Upon the morning following the successful sortie not an enemy could be
seen from the walls. Swift runners were sent out, and these returned in
two hours with news that the enemy were in full retreat towards their
capital. The people of Abeokuta were half wild with exultation and joy,
and their gratitude to their white allies was unbounded. Mr. Goodenough
begged them not to lose an hour in burying their slain enemies, and
the entire population were engaged for the two following days upon this
necessary but revolting duty. The dead were counted as they were placed
in the great pits dug for their reception, and it was found that no
fewer than three thousand of the enemy had fallen.
Mr. Goodenough also advised the Abeokutans to erect flanking towers at
short intervals round their walls, to dig a moat twenty feet wide and
eight deep at a few yards from their foot, and to turn into it the water
from the river in order that any future attack might be more easily
repelled.
The inhabitants were poor, but they would willingly have presented all
their treasures to their white allies. Mr. Goodenough, however, would
accept nothing save a few specimens of native cloth exquisitely woven
from the inner barks of the trees, and some other specimens of choice
native workmanship. He also begged them to send down to the coast by the
first opportunity the cases of specimens which had been collected since
the departure of the Fans.
A violent attack of fever, brought on by their exertions in the sun,
prostrated both the white travelers a few days after the termination of
the siege, and it was some weeks before they were able to renew their
journey. Their intention was to ascend the river for some distance,
to move westward into upper Ashanti, and then to make their way to
Coomassie, whence they would journey down to Cape Coast and there take
ship for England. As soon as they were able to travel they took leave
of their friends at Abeokuta, who furnished them with carriers for their
cases and hammock bearers for their journey as far as the Volta. This
lasted for a fortnight through an open and fertile country. Then
they crossed the river and entered Ashanti, the great rival empire of
Dahomey. As Ashanti was at peace with England they had now no fear of
molestation on their journey.
Ashanti consisted of five or six kingdoms, all of which had been
conquered, and were tributary to it. The empire of Ashanti was separated
by the river Prah from the country of the Fantis, who lived under
British protection. The people drew their supplies from various points
on the coast, principally, however, through Elmina, a Dutch settlement,
five miles to the west of Cape Coast. The Ashantis could not be called
peaceable neighbors. They, like the Dahomans, delighted in human
sacrifices upon a grand scale, and to carry these out captives must be
taken. Consequently every four or five years, on some pretext or other,
they cross the Prah, destroyed the villages, dragged away the people to
slavery or death, and carried fire and sword up to the very walls of the
English fort at Cape Coast. Sometimes the English confined themselves
to remonstrance, sometimes fought, not always successfully, as upon one
occasion Sir Charles Macarthy, the governor, with a West Indian regiment
was utterly defeated, the governor himself and all his white officers,
except three, being killed.
In 1828 we aided the Fantis to defeat the Ashantis in a decisive battle,
the consequence of which was the signature of a treaty, by which the
King of Ashanti recognized the independence of all the Fanti tribes. In
1844, and again in 1852, a regular protectorate was arranged between
the British and the Fantis, the former undertaking to protect them from
enemies beyond the borders, and in turn exercising an authority over
the Fantis, forbidding them to make war with each other, and imposing a
nominal tribute upon them.
In 1853 the Ashantis again crossed the Prah, but, being met with
firmness, retired again. After ten years' quiet, in 1863 they again
invaded the country, burnt thirty villages, and slaughtered their
inhabitants. Governor Price then urged upon the home authorities the
necessity for the sending out from England of two thousand troops to aid
the native army in striking a heavy blow at the Ashantis, and so putting
a stop to this constant aggression. The English government, however,
refused to entertain the proposal. In order to encourage the natives
some companies of West Indian troops were marched up to the Prah. The
wet season set in, and, after suffering terribly from sickness, the
survivors returned five months later to Cape Coast.
Up to this period the Dutch trading ports and forts upon the coast were
interspersed with ours, and as the tribes in their neighborhood were
under Dutch protection constant troubles were arising between the Dutch
tribes and our own, and in 1867 an exchange was effected, the Dutch
ceding all their forts and territory east of the Sweet river, a small
stream which falls into the sea midway between Cape Coast and Elmina,
while we gave up all our forts to the west of this stream. Similarly
the protectorate of the tribes inland up to the boundary of the Ashanti
kingdom changed hands. The natives were not consulted as to this treaty,
and some of those formerly under British protection, especially the
natives of Commendah, refused to accept the transfer, and beat off
with loss the Dutch troops who attempted to land. The Dutch men of war
bombarded and destroyed Commendah.
