The New York Herald Newspaper, January 8, 1874, Page 3

THE ASHANTRE WAR, Letter from the Special Herald Correspondent at Cape Coast Castle. FANTEES AND ASHANTEES. Full Description of the King, His Army, People and Customs. —_+—-—- BRITISH FAULTS AND History of the Different Colonies on the Gold Coast. FOLLIES. THE. CHANCES OF SUCCESS. Care Coast CASTLE, GOLD Spar} West AFRICA, Nov. 24, 1873. i promised you in my last to give you some In- formation about the allies of the British in this Anglo-Ashantee-war—the Fantees, Next to my surprise at the unaccountable apathy of the English on the West Coast of Africa is my surprise that the English should have adopted for allies the Fantees, the miserable and worthlicss tribe occupying the country lying between Cape ‘Coast Castie and the poundary river flowing be- tween Ashantee and the Fantee Land. It may be said—with justice—by the English, that they coula Not help themselves; that they found the Fantees im possession of the country and of Cape Coast iteelf, and that they had no right to displace the Fantees tor the Ashantees or any other people; that such a course on their part would have been the grossest injustice. It ts true the English could not have done this arbitrary act without incurring great guilt. but after the cession of Elmina to them by the Dutch good policy would have indicated what course they should adopt towards furthering the wishes of the opulent and commerce-loving Ashantecs, ELMINA 4s the only place suitable for the residence of an Administrator-in-Chief or Governor on the whole shore of the Gold Coast trom Assinee River to the Volta, It is centrally located; nature has fur- mished it with a river which might be made a capital harbor for small craft; there is a good anchorage outside for the larger craft. The Dutch have furnished it with two castles, infinitely superior to the miserable castles or forts at Cape Coast. Elmina was a large, thriving town, ina healthy situation, exposed to the pure sea breezes; the country around was well cultivated; numer- us plantations studded the eminences behind the ‘town; plenty reigned everywnere; and though the Elmina natives were formerly a branch of the Fantee nation, they were far more industrious, and ‘were able to supply the necessities of life to the garrizon at one-fourth the cost those around Cape Ooast Castle could afford. In every way Elmina was A DESIRABLE LOCALITY for the principal station of the Gold Coast; and hhad the English at once transferred their ofMces of administratership hither they would not have Deen under the deplorable necessity of reducing to Gust heaps the native quarter 18 months alter the exchange. Having acquired this rich territery from the Dutch, and aware of the anxiety Qf the Ashantees to possess a small portion of coast line which shouid be theirs and none other, the English out of their abundance might have set apart a strip of 10 miles immediately adjoining Elmina, and prof fered it to the Ashantees, and they might have even gone 80 far as to assist the Ashantees in the Construction of @ road trom Prahsu to the new Ashantee settlement, thus proving to them that they were as ready to enter into a friendly alliance ‘with them as the Dutch had been. The fear that the Ashantees would soon have made themselves ‘masters of the country need not have deterred the English, for the coast line would always remain in their power, and always within reach of the guns of their A(rican naval squadrons. Elmina and Cape Coast also would ever be protected by the guns of the castles and the forts, so that such a policy as the one indicated above might have been prosecuted to a very desirable end—viz., that of populating an uninhabited portion of the coast with a portion of an opulent tribe desirous of opening direct commerce with the English, ana gecuring the friendly alliance of a nation which, ‘am a commercial sense, was worthy of being allicd ‘with, The traveller, after observing THE TREMENDOUS ENERGY OF THE ENGLISH, 1m other lands, and the keen intelligence which al- Ways directs their policies, finds himself compelled ‘to condemn the extraordinary apathy which char- acterizes the British authorities on the West Coast and the unwisdom of their mode of government. From Sierra Leone down to Accra ruin and decay, megiect and apathy are visible in every settlement, Thirty years ago Sierra Leone was a thriving and prosperous commercial mart. A forest of masts reared their tall heads in the unrivalled harbor, the soul of business seemed to animate her streets, the natives appeared to possess some idea that they were made to work and that their limbs ‘were formed for labor. Now, however, an occasional steamer may be seen in the harbor, homeward or outward bound, and the natives are utterly spoiled for work and seem to think that celestial state has already arrived when humanity ceases from toll and betakes Itself to perpetual psalm-singing and hallelujah-chant- fmg. Apollonia, Dix Cove, Chamah and Elmina are heaps of ruins. The Dutch leit them prosperous and happy; the English took it upon themselves to govern them, and within 18 months ruined them, laying the settlements in mortar and dust heaps. THE FANTEES have not found out that their alliance witn the English has been a curse instead of a blessing, be- cause they have not yet been taught the art of de- duction. But should they ever be schooled to logic I have no doubt but they will say: —“If we had not been friends with the English the Ash- antees would not have burned our villages or consumed our produce or latd waste our planta- tions.” ‘To which the English may perhaps an- swer:—“We went to war with the Ashantees for your sakes; if we had not been fools we would not have rejected the Ashantees and accepted such miserable cowards as you have turned out to be tor our allies.” I have already informed you that the Fantees oocupy the country Vetween Cape Coast Castle and the Prah, though in reality the Fantees proper Inhabit the town of Cape Coast and its immediate Beighborhood. Those of the Fantees who dwell in the villages of the interior are distinguished after the names of their villages. The whole of the Pantee territory may be about 2,000 square miles, It ig not a kingdom. Fantee Land is more of a re- public of villages, whose chiefs are banded