The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1874-01-23
THE KING OF AsHANTEE.

THE KING OF ASHANTEE.
The laws of Ashantee allow the king
thirty-thrt hundred and thirty-three
wives, which number is carefully kept
up, to enable him to present women to
those who distin6 uish themselves, but
never exceeded, be ng in their eyes a
mystical one. Many of these reside III
a secluded part of the kings Groom, or
country residence, at BaIramang;
| greater number III a Groom at the back
Of the palace, Immediately in the marsh;
and the remainder in two streets of the
capital Mary, probably, the king hat
never seen. The streets as we'll as the
Groom are inhabited by them exclusive
ly, and never approached but by the
kings messengers, or their female rela-
tivcs, who only communicate with them
at the entrances, which are closed at
each end with bamboo doors, where
there is always a guard. If the king
cOnS0aUS, or marries an infant at the
breast, which is not unfrequent, she is
thenceforth confined to the house, and
vigorously secluded from the sight OF
any but the female part of her family.
The king has seldom more than six
wives resident with him in the palace.
On the occasion of signing the treaty,
about three hundred were assembled,
and non4 but the kings chamberlain,
and the deputies of the parts of the
government, were allowed to be present.
They were addressed through their own
! linguist, very decrepit old man.
Many of them were very handsome,
and their figures exquisite. When
they go out, which is seldom, they are
encircled and preceded by troops of
small boys with thongs or whips of ele-
plants hide, who lash every one Sc
vereIy who does not quit their path for
another, or Jump into the bush with his
hands before his eyes; and some
times the offenders are heavily fined be-
sides. The scrambling their approach
occasiOned in the more public parts of
! the city was very neutrality-suspicious.,
cabOceers, slaves, and children, tumb-
| ling one over another. was told what
it cost the king daily to support them,
but it has escaped me they are said to
live as daintily as himself. None but
| the chief eunGch, an immense creature,
! is allowed to bear a message to the king
when in the seraglio of the palace.
| It has been mentioned before, that the
kings sisters are not only countenanced
in intrigue with any handsome subject,
! but they are allowed to choose any emil
nently so (however inferior otherwise),
as husband, who is presently advised by
! the king of his good fortune thus they
! consider they provide for personal su-
perioritv in their monarch But if the
royal bride dies before the husband, I'M
| less his rank be originally elevated, he
! is expected to kill himself on the occa-
sion, ana also if the only male child
dies. If he hesitates, he is pcremptorily
| reminded that as either are his superb
| ors. to whom he is to be considered as d
| slave, so he must attend them wherever
thev 90 and when male child is born
the father does it homage, and acknowl-
edges his vassalage in the most abiect
manner.
The Ocras are distinguished bya large
circle of gold suspended from the neck;
many of them are favorite slaves, many
commoners who have distinguished
themselves, and who are glad to stake
their lives on the kings, to be kept free
from palavcrs and supported by his
bounty, which they are entirely; some
few are relatives and men of rank. All
of the two former classes, excepting
only the two or three individuals known
to have been intrusted with the kings
state secrets, are sacrificed on his tomb.
The royal messengers and others of the
suite have been described in the process
sions; they are sometimes fed in the
palace. but they have a free seat at the
table of every subject.
The king has troop of small boys,
who carry the fetch bows and arrows,
and are licensed plunderers they are
so sly and nimble that it is very divert |
ing to watch them in the market place, |
which they invest every morning. What |
ever they can carry off is fair game, and |
cannot be required but the loser, if he |
can catch them before they arrive at the |
palace, may beat them as severely as he |
pleases short of mortal injury how
ever, they bear it as obdurately as |
Young Spartans. Sometimes one party |
trips up a person with load OF pro-
visions, while another scrambles them |
up. The anxious alarm of the market
people, sitting with sticks IN their
hands, and the comic archness OF these
boys threading the crowd in all direc-
tions, is indescribable. Some of the |
earliest European travellers in Abyssinia
met with similar troop of royal plum
derers, and / believe suffered from
them. Our property was always re-
spected by them, but they used to en-
tertain themselves with mimicklng our |
common expressions and our actions, |
which they did inimitably. While |
sketching, they buzzed about me like |
mosquitoes, The Ashantees are with |
out exception the most surprising mim-
les have ever heard. have known
captain, called Adoo Quamina, repeat a |
sentence after l had finished it, of at |
least a dozen words, which he knew |
nothing about, and had not heard be- !
fore. The king has sort of butfooD, |
whose movements we're as irresistlbly |
comic as those of Grimaldi.
The king appeared to have nearly |
hundred negroes of different colors,
through the shades of red and pink to |
white; they were collected for state, !
but were generally disgusting objects, |
diseased and emaciated; they always |
seemed as if going to shed their skins, !
and their eyes blinked IN the light, as II
it was not their element.
About twenty pots of white soup and /
twenty pots of black (made with palm /
nuts) are cooked daily at the palace (be-
side those for the consumption OF the
household), for visitors of consequence,
and periguin of gold is given daily TO
Yokokroko, the chamberlain, for palm
wine. This would have appeared too
large a sum. had I not witnessed the
vast consumption and waste Of IL ; for /
the vioor of an Ashantee being estima-
ted ted by the measure of the draught he
can drink off, nearly half is generally |
split over his beard, which it is his
Greatest pride and luxury TO draw
through his fingers when wet. The
king was very proud of the superior
length of his beard. A large quantity
of palm-wine is dashed to the retinues
of all the captains attending in tho
course of the day; much is expended
in the almost daily ceremony of drink
ing it in state in the market-place, ard
our party was always well provided for
in the conrse of the evening. The |
palm-wine at the palace was seldom |
good, bnt zest was excited by the ex- |
quisite polish of the plate in which 1t
was served.