The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1873-12-19
4shantee Land.

The Ashantee nation is a great Afri-
can power. 1t numbers about 5000, 900
souIs--of whom some 200, 600 are war
riors-well built, muscular, war-loying
barbarians; their chief and upper classes
are distinguished by cleanliness, hand
some attire, and something Ike civiliza-
ton, except in regard to their worse
than Dahomeyan cruelties. Every twen-
:y-one days they hold an ddai, or blood
CUSTOM" at which rum and palm wine
having been drank like water, skulls are
carried in procession to the sound of
drums made with human skin, and most
horrible massacres and debaucheries go
forward. At the annual Yam festival,
Just now coming on, they celebrate a
still bloodier carnival of death, and
whenever cabooceer or freeman dies,
Slaves are killed to wet his grave. They
eat the heart and drink the blood of a
conqured enemy, and wear the teeth and
finger bones as ornaments. When the
King dies, thousands of these wretched
slaves and attendants are slaughtered
over his tomb; in a WORD, 1T is land OF
murder 1t is meant by nature 70 be a
land of peace and plenty, for beyond he
shick forests which lie along the coasts,
stretches fertile and healthy country of
rich black soil, growing two or three
crops yearly, and full of wonders and
glo-ies as yet unnamed. The fruits and
flowers of Ashantee-land are said to be
perfectly marvellous; it boasts an entire
ly new ci.roD, and a tall tree bearing
magnificent goblet-shaped blossoms,
wn:ie the suga=-cane grows wild. Cu.i-
Gus animals, such as The bid called
"pookoe," and the huge co-pse-eating
''arompo" rat, are found in the woods
and clearings. Reptiles are horribly
plentiful, including enormous boas; a
peculiar puf-adder, whose bite is Ger.
tain death; scorpions as big as craw-fsht
and loads SO large that Bosnian took the
fist one ne saw for land tortoise. The
vast and numerous; but lis fertility il
drowned in bloodshed, and gold as tine
chief article exported. In that meta
| Ashantee-land must be fabuiously rich
the chiefs wear golden, or golded war
caps. The carbooceers go about with
Jumps of virgin gold hung about theil
| 1o4c ISrf mn 4
said, four pounds and more; and Bow
ditch has described golden window
frames in the Kings palace at Coomassie
as we'll as an almost universal use o
clothes embroidered with gold thread
and adorned with thin plates of the prec
GUS metal. After the battle of Accra, il
1862, the Ashantee King sent in as 'peacr
money 5000 ounces of dust and mug
gets; and the swords, muskets, and ele
phant-tail fans are described as beinl
profuseIy enriched with gold-smiths
work. The people are, however, yer.
cunning at debasing the ingots--so mucl
as to equal European chemistry in thi
respect. The government is a despoti
monarchy; the religion Fe+ishism, mod
flied byfAfrican Islamism-the effect O
Mahomedan neighbors on the north
They believe in a Great spirit, who
they saysereated six white and six blacl
people, giving the latter the first choic
between calabash and sealed paper
The blacks took the calabash, whicl
contained gold, iron, maize, and all tn
wealth of nature; and the whites &c
the scroll, which contained instruction
in the right use of the products. Thu
the whites are forever superior, as III
Ashantees have found out in many
sharp trial, and latterly at Elmina. A
for Coomaese, the capital, accounts dit
fer; one statement making it out poo
struggling place of mean huts; and ar
other, really fine and imposing city, fo
Africa. Bowditch, who went there i
1877, paints it as a remarkable plac'
He speaks ofa population of 10000
, souls.-London Telegraph.