New-York tribune., 1901-08-17
KUAfASSI
LADY HoDosoNs STORY OF THE SIEGE

wife of SIR Frederic Hodgson, X. G NJ; c.;
late Governor OF the Gold Coast With mse4g ga
illustrations a map and plan. Octave PIP. 900
Iongmans Green Co.
Trha frontispiece of this book shows the por-
trait OF an Englishwoman Of gentle bearlhs anu
evident refinement, dressed in the cohNeh'iO.'ai
fashion OF civilization at the date OF the Door
,,,,bl,catson fthe preface is dated at Surnitoh'
surrey. January. 1901). The portrait may nave
been introduced without any special IDEA Oh
eynnbasizing the terribly vivid contrasts pe-
80, the authors home surroundings anu
.hoso ,n+o which her fate took her, but SUCH
ar,nhasis is the effect Lady Hodgson Is lle
wife of a British Governor OF the SOlo NO'''
sna her story simply tells what she saw OF one
u,tla war which a handful of British OF
ec,als and their African fellow subjects were
waEing while the attention Of the rest oi Hiaii-
kind was fixed more important ;" "useN
tor Fritisb self-preservation in another part OF
AFRICA. The Gerry begins, without preliminary
~. many davs after my arrival at Accra, IN
>-o,Se,nher 1Sq9 I learned with some little as
-,ov mat my husband making arrange
rnents TO visit Ashanti, ana thaI Mos ll~ -
Guided in them. IT is the rule Tor a HoN 10 -
"a visit his outlying provinces as oIteh as pos-
sible and the time had come wneh aIlotLiei al.
tour of inspection in that part OF .le & -; the
rate was desirable. II was 10 De ldAen @ -. .ot
ordinary course Of affairs, and there was hos
anv suspicion of trouble ahead, Tor theIe @ hau
been no reports indicating that lne peotPiie 49,
et,bar 5,scnntented or disloyaL Had this been
the case he would never have lhoughI ol 'ae re
me with him, nor would he nave IseocX leIa aeocX
,,.t+,o,.f making provision for any emergency
mat might arise We started on our Journey
with no prospect Of trouble beyond the uiSSOi @
forts 81 bush travelling, and CONFESS ina. 49,
feeling not little proud OF the Iaoo -. - Ku
should be the first Englishwoman TO enter nu-
nassi.
LADY Hodgson notes the ominous date OF tle
expedition's departure-March 10, l9oo-pul hO
forebodings of disaster interfere with her Ie"uS
eve for the innumerable points worth renharh-
ing as she is borne in her travelling haIu'ho0A
by her eight negro porters. The native hlaine'
of building huts their cooking ovens, SO IKE lie
old fashioned ones she has left behind IN hhs
land the etiquette by which the bringing Oh
Gifts is regu.ated-the visiting potentate hrst
receiving his gift and then. after allowing the
donor to derart summoning him back to the
,resence 10 receive a gift in return-al THESE
4bfrgs are noted in animated style. But she
makes us see also the intertribal pohucs III
which tho trouble began that trouble Whlch She
saw ripening under her eyes The Adansls altei
The treaty Of 1874 made war on the Bekwals'
and cot the worst Of the encounter. They nave
ever since smarted under the loss OF territory
which ensued. and have taken it amiss that
the British authorities have not lnterfered 10
reinstate them. The lost territory was aurller-
ous too. This made the losers nucleus Of dis
gnpctl0n 10 BTlIlSn Iult DbilAs cAS eAic 49,
party entered Kumassi, March p, 1900 there
was a brave show Of barbaric friendliness; the
children taught by the missionaries sang COO
Save the Queen" and the numerous state UNI
brellas Of the assembled kings and chiefs were
vigorously twirled in token Of rejoicing. Never
1heless there were sinister signs and whispers
were heard among the native attendants OF bad
fetiches" seen along the road "One was d fowl
split open while still alive. and laid thus upon
the fetch stone This was seen at more than
one fetch place We passed. Another con-
sisted Of strings of eggs fantastically twined
about a fetch house; and again there were
knobs Of earth protruding into the road, and SO
formed as to represent mounds over graves"
All OF which meant that not only were the
Adansis nourishing a peculiar grievance, but
Ashanti in general was brooding the in
trusion of white strangers who interfered with
human sacrifices and other sacred traditions.
Everywhere through the book there are pas
sages revealing, though with delicately light
touch, scenes which some readers will prefer TO
skip
But. according to Lady HCdgson. the pre-
vailing treachery Of these tribes is even deeper
than their passionate cruelty. The palaver, or
formal assembly Of the chiefs TO listen to the
Governors speech. passed off without public
show Of hostility:
None betrayed a sign Of disaffection, and the
Queen Of EJsu. when her turn came, stopped
before the Governor, and stretching out her
hand examined the order and decoration which
he was wearing, requesting the interpreter 10
say that they looked very nice, and that she ad-
mired his uniform. Then, turning round, she in
sisted on coming up TO my chair and shaking
me by the hand, with the result that my new
pair OF gloves was spoilt
Next comes the episode Of the tribal stool 1T
was the Nsuta tribe in which the dispute arose.
bad refa HNrf he N c
to the Acting Resident for arbitration, but he
had failed to bring about an understanding
and had under the circumstances reported the
matter 10 headquarters. The case had reached
a somewhat acute stage when arrived a.
Kumassi." In the event, the decision was giVer
in favor of one Vow Mafo apropos Of whose
trepidation about the rites to be performed IN
regard TO the tribal stools and the safe custody
OF them there is much vivid local color. Twice
Vow Mafo had to make vows over them. the
occasions being the anniversaries OF the deaths
Of former occupants. The vows were Of some
length, and differed in the case of each stool
Poor Vow Mafo stumbled over them OF
twice. although he had evidently done his best
TO commit them TO memory; but he had court
ohicial to prompt him when he failed. and so he
soon picked himself up again and went en-"
With abundance Of such detail and with hard
ly any depression, moralizing preaching, the
story moves rapidly 10 its climax in the
terrible Lacquer itself. and when that point is
reached still goes without bombast or
hysteric. For instance:
Throughout the morning the fort gates had
been left open, a small guard only being kept
in front Of them 10 prevent the ingress Of refu-
gees. The gradual retirement Of the
Hausas caused further panic among the refu-
gees, and II was seen tnat they meditated rush
Ing the gates, TO get inside the fort.
ha cat zryoc Ev,