Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-09-08
Thn Aahnntaa nj Home.

Mr.. Winwood Reade, in his second let
ter to the Pail Mall Gazette, has the fol-
lewing:
The King is allowed to have three
thousand three hundred and thirty-three
wives, but not TO exceed that number.
Some of these ladies are merely slaves,
who work on the royal plantations and
furnish the court with casseda and plan
tains; others reside in rooms luxuriously
furnished, guarded by euBuchs, enjoying
the delights of tobacco and palm wine in
true Oriental style Intrigue with a
royal wife is punished by death; the ex-
ecutioners torturing the offender from
sunrise to sunset leading him about the
town and performing fantasies upon his
body with knives before the houses of all
noted chieftains or strangers Of distinc-
ton. Finally, they lead him to the
presence of the king, and literally cut
him to pieces before the throne. This
horrible method of execution is only
employed for the aforementioned Of
fense and for the crime of murder. 1t
is curious custom in Ashantee that if
the condemned man cries out a certain
word or phrase he cannot be kllled-it
gives him the right of sanctuary; the
executioners, therefore, steal upon their
victims from behind, and begin proceed
ings by passing dagger through both
cheeks, whereby the man is effectively
gagged.
When the King dies, number of lords
in waiting kill themselves to serve as his
escort to the Shadow Land. These per-
sons are called okras, or " souls" and
wear peculiar gold badge which indi-
Gates their office. At that time also a
saturnalia of blood is celebrated; hun
dreds of victims are executed, and the
young men of the royal house run
about the town shooting whom they
please-even the highest persoHages in
the land. Thus the death of the King
is national misfortune, and that, per
haps, gives the clue to the Origin Of
these extraordinary customs.
The Ashantees believe ia a life after
death, as we believe in the existence Of
lands beyond the sea. Their Hades or
Sheol is situated underground; there
this life is continued, and becomes eter-
nal. The king resumes his royalty, and
the slave remains slave. Death,
therefore, for them, is only migration.
and they depart from life with equanim-
ity. A woman slave, who was one OF
those condemned to die, was stripped,
according to custom, and knocked on
the head. Being only stunned by the
blow, she recovered her senses, and saw
herself surrounded by dead bodies. She
ran into the town, found the mobiles sit
ting in council, told them she had been
sent back because she had no clothes.
They must dress her finely and kill her
over sgain, which accordingly was done.
This happened in the small kingdom adj
Joining Ashantes, the laws and customs
of which are the same:
Zone noble who had committed some
crime offered large ransom for his life,
and finally his weight in gold. But the
king cut off his head and also took pos
session Of his gold, which just amounted
in weight to that of the corpse. l have
myself seen g coast native Of no great
importance with thousand pounds
worth Of gold upoH hlmi and most OF
that gold came from the mines OF Ash
antee.
FINALLY. as to war. The Ashantee
army is the nation. When the order for
the siarch is given all able-bodied men
join theis respective companies and
leave the town, carrying with them a
kind of meal as food. The Yomen then
parsde the streets, and, if they detect 2
man skulking behind, beat him unmerci-
fully. In battle the generals occupy
the rear, and cut down all those who re,
treat. If the battle is lost, they kill
themselves. One suicide Of this kind l
witnessed on the Volta. A battle took
place between our allies and some allies
of the Ashantees. The latter we're de-
feated, and the Ashantee chief, who was
present, threw the insignia of his rank
into the river, and then, sitting on a
powder barrel, blew himself into the air.