Star.
London, England, 1824-05-03 00:00:00

TRANSLATION.

" Paris, April 28. 181!4.
" Gentlemen—ln answer to your letter with which you have
honoured us, under date of the 20th of this month, again relating
the payment of the half-yearly dividends falling due on Spatth.h
Stock, it is our painful duty to inform you that no funds have been
transmitted to us by the Spanish Government for that purpose. In
making this very unpleasant communication to the English public,
we beg you will not omit to state, that nothing has been winn-
ing on our part to obtain the payment of so just a debt; and that if,
amidst the conflict of passions, we have thought It best for the public
interest to delay making any official claim, and if also, with the dis-
position manifested respecting those various Loans by the Spanish
Government, we have avoided making a direct application, which
might hereafter become an obstacle to the act of justice. of which
we are still unwilling to despair; we have. nevertheless, made indi-
rectly every effort to induce the Government to come to a decision
dictated at once by equity, good faith, and its own true interests.
" We have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) " A RIXTIN, HUBBARD, and CO.
" Messrs. A. F. 1 Eldinlnnd and Son,London."

771 E GOLD .COAST_ THE ASHANTEES•

The Gold Coast extends from about 3 degrees-W.
lisagato as many degrees E. and lies in 5 or 6 degrees
N. latitude. In the year 1821 the African Company
under various modifications, had existed from
the time of King Charles II.) was abolished, and all its
forts and possessions on the Gold Coast were annexed
to the colony of Sierra Leone, of which Sir Charles
.31‘Carthy was Governor.
Deis arrangement was, no doubt, owing in great
measure to the official reports of the late Sir George
whp had it in command from the Lords of the
Jitiiralty to report the general state and condition of
the Settlements on the Western Coast of Africa.
The forts and settlements under the African Company
were eight, viz.—Cape Coast Castle, Annamaboe, Accra,
Tantamquerry, Dixcove, Apollonia, Succundee, Corn-
mencla, and Prampran; the whole White Establishment
included only 45 persons; the Black and Coloured people
in the Company's pay were 430. Apollonia, the western
baandary of the Company's settlements,u as a small and
toc:ess fart; Sir George recommended its ahandninent.
—Dixcove, the next to the eastward, was better situated
oiarticularly for supplying timber and lime to Cape
coast Castle), and Sir George recommended its being
strengthened. Succundee and Commenda he considered
to be useless. Next to these ,carne the Dutch for t of
Ilmina, one of the very strongest along the whole line
c coast. Cape Coast Castle, the principal English
station, lies to the eastward of Elmina. The fort had
been for some time declining, but was afterwards
strengthened. It had a garrison of 100 Negroes, well
trained And disciplined, and officered by the White
servants of the Company. Sir George Collier re•
commended several additions to the defence of the
place. Annamaboe was the- next British fort upon
the Coast. It Was of no great value as a place of
trnde; but Sir George advised its being retained, were
a only topreveat its being occupied by other nations. The
African Company paid a sort of rent or tribute for Anna-
rnaboe to the Ashantee Chief, who some years previously
:sad attacked that lout, but was repulsed. Tantamquerry
was only of utility as keeping open the communication
with Accra. The last mentioned settlement was divided
into British Accra and Dutch Accra, the Br itish flag
fivieg at one end of the town, and the Dutch flag at
the other. British Accra possessed a fort 'second only
to Cape Coast Castle, and a number of the nativechiefs
were attached to and paid by the English. -fire
Dutch had no fort, but they possessed great influence
in the vicinity, by encourag.ng the Slave Trade. Neat
to Accra was also a Danish settlement, called Chris-
tiaisburg. Prampran, the most easterly of the British
settlements, was of small account.
At some distance in the interior is situated the town
of Comassie, the residence of Sai Tootoo Quamina, the
Chief or King of the Ashantees. His dominions rte of
great extent, the population considerable, arid the dispo •
sition both of King and people, extremely prone to war.
"The AA:tater army," says Sir George Collier, " is
numerous beyond belief; and though quite an irregu-
lar mass, yet more than sixtyairousand can be collected,
acquainted with the use of fire-arms, ready to sacrifice
their lives to the nod or caprice of their Chief or King,
who is known to he savage and cruel in the extreme."
In 1807 an Ashantce At my reached the Coast for the
first time. In 1811 they invaded the. Fantee country
near our establishment, and again in 1816. The Afri-
can Company sent a mission in 1817 (of which the late
Mr. Bowdich formed a part) to Comassie. The Ashantee
King having asserted a claim of Sovereignty over the
Fantee country,that claim was admitted and guaranteed
on the part of England by the British Consul, Mr. Du-
puis, a measure which Sir George Collier deeply and
justly laments.
Thus stood the affairs of the Gold Coast in 1821,
when all the British settlements there were added to the
Colony of Sierra Leone, and placed under the command
of that most able and active Governor, Sir Charles
Warthy. Sir Charles shortly afterwards went thither
in person, and has ever since been incessantly moving
from one part of his Government to another, promoting
improvements of all kinds, and personally directing
their execution. The new energy thus displayed by the
English on the Gold Coast impo-.ed a salutary check on
the savage Chief of Ashantee ; and also held out
to the neighbouring States a hope of protection against
his oppressions. He was therefore for some time quiet ;
but having in a fit of passion seized on a Negro Ser-
jeant in our Fes vire, and put him to death, Sir Charles
114Carthy kit 1r:-:'self bound to avenge the insult.
—A new co-ps had been formed on the Gold Coast,
under the title of the Royal African Light Infantry, and
had attainea a high degree of di.eipline. A detachment
a: this corps took the field murder Captain Laing, an
elEcer peculiarly well qualified for this service, inasmuch
?is he had a year or two before penetrated very far into
the interior on an exploratory mission from Sietra Leone.
The tribes which had previously suffered from the
tyranny of Sai Tootoo Quamina now seized the oppor-
tunity of shaking off his yoke, and many of them spon-
taneously swore allegiance to the English Government.
In May last, all the districts an the sea coast west of the
olta were in arms, to the amount of thirty thousand
arriors ; whilst in the interior the inhabitants unani-
mously refused to pay the tributary exactions. Cilia vin
Laing took the Fantee country under his especial care.
Tith officer, in August last, with a detachment of the
:scond West India Regiment and a body of tire A !Ina-
maisoe Militia, supported by several Native Chief., to-
defeated the Ashantees at Assechuma. On the
of last November Sir Charles M'Carthy arrived
hoof Sierra Leone at Cape Coast, where he remained
on tire 13th of December, the date of the last Gold
Co,t Gazettes which have reached this country. At
I,.at nine the Ashantees had not ventured to approach
Plc coast: a camp had been formed by the British treops:
Pr,Ll great numbers of the Native Chiefs had joined diem,
end sworn allegiance to the British Government.
The most authentic accounts respecting the Ashantees,
r, Bess ieet:ll attack on our settlement at the Gold Coast
excites a pitiful interest, is to be found in Mr. Bow-
(411's Narrative of a Mission to Ashantee, published in
.Sl9. This Gentleman, in describing the objects and
so-aasture of his mission, states that Bosnian and Bar but;
the Ashantees its first heard of by Europeans
.asst the rear 1715. Issert, a physician in the Danish
tance, who meditated a visit to Ashantee, writes-
- Chi, mighty King has a piece of gold as a charm,
ons than four men can carry ; and innumerable slaves ,
constantly in work for him in the mountains; each I
:hem mast collect or produce two ounces of gold per
s s." Ile also describes it as a very formidable
: Other authors sacak of it as a powerful kingdom.
ISO 7, an Ashantee army reached the coast, for the
..rst time. 1111811, the Alillittlieeb invaded Fantee, and
chain ia 1816.. These invasions inflicted the greatest
use icy on the Fantees. Few were slain in battle, for