to- gether for military protection against the com- mon enemy—the Ashantees. Cape Coast has its King, or chief, Annamaboe has another, though it 4s but seven miles distant. Dunquah, 16 miles dis- tant, has another chief, and Abra Campa has its ‘chief. When any chief has a grievance against any other, the British Governor of the Castle 1s called upon to arbitrate, and bis word is supposed %o settle the palaver, Confining my remarks, however, to the Fantees “of Cape Coast, wnd taking it for granted that the Fantees of the intertor are no better, I must say that the town presents the strongest evidence that could possibly be produced of the apathy of the English on the West Coast of Airica, Two hundred and five years has this town been in pos- mession of the Byitish, ang yet ous of ite popula tion of 20,000 souls I douvt whether there are 1,000 of them who understand English. The peopie are a# barbarous, uptutored ond superstitions as though they bad never seen an Englishman’s face, ‘They are as wild in appearance, as naked in body, as filthy in their babits as any tribe of savages I have ever scen, Their FRTICH IDOLS and medicine heaps, and Mumbo Jumbo rites are visible in the streets of Cape Coast. The b'zarre Jantastics in which women caper about nude, and ancient hags disagreeably remind you of the bonyness of the human body in old age, and little, conscienceless children prank and hop, involved imextricably between the pedal extremities of their grandmothers, form a picture of the most horrible depravity, and one utterly unsuited, I should say, at least, lor any portion of the British colonies, Ifihave to echo the opinions of all white men who have come out lately to join this expedition, and declare that these people are the most indolent, toil-hating tribe it has ever been my lot to see, I am bound also to say that the administrators, the admuinistrators-in-chief, the governors and sub- governors sent out torule them must have been selected by the British government jor those very qualities which we are all so ready to condemp in the Fantees of Cape 2oast Castle. Consider the thing 205 years in possession, Why, Prussia was made a kingdom only 172 years ago. ‘The battle of the Boyne was fought only 183 years ; ago, Just think, then, how many things have transpired during the 205 years since first John Bull laid his paw on this spot in the Gold Coast, and yet the Fantees, the population of this govern- mental station, have to be described as the most shiftless and indolent of the negro race. BRITISH FOLLY. Apart from the crime of having behaved so feevly during their stewardship over these be- nighted and utterly lost creavures, 1 must charge the British with their usuai fault of raising the cost of labor and necessaries of life to about 20 times what it ought to be. Englishmen are as much sufferers as 1am myself. They sutfered as much from the same folly as I did in Abyssinia, When we might bave obtained fowls at the rate of 12 for $1in Abyssinia, Sir William Merewether commanded three fowls only should be given for $1. There has been as yet, tomy knowledge, no such order {rom Sir Garnet respecting the number of fowls to be given for $1, but I do expect some such order will be issued soon, as proclamations are being issued almost daily. In the meantime, how- ever, the prices of everything have risen, until I shouid much prefer to pay the high prices of living at the Fiftn Avenue Hotel rather than at a miserable Fantee hut, Two chickens cost $1 here and mutton is not purchasable under 25 cents per pound. Much of anything else cannot ve had for love or money, except rice, which sells at 16 pounds for $1. The household expenses are enormously nigh. First, your hammock-bearers cost you at the rate of $45 per month: your porters, who are to carry your effects and provisions to the “bush,” cost you as much more; your house rent costs you $20 and your cook $18 per month, so that if one finds his bills at the end of @ month to be under $200 one must consider himself specially fortunate. I did not intend that my remarks about the Fan- tees should be abusive of them when I began this letter, so that I think had better bottle up my in- dignation for the present. I have already remarked that the Fantees are very superstitious. Their ietish consists of a wooden image of an armless and legless man, which is placed upright by the side of some public street, and at its back is generally found a medi- cine heap, covered over with cither a turtie’s back or a huge stone. If the fetish 18 not formed of wood, a figure of clay or @ padded, doll-shaped thing, answers just as well. This image, made of wood or clay or old rags, is endowed by the fetish priest with extraordinary powers, A white man, educated at a university in all the secrets of medicine and surgery, 1s not giftea with one-half the powers commonly as- eribed to and commonly believed to be possessed by this miserableidol. The fetish man carries the image to the bedside of a fever-stricken patient, mumbles formulas into the ear of the sick one, waves the fetish over his head, and departs satis- | fied that a cure has begun already. But shoula the British surgeon come up in time to arrest the progress of the disease and effect a cure, THE FETISH MAN curses the surgeon for making his fetish to lie, be- lieving that the failure of the image was caused by the underbanded and false machinations of the surgeon. If I were to describe all the ceremonies which 1 have noted under my veranda I should fill your columns; but there 1s one which I have seen which causes Intense disgust to the colored missionaries of the town. It is the exhibition of a virgin arriv- tng at years of puberty to the rude gaze of the rabble of Cape Coast. Before the British authori- ties interfered the scene was really disgusting and downright savage; but at present, though it is a singular one, the immodesty of it is veiled some- what. The young girl, in former times, was ac- customed to be stripped naked and obliged to march thus through the streets, loaded with gold and silver ornaments. The wealth of the family was sometimes seen on her person, amounting in value to several hundred dollars’ worth, while ner friends and relatives, her playmates and ac- quaintances, followed her with all the fanfaronade which delights