
(I) The immediate release of all prisoners;
(2) The payment of an indemnity of 50,000 ounce"
of gold; and
(3) The conclusion of a new treaty of peace, to he
signed in Coomassie, after the delivery of hostages for
the safety of the General and his escort.
The messengers returned on January 6th, and the
General's letter caused great con.ternation in COO-
MASSIE. Even the date of the letter (January 2nd) was
ominous, for on that day a great fetish-tree planted
by ANOTCHWI fell to the ground: (it was a WAWA, not
a KUMA tree, as has been stated).
KOFI KARl KARl now realized, for the first time, the
alarming state of affairs, and he endeavoured to tem-
porize by releasing the missionary KUhne and sending
him to the General to intercede for him . He again
asked Sir Garnet to halt his army " for fear of meeting
some of my captains as to cause any fighting." Kiihne
reached PRASU on January 12th . But however much
startled the King and chiefs were, they were too aCClls-
tomed to enemy concentrations at PR.~S U to believe in
an actual invasion of their country. The idea was so
preposterous that they were quite confident skilful
diplomacy would yet save the situation.
Yet the unbelievable happened; their last hopes of
staying the invasion were shattered by the report of
KOBINA OBIN, Chief of AOANSI, announcing that thl'
enemy had crossed the PRA and was advancing rapidly.
He endeavoured to shame the Coomassie chiefs into
action by adding that if they had no powder with which
to withstand the invaders, be at all events had som('.
His efforts were successful. A oouncil wu hastily
DEMAND FOR HOSTAGES 135
summoned on January 17th, and when the situation was
realized all became bustle and activity.
The old leader, ASA~IOA NKWANTA, was at once
dispatched to FOMENA to help the ADANSIS. The
warriors were quickly mobilized and placed under the
supreme command of KOBINA JUMMO, the MAMPON-
HEN!!. This appointment so disgusted AMANKWA
TIA that he and several of the chiefs who had fought
with him swore they would go to the front, but that they
would not return. •
On that very day Major Russell occupied and forti-
fied the crest of the MOINSI HILL, overlooking
KWISSA and FOMENA.
Hitherto only slight skirmishes with scouts had taken
place. The General and Staff crossed the PRA on
January 20th, and marched direct to MOINSI with the
main column.
On the 23rd the remaining European captives
arrived, accompanied by two Ashanti messengers,
bearing a letter from the King begging the General not
to advance any farther, and promising, if given time,
to make AMANKW,\ TIA pay the indemnity, adding
that his general had exceeded his instructions in attack-
ing ELMINA.
Sir Garnet in his reply insisted on the immediate
release of all Fanti prisoners, payment of half the
indemnity, and delivc y of the following hostages:
MENSA, the heir-apparent; EFUA KOBI, the Queen-
Mother; and the heirs to the stools of JUABEN, MAM-
PON, KOKOFU, and BEKWAI.
Further, he promised that if the King agreed to
these terms he would arrive in COOMASSIE with only
an escort of Sao men to sign the Treaty; if not, he
would advance on COOMASSIIt with his whole force.
136 THE FALL OF COO~IASSIE
On the 29th a letter was received from the King
begging for delay, but he made no mention of the terms
offered, probably because it was impossible for him to
comply with the second and third requests. He could
not then and there lay his hands on any sum like 50,000
ounces of gold, nor was it conceivable that he would
yield the hostages named, even had he had the power
to compel them to go.
The first brush between the forces occurred at
BUBORASI on the 29th. Colonel I\fcLeod attacked
and surprised the ADANSIS, and nearly captured
ASAMOA NKWANTA himself.
The ADANSIS having faUen back, nothing opposed
the invaders until they reached AMoAFuL (close to
BEKWAI), where it was known the ASHANTIS had con-
centrated and were preparing to offer stout resistance.
Sir Gamet, so as to avoid being outflanked, advanced
in four columns, forming a large open square.
The general advance began at daybreak on January
31st. The advance-guard, under Brigadier-General
Sir Archibald Alison, Bart., C.B., came into touch
with the ASHANTIS at EVINASI and drove them back
on to their main position, a well-chosen site beyond the
village. The attacking troops were met with a terrific
fire, and no headway could be made until the guns were
brought up. The Hallsa Artillery shook the ASHANTIS,
and a charge of the Black Watch drove them from
their position, but they soon rallied and fought desper-
ately. The guns were brought up again. and another
charge followed. At noon a final charge of the Black
• Watch secured the village of AMOAFUL, after four
hours' fierce fighting.
The columns to the right and left. under Colonels
Wood and ~lcLeod respectively. had cut and fought
THE RUSH ON COO MASSIE 137
their way through the bush, and subsequently joined
the main force at AMOAFUL. The fight was over by
two 0' clock in the afternoon.
The ASHANTIS lost heavily. AMANKWA TIA was
killed, besides APIACHAMI and many minor chiefs.
The town of BEKWAI was destroyed by the Naval
Brigade that same afternoon. An attack was made on
FOMENA by the ASHANTIS without success. The lines
of communication were continually harassed, but these
spasmodic attacks did relatively small damage.
•
The main body continued the advance on February
2nd, and reached AVIMAMU. On the 3rd the final
advance on COOMASSIE commenced. The King again
begged Sir Garnet to advance no farther. Sir Garnet
replied that he would wait all day on the banks of the
OOA River for the arrival of the Queen-Mother and
MENSA, but if they did not come he would march
straight on COOMASSIE. Compliance with this order
being out of the question, KOFI KARl KARl determined
on one last effort to defend his capital.
The English advance was resumed the next morning.
The OOA River was crossed, a bridge having been
built on the night of the 3rd in a heavy thunder-storm.
The ASHANTIS contested every inch of the way, but
ground was steadily gained by a repetition of the former
tactics of bringing up the guns, followed by short
rushes. OOASU (se' Ii miles from COOMASSIE) was
reached about 9 a.m. by the advance-guard. The
ASHANTIS attacked on both flanks, but were driven
back by rifle-fire. The main body joined up a few hours
later, and Sir Garnet determined to rush the capital.
The orders were to break through the enemy's lines
coille que coule. What followed is best described by
Sir Archibald Alison:
138 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
. " On first debouching from the village a tremendou.
l
fire was opened on the head of the column from
a well-planned and strong ambuscade, six men
being knocked over in an instant. But the flank
companies worked steadily through the bush, the lead-
ing compa,ny in the path sprang forward with a cheer;
the pipes struck up, and the ambuscade was at once
carried. Then followed one of the finest spectacles I
have ever seen in war. Without stop Or stay the 42nd
rushed on, cheering, their officers to the front; ambus-
cade after ambuscade was successfully carried, village
after village won in succession, till the whole Ashantis
broke and fled in the wildest disorder down the pathway
on their front to Coomassie . The ground was covered
with traces of their flight. Umbrellas and war-chairs of
their chiefs, drums, muskets, killed and wounded,
covered the whole way, and the bush on each side was
trampled as if a t'Jrrent had flowed through it. No
pause took place until a village about four miles from
Coomassie was reached, when the absolute exhaustion
of the men rendered a short halt nece"ary. So swift
and unbroken was the advance of the 42nd that neither
Rait's guns nor the Rifle Brigade in support were ever
brought into action. "*
KWEKu POKU, the head linguist, OWUSU ANSA of
AOUMASAN, and ABOA]1 of KONN..I, were killed during
this engagement. KOFI KARl KARl was at SOKOBEN
(two miles off) throughout the fight.
When he realized that all was lost he fled to
AKOBUA, close to AKROPONG. The Black Watch
entered COOlllASSIE at 5.30 p.m. Sir Gamet arrived
three-quarters of an hour later. The town was full o(
armed men, hanging about in groups, but no attempt
at resistance was offered. The King had fled, and the
people were thoroughly cowed.
+ Brackenbury, vol. ii., p. 215-
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SIR GARNET'S LETTER TO THE KING '39
Sir Garnet at once addressed the following letter to
KOFI KARl KARl:
" KING ,
"You have deceived me, but I have kepl my
promise to you.
" I am at Coomassie, and my only wish is to make a
lasting peace with you. I have shown you the power
of England, and now I will be merciful.
"As you do not wish to give up your mother and
Prince Mensah, send me some other hostage of rank,
and I will make peace with you to-morrowan the terms
originally agreed upon.
" If either your Majesty, or your Royal mother, or
Prince Mensah, will come to see me to-morrow early,
I will treat you with all the honour due to your Royal
dignity, and allow you to return in safety.
If You can trust my word.lJ*
tI I am, etc.,
"(Signed) G. J. WOLSELEY,
"Major-General and Administrator,
" Gold Coast.
liTo HIS MAJESTY COFFEE KAI..KULLY,
"King of Ashanti,
.. Coomassie."
I t was too late to place guards over the exits of the
town, and even if it had not been, the troops were
exhausted and unfit for further duty. All night long
streams of people left with their valuables, and
COOMASSIE was deoerted by morning.
The palace was then occupied, and in spite of all the
property that had been removed during the night, many
articles of value were found. Among these was the
ancient crown of DENKERA taken from NTIM JAKARI
by OSEI TUTU in '700 .
• Brackenbury, voL ii., p. :n8.
140 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
The King sent messengers to say he would arrive in
the course of the morning, but whether he distrusted
the General, or whether he had some ulterior motive,
he neither appeared nor sent hostages. Sir Garnet,
who was anxious that his European troops should return
to the coast with all possible speed, ordered the town
to be destroyed. The Engineers worked all night, and
the fuses were lit at 8 a .m . of the morning of February
5th, after the invading army had marched out.
The whole town was soon one blaze of fire. and a
few hours later nothing remained of COO'l\SSIE but a
heap of smouldering ruins . Captain Glover entered
COOMASSIE on February 12th with about 5,000 men,
having marched from the east through OBOGU and
KONGo. The JUABENS had intended to resist his
progress, but on hearing of the destruction of
COOMASSIE, ASAFU EJEI of JUABEN tendered his
submission and allowed Captain Glover's party to pa"
unmolested.
Sir Garnet reached FOMENA on the loth He h.lt.!
told some Ashanti messengers that if the King sent
5,000 ounces of gold as a proof of his sincerity he would
enter into negotiations to draw up a Treaty of Peace.
On the 12th more envoys arrived with 1,040 ounces
in nuggets, gold-dust, and ornaments. declaring that
the King had found it impossible to collect more.
They were given the following draft Treaty to take
back with them to the King:
.. TREATY 01' PEACE between MAJOR-GE:'iERAL ir
GARNET JOSEPH WOLSELEY, C.B., KCM.G.,
acting on behalf of HER l\!\JESTY VICTORIA, Queen
of Great Britain and Ireland, and S.\IBEE ENQUIE,
acting on behalf of His :\lajesty KOFER K.\LKALLI,
King of Ashantee.
DRAFT TREATY OF .PEACE 141
" ARTI CLI! I.
, , There shall be hereafter perpetual peace between
the Queen of England and her allies on the Coast on
the one part, and the King of Ashantee and all hIs
people on the other part.
" ARTI CLE II.
" The King of Ashantee promises to pay tbe sum of
50 ,000 ounces of approved gold as indemnity for the
expenses be has occasioned to Her Majesty the Queen
of England by the late war; and undertakes to pay
1,000 ounces of gold forthwith, and the remainder by
such instalments as Her Majesty's Government may
from time to time demand.
"ARTICLE III.
"The King of Ashantee, on tbe part of himself and
his successors, renounces all right or title to any tribute
or homage from the Kings of Denkera, Assin, Akim ,
Adansi, and the other allies of Her Majesty formerly
subject to the King of Ashantee.
"ARTICLE IV.
"The King, on the part of himself and of his heirs
and successors, does hereby further renounce for ever
all pretensions of supremacy over Elmina, or over any
of the tribes formerly connected with the Dutch
Government, and to any tribute or homage from such
tribes, as well as to an) payment or acknowledgment of
any kind by the British Government in respect of
Elmina or any other of the British forts and possessions
on the Coast.
"ARTICLE V.
" The King will at once withdraw all his troops from
Apol!onia and its vicinity, and from the neighbourhood
of Dlxcoye, Sekondee, and the adjoining coast-line.
142 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
"ARTICLE VI.
" There shall be freedom of trade between Ashantee
and Her Majesty's forts on the Coast, all persons being
at liberty to carry their merchandise from the Coast
to Coomassie, or from that place to any of Her
Majesty's possessions on the Coast.
"ARTICLE VII.
"The King of Ashantee guarantees that the road
from Coomassie to the River Prah shall always be kept
open and free from bush to a width of IS feet.
"ARTICLE VII I.
"As Her Majesty's subjects and the people of
Ashantee are henceforth to be friends for ever, the
King, in order to prove the sincerity of his friendship
for Queen Victoria, promises to use his best endeavours
to check the practice of human sacrifice, with a view to
hereafter putting an end to it altogether, as the prac-
tice is repugnant to the feeling of all Christian nations.
"ARTICLE IX.
"One copy of this Treaty shall be signed by the
King of Ashantee and sent to the Administrator of Her
Majesty's Government at Cape Coast within fourteen
days from this date.
" ARTICLE X.
"This Treaty shall be known as the Treaty of
FOMMANAH.
" Dated at Fommanah this 13th day of February,
1874."*
• Brackenbury. vol. ii.I p. l6g.
RATIFICATION OF THE TREATY 143
The independence 01 AOANSI had been expressly
asked for by KOBINA OBIN, Chief of AOANSI, who
begged to be allowed to migrate into the PROTEC-
TORATE and live under the protection of the British .
He professed mistrust of COO MASSIE, although he
had in reality been one of the chief instigators of the
war of resistance .
Sir Garnet left FOMENA on February 14th and
arrived at CAPE COAST on the 19th, where he received
a tremendous ovation . All the European troops were
embarked by the end of the month, and the General
himself sailed on March 4th, after this short and bril-
liant campaign.
KOFI KARl KARl sent an important embassy, com-
posed of one of his sons, KOFI INTIM (a mere youth),
and representatives of all the important chiefs, to over-
take him, but they only arrived at CAPE COAST on
March.1 ~th, after the General had sailed . They were
received by Colonel Maxwell in the Castle hall, and
produced the draft Treaty, to which two crosses had
been affixed by the King.
They complained of the large amount of indemnity
claimed, stating that the King had understood the sum
to be 5,000 bendas (10,000 ounces), and not 50,000
ounces. They were told that the latter was the stipu-
lated amount, and that it could not be altered.
After conferring for 'h ee days, the envoys returned
to express their readiness to ratify the Treaty. It was
signed by KOFI INTIM and nineteen representatives on
behalf of the King, and by Colonel Maxwell on behalf
of Her Majesty. The ASHANTIS asked for the con-
tinuation of the payment of the annual stipend
augmented by Mr. Pope Hennessey; for the return of
the AOANsls; for the return of KWAHu, ASHANTI-
144 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
AKl~l, and ]UABEN, hostages then in AKlM ; for lati-
tude in the matter of total abolition of human sacrifices
(as it would be impossible for the King to impose such
a measure, however willing he might be to do so) ; and
for KOFl INTlM to be sent home and educated in
England.
These requests were referred to the Secretary of
State, who replied that the stipend should cease; that
the return of the AOANSlS was a m~tter that only con-
cerned themselves (the AOANSlS), and the Government
would not interfere; and that all hostages in AKIM
willing to return to ASHANTl might do so.
The desired sanction for a continuance of human
sacrifices was, of course, withheld, but the last reque t
was granted. KOFl INTlM was educated at the Surrey
County School and given an appointment in Trinidad,
and, later on, in the GOLD COAST. with an allowance
of £120 a year.
Three days after Sir Gamet's departure from
COOMASSlE, KOFI K\Rl KARl took up his abode
at MENHlA, where he was joined by the principal
Coomassie chiefs.
Internal affairs were in a hopeless condition.
]UABEN, KWAHU, SEFWl, ATEDCDl', KRATCHl,
SALAGA, ]AMAN. BANDA, and all the northern tribes,
broke away from the kingdom and asserted their inde-
pendence; even the tribes such as l\fAMPoN, AGUNA.
