VISIT TO THE KING OF ASHANTEE.

a store-room and a small chapel or preaching-room; in the front, looking into one of the finest and most open streets in the town, is a little garden, planted with orange, lime, bread-fruit, and fig-trees (the two latter having been recently introduced from the coast), and behind the house a spacious courtyard, planted with the sour-soptree, and surrounded by rooms consisting of servants' and workmens' apartments, so simply constructed, and yet so spacious, as to afford room, without any inconvenience, for quarters for the whole of the men consisting of the guard of honour.

As I sat down in the airy spacious hall in the cool of the evening, after all the toil and excitement of the day, and contemplated this little European establishment, planted in the midst of barbarism 200 miles into the interior of Africa, exhibiting to thousands of untutored pagans the comforts and conveniences of civilised life, and the worship of the true God, I could not but think deeply and feelingly on the great triumph thus achieved by Christianity and civilization.

Nine days were now consumed in the ceremonial of exchanging presents. Desirous of seeing the king, but found that he was unavoidably occupied with superstitious observances. A private and preliminary interview only permitted.

I went again, Oct. 19, to the palace, attended by Captain Powell and the Rev. Messrs. Freeman and Hillard, to have an interview with the king, for the transaction of business.

The apartments of the royal premises are of the same order and style as those of the native dwellings generally consisting of a number of square courtyards, connected with each other by doors at the corners, and having on one, two, three, or all sides, a room entirely open on the side looking into the yard, raised from one to four feet above the level of the yard, and communicating with it by steps made with clay, and like the public rooms in the streets already

described; but the royal apartments are of much larger dimensions than those of the people, and are kept exquisitely clean. The king's residence in Kumasi, with its numerous attached buildings, covers a space of ground not less perhaps than five acres.

On our arrival, we found the king seated in one of the squares of the palace, surrounded by many chiefs and officers of his household. We soon entered into conversation; and I told him that my visit was one of pure friendship, for the purpose of promoting good intelligence betwixt him and her Majesty's government. On this head I made many remarks, with which he seemed much pleased, and expressed his great satisfaction at the kind feelings manifested by her Majesty in authorising me to visit, and in sending him so valuable a present as that which had been delivered to him. Another subject which occupied us for some little time was, the best means of communication betwixt his and my government; and I embraced the opportunity of thanking him for the kind protection which he had afforded the Christian missionaries who had visited his country, and also of expressing my hopes that he would still continue to do so. The interview lasted about an hour.

The next day the king paid a visit to the Missionhouse, attended by his officers of the household, and many of his children. He stayed about an hour, conversing freely; inquired how many queens had ever occupied the British throne; the age of her present Majesty; and whether the Prince of Wales was heir to the crown; and was much gratified and amused when Captain Powell drew up his men and fired a salute.

On Saturday the 21st his majesty again made his appearance in front of the Mission-house, whither he came to drink palm wine, as a mark of respect to his guests. He came to the spot in a beautiful little phaeton, presented to him by the Missionary Society in 1841, and which he valued highly, and had kept in

VISIT TO THE KING OF ASHANTEE.

excellent condition. The English party joined him, and the band was ordered out to play, by way of returning the courtesy. While they were sitting in the street, one of the chiefs entertained them with a dance: this scene was prolonged for nearly two hours with much merriment and pleasantry. During this singular visit, from 5000 to 6000 of the populace were present, yet there was ample room for all, and no crowding, the street being nearly 200 yards in width. The city itself is about two miles in length, and a mile wide.

We received an invitation to dine with the king at Eburasu, his country seat, about three and a-half miles from Kumasi, and went, Oct. 24. On our arrival we took our seat under the shade of a large silk-cotton-tree opposite the palace, and the king, in a few minutes, came over to us, took me cordially by the hand, and bade me welcome: we then proceeded to look over the premises, conducted by one of the officers of the household; while the king delicately took his seat under a tree near the spot where we had been sitting. I have already described the character of the native dwellings, and observed that the royal premises are kept more clean, and are of larger dimensions than those of the people: these distinctions are very striking in the aspect of Eburasu.

Many of the rooms about the squares were occupied with neat bedsteads dressed with silk hangings, and decorated with mirrors, pictures, time-pieces, fancy boxes, chandeliers, and many other articles of European manufacture.

After passing through and examining the principal apartments, we entered a square where the table was set for dinner, under the shade of some large umbrellas, about ten feet in diameter, and the king immediately entered, and engaged freely in conversation with us; in a short time dinner was placed on the table, in a manner quite consistent with English taste, and it was really very nicely served up: it consisted of soup, a

sheep roasted whole, a sheep dressed in joints, a turkey, fowls, a variety of vegetables, plumpudding, oranges, ground-nuts, &c., ale, wine, and liqueurs.

The king excused himself from actually sitting and eating at table, on the ground of his inability to use with ease a knife and fork like a European; but he sat opposite to me, and looked on with great interest, took wine with me and the gentleman of my suite, and talked with great freedom on ordinary topics of conversation.

At all our previous interviews he has generally been dressed in a rich cloth, but on this occasion he wore an officer's uniform.

After dinner the king took us to the apartments of the ladies of the court, and introduced me to them, declaring that no Ashantee, not even a favourite chieftain, had ever been introduced to that part of the palace, or to the ladies occupying it.

On leaving this part of the palace, we went out and sat down with the king under the shade of a large tree for about twenty minutes, and then, as evening was advancing, we turned our faces towards Kumasi: the king accompanied us in his palanquin about two miles on the road, and then we took our leave of him.

The conduct of the king throughout the day was extremely gratifying, and I greatly enjoyed the privacy in which we had dined with him: no chiefs were present; there were only two persons of distinction present connected with the household, and they were merely in attendance on the king, and not taking any part in the affairs connected with the dinner.

The remains of the dinner, together with some large pots of soup, prepared for the occasion, were sent into the Mission-house for the soldiers and people.

The situation of Eburasu appears to be well chosen: the ground is high, the country open, and the distance from Kumasi very convenient; and it is approached by an excellent road, founded with care, and kept clean and in good order.

VISIT TO THE KING OF ASHANTEE.

The extent of the royal premises is very considerable, covering perhaps four acres of ground.

At 8 P.M. the king sent messengers to the Missionhouse to acquaint me that he had returned to town, and to request that we would go down to the palace and spend an hour with him: to this I readily consented, and was much gratified, on our arrival at the palace, to find him almost alone, and quite disposed for friendly conversation. Ossai Kujo, the heirapparent to the throne, and three or four of the king's principal linguists, were the only persons present.

We immediately entered into conversation, and after briefly adverting to the kindly feelings of her Majesty's government towards him, I embraced the favourable opportunity thus offered for speaking to him on the subject of human sacrifices: I told him of the anxious desire on the part of her Majesty that these sanguinary rites should be abolished, and begged his serious attention to a question so important to the cause of humanity.

In answer to these remarks, he inquired whether I had seen any instances of human sacrifice taking place since I had entered his dominions. I certainly had not seen or heard of any, and therefore expressed myself to that effect; and he then observed, that although human sacrifices were a custom of his forefathers, he was reducing their number and extent in his kingdom, and that the wishes of her Majesty should not be forgotten... Matters relative to the Wesleyan mission in Kumasi were then referred to, and I was much gratified to find how completely the mission has secured his confidence and esteem.

After conversing with the king for nearly an hour, we returned to the Mission-house, greatly delighted with all the pleasing circumstances of the day.

We visited the king, Oct. 26, to take our leave of him previous to our departure. On our arrival at the