The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1903-05-08
Story Of a Black Chief.
Daring Erplotts Of Quobah, an Ashantee Warrior.
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BY JOHN r. SPEARS.


viduals who were carried from Africa
to the Americas in the days of the
slavers can be found in the annals Of
the slave trade, but one may obtain
glimpses Of two or three of them,
hNe and there, and of the incomplete
Z 5ries that may be written from these
lmpses there is one that seems worth
preservation-the story Of Quobah, an
Ashantee war chief
In the year 1906 the SLAYER brig Co
raline, owned in Boston, and command
ed by q man known as Capt. Willing
(his real name was Maurice Halter)
entered the Rio Volta, on the west
coast of Africa, with a cargo of rum,
guns, ammunition, cotton cloth, and
trip cts Here a small schooner was
ch, Stered for a voyage up the river,
and in this the captain and a part of
the crew proceeded as far as the Ash
antee town Of Malice, a place of per
haps 5000 inhabitants. There were
not enough slaves for sale in Malice
to make a cargo for the schooner, and
after a consultation with the king of
the region, a raid into the interior
1Vas planned For this raid the king
applied the men food, while Capt.
Willing supplied arms, rum and to-
bacE,Y Sut Willhis- and several other
whites went with the expedition, and
to ono of these, a boy known as
Phillip Drake, we are indebted for an
account of the incidents of the jour
ney.
The party that marched away into
the forest included many soldiers
armed with muskets, women to care
for It'd camps and cook the food, and
COWS that supplied milk and served as
pack animals. There were also
number of slaves whose duty it was to
carry extra arms and the supplies of
ammunition. The whole party num-
bered $50 people.
At the head of these raiders was
Oah, the war chief Of Malice, and
negro. His size and strength
conspicuous. His skin was Jet
was kept glossy with palm oil.
His head was high and of conical
shape, and he wore his wcolly hair
braided into stiff hanks. His teeth had
been fled sharp; his cheeks showed
the marks of wounds, and these marks
were made conspicuous by borders of
rel paikk He dressed in a loose sack
like Shirt of yellow cotton cloth
striped with blue, and he wore a red
cap with a long tassel on his head.
His arms included huge spear, which
he constantly carried, and musket, a
broadswoard, and war club that were
carried by slaves, who were careful to
keep close to him at all times while
on the march.
To the black and white men alike it
was very pleasant excursion, for two
or thTeS days. The boy saw with de-
light Jhe red monkeys that leaped
chattering from limb to limb in the
trees overhead; the birds of finest
plumage that were captured with the
IS. alone, the flowers of gorgeous
at were seen as they marched
III beaten ate trail trail. NO. . merry that
NlakotcCs the parry was 80 u40lly Ch"O
raiders from Dahomey surrounded
them one evening. Some Of the mer-
ry-mallers escaped, but when the fight
ing was over the survivors who had
not escaped found themselves secure
ly boua as slaves to the attacking
party, y
Am%ng these slaves were Quobah
and the white boy. 1t had taken a doz-
en- warriors to down the giant Asian
tee. and then they succeeded only af
ter he was repeatedly struck from be-
hind as he leaped to and from among
his assailants. And so unconquerable
hs.ha spirit that when marched to-
pecY Dahomey village Of Yallaba
his captors found it necessary to fast
en- his arms to his side by means of a
stone wooden hoop that was frightened
by a wedge driven down between HIS
back and the hoop--this in addition tc
the rawhide thongs used on ordinary
prisoners.