NSUTA, BEKwAl. and KOKOFU, refused obedience
and openly defied the King. The disruption of the
kingdom was to all intents and purposes complete.
ASAFU EJEl of ]UADEN, who was overlord of KRATCHl,
went to the length of encouraging the killing of all
Coomassie traders on the VOLTA and throughout the
BRONG country. He had refused to join the main
BANKRUPT CONDITION OF THE COURT 145
army when ordered to do so by KOFI KARl KARl,
saying he would guard the eastern road, and when he
heard of the destruction of COO MASSIE he cut himself
adrift from the court altogether.
The King, moreover, bore ASAFU EjEI a grudge •
for some impertinent messages he had received from the
celebrated DENTE fetish of KRATCHI (through ASAFU
EjEI) ; but as he did not wish to lose the allegiance of
JUABEN, he appealed to the Governor for an officer to
mediate between himself and ASAFU EjEI.
After some hesitation on the Governor's part, he
deputed Captain Lees for the mission. The latter
arrived in COOMASSlE on July 23rd. He succeeded in
restoring peace between the parties, but only on condi-
tion of the recognized independence of ]UABEN. The
power of COOMASSIE had indeed fallen to the dust.
KOFI KARl KARl was by nature a spendthrift. One
of his favourite amusements was to watch his wives
scramble for gold nuggets that he scattered among
them. The large sums he had to pay as indemnity
further aggravated matters, and he now found himself
a bankrupt, so he determined, as a last resort, to
" borrow" wealth from the tombs of his ancestors.
He most unwisely caused several of the coffins of the
Royal mausoleum at BANTAMA to be broken open and
stripped of their gold ornaments, without the know-
ledge or consent of the BREMPON. EFUA KOSI, the
Queen-Mother, recognized some of her mother's
(EFUA SAPON) trinkets, which she knew to have been
buried with her, adorning one of KOFI KARl KARl'S
wives. She accused the King of rifling his grand-
mother's tomb, and openly denounced him to the
ABREMPON, who, scandalized at the sacrilege, deter-
mined to depose him. On hearing of this, KOFI KARl
146 THE FALL OF COOMASSIE
KARl sat himself on the golden stool with a loaded gun
and a keg of gunpowder, surrounded by his AHINK\\'\.
He threatened to shoot any chief who came near him
and to bum tne golden stool. At the end of five day~,
however, the ABREMPON induced him to abdicate by
fair promises. They told him he would be allowed to
take away as many wives and as much property as he
liked, provided that he yielded up the golden stool.
He agreed to these terms, but no sooner had he estab-
lished himself at KW.\WUNNA (close to EOUAOIN) than
he was surrounded and deprived of all his belongings.
He then removed to TABIRl, close to AKROPONG,
where we shall leave him for the present. He was
deposed in August or September, ,874 .
•
CHAPTER IX
MENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II.
1874-1883
OSEI MENSA, known as MENSA BONSU, .ucceeded
his brother towards the end of 1874. His enstoolment
was a melancholy affair, as only representatives of the
big chiefs attended the ceremony.
His first care was to rebuild COOMASSIE. Heinduced
all the chiefs and their subjects to help him to repair the
palace and their own houses. The services of the
women were enlisted. Every chief woman, with all
her female attendants, devoted three months to the
making of .. swish," of which material the men were
to build the walls of the compounds.
The palace is said to have been rebuilt in a year-all
but the stone fort, which they could not re-erect for
want of cement. The stones were all removed to
KWESE (the site of the present Roman Catholic mis-
sion-station), within present COOMASSIE town limits,
to the east of the SUBIN Stream, where they remained
until 1896. They were then utilized for the construc-
tion of the present fort The rebuilding of the whole
town occupied about three years.
MENSA'S ambition was to restore the ascendancy of
COO MASSIE over the outlying tribes, and to revive the
former strength of the kingdom. The independence
claimed by ADANSI and J UABEN was a bitter blow to
the Royal House. MENSA endeavoured by intrigue to
regain JU~BEN, but ASAFU EJEI (JUABENHENE) would
'47
148 MENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II.
have no more of COOMASSIE, and in revenge for
MENSA'S intrigues seized all the Coomassie traders
who fell into his hands. MENSA naturally complained
of this conduct to Governor STRACHAN, demanding
redress from the JUABENS for closing the roads and
payment of their share of the war indemnity. But the
Governor elected not to interfere in the quarrel. This
decision, coupled with some insulting messages which
he had received from E)EI, gave MENSA an opportunity
to test the feelings of the outlying chiefs, such as those
of BEKWAI, KOKOFU, ~lAMPON, OFINSU, I'sun,
and K UMAWU. This naturally placed them all in a
dilemma, and they were compelled either to return to
their old allegiance, or to form an alliance with J UABEN.
They all joined MENSA.
Monsieur Bonnat (formerly a prisoner in COOMAS-
SIE) now arrived on a trading venture. The King sent
him to JUABEN to induce ASAPU E)EI to waive his
claim to independence, but so hostile were the JUABENS
that, although Bonnat escaped with his life, his escort
of some sixty COOMASStES were all massacred.
This action rendered civil war inevitable.
In October, 1875, MENSA attacked JUABEN with
two armies under Ko)o AHIN (ESUMANKWAHENE).
AHIN was surprised at ASEREMAso and driven back.
BENTU (MARAWEREHENE) was sent to AHIN'S assist-
ance. In the meanwhile, KOBINA EWlJA (BANTAMA-
HENE) attacked the JUABENS and drove them in front
of him until, on November 3rd, the JUABENS, having
run short of ammunition, broke and fled. The
Governor sent Dr. Gouldsbury to mediate between the
parties, but the fight was over before he arrived. Hun-
dreds of J UABENS fell into the hands of the COO-
MASSIES. These were sent as captives into French
JUAB EN FUGITIVES 149
territory, through SEFWI, to be sold there in exchange
for arms and ammunition.
ASAFU EJ EI, hearing this, begged the King of
SEFWI to retain the JUABENS and hold them in pawn
until he was able to redeem them. The King of SEFWI
consented. He retained them, and eventually allowed
them to return to J UABEN.
The fugitive JUABENS settled north of ACCRA, and
founded NEW JUABEN, which is nowcalledKoFORIDUA.
MENSA BONSU now found himself in a much stronger
position. The recent hostilities had given him back
several provinces, besides some] uaben towns, such as
ASOKORI and EFFIDUASI. Further, he was delighted
at the non-intervention of the Governmen't in these
tribal matters. This he ascribed to weakness, and he
allowed Captain Baker, (when that officer arrived at
COO MASSIE to receive a further instalment of the
indemnity), to be publicly insulted.
" Thus, within less than two years after the burning
01 Kumasie the Ashantis had, thanks to the Govern-
ment's policy of non-intervention, recovered the whole
of their lost territory except KWAHU and ADANSI, and
escaped the payment of the greater part of the
indemnity. "*
KWAHU was never regained by ASHANTI. The
ADANSIS themselves were divided into two factions,
the rivalry between which would have resulted in war
had not Captain Maloney succeeded in effecting a
reconciliation. The chief of ADANSI, INKANsA
BEREMPON, whom the reconciled parties placed on
the stool, was not a success, and for many years the
country remained in an tmsettled condition .
• Ellis, U History of the Gold Coast," p. 358.
I!
1$0 ~lENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II.
The ASHANTlS, having realized the value of breech-
loading rifles, obtained all they could from ASSINI and
the VOLTA. i\[ENSA formed a corps of HAUSAS, who,
with the help of a German named l\eilson, acted as
musketry and drill instructors.
In 1878, the embargo on the importation of arms
having been removed by the British Government, as
many as 300 Snider rifles were imported by the
ASH INTIS in one batch.
Prince ANSA now joined King :\lE:-ISA at Coo-
MASSIE. He and a semi-educated clerk named
H UYEDECOOPER proved born intriguers With their
knowledge of writing, they forged documents in support
of fictitious claims, and induced MENSA to act upon
these forgeries. Thus the whole of JAMAN was claimed
by MENSA, on the pretence that the Queen of England
had given him the country.
The JAMANS, supported by the SEFWIS, sent mes-
sengers to the Coast to ascertain the truth of this state-
ment. On discovering the fraud, the messengers asked
that a European officer should return with them to
verify their reply. This request was granted, and Mr.
Smith left CAPE COAST in !\lay for WIOSO and BON-
TUKU. He arrived at the latter place on July 34th.
l'vIr. Smith offered the J IMANS British protection if
they desired it, but owing to a disagreement between
AJIMAN, the King, and his chiefs, the negotiations feU
through.
MENSA, likewise, stro,'e to regain the allegil\llce of
the ADANsIs by means of bribes and promises.
INKANSA reported matters to the Governor, who sent
Captain Hay, the Acting Colonial Secretary, to
FOMENA with a letter of protest addressed to MENSA,
calling upon him to observe the third clause of the
MENSA'S UNPOPULARITY 151
Treaty of FOMENA. MENSA recalled his envoys, and
lor the time being desisted from further intrigues.
About this time it was noticed that the ASHANTIS
were purchasmg large quantit ies of salt. As the
ASHANTIS depended on the Coast towns for their salt-
supply, exaggerated purchases by them of this com-
modity indicated hostilities. Alarming rumours were
spread on the Coast in consequence.
There can be little doubt that an invasion of ADANSI
was advocated by the war-party under the leadership
of KOBINA EWUA. The King and Queen-Mother
opposed this war-party, as they were anxious to keep
on good terms with the Government, but MENSA'S
opposition lowered him in the eyes of the big chiefs,
and his conciliatory policy proved the commencement
of his unpopularity. By degrees the war-party fell
away from the court and instigated KOFI KARl KARl
to make another bid for the throne. BEKWAI and
KOKoFu supported the rebels and rendered MENSA'S
position all the more precarious.
,\t the beginning 01 ,88, one Awusu TASIMANDI,
a laman prince, fled from COOMASSIE and claimed
British protection. According to his own statement,
he had been wrongfully accused of theft by the King,
and, fearing the King's justice, had effected his escape.
He asked to be sent to J MAN under escort. The
Governor refused his request, but informed him he was
I at hberty to go where he willed.
The ASHANTIS, fearulg that Awusu would return to
BONTlJKU under the protection of the British, were
most anxious to recapture him, and messengers arrived
at CAPE COAST from the King the day following
Awusu's arrival, bearing the golden axe, to demand
h,s return and that of an Assin trader named AMANKRA ,
are lito
;IfiateI :
PREPARATIONS FOR HOSTILITIES 153
that they had met the returning embassy with the
golden axe one day from COO MASSIE.
Two missionaries in COO MASSIE (Messrs. Buck and
Huppenbauser) reported on February 18th that the
King was averse to war, and that they had seen no
signs of preparation for it in ASHANTJ.
A third embassy reached CAPE COAST on February
17th, under the linguist BEND!, who declared that the
King had no quarrel with the AsslNs, and that he had
not sent any threatening message; that he intended to
abide by the Treaty of FOMENA, and disclaimed any
intention of attacking the protected tribes. He
formally denied that the golden axe bore any threaten-
ing meaning. The former messengers, ENGWI and
BUSUMURU, then solemnly declared that they had
never spoken the words ascribed to them .
The new Governor, Sir Samuel Rowe, landed at
ELMINA on March 4th, but he ignored the Ashanti
messengers and hastened military preparations.
The messengers strongly resented this treatment,
and returned home to report matters to the King.
Jl!ENSA had great difficulty to restrain his ASREMPON,
who wanted to avenge the contemptuous treatment of
their envoys. His wish to avert war was ably seconded
by the Queen-Mother, and he determined to make
another appeal, this time to the traders of CAPE
COAST.
This embassy consisted of OSEI BRUNI, YAO
AWUA, KIVAMIN NS\.I, and DATANO. They reached
CAPE COAST on March loth, and asked for permission
to submit their message before delivering it to the
traders.
They were received by the Governor on the 16th,
and told that, although they might meet the traders,
(54 ;\rE SA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II,
their negotiations would not affect his reply to the
King.
On the 18th they delivered the following meS'age to
the traders:
.. The King has sent us to come to Prince Ansa and
say, 'Let our family differences be at an end.' He
sent us to Prince ANSA for him to take us to the mer-
chants of Cape Coast Castle, for them to help the King
and say to the Go\'ernor that if he the King had done
anything wrong in the matter of the message with the
axe, that he the King asked that Governor would
pardon his mistake." *
They declared that the King desired peace, and
asked for a European officer to verify the fact that no
preparations for war were being made in ASIIANTJ.
The traders, however, refused to interfere in the
matter, and the Governor dismissed the messengers
with a warning that the difference with the King had
not yet been cleared up.
In the meanwhile military preparations in the Pro-
tectorate went on apace, and a large concentration of
troops was effected at PRAS U, where the Governor
himself proceeded on April 13th. The ASHA)"JS were
confident that the British were about to attack them,
and yet MENSA, humiliated and insulted as he had been,
made one last effort by sending BO.\TCHI TI!IITIN, the
husband of the Queen-Mother, to sue for peace,
The Governor now realized that the King's protesta-
tions were genuine, and that the ASH \. 'TIS had not
, prepared to invade the Protectorate, sO he returned t I
ELM INA, and there received the ambas>ador on April
29th, who made humble submission .. to the great
.. Ellis.. U Land of FetIsh," p. 149.
AMBASSADOR'S SPEECH 155
Queen of England," and voluntarily offered 2,000
ounces of gold as a proof of the King's friendship.
He added: "The axe belongs to the fetish; it is a
sign of the fetish. I n the time of Governor Maclean
there was a dispute concerning a man; the axe was
sent, and the end was peace. Under Colonel Torrane
a difference arose, and the axe was again sent.
The matter was settled amicably. To two other
Governors the axe was sent, and the end was peace.
I n the present case the axe was sent as belonging to
the fetish to obtain our desires peaceably. It is, in •
fact, a sign of an extraordinary embassy. There are
those who have said the axe means war; so the King
has heard. It was not so. It is not so. Take no
heed of this; the King of Ashanti only wishes for
peace.' '*
He ended his speech with the following words:
" I now lay before your Excellency something which
I think will prove to you that the King, my master, is
really in earnest in saying that he wishes for peace.
This axe . . . is one of the most treasured emblems of
sovereignty in my country. In sending this axe for
ever away from our country, we are sending away that
which is associated with all the greatest glories of the
Ashanti kingdom. But as this axe has been the cause
of such serious troubles between the Ashanti kingdom
and the Queen of England, the King begs her most
Gracious Majesty to, ,ept it, feeling sure that while
it is in Her Majesty's possession she will not allow it
to be treated with disrespect, and hoping that it will be
to her a proof of the earnestness with which the King
of Ashanti desires the cultivation of friendly intercourse
with Her Majesty's Government. "t
* Ellis, II Land of Fetish,') p. 30B.
t Parliamentary Paper: Threatened Asbanti Invasion, [881,
p. J 52.
156 MENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II.
Thus ended a protracted misunderstanding, with the
surrender of an emblem of great sentimental but I¥I
intrinsic value, and the greater humiliation of King
MENSA. Awusu, the original cause of aD the
committed suicide at ELM INA"o n July 17th, 1881.
BOACHI TINTIN asked that a European ollicershould
return with him to COOMASSII!, and Captain Lonoclale
was sent up in October, 1881. bearing gifts to the King
and Queen-Mother, which he delivered on November
12th at a large meeting.
Captain Lonsdale had also been ordered to visit
SALAGA and other market tow liS, but he was detained in
COOMASSIE for several weeks, as the ASHANTIS were
particularly anxious that he should not open up
roads. They foresaw that if the trade roads were opened,
it would be difficult, if not impossible, to refuse to the
up-country and Coast traders equal rights with them-
selves to trade, and once these rights were granted they
would be deprived of the profits as .. middJenKIl ..
between the Coast and the north. Captain LMocI.1e
arrived at SALAGA on Christmas Day. He fOlN •
wretchedly smaD market, for the trade bad -.
diverted to KINTAMPO. He next visited KRATCHl.
and so returned to the Coast through KUPI.
In 1882 trouble broke out between JAMAIf ...
BANDA, and the Ashanti chiefs seized this
to endeavour to regain the aDegiance of theae S. .....
