New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1874-03-22
Ashantee Horrors.

The special correspondent of the London
Daily Ne,cs in Ashantee thus summarizes
| the reports brought to the English camp
by Mr.. Keuhne, one of the missionaries re-
leased by King koffee:
The reports which Mr.. Keuhne brings
are, of course. of the most intense interest.
Hispersonal narrative of his long captivity
since 1869 may perhaps for the moment
wait, his observations as to present facts
being go important
Mr.. Keuhne's description of the scenes
daily occurring in COOmassie pass all belief
in their horror Mr.. Keuhne says that no
day passes without slaughter in the streets
of innocent slaves and freedmen. He speaks
of it as common incident to be sitting in
the doorway, or walking in the street, or
looking on a5 some spectacle, when the
next man is suddenly seized by execution
ers, who run a knife through his mouth,
from cheek to check so that he may never
speak again. He refused ever to witness
the horrible orgies, but it was impossible to
daily to lie in the streets, while the pigs
feed on them in the public thor
oughfare. dragging them about with
every conceivable effect of horror
and indecency. There is one huge
charnel-house, or block, over which, for
ages, the vultures have never ceased to
hover and to swoop down into. The stencil
of this is SO fearful as to make passage with
in a very considerable distance Of it almost
uncomfortable. Here the great sacrifices are
made, as many as 200 at time having been
recently put to death within it in one day
Altogether independently Of these sacrifices
daily on small scale, frequently on grand
one, excuses for slaughter are never want
ing. There is certain place where each of
the past Kings Of Ashantee has a room, and
where daily food is placed for them. Into
of ho ctya1c ~ %1,o
kings no one but the King himself ever
enters. But it constantly occurs that the
wretched mud roof of some one OF these
chambers tumbles in. Then the King him
self goes down with the necessary laborers
and sees it repaired. All besides the
King who have thus been there are
slaughtered. There are variety of duties
OF this kind, which, as soon as performed
under order, entail death on the workers.
Mr.. Keuhne speaks of these as Of daily in
cidents, though, of course, there are mo.
me1tary lulls, and the degree to which they
are done at different times differs i'm
mensely. When spirits have to be exor-
cised, the plan is to take small children, tie
them up in cloth, and drag them through
the streets all day. AS rule the great OBJ
ject is that no victims shall die before the
evening. In the case of great criminals,
the man is fastened through the cheeks,
as already mentioned. ropes are attached
to the two ends of the knife, and execu-
TONERS proceed to slash his flesh with
knives all day, with the understand
that if the victim dies before the
evening the executiOner is put to
death. The ordinary victims are simply |
through the cheeks, sitting in room till |
nightfall. Women and men appear to be |
taken for these purposes about equally. ex-
cept that the woman is rather the more
valuable animal to her master, being both a |
better worker and useful in other ways and |
therefore when slaves are given for sacri- |
flce the men are more often handed over. !
The population appears to consist in about |
equal parts of Ashantees and of slaves, with |
a few freedmen, whose condition does not |
differ much from the slaves. II is on the |
slave population that the greater part of /
the slaughter falls, and as they are con.
stantly recruited by all sorts of devices from
tribes, the diminution Of |
numbers is not SO rapid perhaps as such |
q system would imply At the time when
MIR. keuhne was captured Ado BoOfoO was
in negotiation with some friendly |
tribe of Creepees as to the number of men
they were to furnish the King with for war
purposes. He called them to consult with |
him, and having got them into his power
drove all of them. with all their women and
children, before him to COomassie, nomi-
nally that the palaver might De settled be-
fore the King All, to the estimated num-
her of 5000, have since been made slaves or
have been slaughtered. Though the slaves
suffer most from the mere sacrifices and
are partially replaced, there is minute sys-
tenn of ordinances decreed by tho King
which makes almost every man In COomas
sic liable to be treated as criminal
at almost any moment. Criminals 50
brought before the King, even if for
a moment pardoned, the otfense being
slight, are put aside or else merely noted for
when the King next wishes for
victims for the sacrifices who are of Asian
tee blood. Thus the slaughter in the course
IF the year of pure blood Ashantees alone
g considerable, and, taken together with
The incessant wars, would account for
almost any dimunition of population. For
The last year nearly all the pure Ashantee
males have been absent Mr.. Keuhne saw
he army on its return march past the
King in the great square with all the wild
yesticulation and the noise recorded by
Bowdich sixty years ago. They passed one
behind another at considerable intervals,
Zach Chief dancing before the King as he
passed, so that very small numbers would
occupy very long time. 1t in fact took the
whole dav IN passing. Immediately after
ward the whole force was allowed to dis
)erse home |