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Osai Tutu Kwámina, on coming to the throne , engaged in the campaign against Gyáman called, for distinction, the 'first Bontuko war. He demanded from King Adinkara his ancestral and royal stool, which was thickly studded and embossed with precious metal. The craven yielded it and purchased peace. His brave sister presently replaced it by a seat of solid gold: this the Ashanti again requisitioned, together with a large gold ornament in the shape of an elephant, said to have been dug from some ruins. The Amazon replied, with some detail and in the 'spade' language, that she and her brother should exchange sexes, and that she would fight
'The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. What a power for good in the native state system would the mothers of the Gold Coast and Ashanti become by judicious training upon native lines!"
The Ashanti rising was the result of long premeditation and preparation. On the 13th of March, the governor of the Gold Coast, accompanied by Lady Hodgson, left Accra to make a tour of inspection.
The Ashantis don't cut paths through their forests without some reason, and I should not be surprised if we come to some large village, not far ahead." After walking for another half hour, they found the bush getting thinner, and they could soon see light ahead. They went very cautiously now and, at last, stood at the end of a large clearing, in which stood an Ashanti village.
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.
Presently they heard the sharp puffs of the steam launch. The boats were within three hundred yards. Frank stepped forward and was about to give a warning shout when Ammon Quatia's eye fell upon him. The expression of his face revealed his intention to the Ashanti, who in an instant sprang upon him and hurled him to the ground.
"There are so many," he answered, "I do not know which one to tell. One, however, will illustrate the awe with which the Naya is regarded, even by the powerful Prempeh, King of Ashanti. A story is current that one day, many moons ago, the King had ordered a great 'custom' to take place in Kumassi.
Berekum itself, which was a hundred and forty miles to the north, was reported to be invested, and had asked for help but, as so large an Ashanti force was near at hand, no men could be spared for the purpose. A column twelve hundred strong, with five guns, and every available man in the garrison who could carry a gun, moved out early on the 29th, to give battle.
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.
There could be no doubt that his view was a more sagacious one than that of his father; and that the best tactics to be adopted were to harass the British advance, fall upon their convoys, cut their communications, and so oblige them to fall back for want of supplies. The Khalifa's mistake was similar to that made by Theodore in Abyssinia, and Koffee Kalkalli in Ashanti.
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