10 Account of a Mission to Ashantee. [Jak, 



been progressively subjecting the districts lying to the south-east 

 between their own territory and the sea, till at length they began 

 to excite the notice and suspicion of the European forts and 

 factories on the Gold Coast. From information transmitted by 

 the Governor of Cape Coast Castle to the African Society, it 

 appears that in October, 1815, the Ashantees were in force at 

 the back of Acra (Acron of Danville), where they remained till 

 the month of May in the following year. At this time a battle 

 took place between them and the people of Adjumacoon and 

 Agoonah, in which the Ashantees were victorious. They then pro- 

 ceeded westward along the coast, driving before them the Fantees, 

 a tribe inhabiting the territory surrounding Cape Coast Castle, 

 and under the protection of the British garrison of that fortress. 

 On June 2, about 4000 Fantees, chiefly women and children, 

 took refuge in the castle, which circumstance induced the 

 necessity of opening immediately a negotiation with the general 

 of the Ashantee army ; the result of which was, that peace was 

 restored to the country under protection of the Company ; and 

 the Ashantees, having received presents to a considerable 

 amount, quitted the coast about the end of June. 



The friendly intercourse which had thus taken place seemed to 

 offer a favourable opening for a direct communication with the 

 King of Ashantee : accordingly the Company sent out instruc- 

 tions to the Governor of Cape Coast Castle authorizing him to 

 dispatch a mission or embassy to Ashantee, which, besides 

 attending to the peculiar interests of the Company, should en- 

 deavour to obtain satisfactory information on the nature of the 

 country, the soil and products ; the names, distances, latitude, 

 and longitude, of the chief places ; the manners of the people ; 

 their laws, customs, and government; the objects of commerce, 

 particularly gold and ivoiy ; and, if possible, to procure per- 

 mission for some children of the chiefs to be educated at Cape 

 Coast Castle. 



Three gentlemen (two writers and a medical man) were en- 

 trusted with the conduct of the expedition, which set out from 

 Cape Coast Castle on April 21, 1817. 



After a circuitous route, calculated at from 150 to 200 miles, 

 the embassy arrived at Cormarcie, the capital, and experienced 

 a very favourable reception from the King. Their intercourse was 

 of necessity at first carried on through the dubious medium of 

 interpreters ; but the envoy in a short time acquired the language 

 of the country, and thus was enabled to open a direct commu- 

 nication with the King. The embassy still remained at Cor- 

 margie when the last vessels sailed from the coast : by these, 

 letters were received from persons of the embassy, and from 

 others, containing various particulars more or less interesting, 

 some of which have found their way into the newspapers, and 

 other periodical publications. One of the editors of this journal 

 has likewise been favoured with the perusal of a communication 