the ears of savages, Several kin- kassis, or drums, were beaten in the most ener- getic manner; files were blown, and the vocal noises, inharmonious at the best of times, were ab- solutely deafening. She was thus paraded around the town until every household had enjoyed the ineffable felicity of seeing the virgina: maid, when, at dusk, she was conducted to the bridal bed of her husband, who had probably paid dowry for her to her parents to the amount of $40 or $50. The earlier hours of hymeneal joy were honored with increase of din, at which an all the friends and relatives participated, and a bestial orgy concluded the singular cere- mony. In these modest times, however, the maid is not permitted to expose her person, but is shown about properly clothed and bejewelled, and since the absence of the Fantee males in the “bush” the noise and din of the festivity is not so unbearable and soul-distracting as formerly. Lest my letter may be intolerably long—dull as I know it to be trom lack of war news—! propose to give you a few remarks concerning THE ASHANTEES. To begin with the King, then. The present chief or King of Ashantee is called Kofli, or Coffee Kal- call, the son of Coffee Tutee. an Ashantee noble of great power, by Princess Effnah Cobee, of the blood royal. He was born about the year 1837, and is, therefore, at present in his thirty-six th year, He ascended the throne of the kings on the 26th August, 1867, as the eighth monarch since the Gynasty was established, and the Ashantecs became @ nation, which occurred about the year 1700. To attempt to trace the past history of any Savage Airican nation which has no written record for its basis would appear too much like romanc- ing; but such facts as the sages and courtiers and elders could store in thetr minds aad transmit from father to son we have been able to obtain. No doubt a further acquaintance with the Ashan- tee chiefs would enable us to add still more to our résumé; but what we have at present suffices for the ordinary reader, Whose desire would be mainly to have an idea of what the Ashantees are and whence they came. ‘The special correspondent in a peculiar land like this feels a melancholy pleasure in being able to giean somewhat trom the past of this now power- ful nation, and transfer some portion of its history to the columns of a journal like the HERALD, ere the traditions which now inspire the elders at sun- set, under the patriarchal trees of tneir villages, to recite the glories of the great founder of the na- tion, and the deeds of the heroes and conquerors who succeeded him, should pale and fade and be- come lost in oblivion, If any of your readers, after coming to this land, should become interested in any tribe or nation and attempt to write its hisyory he would soon find how dificult @ task it would be to distinguish fact trom fiction. aud be able to understand the pleasure I feel in writing the following remarks upon the Ashantee nation :— In the days of Cada Mosto, Fernando Gomez, D’Ambuja, Vasco da Gama and other heroic navi- gators, who flourished about the Jatter part of the fifteenth century, the Ashantee nation was not known, If it were a concrete people, organized under a despotic king, as renowned in war as the Ashantee nation ls to-day, there is no doubt that some of THE ENTERPRISING PORTUGUESE EXPLORERS and writers, especially De Barros and Cada Mosto, Would have heard something about its existence and noted it in their journals with the same ex- actness and accuracy with which they penned their notes of other kings and nations whom they came in contact with or of whom they beara report; for while, looking eagerly over their quaintly written journals of discoveries along the coast of Guinea we are struck at the ease with which the steps of the Portuguese navigators may traced to-day. It is true that many names of tribes and rivers have become lost, but the major number are still to be recognized. r Instance these as proof of what I say. Cada Mosto writes in 1469 of the success of Fernando Gomez in his trading for gola dust at the port of Mina, which we at once recognize to be Elmina of the present day, where, during peaceful times, the same trade in the precious metai is still carried on. Again, he says that the first exchange in gold dust occurred ata | village called Samia, a few miles further up from Mina, wnich we know to be the place calted Cha- | mah, where Commodore Counnereli and his boat feet received such a check lately. It may not appear singular that Mina, now called Elmina, should have retamed its name, since it has been in the possession of a European Power ever since; but itis singular that a small village like Chamah | should have retained its native name in a country like Guinea, where everything is so mutabie and where changes transpire so quickly, and nations and tribes, once prominent in local traditions, so sink into oblivion or are so soon swallowed by others more powerful, My opinion 1f that the Ashantees at the time of which f write were divided into small village clans or sub-tribes acknowledging no ruier save their local chieis, or elders; that wars for supre! and right of way to the coast were frequent among them; that defeat of one village served to add power and subjects to the conquering sub-tribe, which, probably, in the course of time was aug- mented by other victories over weaker neighbors. ‘There is A TRADITION among the Fantees that in former times very far back the Fantees and Ashantees composed one tribe; but that while engaged on a war expedition into a distant region they suffered severely from hunger; that one portion. sustained itself by feeding on a shrub or plant called Fan, while another portion found suste- nance’ in @ shrub called Shan, from which the eaters of Fan became known afterwards aa Fantees, while the otters in like manner became known as Shantees, to which imperiect hearmg has added the prefix A, so that the tribe is now called Ashantces by the English, This is, of course, fable, but only @ more thorough knowledge of the roots of tie language would enable us to decide whether the fable is correct. We know, however, to a certainty, by the records of the Portuguese navigators, that gold dust in considerable quantities was brought down from the interior to Elmina by peoples who were