MENSA appealed to the Governor against JAMAIf __
rages, and Captain Lonoclale ..,&1 again ! 111 to
COOMASSIE and BONTUKU. He precled _ ....
parties to leave the of the quamI tD ...
Government. MENSA'S 8IIbUijuive If. ,..- ....
these negotiations, however, accentueted .. gIIIIIIiii
unpopularity. MENSA bad found tbIaajIIIIMIt
DESTOOLMENT OF MENSA 157
his reign in an exceedingly difficult position. The victim
of circumstances, he strove his best to keep on friendly
terms with the British Government, while pretending
to sympathize with the warlike aspirations of his chiefs.
The policies were incompatible, and he therefore fell
between the two . In private life he was cruel,
rapacious, and licentious. Had he been a conqueror,
these detestable traits might have been forgotten, but
his subjects, when they viewed his pusillanimous conduct
of public affairs, would not condone his private tyran-
nous acts. Little by little a strong party arose in
opposition to him, and advocated the recall of KOFI
KARl KARL
About the middle of 1882, EWUA, Chief of BANTAMA,
with his brother AWUKUMA, returned to COOMASSIE
from the Jaman frontier to discover that one of
AWUKUMA'S wives had proved unfaithful with the
King. Whether this was true or whether it was only
a pretext for a break with the court party remains open
to doubt, but MENSA, scenting a conspiracy, caused the
arrest of the two brothers. AWUKUMA and several of
the King's AHINKWAS were put to death, but EwuA
was rescued by night and escaped to ACHUMA.
This high-handed and unjustifiable act so exasper-
ated the ABREMPON that in February, 1883, they rose
in rebellion, seized the golden stool and regalia, and
banished MENSA to S .. uWA, thence to ABRADI, and
thence to APAMPREM.
Now followed a long period of unrest, due to dissen-
sion among the chiefs on the question of a successor to
MENSA. Owing to the critical internal affairs of the
kingdom, Captain Barrow was sent up to COOMASSIE
with Assistant-Inspector Kirby and an escort of fifty
HAuSAs. He arrived on April ~6th, 1883, and was
•
158 MENSA BONSU ANO KWEKU OUA II
well received by ASAFO BOACHI and AWlJSU KOKo,
the chiefs in charge of the town. lIe found three
claimants to the stool: MENSA, with a very small
following; ex-King KOFI KIRI KARl, supporteu by
the MAMPONS, NSUTAS, AGUNAS, KOKOFUS, and
NKORANZAS ; and young KWEKU OUA, the nominee of
the Coomassie ABREMPON, son of Y.\ CII!.I, KOFI
KARl KARl'S sister All Captain Barrow's efforts to
bring the chiefs together proved fruitless, anu heretumed
to the Coast in May. MENS.I'S chance was negligible;
KOFI KARl KARl was strongly supported by Prince
ANSA, and would have doubtless regained the stool on
Captain Barrow's departure had he not been defeated
in a fight by a party of COOMASSIES at BRE~I'\N. This
defeat broke up his following, most of the chiefs of
which were killed or committed suicide. KOFI KARl
KARl himself succeeded in escaping. He was e\'en-
tually captured at BECHIM in a pitiable condition, and
kept a close prisoner by KWEKU OUA'S party
I n the meantime the Coomassie chiefs sent mes-
sengers to the Governor imploring his aid to restore
order and to place KIVEKU OUA on the stool. They
hoped that the Governor would accede to their request
and send an officer to witness the enstoolment, but in
spite of repeated applications no one was sent, and the
Coomassie chiefs, losing patience, publicly enstoolell
him as KWEKu OUA II. on April 27th, 1884.
Unfortunately, the young King, who might have
welded the disunited tribes into a compact kingdom.
succumbed to smallpox on June loth. after a bri .. f
reign of forty-four days.
This left KOFI KARl K.~RI without a rival. The
chiefs who opposed his reinstatement, however, were
too powerful for him. He was secretly put to death on
INTERNAL CONFUSION '59
the 24th of the same month, eight days after his arrival
in the capital.
These two sudden deaths threw Ashanti into utter
confusion. The power of COO MASSIE was openly
defied by every chief who thought himself sufficiently
powerful to hold his own. Internecine feuds raged
throughout the country.
To add to the general anarchy, the MANsu
NKWANTAs rebelled and won a victory over the
Coo MASSIES , which deprived the latter of all semblance
of central authority. COOMASSIE was once more
deserted and fell into ruins. All the roads were closed,
and trade was rendered impossible.
In fact, the disruption of the once-powerful Ashanti
Confederation appeared imminent, when YA CHIA (now
Queen-Mother) made a despairing appeal to all the
tribes to elect a new King and save the kingdom. Most
of the chiefs responded eagerly, stipulating that the
election and enstoolment should be witnessed and
approved by a British officer. The ACHUMAS, how-
e\'er, obstructed matters because the COOMASSIES had
not helped them against the MANsu NKwANTAs.
YA CHIA sent the linguist BUATIN to the Governor,
stating that she proposed to enstool her sister's son
KWESSI KWISSI, and begged for an officer to be
sent up.
This embassy read· J ACCRA on October ,6th,
J 884, but owing to a series of untoward circumstances
no officer was available for two years. During this time
constant appeals were made to the Government by the
.\SHANTIS for a British representative.
The ADANSIS (who had never carried out their threat
to migrate into the Protectorate, out nevertheless
claimed British protection under the Treaty of
160 MENSA BONSU AND KWEKU DUA II.
FOMENA), seeing the AsHANTls powerless, caused
great trouble, murdering, kidnapping. and robbing
people who passed through their territory Early in
1886, 150 Ashanti traders were murdered for the sake
of their goods. The BEKWAls, who were the prinripal
sufferers, retaliated, and killed over sixty Adansi traders
returning from JAMAN. KARl KARl, chief of BEKWAI,
raised an anny to drive the AOANsIs away. A collision
between the parties occurred at AKROKERI between the
Adansi main army and the vanguard of the BEKW.\I~
The latter were compelled to fall hack .
Elated by this success, INKANSA. the Adansi chief,
sent to Mr. Firminger (who had heen sent by th"
Government at INKANsA's request) to say he would
not brook his interference. He eventuaUy. however.
agreed to his mediation.
M r. Firminger, who had been staying at PRAs U,
visited FOMENA on April 5th, ;:Ind BEKWAI a few days
later. The BEKWAIS had received so much provocation
that they refused to cease hostilities; moreover, they
had been reinforced by the COOMASSIEs. Conse-
quently, Mr. Finninger found his efforts to secure peace
between the parties futile, and returned to the Coast.
On April 23rd, 1886, the AOANsIs, D.~OIAsls, and
PAMPAS US, were about to fall on BEKWAI itself. when
INKANsA learnt of the defection of the DAOIASIS. This
so alanned him that he and all his warno!' took to
flight, and practically the whole of the AOA!,;SI tribe
crossed the PRA on June 13th and follov.;ng days
Over 12,000 people are supposed to have sought
refuge in the Protectorate.
The BEKWAIS burnt FOMENA and every Adan!;
village. They then sent a message to the Governor to
say that in future they (the BEKWAIs) would keep the
A STATE SWORD
AN ASHANTI STOOL
BR ON ZE WEIGHTS T O W EIGH GOLD DUST
" hom I' ·n·and-mk drawings b)' Lady Fuller.
RIVAL CLAIMANTS 161
road open to the PRA, and that the Ashanti chiefs were
about to assemble in COOMASSIE to elect a new King.
The Ashanti messengers sent by YA CH IA in 1884 .
were still waiting on the Coast for an officer to return
with them.
At last, in August, 1886, !\Ir. Badger, a native inter-
preter, was sent to COOMASSIE with excuses for the
delay, and to enquire whether the Queen-Mother and
principal chiefs were still of the same opinion. If so,
the Governor promised to send a European officer
•
within two months.
Mr. Badger was well received. He found that
KWESSI KWIssI had died in the meantime, and that
there were two claimants for the vacant stool. These
were AJIMAN PEREMPE and YAO ACHEREBOANDA-
the former a son of YA CH IA and brother of the late
KWEKU DUA II. ; the latfer a cousin of YA CHIA and
son of her aunt, YA FRE. -,'
PEREMPE had the support of his mother, the chiefs
of JUABEN and BEKWAI, and most of the Coomassie
chiefs, while ACHEREBOANDA' S principal supporters
were SAMAN ACHIEMPON of SEUWA ; his own mother,
YA FRE; AKWESSI SECHERE of MAMPoN; and OSEI
ESIBE of KOKOFU. The principal reason of this sup-
port was that EFUA KOBI'S sons had proved such a
failure that it was thought advisable to give YA FRE'S
progeny a chance. Y 0 JENFI, Chief of BEKWAI, was
entrusted to collect the votes of all the chiefs and inform
the Governor of the decision of the majority. In
November he reported that all his efforts to arrange
for the election were being frustrated by SAMAN
ACHIEMPON.
The two parties met for a conference at BEKWAI in
January, 1887 . They failed to come to terms ,
PEREl\IPE'S ENSTOOLMENT 163
re-espoused his cause and prepared to resume hostilities
against the £EKWAIS.
In January, 1888, the chiefs invited Mr. Barnett to
enstool the new King , saying that, although they had
" drunk fetish" three months previously, nothing had
been done. The delay was caused by ESIBE'S
obstinacy. He insisted, in spite of Mr. Barnett 's
remonstrances, on holding out against the overwhelm-
ing majority in favour of PEREMPE.
Owing to the death of KWESSI KWlSSI, (the heir-
apparent), both the "Golden" and "Edum" stools
were vacant. In March the Coomassie chiefs, headed
by Ewu.\ of BANTA~IA, tired of the senseless delay,
urged Mf. Barnett to come to COO MASSIE to witness
PEREMPE'S enstoolment. He arrived on March 15th,
and was accorded a hearty welcome .
Unfortunately, Mr. Barnett had received imperative
orders to return to the Coast by April ,oth. The cere-
mony of enstoolment had been fixed by the fetish priests
for the 17th of the same month. On hearing that
Mr. Barnett must leave by the end of March, they
advanced the date of the ceremony by a whole month.
The chiefs of MAMPoN and KOKOFU, suspicious of
their reception in the capital, declared themselves
unable to attend in time, although their representatives
were present.
CHAPTER X
KWEKU DUA III
l8BS-1896
AJIMAN PEREMPE was enstooled on the heir-apparent ',
stool (ABAKuMEJA) in the presence of l>1r. Barnett,
at midnight of March 26th, [888. At the instigation
of the chiefs, although he did not occupy the palace, he
assumed the Royal prerogatives and the name of
KWEKU DUA III. He has always been known by his
nickname PEREMPE (anglice stout).
The question of appointing a British Resident in
COOMASSIE had been strongly advocated by the mer-
chants on the Coast. They pointed out that the
destruction of the Ashanti power by the expedition of
1874 had removed the central authority, and that the
responsibility to maintain law and order had devolved
upon the British Government. This was not the
Governor's view, however, who opposed the appoint-
ment mainly on the score of expense. It would appear
that be failed to appreciate the difficulties surrounding
a modern Ashanti monarch. No sooner had Mr. Bar-
nett left than the young heir's troubles began.
KOKOFU broke out into open rebellion. He com-
menced raiding Bekwai villages and plundering traders.
In May, ESIBE of KOKOFU was reinforced by the
ADANSIS and DADIASIS from the Protectorate, and
attacked the BEKWAIS. E\\'UA of B.\NTAMA set out
forthwith to the rescue of his allie~, the BEKWAIS. but
'--I
arrived too late to help them. He was betrayed by a
BEKWAI, captured at KASI by the KOKOFUS, and
promptly put to death by ESIBE. The advance of the
KOKOFUS was met by a combined force of Coo-
MASSIES, JUABENS, and BI!KWAIS, which completely
defeated and drove them across the PRA. PEREMPE
recaUed his army from that river, and at once reported
. what had occurred to the Governor, asking him not to
aUow the fugitives to use the Protectorate as a base for
raids on ASHANTI.
AKWI!SSI SECHERE of MAMPON, afraid of his recep-
tion in COOMASSII!, continued to intrigue on behalf of
ACHI!REBOANDA, and won over the NSUTAS to his
side. He attacked EJISU, but was beaten back.
PERI!MPE'S party marched against and defeated the
MAMPONS at BIPOSU, and pursued them as far as
EJURA. The survivors fled to ATEBUBU.
About the same time, AJIMAN of JAMAN appealed
for British protection, and an expedition under In-
spector Lethbridge was sent up. Owing to internal
dissension in JAMAN, nothing could be done. Mr.
Badger, on a supposed appeal for protection from the
Chief of NSUTA. arrived at ATEBUBU in January, 1889,
but the chief disclaimed having made any such appeal,
and this expedition was likewise fruitless.
It will be noted that the Government policy of non-
Intervention in Ashanti affairs, "0 long adhered to by
tbe Coast authorities, had now been definitely aban-
doned, but the interference was all directed against,
instea4 of in support of, the central power. This ren-
dered PEUMPI!'S task aU the more difficult, and gradu-
Illy diacouraged and embittered him and the court
patty
Indeed, PEUMP!!, who was only a youth of sixteen,
12
166 KWEKU DUA III.
was beset by the gra"est difficulties from the very
outset of his reign . He had, perforce, to act upon
the advice of YA CH 1.\, the Queen-~[other, and
the Coomassie chiefs, and was little more than a puppet
in their hands.
AKWESSI SECIIERE of l\h~IPON, now at AT1!BUBU.
invited AKWESSI OPOKU. Chief of !'>KOR NZA, to join
him against COO~l\SSIf. The latter rei\! ed, but his
people Ill,isted that SECHERF.·S im italian should Le
accepted, whereupon OPOKU committed ui ide by
blowing himself up . On hearing o[ his death, SECHERE
claimed OPOKU'S head. This reque t 10 t him the
friendship of the NKOR.\NZAS, who, under their new
chief, IFf A, beat off a Mampon army and openly
espoused PEREMPE'S cause. In reward for his loyalty,
IFFA claimed all the privileges alt.~ched to the stool of
MAMPON. These consisted of the right to cover drums
with leopard skins; of wearing gold sandal and cap;
of covering the chiefs' drinking ('abba h with gold; of
possessing a stool studded with silver; and of wearing
., particular emblem (ABOBF.1') over the State umbrella.
PEREMPE granted IFF.\ only the privilege of wearing
gold sandals. His refusal of the other requests 50
annoyed the 1': KORANZAS that they immediately
declared a war of independence.
In September, 1889, SECHERE of MAMPON, finding
his position unsafe at ATEBuBu. sent messengers to
ACCRA asking for an officer to conduct him and such
MAMPO:-lS' as were willing to migrate with him down to
the Protectorate. He was told III reply that he mIght
enter the Protectorate via the VOLT River route and
was promised land on which to settle. This reply was
embodied in a letter to PEREMPE, askmg him to rdram
from persecuting tnbes which had seceded hom the
Confederation, and telling him that the ADANSIS would
PEREMPE'S LETTER
be allowed to return to ASHANTI provided that he guar-
anteed they would not be molested.
Mr. Badger returned to ACCRA in January, 1890,
bearing with him the following letter containing the
King's answer:
U COOMASSIE1
"December 27th, 1889.
" GOVERNOR,
"Your letter by your officer, Mr. Badger, came
safel y to hand; as you stated in the closing of your
letter that Mr. Badger should not be detained no longer
than a week, I take the little time to reply to you.
"1. I am very sorry indeed to say that it is not my
single wish that the British Government should allow
the King of M ampon to come to the Protectorate; and
even those that have come already, I am earnestly
praying for their safe return.
"2. It is truly through the kind aid of the British
Government that I ascended to the stool of my
ancestors. Those of my subjects who wilfully had
opposed to my being placed on the stool took up arms
against me, but were unsuccessful; they had to fly to
you, which candidly and truly speaking should have
been asked to return, for they had no respect for Her
:'>Iajesty's Government, for they knew it was through
their King's assistance I am on the stool.