they rarely dared to encounter the invaders; but the
butcherings in cold blood were incredible, and thou-
sands were dragged into the interior to be sacrificed to
the superstitions of the conquerors.
The Frolonged blockade of Cape Coast Castle, in the
last iuvasion, engendered so much distress and hazard,
that the Government having averted imminent danger
by advancing a large sum of gold on account of the
Fantces, earnestly desired the Committee to authorise
land enable them to venture an embassy, to deprecate
these repeated calamities, to conciliate so powerful a
Monarch, and to propitiate an extension of commerce.
In consequence of this application in 1817, the Africaa
Committee forwarded liberal and suitable presents, and
a Mission was sent to Aspenlow, with proper instructions
as to the observations they were to make. Under these
instructions the Mission departed, accompanied by Mr.
Bowdich, the result of whose obstrvations have, as we
already stated, been published. After describing the
difficulties of his progress, and the country through
which he passed, Mr. Bowdich proceeds as follows :
" We entered Coieassie at two o'clock, passing under a
sacrifice of dead sheep, wrapped up in red silk, and sus-
pended between two lofty poles. Upward; of 5,000 peo-
ple, the greater part warriors, mt..-t us, with awful bursts
of martial music, discordant only in its mixture ; for
horns, drums, rattles, and gongons were exerted, with a
zeal bordering on frenzy, to subdue us by first impres-
sions. The smoke which encircled us, from the incessant
discharges of musketry, confined our glimpse to the fore-
ground, and we were halted, whilst the Captains per-
formed their pyrrhic dance, in the centre of the circle
firrmed by the warriors, where a confusion of flags,
English, Dutch, and Danish, m ere waved and flourished
in all directions, the bearers plunging and springing
from side to side with a passion of enthusiasm only
equalled by the Captains, who followed theM, di,-
charging their blunderbusses so close, that the flags were
now and then in a blaze. The dress of the Captains
was a war cap, with gilded rams' horns projecting in
front, the sides extended beyond all proportion by im-
mense plumes of eagles' feathers, and fastened under
the chin with bands of cowries. Their vests were of red
cloth, covered with fetishes and saphies (scraps of
Moorish writing as charms against evil), in gold and silt-
ver, and embroidered saes of almost every colour,
which flapped against their bodies as they moved, inter-
mixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of ani-
mals, shells and knives; long Leopards' tails hung down
their backs, over a small bow, covered with fetishes."

