National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-04-04
DOWNFALL OF C00MASSIE,
, TEE BRITISH ARMY IN KING KoE'
FEES CAPITAL.

OF WAR - MUSICAL UMBRELLAS
3 MASKS OF BEATEN GOLD TIE Soh-
GOTTA OF FETICHIsM.
J Acorrespondsnt ofthe New York HsTa:a VINO
ACCOMPANIED the expedition of Sir Garnet "oise-
aey against the King Of CoonaSs.e, Writes Ss '0i-
DOVE
! Ube Kings private residence was strong
s1v buiIt eiIfce Of stone, plastereo over with
Aime mortar, Every pound Of lime was trans
-b,oo-+sd at immense cost from Cape Coast
Mssfle. In appearance is was Ike any Of those
FSSlid square buildings which any one may see
anywhere in Palestine or Syria, with the add,
zion of battIements and loophole. II was alto
lrether a substantial structure, and any British
merchant at Cape Coast or Sierra Leone would
shaVe been proud to call such house his own
Il Enclosed quadrangle or paved courtyard,
,twenty-four feet BY twenty, and was two stories
high and fat-roofed. A fight OF mortar and
stone stairs led from the inner quadrangle TO
the second story, where were the Kings sleep
ing apartments.
THE STOOL OF BLOOD.
Among the strange, heterogeneous plumber
visible in the courtyard and in the recessed
apartments around Il was the stool which, &C
cording to report, was never quite dry from
- human DlOOQ. 11dL II uo4 OSCA lhSCLy wv
anew with the blood of some unfortunate vic-
tim to despot's caprice, or some bsroarous
custom, was evident, for the flies had settled In
hungry myriads on it. Among the thousand:
of things, strange, antique, and curious, which
were seen about, were dozen or so of
STATE UMBRELLAS,
leaning against corner of the wall and stand
ing ten feet or 90 above the ground. When
obened, one of these umbrellas gave one an idea
OF large and lofty circular tent OF gaudy col
ors. The major part of them were made OF
red, blue, and black blanket CLOTH others were
OF yariegated fine broadcloth, with silver bend,
fcles ringing sweet chimes as soon as one
touched them; Others were of vari-colored silk
of exquisite pattern and manufacture, which
latter, it may be presumed, were the kings
own umbrellas or belonged to members of his
family In one of the lower rooms were also
found heaps of faded tapestry, carpets, cloths,
worn counterpanes Of siken damssk, and cast
of haugings of similar stuffs.
DRUMS.
Another apartment on the lower floor dis
closed to us a variety of drums, from the huge
European regimental bass drum to the smallest
kettle drum Of European make, while stacks
of drums OF native workmanship lay also
piled. Chairs, also, for travelling, seemed to be
numerous; old trunks and boxes of leather
deal, mahogany and teak numbered up the
'orom. One Of these old trunks had the in,
teeriOr pasted over with an old copy of the Lon
don Times, October II, 1913, and another wa;
covered with copy of the Bristol Mirror, o.
equally old date.
AN AMERICAN RELIC.
But one of the most curious things of al
found was an old brass snuff or tobacco.6ox, OF
which were engraved the unmistakable features
of Mrs. Beecher Stowe, with the name of Mrs
Stowe" engraved upon it. There were Ger
tainly the outlines of the face of the famous
'authoress of "Uncle Toms Cabin" and the
ringlets hanging down each side of the face
true portrait, suppose, of Mrs. Stowe as she
appeared twenty or thirty years ago. The gen.
tieman who picked up this antique box intends
to present 1. to the British Museum.
WHAT WAS FOUND Up STAIRS.
The plumber discovered in the upper rooms
was very valuRble-st least some of it-whilt
much Of it would have brought high figure Il
sproperly sold at auction. In one room we
Hound, covered over with q carpet, the King'G
ibteakfast and dinner service of silver. There
was large tea kettle of silver, and as hand,
come en- epergne as any European gentleman Of
wealth would wish to possess. There were
plates, knives. forks, gobiets and cups Of silver
while bottles of rich Bohemian ware gave q
,sumptuous and regal value to this quantity Of
Moot.