not distinguished under any distinctive title during the latter half of the fifteenth century, and we know through official records by the Dutch Goy- ernors, Who succeeded the Portuguese at Elmina, that the same trade wascarried on between El- mina and the interior during the whole of the six- teenth century, But at the beginning of the seventeenth century there struggles slowly into the minds of the Eu- ropean authorities on the Guinea or Gold Coast knowledge of the existence of a nation growing in opulence and power where the gold dust comes from, called the Ashantees, and of a Chief or King who governs them whose name strikes terror into the hearts of the sub-tribes on the coast, who were accustomed to convey palm- oil and cloths into the interior to exchange for gold dust. This King’s name was Sy Tuta. During his lifetime the sub- tribes, the clans, villages and towns throughout a great extent of country were consolidated into one Kingdom, with Sy Tutu, the conquering chief, a8 a sovereign, In the attempt to extend hia power on thi side of the Prah River, in the terri- tory of the Akims, at the great battle of Coro- mantee, fought on a Saturday, the conqueror, Sy Tutu, was slain, As in more civilized countries, 4 GLORIOUS ERA OF CONQUEST and power was not forgotten by the nation he had founded and made great by a series of victories, and the memory of Sy Tutu is kept green to this day by the Ashantees. The most binding oath known to-day among this people is the one whichis made by “Coromuntee Saturday.” The present King, Coffee Calcali, has taken this solemn oath that Le will either drive the British from Elmina, or he will make a prolonged and bloody war. It was natural that, after a glorious reign such as Sy Tutu’s, his successor should be his son, and accordingly the throne devolved upon Apuku, his eldest son, who during his reign maintained the supremacy of the Ashantees, conquered the Akim territory and added it to Ashantee. It is said that Apuku, like the Plantagenet, John, desirous of curtailing the power of the sub-chiets exas- perated the chieftains ana caused them to band to- gether and drive the monarch from Coomassie, the capital; but, more successful than his British pro- totype, he was enabled to rally to his standard an army of warriors who had probably shared in lus father’s conquests, with whose aid he retook Coomassie and subdued the fractious and turbulent rebels. Apuku died and was succeeded by his son, Akwassi, This King, alter extending his power toward Denkera, in the West, turned his atten- tion to @ powerful country on the east called Dahomey. The fact that Dahomey is still inde. pendent, and is understood to be as powerful as Ashantee, proves that Akwassi obtained littie or no success in his wars against the Dahomans. Akwassi, dying about the year 1752, was succeded by his son, Sy Kudju, a warlike prince, whose memory is venerated for the numerous successes which attended his arms throughout along and prosperous reign. Sy Kwamina, the fifth monarch since the dynasty was established, succeedea Kudju; but he was shortly dethroned by the chiefs and was replaced by @ younger brother, Sy Tutu Kwamina, about the year 1800, It was during the reign of this prince that the British became personally acquainted with THE PROWESS OF THE ASHANTEES, The first war was that of 1811. Then came the disastrous campaign of 1823 and 1824, during the Governorship of Sir Charles MacCarthy. Major Ricketts, a member of his staff—one of the very few who survived the fatal battle of Esmacow—has left us @ very interesting account, simply written but full of pith and matter. When the Ashantees were marching up to attack Sir Charles they advanced singing and beating a wild alarm of drums and tom-toms, as is their custom, Sir Charles, not to be outdone by noise, ordered his band to strike up “God Save the King.” However, the music had no effect om the enemy, and soon both forces were engaged in desperate strife. After a battle of some hours the British allies were without ammunition, and a mistake committed by a commissariat oMcer, who de- spatched biscuits instead of vall cartridges, proved fatal for the ailies and their gallant commander, Sir Charles and all his staf, with the exception of Major Ricketts and a Lieutenant Jones, were be- headed, and the heads were carried in triumph to Coomassie, where, it is reported, they are even to this day held in high honor, being decorated with gold bands and jewels Sy Tutu Kwamina died soon after the battle of Esmacow, and was succeded by his brother, Sy Okoto, after the victory of Esmacow the Ashantees ad- vanced upon Cape Coast Castle, when there were but agarrison of about 50 men inthe fort. Even the streets of the town were invaded by the enemy, and the slaughter which ensued was ter- rifle, It is calculated that about 20,000 Fantees lost their lives in that campaign, while the mises NEW YORK HERALD, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 1874.—WITH SUPPLEMENT. | able state into which the frotectorate was plunged is indescribable, It may be said that Until 1826 the Ashantees were masters of all the Protectorate up to within a mile of the seacoast forts. The tables were reversed in 1826. The British collected a force at Accra and met the Ashantees at Dundowah. Tie battle that ensued then was most sanguinary, but nearly at the com- mencement of it the Ashantees were stricken with @ panic and fied, and a great many of their cap- tains, rather than meet the king, committed sui- cide on the field, The Fantees and their allies on this day amply avenged the horrors of 1823 and 1824, and an even balance of losses was thus struck. The successor of Sy Okoto was a prince called Kwaweda, who departed this life in 1867, Kwaweda invaded the Proiectorate in 1840, and waged a bloody and releatiess war on the Fantees; but the English were not summoned to take up arms for the latter in this campaign; they simply advised them and supplied them with arms and ammuni- uon, On the death of Kwaweda, the present King Coffee Calcali ascended the throne, in his thirtieth year. THE KING OF ASHsNTER is said to be an intellivent man, with the appear- ance of a mulatto, slight but sinewy in figure, hoe Ppitable ana gracious to strangers. He resides at Coomassie, the capital, which is said to