"3. Your true and firm friendship you stated in
your letter with me I am sorry to say it wants wanting,
for I believe that when two persons are keeping friend-
ship each of them seel the interest and welfare of the
other, but it is not the case here. I thought that my
subjects that had come to you came to solicit your
intercession for their safe return, for I believe that when
a friend's boyar servant offends his lord, he runs to his
lord's friend to ask pardon for him, so when there is
any punishment whatever, through the intercession of
the other friend, the offended servant is pardoned, and
then he returns to resume his former duties; this is real
FORWARDED TO S. OF S. 169
" Wishing you a merry Christmas and a prosperous
and blessed N ew Year.
I' I remain, etc.,
My
"QUACOE DUAH III., x
mark.
" King of Ashanti.
II HIS Excellency, F. M. HODGSON,
II Acting Governor."
In considering the tone of this letter it must be borne
in mind that the clerk who wrote it was a man of
"indifferent education" ; and in proof that no dis-
courtesy was intended, it may be mentioned that the
King sent a copy of it to the Secretary of State under
cover of the following:
If A SHANTI COOM ASSIE,
.. December 27th, 1889'
"My LORD,
"It is my greatest pleasure that I take the
liberty of writing you; as I believe I am the first King
of Ashanti that ever have send a letter to England, and
trust Her Majesty's Government will give me all assist-
ance and good advice for the well government of my
Ashanti kingdom .
.. I find that the friendship existing between Her
Majesty's Government and my kingdom of Ashanti,
ever since the time of ~ly ancestors, is still now the
same.
"I believe if there is any grievance in me, Her
Majesty's Government is able to remove sam~, there-
fore I send the accompanying copy of a letter to the
Governor administering the Gold Coast Government,
for your kind perusal, and I trust Her Majesty's
Government will assist me in this important matter, as
have been always done.
DRAFT TREATY
and to refer all disputes to the
arbitration. The fourth provided that all
.tes arising amongst themselves should be settled
ill limBar manner, and that the Governor's decision
JhOuIti be final and binding. The fifth secured to all
British sugjects free access to all parts of Ashanti, the
riibt to build houses and hold property there in accord-
anee iith the laws of the Gold Coast Colony, and to
carry on any trade that might be approved by the
Govelllor or his deputy; it also stipulated that the
authorities in Ashanti should not confer similar rights
on other persons without the Governor's consent. By
tIJe sixth, the Ashantis were to undertake to keep their
roadJ in gOod order and encourage trade generally, and
not to enter into any agreement or treaty with any other
Power without the Governor's permission. The
seveutb contained an undertaking on the part of the
Goverlillient that it would not interfere with the cus-
tollWl collection of revenue by the King and chiefs,
nor with their administration of the country as did not
• ! against the dictates of humanity.' The
cooferred on the Government the right to
pomt a Resident. ~ Ashanti or to send a ~ravelling
iam>i, _at to lllllt the country at any tune, who the King with advice for the promotion of
and trade; and the ninth reserved to the
Government the ri~ht to refuse to ratify the
a year from Its date. but it was to come
fcilrce immediately on its execution .....
Hull lemained in COOMASSIE from April 13nd
without receiving a definite reply.
messengers overtook him bearing
It ~eferred to several side-issues.
Treaty wa$ concerned the
voL ii., p. 354.
SIR FRANCIS SCOTT'S EXPEDITION 173
PERE.MPE had made no arrangements to attack
ATEBeBU or any other place.
Sir Francis arrived at ATEBUBU in December. This
show of force resulted in several of the tribes, notably
the J UABENS, AGOGOS, and NKORANZAS, appealing for
British protection against COO MASSIE, and the Coast
traders again petitioned for the inclusion of ASHANTl
within the British zone. This was considered to be an
inadvisable step to take at the time, owing to the prob-
able armed resistance of the COOMASSIES. Sir Francis
Scott was, however, confident that were he allowed to •
march south on COOMASSIE the whole country would
accept British supremacy without fighting.
In January, 1894, the Secretary of State suggested
that PEREMPE be asked to receive a British Resident at
COOMASSIE in return for stipends to himself and his
principal chiefs, on condition that the King was not to
wage war on tribes living beyond fixed boundaries.
This proposal was made to the King by Mr. Vroom in
March, but although he waited in COO MASSIE until
April, PEREMPE and his chiefs could not decide on a
definite reply.
Shortly after the return of the army to COO MASSIE
flom the expedition against the NKORANZAS and Mos,
a day was fixed for the funeral custom of AJIMAN KOFI
KWEKU DUA II., as PEREMPE could not be properly
enstooled until due respect had been paid to the spirit of
his deceased brother. The custom lasted nine days,
during which a rigid fast from all food was maintained.
Some fifty slaves are supposed to have been sacrificed
at the time. They were mostly Nkoranza captives.
The fortieth day after the termination of these funeral
obsequies was the day fixed for PEREMPE'S accession
to the golden stool. It took place on June 11th, 1894.
174 KWEKV DVA III.
The chiefs of BEKWAI, OFINSU, AGUN , Ejlsu,
KUMAWU, and OSUUNCHK, the new Chief of
MAMPON, attended in person. JUABEN sent a repre-
sentative.
After the ceremony the political situation was dis-
cussed. It was an extremely difficult one for the
Ashanti chiefs to face. They were naturally unwilling
to lose their independence, while at the same time they
wished to avoid assuming a defiant attitude which they
felt would create a rupture with the . Govern-
ment.
On ANSA'S suggestion, it was decided to levy a poll
tax of ten shillings a head to defray the cost of an
embassy to England. This ANS.\ was the son of
Prince ANSA, the adviser of OSEI :'I-IKNS , who had
been educated in England and had since died at CAPK
COAST.
The adoption of ANSA'S advice proved fatal to the
Ashanti monarchy.
The embassy determined upon consisted of A SA
himself; his brother ALBERT ATT\ ANSA; KWM I
BOATIN. Chief of ANK.\SI; KWEKU FKKUO, a Coo-
massi!! linguist; KWAKU NKRAMh, a SAFOHIN,
KOBINA BONA, a court crier; AjlKMPON DABAN, a
sword-bearer; and KODjO TUFUO, a gun-bearer The
mission arrived in CAPK COAiiT on December loth,
1894, and was received by the Governor two days
later, when the linguist explained that the Kmg
intended to deal directly with the Secretary of State,
pleading that' it was useless to continue negotJaUons
with the Colonial authorities, adding :
, • The King is very anxious that perpetual peace be
effected in Ashanti. His Majesty thinks that if he
keeps writing to your ExceUency that will not
S WKKNING 175
matters for good. Therefore he has deputed them to
Her Majesty the Queen, so that every matter may be
entirely settled. Mere letters will not settle matters,
so His Majesty has sent them to go and see the Queen,
so that peace may be perpetually effected in Ashanti.' '*
The Governor naturally protested against the implied
discourtesy, and next day produced a telegram from
the Secretary of State warning the embassy that the
Queen would only communicate with the King of
ASHANTI through the Governor of the GOLD COAST,
and that the mission would not be received in England.
The Ashanti envoys replied that, as they had been
ordered to proceed to England, they would carry out
their instructions. The negotiations that followed are
lhus described by Claridge:
"Their decision was communicated by cable to thc
Secretary of State, who sent instructions that the
ambassadors should be forbidden to proceed to Eng-
land, and a note to this effect was accordingly sent to
them.
" This was addressed to ' Mr. ] ohn Ossoo Ansa ..
lI!essengers from the King of Kumasi,' and Ansa
refused to receive it because he was not addressed as
, Prince.' It was once morc sent, with an intimation
that it contained a message for them from the Home
Go\'ernment ; but he still refused it unless the King was
described as 'King of Ashanti,' instead of King of
Kumasi only, and, I.ee the messengers declined to
attend at the Castle, it was again sent down to them,
and they were told that the King would not be recog-
nized as King of Ashanti until he had replied to Mr.
Hodgson's letter, though it is difficult to understand
how it could be maintained that the mere writing of a
• Parliamentary Paper: Further Correspondence relating
to Affairs in Ashanti, 1896, p. 4.
KWEKU DUA III.
letter could alter the limits of his kingdom Captam
Stewart and Mr. Vroom were the bearers of the letter
on this occasion, and were told to open and read it to
the Ashantis if Ansa still refused it; but he now
accepted it, after some hesitation, saying that he did so
under protest.
" At another meeting held at Government House,
Cape Coast, on the 15th, Ansa read a paper protesting
against the Governor's action in having refused to
acknowledge the King of Ashanti, but only as that of
Kumasi, and in having stated that he and his hrother
had been dismissed from the Government. en·ire.
" It was with the full concurrence of the Secretary of
State that the Governor had not only declined to admit
that Prempi was anything more than King of Kuma".
but also refused to acknowledge Ansa and his com-
panions as ambassadors or anything more than special
messengers. This decision was based on the grounds
that the King was not a 'chief of sufficient Importance
to be allowed to send ambassadors to the Queen, and
that he was reasonably su,pected of allo\\ing humaJl
sacrifices. t "*
The Secretary of State ordered that a European
officer should proceed to COOMASSIE, accompanied by
Mr. Vroom, to inform the King that his messengers
had been stopped, and to ask for a categorical reply to
the letter handed to him by l\Ir. "room in l\larch. Cap
tain Donald Stewart was sent to COO.I\SSIE with Mr
Vroom for this purpose in December, 1894 I\Ir. j. S
Erbynn accompanied them as interpreter. Captam
Stewart was instructed to explain to the Kmg all 'hat
ha<:l occurred. He was to lay stress that the only wa
he could communicate \\;th the Home authorities was
through the Governor .
- • Claridge, \01. iI., p. 387. •
FAILURE OF STEWART'S MISSION 177
TheyenteredCoOMASSll!On JanuarY3rd,I895. The
Goveiilor's letter was read to the King and Coomassie
chiefs on the 8th. The meeting was adjourned until
the J 5th for the attendance of the provincial chiefs. It
was not, bowever, until the alSt, after continued pre-
varication, that a meeting was held. Captain Stewart
again read the Governor's letter. Then the cbiefs
asked for the letter itself. Captain Stewart ex-
plained that, since it contained private instructions to
himself as weB as the message to them, he could not
wlllply with this request. His refusal produced an
uproar, and Captain Stewart and Mr. Vroom, after
endeavouring in vain to make their voices heard above
the tumult, retired from the meeting.
Soon after messengers came to them from the King.
They bore his answer. It was brief but decided. The
only reply he could give the Governor was the one he
had already sent by his special envoys, who had been
instructed to carry it to the Queen of England.
Captain Stewart and Mr. Vroom left COOMASSII!
the next day Uanuary 22nd). While at FUMsu on the
25th, one of the tIausa escort was shot. There is
good rea80n to suppose that the shot was intended for
Mr. Vroom. murderer was handed over
by the Chief of EsAMAN.
TIle Ashanti envoys sailed on March 28th. On
tbeft.. arrival in E'~d the members communicated
t!Je Ollice, on the grQunds that AsHANTI
eat State, but both the Foreign and
refused tJrem audience.
,sir) WiI1iam Maxwen assumed the gover-
GOLD COAST on April 7tb, 1895. He
to send the King an ultimatum to
aabehachiolated the Treaty of FOMINA
ANSA'S CREDENTIALS 179
(SEAL)
.. To THE MOST GRACIOUS AND ILLUSTRIOUS
SOVEREIGN, VICTORIA, QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND .
.. Kweku Dua Ill., King of Ashanti, wishes health
and prosperity .
.. We pray your Most Gracious Majesty to know
that we have appointed our trusty and well-beloved
grandson, Prince John Ossoo Ansah, son of the late
Prince Ansah, of Ashanti, on our behalf to lay before
your Majesty divers matters affecting the estate of our
kingdom and the well-being of ('ur subjects, with full
power for the said Prince Ansah as our ambassador-
extraordinary and minister-plenipotentiary to negotiate
and conclude all such treaties relating to the furtherance
of trade and all matters therewith connected as your
Majesty shall be pleased to entertain .
.. We therefore pray that your Majesty will be
pleased to receive the said Prince Ansah on our behalf,
and to accord to him your Majesty's most royal favour.
.. Given at our rourt at Kumasi this 18th day of
September, 1894. My
"KWAKU DUA III., X
mark.
.. King of Ashanti. "*
This at once woke the suspicion of the Colonial
Office, as no mention had been made before of any such
document. The wording of it was, moreover, excep-
tional, and no witnesses attested PEREMPE'S mark.
On his return to the Coast in December, ANSA himself
admitted that the document was a forgery; that he had
.. Parliamentary Paper, 1896, p. 122.
,
,
A)DIA .-\CIII:"\\'.\, DAU(,;;HTER OF EX-f..:I:-:G PERE)IPE.
From a pht)to~raph .
•
~----------------------------------- c
GOVERNOR ENTERS COOMASSJE 181
(PEREMPE) would be required to make his submission
to him. On the 18th the Governor arrived, and he
arranged to meet the King on the 20th. Meanwhile
a cordon of Hausa soldiers was drawn round the ,
palace.
The meeting was arranged for 6 a.m . (an unusually
early hour for ASHANTIS to make their appearance in
state). After being personally summoned by Captain
Stewart, the King and Queen-Mother, with their atten-
dants, arrived after 7 a.m., and took their seats
opposite the Governor. A cordon of soldiers encircled •
them. The Governor in his speech said that the arrival
of the British force was due to the King's neglect to
answer the ultimatum and to the non-fulfilment of the
terms of the Treaty of FOMENA. He went on to say
that, although the indemnity had not been paid, it was
manifestly unjust to expect PEREMPE to pay the whole
of it, as the Government now only recognized him as
King of COOMASSIE and not of ASHANTI. He con-
cluded by saying that the Government had no wish to
depose him provided that he made his submission and
paid an indemnity of 5,000 ounces of gold.
After much hesitation, PEREMPE and his mother
walked across the square, prostrated themselves, and
embraced the feet of the Governor, Sir Francis Scott,
and Colonel Kempster.
" The scene was a Inost striking one. The heavy
masses of foliage, that solid square of red coats and
glistening bayonets, the artillery drawn up ready for any
emergency, the black bodies of the native levies, resting
on their long guns in the background, while inside the
square the Ashantis sat as if turned to stone, as mother
and son, whose word was a matter of life and death, and
whose slightest word constituted a command which all
'3
KWEKU DVA III.
obeyed, were thus forced to humble themselve in the
sight of the assembled thousands.' ,.
When PEREMPE regained his place, he exclaimed:
" I now claim the protection of the Queen of England."
The Governor reminded him that the payment of the
indemnity was yet to be made. The King offered
680 ounces down, the balance to be paid by instal-
ments, saying he could not afford more. The Governor
scouted the idea of such a small amount, and as
PEREMPI! reiterated his inability to pay more, the
Governor said: "The King, the Queen-Mother, the
King's father, his two uncles, his brother, the two
war chiefs, and the Kings of MAMPoN, EJlsu, and
OFINSU, will be taken as prisoners to the Coast. They
will be treated with due respect."
The scene that followed is thus described by
Claridge:
" This was an utterly unexpected demand, and the
Ashantis for a few moments sat as though paralvzed.
Then the chiefs jumJl.ed up and earnestly beo;ed that
their King should not be taken from them, while
Freku, pointing to the Ansas, who were II by
looking half amused and half nonplussed at the RsuIt
of their handiwork, an£rily asked what was to be cIoDe
to them, since they liad bee n the cause of aU the
trouble. The Governor answered that wCJQld be
arrested and taken to the Coast to stand triaJ au
a charge of forgery. 11Iey were at once
while several officers and warrant oftic:en, who hall
been detaile'd for the duty. drew the., swords and
round the King and chiefs The Wen!
• removed to a house near by aJKI the AnIu
to the Hallsas' ~-room in a state of .........
rage. and astomshment.
• po '77·
PALACE SEARCHED
"Meanwhile, the cordon had not been withdrawn
from the palace, and two companies of the West Yorks
were now marched down to seize it. Every door was
closed and barred; but the hum of many voices could
be heard withIn, so, while one company strengthened
the cordon, the other burst open a small door and
forced its way in. The men found themselves in a
large empty courtyard; but, on breaking down another
inner door, they entered a smaller court in which were
a number of Ashantis. They offered no resistance,
and were quietly disarmed and placed under an escort
outside while the palace was searched. A number of
articles were collected, including several rings, trinkets,
and gold-mounted swords; but very little of real value
was found, for the golden stool and other regalia had
been removed and concealed elsewhere long before
the arrival of the troops. "*
BANTAMA was then surrounded, and the Royal
mausoleum broken into, but the skeletons of former
Kings and whatever treasure might have been buried
with them had all been removed. A row of empty
brass coffins was all that was found inside.