This step was the commencement of fresh troubles between the Ashantis
and the English. The Commendah people were Fantis, and as such the
implacable enemies of the Elmina people, who had under Dutch protection
been always allies of the Ashantis, and had been mainly instrumental
in supplying them with arms and ammunition. The Fantis, regarding
the Elmina natives and the Dutch as one power, retaliated for the
destruction of Commendah by invading the territory of the Elmina tribe,
destroying their villages and blockading the Dutch in their port.
Another reason for this attack upon the Elminas was that an Ashanti
general, named Atjempon, had marched with several hundred men through
the Fanti country, burning, destroying, and slaying as usual, and had
taken refuge with his men in Elmina. From this time the desultory war
between the Elminas and their Ashanti allies, and the Fantis of the
neighborhood had never ceased. Our influence over our allies was
but small, for we in vain endeavored to persuade them to give up the
invasion of Elmina. We even cut off the supplies of powder and arms to
the Fantis, whose loyalty to our rule was thereby much shaken.
All these troubles induced the Dutch to come to the decision to
withdraw altogether, and they accordingly offered to transfer all their
possessions to us. The English government determined not to accept the
transfer if it should lead to troubles with the natives, and as a first
step required that the Ashanti force should leave Elmina. In 1870 the
King of Ashanti wrote to us claiming Elmina as his, and protesting
against its being handed over to us. According to native ideas the king
of Ashanti's claim was a just one. The land upon which all the forts,
English, Dutch, Danish, and French, were built had been originally
acquired from the native chiefs at a fixed annual tribute, or as we
regarded it as rent, or as an annual present in return for friendly
relations. By the native customs he who conquers a chief entitled to
such a payment becomes the heir of that payment, and one time the King
of Ashanti upon the strength of his conquest of the Fantis set up a
claim of proprietorship over Cape Coast and the other British forts.
Of a similar nature was the claim of the Ashantis upon Elmina. The Dutch
had paid eighty pounds a year, as they asserted, as a present, and they
proved conclusively that they had never regarded the King of Ashanti as
having sovereignty over their forts, and that he had never advanced such
a claim. They now arrested Atjempon, and refused to pay a further sum
to the King of Ashanti until he withdrew his claim. In order to settle
matters amicably they sent an envoy to Coomassie with presents for the
king, and obtained from him a repudiation of his former letter, and a
solemn acknowledgment that the money was not paid as a tribute. The
king sent down two ambassadors to Elmina, who solemnly ratified this
declaration.
The transfer was then effected. We purchased from the Dutch their forts
and stores, but the people of Elmina were told that we should not take
possession of the place except with their consent; but it was pointed
out to them that if they refused to accept our protection they would be
exposed as before to the hostility of the Fantis. They agreed to accept
our offer, and on the 4th of April, 1872, a grand council was hold, the
king and chiefs of Elmina announced the agreement of their people to the
transfer, and we took possession of Elmina, Atjempon and the Ashantis
returning to their own country.
Upon the transfer taking place, Mr. Pope Hennessey, the governor of
the colony, sent to the King of Ashanti saying that the English desired
peace and friendship with the natives, and would give an annual present,
double that which he had received from the Dutch. At the same time
negotiations were going on with the king for the free passage of Ashanti
traders to the coast, and for the release of four Germans who had been
carried off ten years before by Aboo Boffoo, one of the king's generals,
from their mission station on British territory near the Volta. The king
wrote saying that Aboo Boffoo would not give them up without a ransom
of eighteen hundred ounces of gold, and protracted negotiations went on
concerning the payments of these sums.
At the time when Mr. Goodenough and Frank had landed on the Gaboon,
early in 1872, nothing was known of any anticipated troubles with
Ashanti. The negotiations between the English and the Dutch were in
progress, but they had heard that the English would not take over Elmina
without the consent of the inhabitants, and that they would be willing
to increase the payment made by the Dutch to the king of Ashanti. It was
known too that efforts would be made to settle all points of difference
with the king; and as at Abeokuta they received news that the
negotiations were going on satisfactorily, and that there was no
prospect whatever of trouble, they did not hesitate to carry out the
plans they had formed.