be, by those who have seen it, a populous and | well regulated town, The paiace of the King is a structure of hewn stones, large and capacious, with great squares, where reviews and assemblages are held. fhe whole is walled around, having an outer and inner enclosure. The rooms are lofty and commodious, and those occn- | pied by His Majes*y are furnitured with European | and native articles. The presents he has been con- tinually receiving diviomatically have assisted in supplying him with unusual luxuries. Pictures adorn the walls; sumptuous so/as are ranged round his walls; thick carpets cover his floors; his tables are loaded with a thousand costly knick-Knacks. Next in importance to the Palace among TUB PULLIC BUILDINGS is the Bantammah, which is the Tower or the Louvre of Coomassie, wherein are stored the more kings of Ashantee to receive from the British, the Dutch and the French governments, it 1s the treasure house, filled with the costly ware the kings have gathered from time to time; the Bank, wherein lie the specie and the gold dust, ingots and bars of solid gold, and many achestiull of rings and chains of gold, gorgeous silks and satins and much else of wealth that go to make up the treasures of a rich and powerlul despot like tae Ashantee King. In the Bantammah, side by side with the crown of the Kings, is laid the gold decorated cup iashioned out of the skull of the unfortunate Governor of Cape Coast Castle, Sir Charles MacCarthy, It is only on days of state and high festival that this ghastly pour is used. Itancy that if the English take the ; Bantammah that this State cup will be considered | one of the most valuable trophies that could be secured, ‘The King possesses a numerous harem, like the sable monarch of Dahomey. He is privileged to imarry as many as he pleases: for evenin Ashantee tne King can do no wrong or trespass on any law. I should fear to say how many wives he has mar- ried, for we shall probably know the exact number by and by; but he can take his pick out of the noblest, the fairest and best in the land, after which it is certain death for any other man in Ashantee to look on her face, for she is the King’s. The harem is jealously guarded in a quarter of the palace overlooking the palace gardens by a body of 150 cunuchs. It must not be supposed, however, that the’ rights of ordinary women are curtailed thus; in the households of all but the King the women are at liberty to stare and be stared at, to talk with any man or be talked witn. The King, with the usual privilege of monarchy, may stay at home during war, while he may com- mand every soul capable of bearing arms to pro- ceed to the war. He has his Prime Ministers, his Com manier-in-Chic!, Keeper of the Treasury, Chief of the Eunuchs, Generals of Divisions and Nobies of the Council, The Prime Ministers, two in number, the most important of his nousehold, manage all public busi- matters of vital importance to the State. The Commander-in-Chief is generally some an- cient warrior, whose deeds in his prime form never-ending subjects of social chat among the ola and young. When he assumes this high post he does not venture into the battle any more; his work seems to be limited to portioning tne levies to each noble, to keep the army up to a certain standard in numbers, to organizing, and appoint- ing the officers and troops for active service, Next to THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEP comes another venerable old soldier, whose post seems to be that of strategician-in-chie1, who plans campaigns and wars, and whispers military advice into the cars of the generais about to pro- ceed on active service. . The Keeper of the Bautammah or the Treasury of Coomassie, is a most important man. He 1s gen- erally @ noble, anda distinguished soldier, The present Keeper is achief called Aman Kwah Tia, reported to be at present in our front seeking honors in skirmishing with the British allies, THE GENERALS OF DIVISIONS are generally great and powerful chiefs, who have supplied the King’s army with hundreds of their retainers and slaves, and are appointed for their influence. When wide prestige is added to this influence, he seems to lose the simple distincuon of achief and becomes a general. As inay be seen from the above, the Ashantee na- tion is composed of four classes—the monarch, the nobles, or feudal chiefs; the free Ashantee yeo- men, land proprietors, small Village chie!s, all free born Ashantces; the slaves taken in war or born in bondage iorm the fourth class, THE GREAT NOBLES own vast territories and are lords of thousands of vassels. They may be said to be petty kings, sub- sidiary to the central government at Coomassie. Foremost among these, ike another Warwick, Js the Prince of Iabon, in whose territory is the popu- lous city of Selaga, with a population of 400,000 (?) souls, situate on the upper Volta. This Prince can furnish the King with a force of 20,000 vassals for nis army. He seldom ventures out himself into ac- tive service unless the King of Ashantee proceeds in person to the war. THE PRINCES OF PUKU and Marn-pon are each able to furnish the na- tional army with contingents varying from 5,000 to 10,000 vassals, The Cluef of Funamah, between | Coomassie and the Prah, enters on service with a torce of 1,000 of his own retainers, But there are several large cities beyond Coomasgie, both afluent and populous, of which we may know more when we shall have entered Coomassie as conquerors, THE ASHANTEE ARMY in the field bear flags for distinctive signals or en- | signs of vassalage, but they have no importanze in the eyes of soldiers, save as distinguishing pen- nants or banners. The loss of any of them involves no disgrace or misfortune. ‘The Chiefs’ umbrellas represent in the Ashantee soldiers’ eyes what a regimental fag does in a European army. The gorgeous sunshade whick an Ashantee chie! holds over his head, ornate with vari-colored pieces of silk, rich with its appendages of stiver and gold, embodies in an Ashantee’s eyes the honor of his chief. The loss of one of these in battle involves disgrace and defeat. The chiefs are borne from place to place by ham- mock or chair bearers. The chair which the British captured at Abracampah was @ specimen of Ashantee manuiactare in that line. It appeared to be exceedingly