The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1874-03-17 00:00:00

MUSING • PRISONER.

This morning I went out for • walk round the town.
One street alone is occupied by our troops, and I found
the others deserted. It was like • dead olty. Presently
I saw • strange and rnelanoholy 0bj1.0.. It WM a man
with one hand secured by • Owe i•if iron to AO enor-
mous log which he hod to driag with him. HI. legs
were also manacled together. Ho was one of the
Pantie prisoners, more than 50 of whom had been
released the night before. Ells said that be hod been
Imprisoned some way off, but had managed to owe me
far, travelling all night at the pace of . snail, and stiff •r.•
lag great pain. His legs were bl.eding and oovered
with the.,. My servant and I worked for some tim• to
get him free, and I saw in the distanee • House. soldier,
whom I coiled, and who also joined in our offsets. At
last three Pant.... Game ap, and unfettered him by
means of a knife end •.stone with much detterity.
They had all been prisoners, being cal:tared while
peamisbly trading at Pommel:tab. Oct. Oe them could
speak English, and acted as milet-de-pfoee to Coomassio,
showing us the King's Pals..., the burying-ground of
the Royal family, the sacred slaughter-house, and other
Institutions of this amiable people.
THE KING el PALAOIt.
_ .

The King's Palace I. fik; iti-st of the Chief of Fom-
manali, but on a couch larger seals, consisting of many
wort., each • house in itself, surrounded by above..
Bat the front portion of the building is of stone and
like the houses at Cape Coot. It was built by Fontes
workmen. Upstairs were several room', eaoh of which
was a perfect Old Curiosity Shop. Books in all
lagsuages, Bohemian glum, clocks, silver plate, old
furniture, picture. and engraving., numberless chests
and coffers. With thee. were alio many specimens of
Moorish and Ashuitse handloraft, sandals and saddles,
leopard .kb cap. lined with yellow velvet and adorned
outside with beaten gold, like that of Cashmere, mogul-
fluent esnoples or State umbrellas, baskets or cradles of
the kind in whioh Asbantee gentlemen are aocustoosed
to be oarried on the beads of slaves, with other teetotal
and withins things, too numerous for me to dwribe or
even catalogue.
• ?ANTI* PRISONIR'S JOURNAL.
Home Rae discovered a V.ry envious document, being
the journal of • Feta.' prisoner at Cana:mule. during
the last two weeks. lie heard on January 23 that
Captain Glover had won a sietory. Oa the 24th an
lambent*e prince was readied from banishment On the
25th was some Ashantee festival, and the King went,
swirling to custom, to pour liestions to the spirits of
his aceestors. "lie passed me, sword in his left hand,
looking very sadly, saluting very quietly." On the
27th the King went to Bantam% to ask for help from
the spirits of his ancestors. A great many soldiers
went out to the camp. On the 29. h he beat gong-gong,
and ordered out all hie warriors. One of the High.
lariders straggled from his company at the battle of
Amortfal, and was surrounded and killed by the
Ashantese. The headless body was brought into
Amodul ; the head was taken to Cloornessie, but the
Log refused to have it in the town. Be was at first
assured that his people had won the battle. Bat soon
came the news of Amacquatia's death, and many
corpses of ohleftlane were brought into the town. Then
some one told the King privately that the English hat
won the day and were advsnaing. He went oat to give
bviii• in Person, but left the field at an early hoar of
the day.
TM* SUIRDIaI3N Or KING oOrril.
The oorrespoodent of the Daily Neal telegraphed on
February 13 :—" It tarns out, Mier all, that titie
messenger received at Dotal:dun was from the King.
An Ashantee has arrived to-day bringing the 1,000
°now of gold demanded, as an earnest of the King's
good intontloos, lie has come empowered to sign in
the King's name, and undertakes that the King shall
sign afterwards, a treaty of pew, in whisk the King
wept, all the terms Imposed upon him by the General
The terms of pesos have not been made public, bat it
may be safely Inferred that they latitude some deelers.
Hon on the King's part that be has no rights of any
kind about Cimino. Moreover, It ia probable that
everything that was sworn to In 1831 by the then King
of Ashanti,. will be now promised again under circum-
stences mush more likely to prevent the promise, from
being broken. The only qurstlon is whether the treaty
does not oonie too late to save the Ashantee kingdom
from complete collapse. Nearly half the kingdom has
been involved in the overtones made by different chief.;
and considering the pure terrorism by which the
monarch's rule ha,, been maintained it seems as likely
as not that fear of the omsequenc-e of agolo prisoing
under his power may art As a most disintegrating
element in Orr future. The Ashantses sltogether seem
to form • congeries of tribes rather than a singe
immogeneou. nation. The treaty is muoh more im-
portant for the make of saving the country from com-
plete anarchy than for any use it will be in preg,nting
future invasion. The collapse of Ashen es power is too
complete for that to be a matter for any consideration.
It was in a truly picturesque situation, under the
shade of s mesa-hut and adjqinina one whicib it the
General's, that the (Hi, 'hob was the sign natant to
all men of the sub elision .f the itohaotwo Kmr, was
paid over and weigh.l. The Government gold-tak.r
had been brought op from Cape Coast to be rood, for
any emergency of the kind. He set on one 6lde
receiving the precious metal ; on the opposite Sat Some
six or seven of the Ashan.eee, round • large white cloth
of native manufacture, filled with gold platse and
figured, nuggets, brevets's. knobs, masks, bells, jaw
bones, and fragmente of skulls, plsques, bosses—all of
the metal as pore as it can be, and of an endless variety
of shape and sins. All, or almost all, of thee* have
through them • fine hole for threading to form seek.
laces or armlets. Beside these, door ornaments and
golden nails were thrown in, and a number of odds and
ends that must have been wrenched of In the hurry of
escape from the palace, and which now added
quaintness to the rich handfuls that were poured
into the balsam A few efficient were standing
round under the won roof watching the process.
Around 41.1 pleat • cordon of oentries had been throws,
composed partly of the Fantee police, whom Capt.
Baker has now in admirable order, and partly of the 14
West Indiana, in the ordinary white man's uniform of
the expedition, with the to them utterly useless helmet.
Thom the composite creatures looked neither flesh SOIr
fowl, while they, in their delight at the garments they
have bean put into, claim to mill themselves in their
pride the black Europeans. Behind, gathered on every
little venters ground of hillock or fallen hut, were es
many natives as could get a charm of viewing the sight.
There will be many on the coma who will report to their
dying day bow they were present when the great
iitf
of halmoloo sent his nommen to humbly n