Before crossing the Volta, they sent across to inquire of the chief of
the town there whether two English travelers would be allowed to pass
through Ashanti, and were delayed for a fortnight until a messenger was
sent to Coomassie and returned with a letter, saying that the king
would be glad to see white men at his capital. With this assurance they
crossed the stream. They were received in state by the chief, who at
once provided them with the necessary carriers, and with them a guard,
which he said would prevent any trouble on their way. On the following
day they started, and after arriving, at the end of a day's journey, at
a village, prepared to stop as usual for a day or two to add to their
collection. The officer of the guard, however, explained to them through
Bacon, who spoke the Ashanti language, that his instructions were, that
they were to go straight through to Coomassie. In vain Mr. Goodenough
protested that this would entirely defeat the object of his journey. The
officer was firm. His orders were that they were to travel straight
to Coomassie, and if he failed in carrying these out, his head would
assuredly be forfeited.
“This is serious, Frank,” Mr. Goodenough said. “If this fellow has not
blundered about his orders, it is clear that we are prisoners. However,
it may be that the king merely gave a direction that we should be
escorted to the capital, having no idea that we should want to loiter
upon the way.”
They now proceeded steadily forward, making long day's marches. The
officer in command of the guard was most civil, obtaining for them an
abundance of provisions at the villages at which they stopped, and
as Frank and his companion were both weakened by fever he enlisted
sufficient hammock bearers for them, taking fresh relays from each
village. He would not hear of their paying either for provisions or
bearers, saying that they were the king's guests, and it would be an
insult to him were they to pay for anything.
Ten days after starting from the Volta they entered Coomassie. This
town lay on rising ground, surrounded by a deep marsh of from forty to
a hundred yards wide. A messenger had been sent on in front to announce
their coming, and after crossing the marsh they passed under a great
fetish, or spell, consisting of a dead sheep wrapped up in red silk and
suspended from two poles.
Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their places at the head of the little
procession. On entering the town they were met by a crowd of at least
five thousand people, for the most part warriors, who fired their guns,
shouted, and yelled. Horns, drums, rattles, and gongs added to the
appalling noise. Men with flags performed wild dances, in which the
warriors joined. The dress of the captains consisted of war caps with
gilded rams' horns projecting in front, and immense plumes of eagles'
feathers on each side. Their vest was of red cloth, covered with
fetishes and charms in cases of gold, silver, and embroidery. These were
interspersed with the horns and tails of animals, small brass bells, and
shells. They wore loose cotton trousers, with great boots of dull red
leather coming halfway up to the thigh, and fastened by small chains to
their waist belts, also ornamented with bells, horse tails, strings of
amulets, and strips of colored leather. Long leopards' tails hung down
their backs.
Through this crowd the party moved forward slowly, the throng thickening
at every step. They were escorted to a house which they were told was
set aside for their use, and that they would be allowed to see the king
on the following day. The houses differed entirely from anything which
they had before seen in Africa. They were built of red clay, plastered
perfectly smooth. There were no windows or openings on the exterior, but
the door led into an open courtyard of some twelve feet in diameter. On
each side of this was a sort of alcove, built up of clay, about three
feet from the ground. This formed a couch or seat, some eight feet long
by three feet high, with a thatched roof projecting so as to prevent the
rain beating into the alcove. Beyond were one or more similar courts
in proportion to the size of the house. A sheep and a quantity of
vegetables and fruits were sent in in the course of the day, but they
were told not to show themselves in the streets until they had seen the
king.
“We shall be expected to make his majesty a handsome present,” Mr.
Goodenough said, “and, unfortunately, our stores were not intended for
so great a potentate. I will give him my double barreled rifle and your
Winchester, Frank. I do not suppose he has seen such an arm. We had
better get them cleaned up and polished so as to look as handsome as
possible.”
In the morning one of the captains came and said that the king was in
readiness to receive them, and they made their way through a vast crowd
to the marketplace, an open area, nearly half a mile in extent. The sun
was shining brightly, and the scene was a brilliant one. The king, his
Caboceers or great tributaries, his captains, and officers were seated
under a vast number of huge umbrellas, some of them fifteen feet across.
These were of scarlet, yellow, and other showy colors in silks and
cloths, with fantastically scalloped and fringed valences. They were
surmounted with crescents, birds, elephants, barrels, and swords of
gold, and on some were couched stuffed animals. Innumerable smaller
umbrellas of striped stuff were borne by the crowd, and all these
were waved up and down, while a vast number of flutes, horns and other
musical instruments sounded in the air. All the principal people wore
robes woven of foreign silk, which had been unraveled for working into
native patterns. All had golden necklaces and bracelets, in many cases
so heavy that the arms of the bearers were supported on boys' heads.