cumbrous, though it was not of | great weight. In shape it was exactly like the body of @ light phaeton lifted from its wheels, Eight stout fellows bearing it on their heads, pro- tected by thick pads resting on each bearer’s cranium, sufficed to take Assamo Kwantah, the Ashantee general, from camp to camp. The wood- work of the chair was studded with an infinite number of brass tacks, anda specimens of what skill in tracery and ornate woodwork of which the Ashantee artisans are capable were visibie on the sides and front of the chair. The King appears in tne fleld only in extremis— when his presence is necessary to inspire the flagging entiusiasm or devotion of the army to his cause, When aiscouragement has followed repeated reverses in battle. precious giits it has been the good pleasure of the | ness, and proffer advice to the King upon all | bearing arms, every chier owing allegiance, every omcer of his household arma hifnself for battle, and @ force of 100,000 men is thus speedily raised. ‘MIS STATE UMBRELLA 3 VIRGINIUS, THE is borne over or before him by a chief wherever | Public Opinion in Madrid on Grant's Messages he moves, the sight of which rouses the interest and zeal of every member of his army. This um- brella costs a small fortune—about $3,000 or $4,000. f It is made of alternate pieces of crimson and black velvet, while hundreds of gold pendicies forma Meddling with Our Internal Affairs, MADRID. Dec. 15, 1873, I telegraphed you that the “evening and morne ing papers here protest haughtily and indignantly fringe around It, whlie @ large boss of pure gold | against the tone of President Grant's Message ta surmounts it above. THE DRESS OF THE KING on such Occasions is exceedingly costly. A tunic of crimson velvet covers his body, his loose Moorish pantaloons are made of the same stuf, a broad band of gold encircles his waist, a cap or turban of silk, richly embroidered, covers his head; his weapons are decorated profusely with the precious metal. THE KING'S REVENUE is derived, apart trom his own private estates, which are vast, from the gold mines. The dust becomes the property of the miners or proprie- tors, but every bugget, great or small, throughout his dominions, belongs to the King. Whichever Person is guilty of reserving any of the King’s portion 1s lable to the death penalty, which is in- variably carried out. THE ARMS OF THE ASHANTEERS consist of long five foot Danish guns (flint locks), though many are also found with blunderbusses, The cartridge boxes serve as girdles, the leather or wooden cups into which the powder is poured being sewed on a belt, the two ends of which are either tied with a leather thong or buckled in front. The bullets or iron slugs are in @ small leathern pouch, siung over the shoulder, This pouch, sometimes found on the dead Ashantees, is generally found to contain as miscellaneous a set of articles as may be seen in any Jack Tar’s box or bag. Bark thread, bark waste (probably for wadding), iron pins, queer-looking stones, an assortment of dark-colored beans, a stale piece of yam or mantoc, @ piece of chew-stick, a handiul er so of small snail shells and other extraordinary articles repre- sent what an Ashantee’s pouch contains on the battle field. Any of your readers who may have seen a Gre brigand’s, an Albanian’s, a Kurd’s ora Bedouin’s cartridge box may guess at once what kind of a cartridge box the Ashantees use, and they undoubtedly derived their notions of the utility of such a thing from the trading Tuaregs of Timbuctoo, You need not [i wonder, then, at the very few severe wounds inficted upon the English despite the very many splendid opportunities the ambushed Ashantees have had to inflict instantaneous death. The powder is thrown loosely tito the barrel, and, be- ing often without wadding materia), the bullets or slugs of tron, or handfuls of snail shells, or a piece of unsmelted iron ore, are dropped on the loose | powder, and the loose’ charge is thus fired when | only a few feet from their foes. tence we need not wonder that so jew fatal wounds have been re- ceived by the English. There is not the least doubt but the Ashantees have improved immensely since they first became anation. They can now point to BIGHT KINGS who have worn the crown of Ashantee, who have carried terror and dismay to the hundred nations around, and spread the reputation of the Ashantees Jar and wide. The certain consciousness of the fact that their Ashantee forefathers were warriors, that their kings were conquerors and that they themselves have not degenerited has imparted dignity of bearing and an air of superiority to the meanest Ashantee soldier, The Ashantee warrior, miserable as he may appear compared to the gaudily-dressed West India British soldier, is his equal, nay, 1 may say supe- rior to him, in the battle. The West Indian, confronted with the aimost nude warrior of Ashantee, may, with a serene smile of self-satisiaction, tap his breech-loading Snyder rifle and dare his foe to the battle, sure that his weapon, his own superior knowledge of military laws and tactics and the discipline in which he | has been trained may carry the day. On the other | hand, the Ashantee—tull of the traditions of his race, conscious only of the power of his King and | that he is the King’s warrior even to the death; that, until he saw the British soldier the Ashantee went to the battle only to conquer; that in four { | | ! compaigns, at least, against the British, the Brit. | ish were worsted; that in the Bautammah, the King’s treasure house at Coomassie, there lies a bleached skull of a British governor as a trophy of the Ashantee’s might—can tap his cheap Brum- Magem gun with its old-fashioned fMintlock, his bad powder and his cast iron slugs, and, relying on. his superior crait in the bush, and witha smile of proud serenity, accept the combat which the be- dizened and tasselied negro of the West Indics proffers him. Give the Ashantees the same weapon, the breech-loading Snyders, with the proper ammu- | nition, with which the allies of the English have been furnished, and even the white troops would find that the Ashantees composed a foe worthy of their best efforts, HINTS TO THE ENGLISH. It is a thousand pities that the British governors have not succeeded in winning the confidence of the Ashantees. Yet, who