The celebrated KUMA fetish-tree of COOMASSIE,
that had named the town, was blown up by the Sappers.
The European troops left for the Coast on January
22nd with the prisoners, who v,ere all carried in ham-
mocks (PEREMPE in his litter).
The Governor and r aptain Stewart followed with
the HAusAs and West Indians a few days later.
Separate treaties were made with AGUNA, OFINSU,
EJISU, NSUTA, MAMPON, KmlAwu, BOMPATA,
BEKWAI, ABoDoM, and KOKOFU.
Major Piggott (21st Lancers) was appointed first
• Claridge. vol. ii., p. olP ....
KWEKU DUA III.
Resident of COO~IASSIE, and assumed hi, dutie. in
February.
By the irony of fate, the last King of .\SIlA~Tl was
imprisoned in ELM INA Castle, for which his forbears
had received regular payment of ground-rent for a
period of nearly two hundred years .
The political prisoners were exiled to SIERRI\ LF.ll. 'F.
in January, 1897, and eventually sent to the SEY-
CHELLES !SL,\NDS, where the survivors (among whom
is PEREMPE) still reside.
,
CHAPTER XI
THE LAST RISING
1896-1901
THE sudden and unexpected deportation of their
monarch appeared to daze the ASHANTIS. They
became listless and supine. COOMAssIE was practically
deserted for several years by the mass of the people.
The town was placed in charge of OPOKU MENSA
(OBl;\BASsA), NENCHWI (a linguist). and EFIRFA of
ACHUMA, and the Resident interfered with them as
little as possible.
The activities of the Government were more or less
confined to the erection of a FORT, on a site dominating
the town, which took over two years to build.
In June, 18g6, Mr. and Mrs. Ramseyer, of the
Basel Mission, arrived from ABETIFI to found a mis-
sion-station in COOMASSIE.
In July Lieutenant-Colonel Piggott visited ATEBUBU
and KINTAMPO, where rumours reached him of
Samori's raids i~ the north. He left for Europe in
October, after ha\~g been relieved by Captain (later
Sir) Donald Stewart, who was appointed Resident.
The staff at Captam Stewart's disposal did not
admit of the inception of a properly-organized adminis-
tration. He contented himself with breaking the'power
of the COO MASSIE chiefs over the outlying tribes, keep-
ing the trade roads open, and travelling through the
country as much as possible, which, to all appearance,
maintained a peaceful and placid attitude.
~ r8j
\
THE LAST RISING
But the ASHANTIS could not forgive the aDd
deportation of their King, and these years of seeming
contentedness were in reality devoted by them to
brooding over their supposed wrongs and to seCiet
preparations for rebellion on the first opportune
occasI•O n.
Governor Maxwell visited COO MASSIE again in 1897.
He then realized that the country was still unsettled,
and that British rule had only been accepted under
compulsion. In 18gB and 1fl99 small intertn"bal out-
breaks occurred at BEREKUM and AGUNA. An aII-
pervading spirit of dissatisfaction was gradually spread-
ing throughout the country, but more especially among
the COOMASSIES and their immediate foUowers, like
the ACHUMAS. They had to provide transport for the
Government and labour to keep the roads open and
clear. \\'hen they failed to do so heavy fines
imposed. This they strongly resented.
Rumours of general dissatisfaction were 10 rife
towards the end of I fl99 that the Acting
Captain Davidson Houston, deemed it to
assemble the Coomassie and Achuma chiefS to
loyalty to the Government.
In December a lame EJlsu boy, named EsUMI,"
to the authorities in ACCRA and oftered to di". die
secret hiding-place of the golden stool. Hia .,
was sufficiently plausible to engage die of
the Governor, Sir Frederic Hodgson, who determiaed
that a search should be made for the stool. The
was entrusted to Captain PriftIIa
Secretary to the Governor and a
the Hausa Constabulary. On the iwt ... "
guide, although disguised and protected,
escaping, but was reocalA ... ed. TIle viIIap
GOVERNOR VISITS COO MASSIE 187
was reached by the party on February 5th, 1900, and
the search commenced. The boy evinced such terror
that all attempts to discover the stool proved fruitless,
although there is little doubt that it was hidden in that
locality. The quest had to be abandoned, and Cap-
tain Armitage and his escort returned to ACCRA. The
ASHANTIS did not then know the object of Captain
Armitage's mission, nor did they hear of it until he
had left ASHANTI.
News reached them from the Ashanti traders on the
Coast that the Governor was coming to search for it
in person. Then the chiefs" drank fetish "* at YAO
Eou KOFI'S house (the Anantahene), not to deliver
the golden stool whatever happened.
The Governor's contemplated visit to COO MASSIE
took place in March, 1900. He was accompanied
by Lady Hodgson, Captain Armitage, Dr. Chalmers,
and Mr. Wilkinson, Acting Director of Public Works.
COOMASSlE was entered on the 25th, and the Governor
received an apparently hearty welcome. In the after-
noon of Wednesday the 28th a meeting of chiefs was
held in Iront of the fort. The Governor, in his address,
announced definitely that neither PERE~IPE nor ACHERE-
BOANO.\ would be allowed to return to ASHANTI ; that
the powers of the King Paramount would be vested in
the Resident, acting as the Queen's representative,
and that he claimed the right to call out ~he people
for peaceful purpose;, such as road-construction or
transport work. He reminded the chiefs that the war
• To II drink fetish" means to partake of a liquid which has
been poured out and has H washed" some particular stool.
The liquid is supposed to be impregnated with part of the
mystical power of that stool. Thus the partaking thereof
imposes all the obligations of a sacred oath. The more
important the stool used, the more binding is the draugbt.
188 THE LAST RISING
indemnity, as laid down in the Treaty of FOMENA, had
not been satisfied, and demanded that an annual sum
of 2,000 pereguns (£160,000) should be paid by them.
He apportioned this amount among the various tribes
as follows:
The COOMASSIES would pay 125 pereguns; the
M,IMPONS, ADANSIS, BEKWAIS, NKORANZAS, and
MANSU NKWANTAS, 150 each; the NSl:'TAS, KOKO-
FUS, and AGUNAS, 110 each; the ].IMINS, 100; the
]UABENS, TEKIMANs , BECHIMS, NKWANTAS, \V.I~IS,
and BOMPATAS, 75 each; the Orl,'sus, E]ISl'S,
KUMAWUS, WENCHIS, ABoDo~ls, AII,\ros, and
OBOGUS,35each; and theAGOGOS 20. Ten percent.
of these amounts was to be returned to the collecting
chiefs for their trouble. The Governor ended his speech
with an allusion to the golden stool in these words •
" What must I do to the man, whoever he is, who
has failed to give to the Queen, who is the paramount
power in this country, the stool to whirh she is
entitled? Where is the golden stool ~ Why am I
not sitting on the golden stool at this moment? I am
the representative of the paramount power; why have
you relegated me to this chair? Why did YOll not
take the opportunity of my coming to K um~ i to
bring the golden stool and give it to me to sit upon)
However, you may be quite sure that, 31thollgh the
Government has not yet received the golden stool at
your hands, it will rule over you with the same impar-
tiality and with the same firmness as if you had pro-
d uce d I· t. "* .
The meeting then broke up quietly.
This speech shattered all the hopes the ASH.\NTlS
possessed of PEREMPE'S return. They had made up
... Official record.;.
-
REBELLION DECIDED UPON 189
their minds that the Government would reinstate him
after a few years' salutary exile after, as they put it,
PEREMPE'S "ear had been twisted." The loss of
their monarch for all time had been undreamt of by
them. Added to this unpalatable revelation, the
demand for the golden stool , although quite logical to
us, appeared to them in the light of an unwarrantable
interference with their most sacred traditions. They
regarded it with reverential awe. It was symbolic
not only of their departed glory, but also of the spirits
of the dead Kings, from OSEI TUTU to KWEKU DUA.
The stool formed part of the OjlRA fetish, and could
not be entirely divested of its religious attributes.
Naturally, such spiritual significance as was attached
to this emblem of power was extremely difficult for
anyone not versed in the ways of "animistic" com-
munities to realize.
But although disappointment at PERE~IPE'S con-
tinued exile, and the annoyance caused by the demand
for the golden stool were contributory causes, it was
the order to pay the war indemnity which proved the
deciding factor in favour of rebellion.
That same night a secret meeting was held in OPOKU
MENSA'S compound, whereat all the chiefs present
" drank fetish" to submit no longer to British rule.
KOFI FOFIE (alias KoFl.~) of NKWANSAN, ANTOA
MENSA, and KWAMIN EFRIFA, OSEI KOjo KRUNI
and Eou JENFI, were the moving spirits of resistance.
Messengers were at once dispatched to all the outlying
tribes inviting them to join theCOOMASSIES in rebellion ,
and the Queen-Mother of EjISU, YA ASANTIWA, was
asked to head the movement. She gladly accepted
the responsibility, as she was still smarting on account
of the deportation of her grandson, AFRANI. How-
COLUMN SURROUNDED 191
hole the walls , but not to fire in return unless the vil-
lage was rushed. The ASHANTIS fired spasmodically
during the rest of the day and well into the night, until
dispersed by a heavy tornado. It was obvious that
the detachment would have to fight its way back to
COOMASSIE. At break of day the column started off-
Captain Armitage in charge of the advance-guard,
Captain Leggett in charge of the rear-guard. No
sooner was the advance-guard out of the village than
it was met with a volley from the bush on either side
of the road at close range. This disorganized the
carriers, who fled in all directions. The steady fire
of the HAusAs, however, silenced the ASHANTlS, and
the column pushed on as rapidly as possible under
continu.11 fire. It surprised and dispersed a large
party of ASH.\NTIS on the banks of the OFIN River.
The loss of their leaders, KOFI ENCHWI and YAO
OPON, who were among the slain, together with the
suddenness of the attack, disorganized the ASHANTlS,
and the column was able to reach ACHIASHI, fourteen
miles (rom the starting-point. The coluIlU1 was now in
desperate straits. Food was unprocurable, ammuni-
tion was fast failing, and the men were exhausted. At
noon Captain Armitage called a hall. A clearing was
made in a plantation by the side of the road. Here
the column encamped for a much-needed rest. The
night was spent in a sm"ll circular stockade made up
of plaintain stems, surflJunded by a cordon of sentries.
No water was available, and the sufferings of the
wounded were acute. At dawn Captain Leggett was
ordered to push his way through to COOMASSIE at all
costs with a few men for reinforcements , food , and
ammunition. During the night, however, the
ASHAi'iTIS had retired, and the whole party reached
•
THE LAST RISING
COOMASSlE the same day without having been again
attacked. Both officers and nineteen men had h~cn
wounded on this fruitle~s quest, beside. one man killed
and several carriers wounded and mi~sing.
Meanwhile the COOMASSIES, EJISUS, OFIr>St'S,
and ACHUMAS, were arming, and two of the native
committee, NENCHWI and EFIRF.\. were known to
have joined the rebels. After hearing of the fight on
the R\LJ road, the chiefs of l\f.\MPO'l, II'HIEN. and
KUMAWU came at once to the Governor to declare
their loyalty.
Telegrams were sent to ACCRA and the northern
territories for all the a"ailable Constabulary to march
on COOMASSIE, and reinforcements were ordered to
the GOLD COAST by the Secretary of State from
SIERRA LEONE, LAGOS, and NORTHERN NIGERIA.
Pending the arrival of the troops, the situation could
only be dealt with by negotiation. The Governor
sent for the loyal chiefs in COOMASSIE and OPOKt!
MENSA. He promised that no attempt should be
made to collect the war indemnity, and that the young
men, who had been led astray by their chiefs, would
be leniently dealt with if they agreed to lay down their
arms.
The latter demanded the return of PEREMPE ; liherty
to buy and sell slaves; immunity from GO"crnment
labour; and the banishment of all strangers and traders
from COOMASSIE. To the!e requests the Governor
replied that h.e had already made known his final deci-
sion with regard to PERnIPE; that sla"ery had been
abolished in ASHANTI in \8g6; that the ASHA. TIS
would still be expected to find labour for communal
works, but that the regulations would be altered so as
to minimize any hardship that might be entailed; and
COOMASSIE INVESTED 193
that as far as traders were concerned, COOMASSIE
being part of the British Empire, all would be free to
live and trade in peace. This decided refusal of all their
demands ended negotiations. On April 18th Cap-
tain Davidson Houston and Mr. Wilkinson, accom-
panied by Messrs. Daw and Leslie Gordon of the
Ashanti Goldfields Corporation, left COOMASSIE, and
were allowed to travel down the CAPE COAST road
unmolested. Captain Armitage undertook the duties
of Acting Resident. On the same day Captain
Middlemist, Acting Inspector-General, arrived from
ACCRA with 100 rank and file, without having met with
any opposition.
A series of small sorties was decided upon to drive
the ASHANTIS away from the close proximity of
COOMASSIE. On the 21st Captains Marshall and
Leggett went to EssEM and AMoKuM, but did not
come into touch with the enemy. On the 22nd Cap-
tains Middlemist and Marshall burnt KAS I and
ADEABABA and captured twenty ASHANTlS. On the
23rd, Captains Marshall and Bishop, accompanied by
Dr. Hay, took out a column intended for KWAMAN,
but YAO AWUA led them along the EJISU road to
KWAMU. They were recalled as soon as the mistake
was disco\·ered, since the ASHANTlS were known to be
in force on that road. Unfortunately, the warning
reached Captain Mar.hall too late to prevent his
column from falling Illto an ambush at FUMESUA,
where all three European officers were wounded,
native officer AKERE and 4 men killed, and 55 men
wounded.
The rebels then cut the telegraph-wires and drew
closer round COOMASSIE. By April 25th the town
was compll'lely invested. All the Europeans (including
•
194 THE liAST RISING
Mr. and Mri. Ramseyer, Mr. and Mrs
Naasis, Messrs. Weller, David, and
refuge in the fort.
The Basel Mission buildings
tain Armitage and some loyal ASHANTIS ..
practicable, but they had gradually to faD blCk
shelter of the fort machine-guns. The
attacked the Hausa Zongo and set it 011 fire.
civilian HAusAs fled to the fort. At duB the ..
thrown open and the prisoners W!Ie TIle
hospital and officers' quarters were ...
the siege of the fort commenced in
contained all the Europeans vad the .....
with the exception of the sentries 011 duty JI8IIed-"
the thousands of refugees who bad soagbt 1be ....
of the fort guns.
The following graphic
enS1Jed is quoted from Capblin
Montanaro's book:
ARRIVAL OF LAGOS COLUMN 195
Hari Zenoah, who had grown grey in the Government
service, praising here, reprimanding there, while keep-
ing up the spirits of his men. Every now and then,
amid a whirlwind of spark~, some thatch roof would
fall in, converting the four ' swish' walls of the house
into a white-hot furnace. Away across the swamp
glowed the embers of the burned civilian Hausa town,
occasionally lighting up the Wesleyan Mission build-
ings, as yet untouched by the Ashantis. Behind all
towered the blank wall of forest which surrounds
Kumasi, from which were borne tne triumphant shouts
of the rebels, who had at last caged the white man
within the narrow limits of his fort walls.
It was a night never to be forgotten. "*
On the 29th the ASHANTlS loopholed the houses
close to the fort. They were driven out by rifle and
machine-gun fire. Nevertheless, they kept up inter-
mittent firing from sheltered places; whenever they
exposed themselves they met with severe punishment.
A flank movement led by Captain Armitage on that
day finally drove the enemy back to BANTAMA.
The same evening the Lagos Column of 250 men,
under Captain AplOn, C.M.G., with Captains Coch-
rane and Read, Lieutenant Ralph, and Dr. Macfar-
lane, arrived. It had been attacked at ASAGO the
previous day, and again on the 29th, and gallantly
fought its way through, but the casualty list was heavy
and the expenditure of ammunition had been so great
that the arrival of the,t reinforcements failed to relieve
the situation.
