The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1873-10-18
ASHANTEE-LAND


The following leading article from the
London Daily Telegraph embodics some in
teresting information relative to the Asian
tees, their manners and customs.
The Ashantee nation is a great African
power. II numbers about 5000. 900
souls, ~ which some 20O, 900 are warriors.
well made, muscular, war-loving barba-
rians. their chief and upper classes being
distinguished by cleanliness, handsome at
tire, and something like civilization. e1-
cept In regard to their worse than Dahom-
cyan cruelties. Every twenty-one days
they hold an ddai, ur "blood custom. at
which rum and palm wine having been
drank like water, skulls are carried in pro-
cessIon TO the sound Of drums made with
human skin, and most horrible massacres
and debaucheries 70 forward AT the an
nual ''lam-festival, just nov coming on,
they celebrate a still bloodier carnival Of
death, and whenever a caboceer OF free
man dies, slaves are killed To "wet his
grave. They eat the heart and drink the
blood Of a conquered enemy, and wear the
teeth and finger bones As ornaments. When
the king dies, thousands Of wretched
slaves and attendants are slaughtered over
his tomb, IN word, il is a land of muir
der. II was meant by nature TO be a land
Of peace and plenty, for beyond the thick
forests which lie along the coasts stretches
a fertile and healthy country Of rich black
soil, growing two or three crops yearly.
and full Il vegetable wonders and glories
as yet unnamed The fruits and flowers
Of Ashantee land are said to be perfectly
marvellous; i boasts an entirely new cit
ron and a tall tree bearing magnificent
shaped blossoms, while the sugar-cane
grows wild. Curious animals. such as the
bird called ''pookoe, and the huge corpse
eating "arompo rat, are found in the
woods and clearlngs Reptiles are horri-
bly, plentiful, including enormous boas:
peculiar putf-adder, whose bite Il certain
death; scorpions as bIg as cray fish, anu
toads 50 large that Bosnian took the first
he saw for land tortoise. The possible
productions OF such region are vast and
various; but its fertility is drowned in
bloodshed, and gold is the chief article
exported. In that metal Ashantee-land
must be fabulously rich; the chiefs wear
golden breast plates and golden ~ gildod
war caps. The carbocers 20 about with
Jumps ot gold hung upon their necks and
wrists, some weighing, 1t Is aaid, four
pounds and more; and Bowditch has des-
criDed golden wind0w-frames in the kings
palace At CoOmassie, as well IA an almost
universal use of cloths embroidered Will,
gold thread and adorned with thin plate
Of the precious metal After the bats
ot Accra, IN 1926, the Ashantee king saiYf
in as peace money" 5000 ounces of dust
and nuggets; and the swords. muskets. and
elephant-tall fans are described A. being
profusely enriched with goldsmiths work
lhe people are, however, very cunning At
debaslng the ing0ts, so much so as 10 equal
European chemistry in this respect. The
government is despOtic monarchy; the
religion Fetishlsm, modified Islamism. the
effect of MahometGn neighborhood on the
north. They believe In a great spirit,
who, they say, created six white and six
black people, and gave the latter the first
choice between a calabash and asealed
paper. The blacks took the calabash,
which contained gold, iron, maize and all
the wealth Of nature; aud the whites got
the scroll which contained instructions In
the right use OF all these products Thus
the whites are forever superior, as the
Ashantees have found out in many a sharp
trial, and latterly at Elmlna As for
Coomassle, the capital, accounts differ;
one statement making 1t out AR. strag-
glng place OF neon huts. and anyther.
really tne and imposing city, for Africa.
Bowditch, who went there 1877, paints il
a. remarkable place. He speaks Of a
population Of 21J, 900.