koows but that this war may prove the greatest blessing that could belall the Ashantees? Ifthe English are wise they will deprive their present enemy of their King and at- | tach unto themselves these brave and formidable warriors, and through them open the whole of Central Africa to trade and commerce and the beneficent influences of civilization. The Romans would have been delighted at such an opportunity of extending tueir power for the benefit of them- selves and the world at large. Two thousand | Ashantees, under the leadership of an intelligent British oMicer, would soon extend the power of the | English from Cape Coast Castle across the Tho- goshi Mountains to Timbuctoo, and from the Man- dingo Land to Benin. THE NEWARK SEWER “IRREGULARITIES,” p18 NS an Contractors Disgorging Over $7,000— Something That Looked to an Aider- man Like “a Detiberate Fraud.” | The exposures in the HERALD of the series of sewer “irregularities” in Newark are beginning to bear wholesome fruit for the taxpayers of that city. Yesterday in the Essex County Court, Messrs, Shanley & Son, contractors, who had con- structed the Canal street sewer and been sued by the city to recover money alleged to nave been | | | paid them for work never done, threw up the sponge | and aformal verdict was rendered against them, tne award against them to the city being $7,332. It | seems they had been largely overpaid ior rock ex- cavations—paid, in tact, for excavations never | made. On Tuesday niyht in the Common Council | the matter came vp on aresolution slipped in by City Counsel Francis to the effect that he be authorized to settle with the contractors. Alder- man Reynolds thought this was letting the Shan- leys off cheap, as the matter looked to him “like a deliberate fraud,” one which he thought the con- tractors must have known all about, Alter some talk, however, in which ‘Boss’? Stainsby spoke in favor of the resolu. tion, it was passed. The Shanleys alleged that they knew nothing of any irregularity. The; had nothing to do with measuring the work, an received payment on the meusurements and estimates of the City Surveyor and Inspector. They claim to have been entireiy ignorant as to how much work their men really did, and there- Jore.they accepted the figures of the city officials, Meanwiiile the sewer was tapped in several places and the discovery made that where there had been paid for over 2,000 feet of rock, at $3 50 per foot, Congress, saying that the affairs of Cuba or of Spain were none of his business.” Desiring ta make good my despatch and to allow your readers to judge for themseives, I translate below some of the salient points presented in the principa! papera of Madrid on said State document :— GRANT'S INSULT TO SPAIN, Urrom the Imparcial.) * * * By what right does General Grant allow himself to level his accusations and to fulminate nig anathemas at us, and, in & message to the Ameri« can Congres: ll for the overthrow of a party that exisis in Cuba and im the Pen nsua? Who it General Grant that be must needs refer in a oficial document to an “aristocratic an pro-slavery” party in “open hostility to the metro- politan govern at,’ @ party which, in his view, consututes a * erous element in the contimu- abce of commercial relations between Cuba and Spain??? What@ver the parties that agitate Cuba may be— whether pro or anti-slavery, aristocratic or popu- lar; wheter even th oval or rebel—these are. questions which competent to re: Spain will never meddle in matte: da, and they alone, ar¢ ive; und the sovereignty 0! ter any other government to which belong exclusively to her. internal affairs and those of her colonial depend- encies. ‘The bare { that the President of the’ United States ari himselt the power not only to examine subjects like these, but also to give a decision on them, is nothing less tham a direct attack on the sovereignty of Spainy an act against which we raise an energetie prow test. The American President calls the capture ol the Virginius a derogation of the sovereignty o bat he would have been more the United States; consistent, ere ie made such an asse: ion, if he: had respected his international obiigations pro- hibiting the public fitting out and sail of piratie: cal expeditions to maintain the insurre Cuba. How can a government that ¢ fests such contempt for its intern: tions, that speaks with such ar sovereignty of the United Stateron the occasion of our capturing a filibustering vessel, venture to attaint tne sovereignty of Spain by sett ag itselt! up to judge and pass a verdict on matters whicty alone concern ourselves? And how does the Presi- dent dare talk about “victims to cruel acts” com. mitted or not committed in another nation, when the cruel and barbarous executions of the Indians, so frequently referred to in the American press, are still tres in his memory. GRANT AS A MEDDLER, [From the Correspondencia de Espafia.] = * * itis unquestionable that General Grant, taking the Virginius matter as a pretext, is guilty of meddling with our internal affairs, for which we can concede ho right whatever either to him or to any other foreigne: “INSOLENT AND PROVOKING.”? {From the Diario Espafot.} The insolent aud all but provoking language of. those paragraphs of the Message whicu relate to Spanish affuirs is brought out in much bolder re- lef if we contrast it with the mild and temperate conduct of our government mm its negotiations with the United States on the Virginius question. Never was a@ State paper seen before in which a nation’s chief uses language so unguarded and im- pertinent, so contemptueus, in fine, of another independent State, worthy at least of some con- sideration in view of the friendly relations which ostensibly bind the two republics. Can it be that. the United States thinks to exercise a Kind of pro- vectorate over the Spanish nation when they gra-~ tuitously give forth their opinion on matters that! belong exclusively tothe government and people: of Spain’ What business 1s it to the Washington. government whether there be or be not a con- servative and aristocratic party in Spain, opposed to the muddling reiorms of another and more ad~ vanced party? Are these questions the exclusive: property of the Spanish Cortes, or are they to be: deciaed in an American Congress, that the neces- sity