On May 2nd the. stockade near the Wesleyan Mis-
sion-house on the Kintampo road was attacked. This
caused the ASHANTIS to burn the mission-house and
abandon their position for one farther up that road .
... Armitage and Montanaro, p. 3'2.
,
THE LAST RISING
On the 6th Captain Middlemist died of injunes
received.
Food was daily becoming scarcer. Fortunately,
the water-supply, 400 yards from the fort, was not
tampered with by the enemy, but the question of feed-
ing the garrison, not to mention the thousands of
refugees, became every moment more difficult. On the
9th and 10th forays were made to obtain native pro-
duce, but both attempts failed. On the I I th the loyal
chiefs endeavoured to reopen negotiation_ with the
rebels, and BODU'S camp on the Mampon road was
visited by special envoys. At first the rebels would
not abate their terms, but they convene(l a meeting of
representatives at which .. fetish was drunk," and an
armistice was declared on May 13th. A certain
amount of food waS' allowed to be brought to the
besieged, and results were anxiously awaited by them
when, on the I5th, guns were suddenly heard, and in
marched the Northern Territories Column under
Major Morris, D.S.O. This officer had made a
record journey south, as he had been warned of an
ASHANTI rising by Mr. Rainsford, District Commis-
sioner at KINTAMPO. Mr. Rainsford had received the
news of the insurrection from Captain Parmeter, who
had been attacked at SECHEREDOMASI on his way
down to COOMASSIE, and who, after a wellnigh
miraculous escape, had returned to NKORANZA.
Major Morris's column consisted of five European
military offi~ers, two medical officers, one nati"e
officer, and 230 Hausa rank and file. The column left
KINTAMPO (after a 238-mile march from GAMBAG.~)
on May 9th. !\KORANZ,\ was reached on the IIth.
Major Morris there found two factions' the Queen-
Mother's party, stanchly loyal to the GO\'ernment, but
-
EUROPEANS BESIEGED 197
in a minority; and the chiefs' party on the verge of
rebellion. The timely advent of Major Morris and
the admIrable behaviour of the Queen-Mother (EFUA
DAPA) decided matters, and the tribe remained loyal.
The column was thrice attacked on the road to
COOMASSI£. This arrival brought the number of
besieged Europeans to 29, besides 750 of all
ranks and several thousand refugees.
The Europeans were:
His Excellency Sir Frederic Hodgson, K.C.M.G.,
Governor;
Lady Hodgson;
Major Morris, D.S.O., commanding the troops;
Captain Marshall, West Kent Regiment;
Captain Digan, Connaught Rangers;
Captain Armitage, Travelling Commissioner,
Acting Resident;
Captain Parmeter, Inspector, Gold Coast Con-
stabulary ;
Captain Bishop, Assistant-Inspector, Gold Coast
Constabulary;
Captain Berthon, Royal Munster Fusiliers, Assis-
tant-Inspect"r, Gold Coast Constabulary;
Captain Aplin, C.M.G., Inspector-General,
Lagos Constabulary;
Captain Cochrane, Assistant-Inspector, Lagos
Constabulary;
Captain Read, Assistant-Inspector, Lagos Con-
stabulary ;
Mr. Ralph, AS>lstant-Inspector, Lagos Con-
stabulary ;
Dr. Garland, Senior Assistant Colonial Surgeon,
Gold Coast;
Dr. Chalmers, Acting Chief Medical Officer,
Gold Coast;
Dr Tw~edy . Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Gold
Coast;
I
THE LAST RISING
Dr. Graham, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Gold
Coast;
Dr. Hay, Assistant Colonial Surgeon, Gold
Coast;
Dr. Macfarlane, Assistant Colonial Surgeon,
Lagos;
Mr. Branch, Clerk-in-Charge, Telegraph Depart-
ment, Gold Coast;
Rev. F. Ramseyer, Basel Mission;
Mrs. Ramseyer, Basel Mission;
Mr. Yost, Basel Mission;
Mrs. Yost, Basel Mission;
Mr. Weller, Basel Mission,
Mrs. Naasis, Basel Mission;
Mr. David, Ashanti Company;
Mr. Grundy, Ashanti Company;
and (already dead)
Captain Middlemist, Acting Inspector-General,
Gold Coast Constabulary.
The unexpected arrival of Major Morris's column
had the effect of ending the armistice. The ASHANTIS
refused to believe that it was not a premeditated move
on the part of the besieged Governor, and negotiations
were terminated.
Owing to shortage of food, the garrison was
rationed. The European allowance was 1 pound of
tinned meat and one biscuit per day; the H~usAs
received ~ pound of meat and a biscuit and a half; the
carriers! pound of meat and half a biscuit. But hard
pressed as the garrison was, their condition was
nothing in comparison to that of the refugees, who
were literally starving.
'"" On April 20th the stockades on the MAMPOS and
ACCRA roads were attacked by Captains Marshall and
-
GOVERNOR'S ESCAPE '99
Armitage in an endeavour to obtain food, but both
parties were met with heavy fire, and owing to scarcity
of ammunition, had to return without having achieved
their object.
On the 21st OPOKU MENSA, who had been detained
in the fort, died of pneumonia.
On the 25th Captain Cochrane attacked and cap-
tured the NTlMlDE stockade. Although ENCHI EJEI,
Chief of NKAwE, fled, his men rallied and compelled
the column to retire. Unsuccessful sorties were again
made on the 26th and 29th, but the ASHANTls were on
the alert and repulsed these attacks. Captain Maguire
was mortally wounded on the 29th. Ammunition was
now so scarce that a period of inaction became inevit-
able. The plight of the garrison and refugees grew
daily more pitiable. Already bearing the pangs of
approaching stan'ation, they had now to contend with
disease.
The mortality in June was estimated at 10 per cent.
per day. Matters became desperate . Rations had
been reduced to a minimum. Yet even with this
reduction , supplies would hold out only for a short time.
Moved by these circumstances, the Governor decided
to try and break through the enemy cordon, and leave
a garrison of only three officers and 'So HAUSAS in the
fort.
I t was ingeniously rpported that the column would
march down the CAPE l..OAST road, but at dawn of the
23rd a break was made to the west, down the PATASI
road. The few ASHANTIS at this stockade "ere taken
by surprise. They attacked the column, but the
stockade was rushed and captured by Captain Armi-
tage, and the whole column moved forward as quickly
as possible, knowing that the ASHANTls on the adjoin-
200 THE LAST RISING
ing roads would follow and try and cut them off as soon
as they realized that they had been tricked
The column was fired upon throughout the day by
small bodies of ASHANTls. At dark TER.\BUM, a small
village, was reached, with the loss of over a hundred
soldiers and carriers. Captain Leggett wa< ~ri
ously wounded. Most of the loads had been aban-
doned, and only one camp-bed remained. This wa,
set aside for Lady Hodgson. The Europeans had
lost all their equipment, and possessed only the clothes
they were wearing. The first night was one of misery.
It is thus described by Captain Armitage:
" Our loads layout in utter confusion where they
had been dumped down by the carriers, who came
struggling in like drunken men. The Governor and
Lady Hodgson sat upon boxes waiting for the tent
which never came, and finally sought shelter in the
wretched hut I had kept for them. The crush was so
great that two huts filled with wounded collapsed from
the pressure on the walls from without, and the occu-
pants were with difficulty rescued. Fires had been lit
everywhere, and from them arose suffocating volumes
of smoke, as the damp wood spluttered and cracked.
The many trampling feet had churned the grollnd
into a sea of mud over ankle deep. And upon thi,
steaming mass of humanity the torrential rain fell
silently, pitilessly, as though determined to extinguiloh
the wretched fires around which squatted shivering
groups of natives ....
•
Next day the column marched for ten hours and
halted at HIAKOSI l\hNSU NKWA:-ITA territory,
whose chief, KWACHI NKETlA, had remained stanchly
loyal throughout, was entered on the third day, and
Armit~e anJ ,Ionranaro, p. 102.
-
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"
TROOPS FROM NIGERIA 201
the hazardous enterprise had been safely accom-
plished.
Eo UBI A was reached on the 28th, Captain Mar-
shall died that night of his wounds, Captain Leggett
died twenty-four hours later at TAKORASL The OFIN
River was crossed on the 30th, and the column was
now split up into three detachments for the march to
the Coast. The Governor and Lady Hodgson arrived
at CAPE COAST on July 10th, Besides the two officers, I
23 rank and file had been killed, 16 died of wounds, 37
were wounded , and 39 missing- a total casualty-list
of one-fifth of the armed force,
The casualties among the carriers and refugees had
heen even heavier,
When the ASHANTIS realized that the Governor and
his party had slipped through tlieir cordon by the
PATASI road, AKWESI Boou (YA ASANTIWA'S repre-
sentative) detailed ANTOA MENSA with a large force to
follow him up,
Fortunately, the stubborn resistance of the rear-
guard induced MENSA to content himself with the
seizure of all the abandoned loads,
In the meantime [,400 troops had been ordered to
the GOLO COAST under the command of Colonel (now
General Sir James) Willcocks, C,M,G" D,S,O,
Captains Hall and Haslewood arrived at FOMENA
on May 20th with the advance-guard, KWEKU
INKANSA, Chief of AOANSI, made protestations of
loyalty, but on the 24th two European miners, Messrs,
Jones and Cookson, were attacked at DOMPOASI, and
Captain Slater and his force of 25 men were suddenly
fired upon by the AOANSIS north of KWISSA, The
other miners were also captured and killed,
Colonel Willcocks landed at CAPE COAST on
20~ THE LAST RISING
May 26th. He found COOMASSIE and, indeed, all the
north entirely cut of! . After organizing transport, he
sent Lieutenant-Colonel Carter, C. M.G., with 200
men of the Southern Nigerian Battalion to join Colonel
Wilkinson, Inspector-General of the Gold Coast Con-
stabulary, at KWIssA, and followed himself on June
5th for PRASU with I I officers and 280 rank and file.
Lieutenant-Colonel Carter's column was attacked at
DOMPOASI, and compelled to retire on KWISSA. The
ADANSIS had built a strong ,tockade a quarter of a
mile in length, 6 feet high, and 6 feet thick, which
gave them ample protection against rifle and shell fire.
Captain Meliss was hurried forward from PRASU with
reinforcements. Another column under Captain
Wilson, on its way from BEKWAI to KWISSA, was also
attacked at DOMPOASI, but succeeded in fighting
through and joining up with Lieutenant-Colonel
Carter's force at FUMSU, of which Colonel Wilkinson
was in command, as Colonel Carter had been wounded
and invalided home. News of the Governor's escape
was now received.
On June 12th a letter from the Governor reached
Colonel Willcocks, explaining that the besieged gar-
rison in COOMASSIE could hold out on reduced ration,
until July 11th. Colonel Willcocks ordered Colonel
Wilkinson to move on to BEKWAI. This town was
reached via OBUASI without incident. Colonel Bur-
roughs's force, which was to join Colonel Wilkinson 's, ,
marched by the main road, rushed the DOMPOASI
stockade by night, completely surprised the ADANSIS.
destroyed a considerable part of the stockade, and
reached BEKWAI on July 1st.
Colonel Burroughs determined to attack KOKOFU.
The KOKoFus were fully prepared, however, and
•
MESSAGE FROM COOMASSIE 203
fought with great coolness and skill. After three hours'
hard fighting the attacking column had to fall back on
ESUMEJA, the chief of which had remained loyal.
Colonel Willcocks had now collected sufficient men
and stores to enable him to advance on COOMASSIE.
He left PRASU on July 1st with all his available force,
and reached BEKWAI on the 9th, without having met
with any resistance. On the 10th the first news from
COOMASSIE for weeks past was received. A half-
starved Hausa soldier crawled into ESUMEJA and
produced a soiled piece of paper on which was written
the following message:
"From O.C. Kumasi to O.C . Troops Esumeja.
His Excellency and main troops left for Cape Coast
seventeen days ago. Relief most urgently wanted
here . Remaining small garrison diminishing, disease,
etc. Reduced rations for only few days' more. F. E.
Bishop, Captain, G .C.C."
The messenger was promoted on the spot and given
a well-desen'ed pecuniary reward.
Six star shells w~re fired at ESUMEJA that night, but
they were not seen at COOMASSIE. A demonstration
in force was made against KOKOFU in order to deceive
the ASHANTlS. It led them to suppose that this was
the main attack, and they appealed to COOMASSIE for
help.
The relieving force marched out of BEKWAI at dawn
on July 13th. It consisted of 60 Europeans and 1,000
rank and file, with two 7s-millimetre guns, four
7-pounders, and six maxims.
The rain was so heavy that it took nineteen and a
half hours to coyer the fifteen miles to PEKI. The
march was resumed at 8 a.m. on the 14th.
---------------- ,
THE LAST RISING
TREDE, a Coomassie village, was rushed, captured,
and destroyed. The column halted at NKWANTA
(five miles from COOMASSIE) for the night, and fought
its way into COOMASSIE on the 15th, the day on which
Colonel Willcocks had promised it should be relieved.
The ASHANTIS offered a vigorous resistance at the last
stockade, but it was successfully rushed and the town
entered at 6 p.m.
What had occurred in the besieged fort was thus
described by Captain Bishop to Reuter', representa-
tive :
" When the column marched out of Kumasi on the
morning of Saturday, June Z 3rd, we were assured
that authentic information had been received that the
relief force was at Esumeja, and that we should be
relieved in five days at the very latest Left alone,
our first task was to take stock of our food-supply, and
then to tell off the men to their various positions in the
bastions and so forth, warning them that they were on
no account to leave the guns, but always to sleep
beside them.
" Every man had one hundred and twenty l\Iartini-
Metford cartridges, with a reserve of fifty per man.
Major Morris had scarcely left Kumasi when we saw
a band of Ashantis coming towards the fort from the
Bantama stockade. I suppose they thought the fort
was evacuated, but the fire from two maxIms 51)0n
convinced them that such was not the case, and after
firing a random volley they retired.
"It will be remembered that the friendly population,
coast people; traders, and so forth, had fixed up
shelters all round the fort und"r fire of our guns.
These, to the number of some thousands, extend. .d
for a considerable distance, and were now abandoned.
all of the people, with the exreption of about one hun-
dred and fifty, having gone away with the Governor's
•
BISHOP'S ACCOUNT
column. These empty shelters formed a pestilential
area, the stench from which was such that, despite
the heat, we were compelled to keep the windows of
the fort shut. Moreover, they now formed a fine
cover for the Ashantis, and we had to set to work to
destroy them .
.• The grass structures had been so sodden by the
tropical rains that it was not until June 27th we were
able to bum out this plague-spot .
.. Apart from the stench, the presence of hundreds
of vultures afforded only too sure evidence of what
some of these huts contained, but to make certain that
there were not half-dead people a personal inspection
of the shelters was necessary. So Ralph and I, each
with a handkerchief tied over our faces, and half a
dozen men visited the huts. We found decaying
remains on all sides. and many bodies which had been
torn to pieces by the vultures. In one hut we found a
wretched starving woman who had been living for three
days with her dead child beside her
.. In the meantime starvation was doing its work in
the fort. The day after the Governor's column left,
three of the men died, and almost daily one or more
succumbed. The gates of the fort were never opened
except for a few minutes at early morning and again
at dusk, when the dead were carried out and buried
in the adjoining trench, no one being strong enough
to dig graves. For the first five days we were not
unduly anxious, bllt when no relief came as promised,
and we remembered thet 'Ve had been told that a force
was only sixteen mile. off, our spirits fell, and after
ten days we gave up all hope. Neither of us thought
we should survive, but we kept up an appearance of
cheerfulness for the sake of our men, who bore their
sufferings with the greatest fortitude. I regard the
conduct of the native troops as marvellous; they main-
tained perfect discipline and never complained. Our
first business every morning was to serve out the
206 THE LAST RISING
rations to the men, who came up to the table one by
one. Some were too weak to do this, and lay about
on the ground.
