Connecticut western news., 1873-10-17
Peculiarities of the Ashantees.
The Army Officers, the Court and tE
 Umbrella

The Army Officers, the Court and the
 Umbrella.
 Now that the English-Ashantee war is attracting attention, anything rela- ting to the latter people is of interest. A letter writer says:-
 The post of general of the Ashantee army is not always 8 desirable one. When the army is dispatched the gen. eral is told to carry out certain opera tions, with the intimation that if he fails to do so and returns he will be be- headed. This promise is generally re- Igiously kept if he fails to carry out his orders, and produces great activity and vigor among the Ashantee generals. In most cases, when an Ashantee army is about to invade country, before taking any active steps, the general. in tcom- mand sends list of his demands to the enemy, and two sticks, one short, the other long. This signifies that if his requests are complied with, the war will be short, and he will return, but that if they refuse it will be long and bloody. This occurred in the last Ashantee war, when Governor Pine commanded at Cape Coast.
 Commassie is the capital of Ashantee, although not the most t.populous in the kings realms. It is well built town, with wide streets. The kings palace, which is built of quarried stone, is 8 large and capacious edidce. It is two stories high, some of the rooms in it are of great size, and all are very lofty. Attached to the king's palace is the great court yard, where he holds his councils of the nobles. The king sits on a low throne, and the chiefs sit round those of the highest rank being near est to the king. A space in front of the king is always kept clear for the speak CTS, and whoever is addressing the assembly takes his stand there.
 The Palace and the Bantammah are the two principal public buildings in Commassie. The two chief streets, or squares as they are called, are Market square and Cannon square, the latter taking it's name from a trophy of European cannon in it. They were taken from the Dutch many years ago. In it the king sits in state and gives public audiences to his subjects. The population of Commassie is about 40,- OO0 The most populous town in the Ashantee dominions is Salaga, the cap- ital of the principality of Jabon. It is famous for it's breed of horses, and is situated on the upper Volta, about 200 miles from Commassie.
 The Ashantee army, when in the field, carries few banners or flags, and but little importance or honor is at tached to them. What hold with the Ashantees the position which standards occupy with other armiesare the umbrel- las of the king and the chiefs. When %h<XL 1f Ach 4o1y 4ho Ra1l presence is denoted by his State um- him or over him by one of the nobles of his household, the Kings umbrella bearer being always man of very high rank. The kings umbrella is of great size. It is constructed of alternate triangles of red and black velvet, and is splendidly ornamented with gold. To give an idea of the value of these um- brellas, the umbrella of chief not of the king takes the field his State dress consists of 8 light tunic of crimson velvet or damask, reaching from his neck nearly to his arms, of loose trous- CTS of some similar material, and he wears a cap of crimson velvet, or at times cloth of the same color wound round his head as turban, with pro- fusion of gold ornaments about his per son.
 The loss of the kings umbrella in battle would be considered the greatest disgrace and defeat an Ashantee army could meet with; and in like manner for chief to loose his umbrella in bat tie is a great dishonor to him. The chiefs all carry umbrellas varying in splendor and costliness according to the rank of their owner, but no Ashantee chief may have an umbrella as large as the kings, or with the same arrange ment of flowers, which are specially re- served for royalty.
 When the Ashantee army take the field their arms consist of 8 long musket, the barrel of which alone is five feet long. They are called Buccaneers, and they wear in their girdles large spear headed knife, which at close quarters is very formidable weapon indeed. They carry their powder in a sort of leather case, and their bullets in bag of native mating. A certain portion of the army, about one-fourth, are armed with short carbines or blunderbusses, which are loaded with several bullets at a time, and with bikes about six feet long.
 The Ashantee army is raised in manner not altogether unlike the man. ner in which feudal army was raised in Europe formerly. Each of the great chiefs commands 8 body consisting of his own class or feudal vassals. In the regiment or division, if it may be so called, the companies or regiments, as the case may be, consist of the men brought in by the subordinate chiefs, each commanding his own body of re- tainers, and all the men in each of them owe feudal allegiance to the chief who commands 1t. Several of such clans or regiments are placed under the com mand of one of the greater chiefs. The regiments and divisions are distinguish ed by the different colors of their tunics and caps. Each chief is supposed to provide for the commissar.at of his own men but the king, whose revenues are very large, generally brings supplies of food for the common use to supplement private resources.
 The king's revenues are derived prin- cipally from the gold mines, nearly all the most valuable mines being his own private property; and all nuggets found, no matter where, belong to him, while the gold dust belongs to the find CTS.
 The crown of Ashantee descends in the female line, the sons of the kings eldest sister inheriting it in turn. The Ashantees place great value on having the blood of Sai Tootoo in the veins of their kings. Koffee Calcalli's heir ap parent is the Prince Meusah, and the next in succession is Ana Quassiah.
 Perfect Feet Things of the Past.
 Monv ovo,,;o;tas of bo%b savae o1oiro