of hastening forward these matters has come up over there’ It does not concern the United: States government whether in Spain or im Cuba there exists & party more ori Jess hostile to exaggerated ideas of licerty, ior those are domestic matters which we Spaniards will treat as we like, and the Yankee citizens are not charg>d with their solution, * * We de~ mand from the American Republic the exercise of that same respect for our independence and inter- nal legisiation that we, in our turn, have alwaysi accorded to them. Cuba is a Spanish province, now an American State, and Spaniards, not Yankees,, are competent to legislate there, lor our dignity cannot, without the loss of our independence— hitherto respected in both hemispheres—tolerate the impertinent intermeddling ot a ‘oreign govern- ment to which we are notas Yet tributary, * * * The other papers contain articles in a precisely similar’ tone to the above, and therefore we do not think 1t worth while to proceed turther in these citations irom them, PENNS YLVANIA, The Governor's Message—Debt of the State—New Conditions Under the New Constituation—The Centennial Exposie tion Calling on Congress. - HARRISBURG, Jan. 7, 1874, Governor Hartranft’s Message was sent to the Legislature to-day. The State debi amounts to $25,798,821, Amount of bonds in the sinking fund, $9,200,000; cash in the treasury, $1,525,151; leaving: indebtedness unprovided for, $14,778,670. During: the last year the debt waa reduced $1,504,672. By tae repeal of tuxea the receipts of 1874 will be. reduced $1,500,060, while the expenditures will be equal to those of 1873, The Governor urges economy, because under the new constitution the expendi+ tures will be increased for the Legislature, the schoois and the judiciary, He calis the attention o/ the Legislature to the necessity of counting the votes cast in the constitutional elec« tion, So that there may be no delay in beeslaggy le = to promptly issue the proper proclamation. Upom the present Legislature, he says, devolves the moulding of existing regulations into conformity with the change about to be inaugurated in the fandamenta! law oj the State. He enjoins upom the people increased vigtiance over all legislation, 80 that attempts at special legislation may be trus- trated. In alluding to the Centennial he says:. “To stamp it as a nauonal enterprise it must receive direct and substantial assistance from the national goverument, Congress must set its seal of approbation upon the work of the Commission, and manifest not only an interest in the undertaking, but a determina- tion that its proporuons id grandeur shall eclipse all preceding expositions. Pennsylvania must also not relax in her efforts to secure suc cess.” He congratulates the country upon the eaceful solution of our difficulties with Spain, and Pe nopes ior the future that all difficulties will be. settled without flinging the sword into the scale. FIGHT FOR A HUSBAND. ‘The prize for which two women contended in the, Court of Quarter Sesstons in Jersey City yesterday was an individual named John Boothman, each woman contesting the claim of the other to be his solace and comiorter, in season and_out of season. John pleaded not guilty to an indictment for, bigamy, ‘Then followed what Jobson calls high old swearing. Mary testified that she was married te him six years ago in St. Francis Xavier’s church, Sixteenth street, New York, while “Winny” swore that Fatner Cauvin performed the matrimonial ceremony, yoked her and John together at Hoboken in August, 1872, John took the stand in his own defence, and frankly admitted that he lived with Mary in New York fortwo years and four month as her husband, but was never married to her. Ho would have been living with her still 1f she had con- sented to have a portion of her vocal organs ai putated. The jury, alter a brief deliberation, sym- athized witn John and sent him on his way re- joicing. Mary attacked him on leaving the Court ‘With her favorite weapon, and declared she wonld: kill “Winny” if he continued to live with her; bug she would be satisfied f he would abandon both the claimants, ATTEMPTED BANK ROBBERY. Boston, Jan. 7, 18% A desperate attempt at bank robbery, if not murder, occurred at one o'clock this morning in Abington, Mass, John Floyd, the patrol watchman between the Abington National Bank and the Tack tactory, was attacked by four masked men neal e there had been excavated only about one-third of that amount. ‘Ihis is only one case out of dozens on the “irregular” “THE FRENCH CLUB, uilding, and after @ desperate. restst« een which he received two pistol shots, through the tnd and another inflicting a si wound ‘on his forebead, he was finally bound and gged. The assailants then started lor the bank, fat ‘a mile distant. In the mean time Flovd man- The well known French club the ‘Cercle de YHarmonie” held its annual dinner last evening at the rooms in Clinton place. This is commemo- rative of the original establishment of the club. After the dinner, which was given in the pean) style of the society, speecnes were made, in which praise of the club and the glory of the French na uon were curiously mingied, “All the toasts wat rapturously applauded, and one of the Lehartet the evenings of the season was passed in one o! merriest moods. The entertainment did not cone clude until a late how DEATH FROM A POWDER EXPLOSION. NEWBURG, Jan, 7, 1874, George Beckford, one of the men injured at the Newburg powder mills, died Jast night, The other ‘Then every soul capable of | two will recovets tree himself and give an alarm, when the | aeeranD fled. During the struggle Floyd, using hia billy, broke the arin of one of his assailants. MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF A LADY. Boston, Jan. 7, 1874. Mrs, Adeline Badger, wife of Rev. Henry 0. Badger, of No. 34 Newbury street, left her resi- dence yesterday, stating that she had business with her bookseller, upon whom she cailed and settled an account. Since that time she has not been seen. A note lett upon her table leads to the belief that she intended to commit suicide, and & noticeabie depression in her manner for the past two weeks etry rye harness He oo was the principal of a lar ato s . * Der elect. of the. Boston Setool Coumittce. and & ‘woman of rare inteliect and culture