Speaking of the military forces, Mr. Bowdich says,
" I can only ca;culate the population of the kingdom of
Ashantee, small in itself, from its military force, which
amounts to 201,000; this appears an extravagant force,
until we recollect that it is probably one-fifth of the
whole population. Barbot heard of the Ashantees losing
50,000 in two actions, an exaggeration which, never•
airless, serves to argue great military sources. Since
the Ashantee invasion, their disposable force has been
estimated by old residents, in public reports, as up-
wards of 150,000.

" A General is appointed to the command of an
army by receiving a gold handled sword of the King's
from his hand (who strikes him gently with it three
times on the head), swearing to return it encrusted with
the blood of his conquered enemies. One of the King's
linguists always accompanies an army of any conse-
quence, to whom all *the politics of the war are en-
trusted, and whose talent and intelligence in negociating
are expected to mature the fruits of the military genius
of the General, and to reimburse the expense of the war
by heavy tines and contributions. The Ashantees are
superior in discipline as in courage to the people of the
water side, though their discipline is limited to the fol-
lowing precautions : They never pursue, when it is
nearly sunset; the General is always in the rear ; the
secondary Captains lead the soldiers on, whilst those
in command, with a few chosen individuals, urge them
forward with their heavy swords, and cut any man
down who retreats until the case is desperate. The
first object of the Ashantee, in close fight, is to
spring upon the throat of his enemy; to advance every
time he fires, he feels it to be imperative if his com-
mander thinks it possible, who would otherwise, it he
escaped death in the action, inflict it on him directly it
sea. over. The General has his umbrella spread in
the rear, and besides his guard has several muskets
ready loaded, for those soldiers who may be driven to
him in case of reverse. His band plays all the time,
and in his assumed contempt for the enemy, it is his
etiquette to divert himself at some game, whilst the
heads of the slain of any rank, in the hostile army, are
sent to him to put his foot on. %Viten the result of an
important action is expected even with an anxiety by
no means sanguine, and the messengers are known to
be near the capital, the King is always seated, in public,
with his golden worra before him, playing with some
dignitary, and thus receives the news.
" Several of the hearts of the enemy are cut out by
the fetish men who follow the army, and the blood and
small pieces being mixed with various consecrated
herbs, all those who had never killed an enemy before
eat a portion, for it is believed if they did not, their vi-
gour and courage would be secretly wasted by the
haunting spirit of the deceased. It was said that the
King and all the dignitaries partook of the heart of any
celebrated enemy. The army is prohibited during the
active parts of the campaign from all food hat meal,
which each man carries in a small bag at his side, aid
mixes in his hand with the first water he comes to: this,
they allege, is to prevent cooking tires from betraying
their position, or anticipating a surprise.
" Ashantee spies have been stationed two or three
days in the high trees overlooking Cape Coast Castle,
with no other supply than this meal and a little water,
before the enemy had sliewn himself. There is always
a distinct body of recruits with the army, to dispatch
those with their knives whom the musket has only
wounded, and they are all expected to return well armed
from despoiling the enemy, or they are not esteemed of
promise, and dismissed to some servile occupation.
" It is the invariable policy of Ashantee to make the
contingents of the Power last subdued, the revelers re-
cently quelled, or the allies last accepted, the van of
their army ; throughout the campaign and very fre-
I quently, there are no Ashantees Isla Captains with the
army ; but composed entirely of tribe tar.es and allies."

It seems that to Mr. Theodore Hq)t;k has been re-
served the honour of stemming the tide of man- furur in favour of
the Scotch Novelist. We see no reason, however, why each should
nut continue to write and flourish : no two species of composition
can possibly be more dissimilar. In the words of a modern critic,
Sir Walter is a propliccier of things past—he bears the palm of le-
gendary lore alone—to him the past is everything, the present no-
thing. Air. Hook, on the contrary, is a man of the prexnt world—
he writes down whet he has actually seen, and pins it into print.
There is an air of sentoir vivre about his Saying!. and Doings, which
marks it as the composition of a man who has moved in all the
varied circles which he describes—an air whieh cannot be picked
up by the uninitiated, no matter with what asmrance they may
affect it.

TFII ARMY.

The last division of the 95th Regiment of Foot has embarked at
Portsmouth, fur Malta.
Another Company of the :Id Royal Veteran Battalion, in addition
to the two Calumnies belonLing to the same Corps, that have
already arrived at Sheerness front Cork, is ordered to the same
station. One Company belonging to the same Corps has received
orders to proceed to Harwich.
Detachments of Recruits marched on Friday morning from the
Recruiting
Isle of Wight.
Depa:.tatnt M Westminster, for Winchester and the