" All were worn to skin and bone, but there were a
few who, to relieve their hunger, had been eating
poisonous herbs, which caysed great swellings over
the body. At last the ratIons consisted of a cup of
linseed meal and a block of tinned meat about two
inches square. Occasionally some native women
would come outside the fort and offer, at ridiculous
prices, certain articles of food. The~e were greedily
purchased, and many would have readily given three
limes the price asked. A piece of cocoa yam usually
costing the fraction of a penny realized fifteen shillings,
and bananas fetched eighteen pence each. r paid
fifteen shillings for a tiny pineapple. But even these
high-priced luxuries were extremely rare, and the value
of money can be judged when I tell you I used to pay
the Hausa troops three shillings in lieu of half a biscuit.
By this means we saved a few biscuits, and the Hausas
were able to purchase leaves, etc . , for food. A large
quantity of our scanty store of biscuits had beef! so
badly packed that they were full of weevils and grubs,
while others were thickly coated with mildew.
"Every two or three days our anxieties were
increased by reports that the loyal Bekwais and
Nkwantas had joined the Ashantis, and were encamped
two days' march from the town. We were also told
that the Governor's column had been cut up, and
that the Ashantis had a white man's head in their
camp. Now, to make matters worse, smallpox broke
out in the fort, and we had to remove the cases to a
hut under 'the fort walls. Every day Dr. Hay,
although extremely ill, clambered over the wall to visit
these cases, and in doing so again contracted fever.
As a last resource I tried to get some message through
to Bekwai. Going to the treasury, r took out a bag
containing a hundred pounds, and offered it to the first
•
ACCOUNT CONTINUED ~07
man who would deliver a message at Esumeja, sixteen
miles off. Two Lagos men volunteered, but returned
without success. Several times the Ashantis came
out from their stockades, once to burn the Basel Mis-
sion Chapel, which we tried ineffectually to save; and
once to destroy the Wesleyan Church, which, being in
a hollow, was out of our line of fire . At night small
bands prowled about near the fort and round the small-
pox hospital, which we had to remove.
"On July 14th the usual native stories were told of
distant firing, but these reports, which, by their con-
stant repetition, had at first caused us to hope, only
made us more despondent. On the evening of that
day the native officer said he was sure he had heard a
7-pounder, and we fired three double shells as a signal,
but there was no reply, and we felt sure that the sup-
posed 7-pounder was only an Ashanti Dane gun.
Next morning when I was in the bastion I distinctly
heard three volleys fired in the direction of the Cape
Coast road. Even then we were not quite sure of their
origin, but we felt more hopeful. The men were quite
apathetic, being too weak to care much for anything.
At 4.30 in the afternoon we heard terrific firing, which
removed any doubts we had, and after opening a pint
bottle of champagne one of our few remaining
medical comforts-we mounted the lookout, field-
glasses in hand. I t was very pathetic that even with
relief at hand some of the men were just at the point
of death. At 4.45, amid the din of the ever-approach-
ing firing, we heard rinf!ing British cheers, and a shell
passed over the top of lae fort, which was in the direct
line of fire. We then saw shells bursting in all direc-
tions about 400 yards off, and we fired a maxim to
show that we were alive. Then, to our intense relief,
we heard a distant bugle sound the' Halt,' and at six
o'clock on Sunday evening, July 'sth, we saw the
h~ads of the advance-guards emerge from the bush,
wIth a fox-terrier trotting gaily in front. Instantly
208 THE LAST RISING
the two buglers on the verandah sounded the 'Wel-
come,' blowing it over and over again in their excite-
ment. A few minutes later a group of while helmch
told us of the arrival of the staff, and we rushed out of
the fort, cheering to the best of our ability. The
meeting with our rescuers was of a most affecting
character. Colonel Willcocks and his officers plainly
showed what they had gone through. The whole of
the force was halted in front of the fort, and three
cheers for the Queen and the waving of caps and
helmets formed an evening scene that none of us will
e\'er forget. "
Captain Bishop was given the D.S.O. ; Mr. Ralph
a direct Commission in the Royal Fusilier. , and Dr.
Hay tire C.M.G., as rewards for the trymg and
anxious time they had endured.
The relieving column set to work to clean up thr
surroundings of the fort next day, the conditions of
which were indescribably filthy. Skeletons and corpses
in every stage of decomposition had to be removed
and burnt and the ground cleaned generally.
On the 17th the relie! expedition commenced its
return journey to BEKWAI. As many of the relieved
garrison as were able to travel accompanied it. Cap-
tain Eden, two officers, one doctor, two British non-
commissioned officers, and 175 men. were left to hold
the fort.
Brilliantly as this first part of the campaign had
been conducted, the more arduous task of dispersing
the rebels and pacifying the country had to be ccom-
plished. The enemy south of COO~IASSIE was first
dealt with. KOKOFU was attacked in force by Lieu-
tenant-Colonel (now Major-General) Morland on July
22nd. Major Meliss with the advance-guard rushed
•
\
DESTRUCTION OF STOCKADES 209
the stockade, and in spite of desperate resistance
occupied the town of KOKoFu, which was burnt.
KWISSA was then reoccupied, and the ADANSI war-
camp taken by storm and destroyed on the 29th. The
AD.\NSIS lost heavily and were utterly routed.
Owing to rumours of the fort being again besieged,
the Commandant sent Colonel Burroughs to COO-
MASSIE with 750 men via PEKI, with orders to reinforce
the garrison, destroy stockades, and return to BEKWAI
by August 12th. This force entered COOMASSIE on
August 5th, having met with no organized opposition.
On the 6th the stockade on the NTIMlDE road, out-
side BANTAMA, was captured by Major Meliss's column
after a stubborn resistance. Major Cobbe, with two
companies, carried the stockade on the KINTAMPO
road the same day.
The stockade on the ACCRA road was the next to
I,all, as the result of a night attack led by Colonel
Burroughs in person, when the enemy suffered
Lake BOSUMTWI was visited by columns under
Hanstock and Wilkinson, but,
to expectation, they met with no resistance.
rC,olonel Brake succeeded in surprising and routing a
[bo(ly of rebels at JACHI.
The country south of COOMASSIl! having thus been
cleared of the enemy, T-1 p adquarters were moved up
and established in that town on August 3 I sl.
Meanwhile an attack on E]ISU was conducted by
Colonel Brake. The stockade was carried after severe
fighting, and the town captured and destroyed.
It was now learnt that Captain Benson, who was
command of the AKIM levies and marching on
COOMASSIE from the south-east, had been repulsed at
210 THE LAST RISING
BOANKRA, and that, deserted by his le\"ies, he had
shot himself at OOUMASI . On receipt of the news,
Major Reeve was sent on a punitive expedition in that
district. He was absent ten days, during which he
saw nothing of the enemy.
The remaining stockades surrounaing COOM\SSIE
were gradually destroyed, the sanitary condition of the
town was improved, and a market, at fixed price,;,
established.
The Ashanti army had gradually scattered . A
small concentration was effected at jACH I under l\I.IR ,I-
WERE OPOKU (OBUABilSSA). This was the force that
was surprised and routed by Colonel Brake. OPOKtl
was killed while trying to rally his men
Flags of truce now began to come In
Eou jENFI, the AOENTIHENE, and ANTOA MENSA
were the first to surrender, and others soon followed
their lead.
On September 16th Sir James Willcocks held a
review of the 1,7 So troops in COOMASSIE, which much
impressed the ASHANTIS.
The northern portion of the country now received
attention. A column of 500 men under Major Hol-
ford marched to KINTAMPO and back without opposi-
tion. Major Holford received the unconditional
surrender of KWEKU INKANSA of AOANSI and several
other chiefs . A strong column left for OFINSU on
September 21st under Major Montanaro . A force of
ASHANTIS . was met at OOASASI, but after some
fighting a bayonet charge dislodged the enemy, who Red
in confusion. At OFINSU several chiefs surrendered,
among whom was 'the Ofinsu leader, ENcHwl
News was received that KOKI FOFIE, EFIRFA, and
KWAMIN ASARE, had concentrated a force of about
- --P1NA:C STA:NDc- 211
5,000 rebels ten miles out of COO MASSIE on the BERE-
KUM road.
The Commandant marched out to meet this army on
the 29th with a force of 1,200 men . Captain Donald
Stewart, who had returned from England, accom-
panied him as political officer. Rain fell in torrents all
that day, and the column halted at ADADA for the
night. Next morning the enemy was met in force at
ABOAsU. An engagement at once ensued. Only
after repeated charges and fierce hand-to-hand fighting
did the AsHANTIs give way, and then only to retreat
slowly up the hill towards the village. They eventually
broke and fled when enflanking companies threatened
their rear. IsANsU was then occupied. A flying
column reached FUFU the next day, which was found
deserted. The whole force re-entered COOMAssIE on
October 3rd. It was now announced to the AsHANTIs
that only those who were proved guilty of murder would
be punished, and that they would all be treated as
belligerents and not as rebels. This induced many to
surrender. But as several of the fugitive chiefs had
taken refuge in the north-western portion of AsHANTI-
among whom was the redoubtable KOBINA CHERI of
ODUMASI-columns were sent early in November
under Majors Montanaro and Browne to try and effect
their capture.
An advanced depot was formed at BECHIM , where
the chiefs of BECHIM, KWANTA, and TEKIMAN sur-
rendered. ODUMAsI was reached on the 11th. Here
a garrison of 300 men was left, while the main column
! ~~~:;~dleo~ to BEREKUM, where the loyal chief, KOBINA
, accorded the troops a hearty welcome. Cap-
I,am Hobart, who had been at W AM throughout the
marched in from there with his detachment of
•
212 THE LAST RISING
Gold Coast Constabulary, and reported that all the
Western tribes were loyal. PONG YAO, Chief of
W AM, was given permission to send a thousand men
into the AHAFO forest in search of the Ashanti
fugitives.
Major Browne at OOUMASI succeeded in discovering
KOBINA CHERI'S hiding-place, and surrounded and
captured him at the hamlet of SUNYANI.
The column returned to COOMASSIE on November
23rd, with 3 I captured chiefs and goo Dane guns
KOBINA CHERI was tried by a Military Commission,
sentenced to death, and hanged on the 25th at the
market-place in the presence of the whole garrison and
populace. His courage never failed him, and he dicd
defiant to the end. He was the chief-designate of
BANTAMA, and commanded a great deal of influence.
The war being over, Sir James WiUcocks left
COO MASSIE on December 3rd.
All the principal leaders of the insurrection were
accounted for in due course, including YA ASA1>;TlwA,
KOKI FOFIE, KOjo KRUM, and EFIRFA. Boou
escaped to French territory and died there.
According to the ASHANTIS, their losses, from first
to last, amounted to about 1,000 men.
With the new year commenced a difficult period of
reconstruction. The Resident, Captain Donald
Stewart, reported in January, 19o1, that the whole of
ASHANTI was perfectly quiet, and that the people were
returning to. their villages. But several of the stools
had been rendered vacant, either by the death or dis-
missal of former occupants.
The more important were those of AOANS I,
KOKOFU, NsuTA, BECHIM, NKWANIA, ABODUM,
EJlsu, OFINSU, ACHl'MA, I\KAWE, and the sa
•
LIGHT PUNISHMENTS 213
Coom""ie sections-i.e., KORENTlN, AKOMU,
AnENTlN, CHIDOM, lIASI, and OVOKO.
These stools were all given to loyalists, among whom
K\\'\MI~ BOACHI of AGUNA, YAO AWUA of EJISU,
and KW·\MIN TUA of COOMASSIE, were pre-eminent.
In l\larch, Igor, Major (now Sir Matthew) Nathan,
C.M. G., R. E., the new Governor, visited COOMASSIE.
Fifteen leaders and originators of the insurrection were
deported to the SEVCHELLES ISLANDS, and 3 I more
removed to EUIlNA Castle; the old war indemnity was
reimposed, but discontinued a few years later; and the
use of Dane guns was limited to a few licensed hunters .
These were practically the only punishments meted out
to the ASHANTlS, while presents amounting to over
£3,000 were apportioned out among thf> loyal chiefs .
Owing to constant rumours of a secret combination
between the lUABENS, MAMPONS, KUMAwus, and
NsuTAs, the Resident visited these places in August,
J I gog, with a strong column, consisting of 5 European
officers and 400 rank and file. He found the rumours
to be quite groundless, and was heartily welcomed
wherever he went.
A company of the West African Frontier Force was
left permanently at MAMPON. One had already been
stationed at KWISSA town and another at OnuMAsI in
the western district.
Captain Donald Stewart proceeded to England in
October, leaving Capta;" \rmitage, C.M.G., D.S.O.,
in charge.
'5
DEVELOPKEJlT OF
UNDERBRl'f1SH
ON
issued
Crown,
and
ADMINISTRATION ORDINANCE 015
approval of the Governor, to make, amend, and revoke
rules with respect to-
Appeals from native tribunals.
Prisons.
The making and maintenance of roads.
The maintenance of telegraph-lines.
The regulation of towns, villages, and streets, and
the abatement of nuisances in or about towns or
villages.
The conservation of forests and the collection of
forest products.
Cemeteries.
Ferries.
The prevention of accidents in hunting.
The regulations of the celebration of native
customs.
Rest -houses and mile-marks.
Landmarks and boundaries.
]\Jarkets.
The fouling of streams or wells.
Spirit licences as provided by Section 26, and
such rules as may provide for the issue of sub-
licences and for fees.
The introduction into Ashanti of goods and mer-
chandise under Section 25
The regulation of traffic and the carriage of goods
on the River Volta.
The regulation of caravans, including measures
for their safety and the imposition of tolls; and
The acquisition of I, • for public purposes.
The civil staff entrusted to inaugurate the new
regime only consisted of Captain Donald Stewart, Chief
Commissioner; Lieutenant Henderson, R. N. ; Captains
Armitage and Davidson Houston, District Commis-
sioners; and Captain Pamplin Green, Cantonment
Magistrate .
•
216 DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
Valuable assistance was rendered to tile
tion by the military officers in charge of the
at KWIssA, MAMPoN, and ODUMASI (the
a sub-station at SIKASSIKO), but little couIdbe
further the development of the country with tbiI
quate stafl and the limited funds at the
the Chief Commissioner. Indeed, the fact
serious disturbances whatever oc:cuned in the
years reflects credit on the handful of
cemed.
The four provinces of ASHANTI includecl the follow-
ing divisions : .
The Cefltral. - COOMASSIE, AouNA.
MAMPON, NSUTA, KUMAWU,
OBOGU.
The SOlIthena. - BEKwAI, AIwl$I,
NKWANTA, KOKOFU, and (later) DANJIASI
The Westem.-BEREKuM, WAN, AB.uo
WENCHI, and TEKIMAN.
The Norlhena.-NKORANZA, AIU08U
and (later) BANDA and Mo.
The officious, Wljust, and often duel
in the past, of the Coomassie chiefs
aftairs of the outlying tribes
perennial dissatisfaction, the
Administration was to break oft
the two. The .....
forbidden to obtrude in matten that 4id
their proper The
among than was iWte
sense of reliefa nd
In fact, it a hmd '
of the
COOMASSIE COUNCIL 217
inaugurated by Captain Stewart, proved the founda-
tion-stone on which the edifice of contentedness was
erected.
As a palliative of this decrease in power, a council
of Coomassie chiefs was instituted in August, 1905,
consisting of the former ABREMPON, to advise the
Chief Commissioner on matters connected with
Coomassie territory only, and to secure to them official
prestige and position.
The original Council consisted of-
Name. Rank.