The whole crowd, many thousands in number, shone with gold, silver, and
bright colors.
The king received them with dignity, and expressed his satisfaction at
seeing them, his speech being interpreted by one of his attendants, who
spoke English. Mr. Goodenough replied that they had very great pleasure
in visiting the court of his majesty, that they had already been
traveling for many months in Africa, having started from the Gaboon and
traveled through many tribes, but had they had any idea of visiting so
great a king they would have provided themselves with presents fit for
his acceptance. But they were simple travelers, catching the birds,
beasts, and insects of the country, to take home with them to show to
the people in England. The only things which they could offer him were
a double barreled breech loading rifle of the best English construction,
and a little gun, which would fire sixteen times without loading.
The king examined the pieces with great attention, and, at his request,
Mr. Goodenough fired off the whole contents of the magazine of the
repeating rifle, whose action caused the greatest astonishment to
the assembled chiefs. The king then intimated his acceptance of the
presents, and said that he would speak farther with them on a future
occasion. He informed them that they were free to move about in the town
where they wished, and that the greatest respect would be shown to them
by the people. There was a fresh outburst of wild music, and they were
then conducted back to their house.
After the assembly had dispersed the two Englishmen walked about through
the town. It was not of great extent, but the streets were broad and
well kept. Many of the houses were much larger than that allotted to
them, but all were built on the same plan. It was evident that the great
mass of the population they saw about must live in villages scattered
around, the town being wholly insufficient to contain them.
Three days afterwards they were told that the king wished to see them in
his palace. This was a large building situated at the extremity of the
town. It was constructed of stone, and was evidently built from European
designs. It was square, with a flat roof and embattled parapet. They
were conducted through the gateway into a large courtyard, and then into
a hall where the king sat upon a raised throne. Attendants stood round
fanning him.
“Why,” he asked abruptly as they took their places before him, “do the
English take my town of Elmina?”
Mr. Goodenough explained that he had been nine months absent from the
coast, and that having come straight out from England he was altogether
unaware of what had happened at Elmina.
“Elmina is mine,” the king said. “The Dutch, who were my tributaries,
had no right to hand it over to the English.”
“But I understood, your majesty, that the English were ready to pay an
annual sum, even larger than that which the Dutch have contributed.”
“I do not want money,” the king said. “I have gold in plenty. There
are places in my dominions where ten men in a day can wash a thousand
ounces. I want Elmina, I want to trade with the coast.”
“But the English will give your majesty every facility for trade.”
“But suppose we quarrel,” the king said, “they can stop powder and guns
from coming up. If Elmina were mine I could bring up guns and powder at
all times.”
“Your majesty would be no better off,” Mr. Goodenough said; “for the
English in case of war could stop supplies from entering.”
“My people will drive them into the sea,” the king said. “We have been
troubled with them too long. They can make guns, but they cannot fight.
My people will eat them up. We fought them before; and see,” he said
pointing to a great drum, from the edge of which hung a dozen human
skulls, “the heads of the White men serve to make a fetish for me.”
He then waved his hand to signify that the audience was terminated.
“Things look bad, Frank,” Mr. Goodenough said as they walked towards
their home. “I fear that the king is determined upon war, and if so our
lives are not worth a month's purchase.”
“It can't be helped,” Frank said as cheerfully as he could. “We
must make the best of it. Perhaps something may occur to improve our
position.”
The next day the four German missionaries, who had so long been kept
captive, called upon them, and they obtained a full insight into the
position. This seemed more hopeful than the king's words had given them
to expect. The missionaries said that negotiations were going on for
their release, and that they expected very shortly to be sent down to
Cape Coast. So far as they knew everything was being done by the English
to satisfy the king, and they looked upon the establishment of peace as
certain. They described the horrible rites and sacrifices which they had
been compelled to witness, and said that at least three thousand persons
were slaughtered annually in Coomassie.
“You noticed,” one of them said, “the great tree in the marketplace
under which the king sat. That is the great fetish tree. A great
many victims are sacrificed in the palace itself, but the wholesale
slaughters take place there. The high brushwood comes up to within
twenty yards of it, and if you turn in there you will see thousands of
dead bodies or their remains putrefying together.”
“I thought I felt a horribly offensive smell as I was talking to the
king,” Frank said shuddering. “What monsters these people must be! Who
would have thought that all that show of gold and silver and silks and
bright colors covered such horrible barbarism!”
After chatting for some time longer, and offering to do anything in
their power to assist the captives, the Germans took their leave.