Jan. 91 ..
Feb. 7
Marcia 7 ..

- -
44.400
43,015
60,904
45,007
40,641

at Barley. Osts.
- -
a. d. Qrs. s. 4. Qrs.
63 9 64,140 47 7 4.663
03 9 66,558 48 9 6,992
61 8 64,520 48 9 6,065
62 10 47206 49 1 6,442
62 1 42,444 49 3 14;75
61 0 43,034 68 5 3,795
627 487

CL'ITLE.

S. d.
31 2
IS 3
28 1
23 10
a 4
22 11

METROPOLITAN, TarrasnoT.—Tb• number of
beasts on offer is small ; there Is an improvement in
the average quality ; trade is very dull, and it Is
doult to realise Monday's quotations. The supply of
sheep is about the same as of late, and exceeds the
demand ; although Monday's prices are given for those
In request, 'eyelet lots remain unsold. The few choice
calves on offer are sold as dear as of late, otherwise
trade is very dull. We have 80 solleli sows on sale, all
Eslisb; trade is lull bad them. Oar foreign supply
consists of 60 beast., 3,900 sheep, sad 80 calves.

(Per now of &lb).

Bat Scots, Ilarsiords,
Best Shortbona • • ..
Secoisti quality Basis
Best &Ira sod tialt-brods
Ditto Shorn .. • .
But Loogaools . • ..
Ditto Shorn
Elm nod Basra

-
••• Bto6
▪ • to II
▪ • to
• • 0 to 0
• 4 to 6
•• ••• 0 to 0
•• •• .. 4 to b
•• •0 to 0
0 to 0

C 1•1•46 •• •• ••0 410 6 $
pip ~ ,00to 0 0
Besets, till: sheep,7,‘3o; 'Cline:llo ;•Pies, 30.
BRIS COL, l'aunsosT.—Large supply of beef, but
trod.. dull and lete rates barely maintained. Bost
semplee, 78s to 801.; middling, 70s to 74s (Sheep
plentiful, but trade qui•t• Beet nether', In wool,
93.. 41. ; hooey •tros, 834. 41. Very few elan, oattle
on offer; trade almost °IL Pigs short; demand brisk;
beam, 1.10. 9J.; porkers, 12s. 61.