Osei Mampon · .. ·. . Korentinhene
Kwamin Frimpon • •• · .. Adentinhene
Kweku Ware ... • •• • •• Antoahene ;'
K watchi Kofi .. · .. · .. Akomuhene
Kobina Toto ... · .. Edumhene
Kwamin Dapa • •• Oyokohene
Akwessi Busumpra • •• · .. Denchemonasuhene ..;
Akwessi Adabo Chidomhene
Akwessi I nuama ·. . · .. Domakwahene
Kofi Senchere · .. Domanasihene
Kobina Kokofu · . Jiasihene
Kwamin Tua ... • • • Jiasiwahene
Kobina Sec here • •• • •• Fantahene
Kobina Safo ... ·. . • •• Nantahene
K wamin K wissi • •• • •• Ankobiahene
The following were added in later years-
Kobina Esuboantin · .. J iasiwahene
Kweku Dua • •• · .. · .. Etipimhene
Enin Bejua • •• • •• · .. Amokumhene
Akwessi J ewu ... · .. Tonwasihene , • ••
Kobina Kofuo ·. . · .. Nkawehene ~
Yao Boatin • •• • • • · .. Bremanhene
The council is now limited to twenty-one members.
exclusive of the Chief Commissioner, who acts as
-
218 DEVELOPMENT OF TfIZ
A ~[J::.I:..I[NG OJ- CHJEFS.
Frum a photog-raph.
\"lEW OF MODER:\' COf'l)/.\SSIE .
From a photograph.
220 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CC
PAWNING.
I. That pawns would cease to be
the offspring of a pawn would no longer be
a pawn).
2. That debts on "pawns" could no lou&W ...
recovered in courts 1)f law.
A few years sufficed to suppress both instItutioIIlor
ever.
The rapid development oi the COUQby dwmg
last decade necessitated a gradual of
political staff, until the present 'hN1IIlY
was found sufficient. Besides the Chief
three Provincial Commjs~rs and a Police
trate, six District Commissioners, aad
District Commissioners, assist in the
the Dependency. This m~ pnwidee .. the
of officers proceeding to Europe the
leave conditions of the West African
four new administrative
the Central Province (EJvIA aDd J ABO IIId two hi
the Western Province (WllNeHI and GOASO
The close touch and collBtapt
and natives have
mutual regard and respect. Nor
that this has in
real
and land disputes
cases, owiilg to the
ing Litigant.
their to the
realize. out stlid
the partie. Appeals lie
de"isions to the Chief
to the of the GoLD
•
ABIREWA FETISH 221
last procedure is rarely resorted to. By wise decree,
lawyers cannot plead in the Dependency, for such a
litigious people would fight to the bitter end and ruin
themselves in payment of exorbitant fees. One of the
secrets of their present contented state may be ascribed
to this rule.
On the other hand, crime IS small among them.
Only forty-nine serious cases were recorded in 1918.
The penalties which may be inflicted by the
Commissioners vary according to rank-from a
maximum of six months' imprisonment allowed
to District Commissioners, to one year in the
case of Provincial Commissioners, and finally to five
years in the Chief Commissioner's Court. All sen-
tences exceeding five years must be confirmed by the
Governor-. Up to 19'9 the Chief Commissioner heard all important criminal cases, but in that year a Circuit
Judge was appointed to relieve him of these duties.
To revert to political matters, the peace of the
country was threatened in '907 by the sudden appear-
ance of a new cult known by the name of the
.. ABIREWA ,. (old ,voman) fetish. It migrated from
the French Ivory Coast and spread with astonishing
rapidity throughout ASHANTI. The" ABIREWA" was
supposed to be accompanied by a male companion
called "l\IANGURO," who acted as her executioner.
Those who drank "AB1R~WA " considered themselves
immune from evil influences and assured of good health
and prosperity so long as certain laws were not trans-
gressed. But the secret of success lay in tlte powers
arrogated to themselves by the priests of the cult,
w.ho alleged that with the aid of the fetish they could
dIscover .. witches." Witchcraft has always played
an all-Important part in the lives of these natives,
•
EDUCATION 223
The creed of the country, in fact, approaches to
pantheism, of which it may be a degraded form.
The ASH ANTIS hold an instinctive aversion towards
Mahommedanism, and no headway has been made in
the country by the propagandists of Islam.
The Christian religion, on the other hand, is surely
and steadily gaining ground. Six missions are estab-
lished in ASHANTI-namely, the Church of England,
the Wesleyan, the Roman Catholic, the Scottish (late
Basel), the Seventh Day Adventists, and the Zion.
These missions number a total of 5,500 adherents, and
their churches and schools are dotted all over the
country.
Primary education has hitherto rested mainly in
their hands. !'{early 3,000 cnili'lren are being taught
in mission schools, but the ·~·ernment has already
established schools at COOMASSIE. SlJNYANl,and
JU ASO, at which an average of 750 boys and girls I
attend for primary instruction. ../'"
The demand for Government non-denominational -
schools among the ASHANTIs is general. Clever and
intelligent, they realize that their youths are hopelessly
handicapped in the race for wealth (struggle for life
does not exist) unless they can meet their better-
educated Coast brothers on an equal footing, and
arrangements have already been made for Ashanti
scholars to be trained as teachers for their own people.
In time every divisional own will boast of a school, and
it can be confidently predicted that no compulsion will be
necessary for the introduction of universal education.
In 19 [1 a certain amount of friction was caused by
Christian converts refusing personal service to their
chiefs on the plea that they could not do violence to
their religious feelings. This attitude -was, of course,
•
2~
upheld by the
were involved. ~
than an 8lICUBe to ,,....
tiona, quite tmtinct from
The delicacy of ~
found possible to draw
spiritual and mow
,
TRADE INCREASE
mcrce in England to the effect that the collection of
the toll interfered with freedom of trade.
The expenditure of the Dependency for 1g o6
amounted to £S5,000 against a revenue of £32,000
(£7,000 of which was derived from mining royalties).
It is only fair to state, however, that ASHANTl was then
debited with three-fourths of the total cost of the Gold
Coast Regiment, and was not credited with the
customs dues collected on the littoral on articles con-
sumed in the Dependency.
The ASHANTlS readily turned their attention to
trade. Their wealth was derived from rubber, kola
nuts, and cocoa (the cultivation of which had been
introduced a few years earlier).
The value of the rubber and cocoa exported in 1906
was £172,000 and £700 respectively. The "alue of
the kola exported (nearly all by head transport to the
north) could not then be estimated.
To encourage this growing tendency among the
ASHANTIS towards the cultivation of economic
products, an Agricultural Show was organized in
COOMASSIE in December, 1905. This proved extra-
ordinarily successful, and fulfilled the object for which
it was promoted. In addition, it drew together the
largest concourse ofAsHANTlSeverknown. As a result,
old intertribal feuds were buried. whilst the "white
man's" methods of administration were better under-
stood, and consequentl" hereafter, loyally supported.
Not to weary the reader with figures denoting the
steady progress of the country's prosperity, it will be
sufficient to quote the following resume of the trade for
1915. Trade value of-
T'llports £S22,300 Exports £1,292,000
~:xpenditure £52,000 Revenue £47,000
•
226 DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY
The last figure does not include the revenue collected
on the Coast on articles consumed in ASHANTI. If this
were added, a considerable credit balance of rcvenue
over expenditure would be shown.
Over 18,000 tons of cocoa, valued at £360,000,
were exported in that year, besides £360,000 \I orth of
kola. The cattle and sheep trade from the north
amounted to an import value of £350,000, while
£387,000 worth of merchandise was imported in the
fourth year of the Great WaT.
The gold produced by the mines (by the Ashanti
Goldfields Corporation of OBUASI pre-eminently) was
valued at £42 1,736.
The above figures will give some idea of the flourish-
ing condition of the Dependency.
The pioneer firms that encouraged and dcYeloped
trade were Messr~. Millers, Ltd., Messrs_ Swanzys,
Ltd., Messrs. The African Association, Ltd., :'IIessrs.
J. J. Fischers, Ltd., Messrs. H. B. W. Russell, Ltd.,
Messrs. The Basel Mission Factory, and :'.1essrs. The
Obuasi Trading Co., Ltd.
The growing trade of the country soon gave rise to
keen commercial competition, and many more firms,
such as Messrs. Drewry, Ltd., The Compagnie Fran-
~aise de I'Afrique Occidentale, The Societe Commer-
ciale de l'Ouest Africain, and others, established
branches in Com.IASSIE.
At the present day the town boasts of nineteen
European and five native firms, besides a quantity of
Syrian petty traders.
The fOUlldation-stone of the Coomassle branch of
the Bank of British West Africa wa- laid in 'member,
11)07, and the Bank commenced active operations
in 11)08.
-
,
MINING ENTERPRISE 227
The Colonial Bank followed eleven years later.
No account of modern ASHANTI would be complete
without a mention of the Ashanti Goldfields Corpora-
tion's mining property. Originally started under great
difficulties in 1897, on lands belonging partly to
BEKWAI and partly to ADANSl, it has developed into
one of the successful gold-mines of the world, and had
produced, up to the end of June, 1919, gold to the value
of £5,580,000. As a pioneer concern the Corporation
was gIanted mineral and other rights over 100 square
miles of territory. The headquarters of the under-
taking, once established at OBUASI (in the Southern
Province of ASHANTI), created and continues to sup-
port the model village of that name, a flourishing town-
ship of some 5,600 souls.
The mine gives employment to 3,500 natives, many
of whom learn useful handicrafts. The Corporation
can be regarded as a civilizing factor in the country.
The surface workings of their gold ore having been
practically exhausted by the ASHANTlS, nothing but a
combination of scientific knowledge, large capital, and
tenacious enterprise, could have succeeded in develop-
ing the subterranean riches of the country. A story is
told of how a big Ashanti chief (KOBINA FaLl, the
ADANSIHENE) was induced to descend a mine to ,;ew
for himself the engineering contrivances of the" white
man." On regaining the top, he said to the man-
ager: "I thought befor,o • hat you were cheating us,
but now I have seen for myself what you' have done, I
say that you deserve everything you can get out of the
gIound."
Improvement is now the order of the day among the
ASHANTIS : improvement of their houses, their villages,
their standard of life, and above all their roads, so as
. -
LOYALTY TO THE CROWN "9
ample force to keep the peace throughout the
Dependency.
So ends this short account of a valiant, clever, and
lovable people, of whom it is no exaggeration to say
that they bear no malice and nurse no grievance. In-
deed. the stanch loyalty of the ASHANTIS towards the
British Government and their many fine qualities have
gained them the respect and admiration of all who have
been fortunate enough to labour with and for them.
16
-
INDEX ...
MU:UXAJUA. 87 Adda, 47
Abinajiasi Polru, executed, 84 Adeababa burnl, t9J
"Abirewa," cult of, 221 AdentlD, vacant !tool, :Ill
Abo Kobioa, Chief of the Jaman9, Adijuma. 9S
:29; captured, JO; death. )0, Adjumacoon. Chief 0(, Si~D' the
gold cast of his skull, 1.0 Treaty of PelLl'e. ~l
Aboaji killed, 1)8 Ado of .9orunan kiU~d, '1'
Aboasu, .62; engagement at, 211 Adom of Pampuo kiUeod, IJI
Abodom, Treaty with, 18); vacant Adookoo. King of Fanti, ~lgD'
stool, 212 the Treaty of Peac&, 80-82
Abodoms, amount of indemnity, Adum, the envoy. ('Olry Iota
.88 Cape Coast, 58 i llpeech. ~l)-6I;
Abomi, mission to, 35 camp at Mansu, 68
Abookoo, Chief of Akomfee. ~1~O'l Afunasuafo. Or .. peeial runn~u,
the Treaty of Peace. 82 'J
Abra. 39. 4.0, 48 Ag~rey. KiDg of Cape CO&.\It,
Abradi, 157 signs the Treaty of Pnc:e, s,,.s.l
Abrakampa, 128 Agogo, T Ilj
Abrempon, or baroo"! of the Inoti_ .\gogos. the campal,D a~alD t, J4; under nntt,h prt;JtcchOD,
20
Abu, story of, 4 173; amount of IndemnIty, I Aguna, 216 j Treaty With, 183 i
Accra, 46, 49, 101, '59. Fon'l,
•• Notes" for the, 2D intertribal outbreak ,86 Aguna, Chief of, at the en tool-Acheremade, 31 meot of Permpe, 174
A('hia~hi. IQI Aguoas. the, 115; revc,1t, 144.
A("hiempon, A<;hanti Resident of amount of indannlty .• 88
Elmina, interview with Gov- Abafo, 2]. lU, 216
ernM Ricketts, 7'; at Ounkwa, Ahafl)';, the, 1'5; amouDt of In
8Q. cruelty, f(">2; at Axim, 102; demoilY. 188; join the rebel.,
Elmina. 1(14; impri,",ned, ,06; .go
removed to Ashaoti, IDQ; be- Ahinkwa, mas'Pcre of, 100
headed, 162 - Abwibwiba, the sword, 49
Achuma. vacant o;tool, 212., Aim,a, 129
Achumas, the, 159, lip, 19:2. Ajabin, 162
Adada, 211 Ajena. 10J
Adakwariadom. J7 Ajiempoo Daban. mit!ioo to
Adamadi. u8 Eogland, '74
Adansi, 38, 216; tlD!lettled condi- Ajimao. Kin~ C/{ Jaraao. 'SO; ap-
tiOD, 149; vacant '1tool, 212 peals for Briti!lh protection, 165
Adan~i, Cbief of; 77 AjimaD Perempe, cJall:DaDt for
.\da.nsis, the. 115; attat'lt OD, 1]6: the thrpne of AAhanti. ,6.; CD-
claim Brili,;h protectiOD, 1"9. ~tonled, 164. (St!e Prrtmpe anJ
murder traders. 160; hostilities Kweku Dua Ill.)
against the Bek .. ais, ,60; .Ua.o tribes. 1
f1igbt, ,60; amount of In· .\ta.otamm or Dodowa, i1
demnitY" I~ join the r~MI~. Akia.ovah. Priocca of Asba.DtI.
.qo 5ign the Trtaty of Peace 80-12
-
I INDEX 23 1
Akim. lllV8Sioo!J of, '9. 23. 26. 35. Amonoo, King of Anamaboe,
95 signs the Treaty o[ Peat:e, 80-8:2
Akim Swatdru, 96, 97 An30labo, 40, 68, 95; attack on,
Akimg. the, tlS 40 -44
Akinoie. Chief of Agab, signs the Ancestors, worship of, 22:2
Treaty of Peace, 82 Animira PenlO, King of Wassa,
Akomu, Chief, 32- 34 j kiUed, 34
Ak')[Du. vacant !iotool, 213 "Animism," 222
Akos. 2
cession of setUement9, IN. loS l:Slbe of K· kofu atuc:h the- B~i:
wais, 16.t
Ebirim 'taro, KiD@' of the Sefwis, I Enac.oomah. Chic{ of ticos the
26; killed. 26 Treatr of Peace, 80$.1
-
• ,
INDEX 235
E"sikuma, 39, 69. 95 «Great Oath of Three," 26
Esubuantin of Warn, killed, 131 Green, Captain Pamplin, Can·
Esumankwapo, 13 tonment Magistrate, 215
Esumeja. 2, I;, lBo, 203 Grundy, Mr., at the siege of
Esumi offen to divulge hiding. Coomassie, 194, 198
pJ.a.:e of the golden stool, 186, Gyaoman, 10
.. E"'t"i plm " stool. 37 HaU, Captain, at Fomena, 201
Ew,.u \"ao, pursuit of Kudjo Otibu, Hanson, J. W., at the battle of Dodowa, 74
Ewua of Bantama, 157. 164; Hanstock, Lieutenant·Colonel, 20<)
killed, 165 Hari Zenoab, 194
Eyina.!li, battle of, 136 Ha,.,:,;,l ewood, Captain, at Fomeoa,
Fanti, 39; confederation, lOT Hay, Captain, Acting Colonial
Fantis. the, treachery, jlt. 39; de- Secretary, at Fomena, 1$0
feated, 39; number killed, 42 ~ Hal', Dr., 193, at the siege of
campaign against, 46; flight, Coomassie, Ig8, 206; C.M.G.
48; besiege Elmina. 79; seize conferred, 208
AsbaDti traders, 89 Henderson, Lieutenant, 21S
Fell, T. E., supen·ision of the Hennessy, Pope, takes over the
\Vestcrn province of Ashanti, Dutch posse5!';ions, log; con·
,,8 ciliatory tactics, 110
Fergu<;sCln, Lieutenant.Colonel, loS Hill, Commander. GoverDor of
Festinro;. Colonel, adl'ance on Cape Coast CasUe, 86; resigna..
Iskabio, 128: at Dunkwa, 129 tion, 86