The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1896-02-06

flag when it is reared at the head of
an army invading Ashantee. Centu-
| ries ago, when England was young,
the line of enmity was drawn between
these black brethren. Ashantee is
| Santee. The other blacks are Fantee.
Santees are the eaters of Indian corn
| and Fantees are the eaters of herbs.
Upon such a vital line the nations
were divided long before the days of
Roundheads and Cavaliers. 1t is like
| the Big EndianS and the Little Endi-
ans in CULVER.
Serious Business Ahead.
! According to the cable dispatches,
| not more than 800 men will leave
England to take part in this expedi-
ton. But they will be joined by the
! West India regiment at Sierra Leone
and a naval brigade from the British
West Africa squadron. Probably the
entire force will equal that which Sir
Garnet Wolseley headed. But it will
have more serious business to perform.
Wolseley was charged with the errand
of Furnishing the Ashantees for their
lawless raids into British territory.
The present is an expedition for con-
quest. The Ashantee king has reject
ed an ultimathm offering him q Brit
ish protectorate. He must now fight
for his autonbmy-and fight in vain,
for, beyond aNperadventure, this his
toric kingdom, for centuries Il of the
most highly civilized and most formid-
able in Africa viii shortly pass under
British contrd.
This will no be accomplished with
out a fight. The king of Ashantee
stands at the lead of an army which.
4,r 81 n @ T.
10000. But every one of his subjects
is a soldier, sworn to fight to the
death. The penalty for surrender or
flight is immediate execution.
Moreover. the king is absolute over
a domain whicl. may be 800 miles in
extent, nearly all of it covered with
practically impenetrable forests. a
few roads are maintained with the ut
most difficulty. End the %navigable
streams are oyerhung with noXious
vegetation. Deadly fevers will dog
the invading army at every step, them
selves more hottie than the clumsy
firearms of the natives.
1t will be an arduous march, but the
game is worth the candle. Every
stream that crosses the Ashantee king
dom washes golden sands" The soil
is replete with nuggets. Eight genera
tons Of Ashanee kings have levied
tribute on their subjects in this form:
The golden sandIto the miner, the mug
gets to the king, On pain of instant
death.
Under this system the royal palace
has become a treasure house. Sir Gdr-
net Wolseley found in the kings pal
ace rings. masks and other trinketS of
pure gold and oflvery creditable work
manship. He also found the skull of
a British officer heavily mounted with
gold and jewels. 1t was the trophy of
a battle fought early in the century,
and was used as a drinking cup.
Gold Mounted Skeletons.
Mounting skeletons with gold is Il
royal Ashantee fad. The king has
1888 wives and is devoutly pious. His
piety takes the form of reverence to
his ancestors, of whom he is very
proud. 1t is a cardinal point in his
religion that the rank of a deceased
ancestor is advanced in proportion to
the number of living victims sacrificed
at bis tomb. The sacrifice of human
life thus becomes to him "A religious
duty.
The royal remains are preserved in
IL mausolcum nj Rautana, and therein
the skeletons Of the departed kings sit
in the mOckery OF grim state, their
bones linked together by bands of
gold.
There are two days of general sac
~rilice-grCat Adai and little Adai-and
tie king in his mercy has ordained
that the; should BE separated by an
interval ~ ri.,ttcnn days. Great Ada
falls on II Sunday, and it is a day OF
great festi'ity fer the royal Ashantee
Then Sc @ummons about him his
headsmen. who are the busiest officers
in his household and his captives il
war. and his prisoners of state atfort
a grateful sacrifice to the bloOd-thirsty
deitieS.
Osai Tutu. the real founder of tn,
present Ashantee dynasty was als'
the inventor in Africa of the offence
which Kaiser Wilhelm ii. has made
famous under the name Of lese ma
iosse IN AShanro" pve"v criminal of
fence or misdemeanor is at once con
yeriible into lese majestic, and LEST
majestic is punishable by death.
The charnal houses at Coonlassi'
and at Bautana diffuse the odors o
slaughter for miles. The traveller en-
tcring Coomassie encounters This smell
before he has crossed II gates of tn
metropolis and is never free from /
until he quits the place.
The place Of execution is in a grow
at The center of the city, and it is gen
orally Uttered with the bodies of tn
victims, which are left where the
fall under the eXecutioner's knife. Th
skulls and bones accumulate and ar
piled in heaps to add to the ghastl
ness of the plaGs. Or the wayfare