Carpets Of Kidderminster and Persia lay
rolled up in heaps, while numbers'of boxes and
Trunks here contained a paraphernalia toe
varied to describe. There were leathern cotE
folded uD, and great State chairs, richly deco
rated with solid brass work. and trays and
dishss of wood, TIN, yapznned ware and silver,
piled up in any quantity, making an assortment
of curious lumber that would be too tedious to
attempt enumersting. In another apartment,
which we found to be the kings sleeping apart
Inent, was revealed luxury such as no African
.potentate south of Egypt can boast Of The
Ibedstead was a marvel of native workmanship.
The chairs around the room shone with bright
brass nails; ornaments of solid brass work; the
Goor was covered with q hly-6gured carpet;
the bed was of silk cotton floss, covered with
crimson silk damask; the pillows were Of the
same material; the coverlets were Of silk
IL trunk found in this chamber were seven
MASKS OF BEATEN GOLD.
The gold of each weighed about forty sove-
reigns, or $500 in gold. A gold nugget neck
lace was also one Of the treasures in this box.
Splendid mslacca canes, with gold tops and
massive silver heads, a sword which was a
present from Her Majesty Queen Victoria to
the King of Ashantee, and an old gun whose
stock was decorated with a massive lump of
gold, were among the things Of value discoV-
erred here.
Other apartments revealed similar scenes of
auxury, wealth and costlness-State umbrellas,
scimetars, sabres, guns, blunderbuses, stools
gorgeously decorated and adorned with gold
and silver and a whole host of trophies, both
valuable and interesting.
SEARCH FOR CURIosITIEs.
As retraced my steps towards my own quar-
tiers 1 saw numbers of white men, oblivious of
the extreme punishment meted out to the Fan
Tee policemen the night before, on the search for
loot, conveying valuable and salable things
AWAY, and noting these things pitied the evil
dent want Of forethought which seemed to
Characterize Sir Garnet. When, later In the
day, it was represented to him that the Kings
palace contained rare treasures which might
either enrich the British Museum or at q sale
produce sum amply sufficient to give each
Soldier and sailor in the expedition respecta-
tble sum as prize money, he thought fit to send
a company of the Rifle brigade to guard the
palace in place of the five policemen which had
hitherto Teen thought sufficient.
GoLGoTHA.
Just at sunset went to see ssmmonpone, or
the Golgotha, the stencil from which peryaded
every nook and Granny in Coomassie and made
IT appear as though we dwelt in a charnel
Fhouse. The Golgotha was the dense grove,
which, projecting almost into the heart Of the
city, appeared the very fttest place for q ceme-
terry, were not the grove and the swamp objec-
tionable from sanitary point of view. A
little narrow path leading through maze Of
tall grass and dense growth of cane, which
grew on the edge Of the grove from the foot of
the great market place, brought US, after ira
Versing 100 feet or 80, into glade, where the
quantity of dead bodies thrown in had killed
the underground and revealed the most ap-
Psliing sight that can be imagined. We had
entered the place with our handkerchiefs to
Our noses to prevent suffocation, for the odor |
was intolerable; but as the fell smell penetrated
7he folds Of our hsndkerchiefs we could only |
ternain long enough to assure ourselves that |
this wholesale butchery of humanity was real. |
and not sport or freak OF our fancy. Right Al |
our feet, as we emerged before the hideous |
scene; were twenty or thirty.
DEAD BODIES
of men and women, which had been dragged |
hither after decspitatiOD, There was only one |
Pody-thst ola boy CT eleven or twelve years |
old-which showed that decspitation was not |
the only means of inhicting capital punishment |
or sacrificing human beings to fetichism, and |
this boy had evidently persisted from strangu-
latiol. These dead bodies in the early stages |
OF decay rested upon untold strata Of human
relics, Of skulls thigh bones, ribs and vertebra.
4 nDtOld Ia fp4a liz "a he |