ASIIANTEE. 



ASIA. 



en, and children, is wrong, and no conntry 

 v it exists cnu be happy. The Queen does 

 ii.. t .1,411-0 to tuko any of your people from 

 > "ii ; those of them who like to work for, and 

 with, mul t" a-sist you, can remain with you. 

 It'tlK-y are happy, and continue to live with 

 you on the same terms as now, no change will 

 red upon you; but any person who does 

 in>t desire to live with you on those terms can 

 ami will not be compelled by any court, 

 British or native, to return to you. The Queen 

 liDpe.s to make you happy in many ways, as 

 happy as those in her other dominions. It is 

 riu'lit that I should tell you distinctly that, if 

 you .lesiiv her protection, you must do as she 

 wishes as she orders. This is the Queen's 

 ige. When the Queen speaks in this way, 

 it is not a matter for palaver, question, hesita- 

 tion, or doubt, but she expects obedience and 

 assent. I will only say that, without the 

 Queou's money and troops, you would have 

 been slaves of a blood-thirsty people. The 

 Queen has paid a great price for your free- 

 dom. You and those near and dear to you 

 would have been dragged hence to form a por- 

 tion of the thousands who are decapitated and 

 sacrificed by this savage race for their cus- 

 toms. Your homes would have been homes 

 full of misery. I see you to-day enjoying 

 peace, and I call on yon all to join with me in 

 the prayer, ' God save the Queen.' My mes- 

 sage is delivered." 



When the governor ceased speaking, the 

 chiefs for a short time consulted among them- 

 selves what answer to give. At last King 

 Edoo, of Mankessim, solicited permission from 

 the governor to retire till the next day, so that 

 they, the kings, might consult together as to 

 what answer they could give. This, however, 

 the governor refused, and referred them to 

 that portion of his speech or message wherein 

 he had stated that when the Queen expressed 

 her wishes it remained only for them to obey ; 

 but, if they wished it, he would retire for a 

 short time, and leave them to their delibera- 

 tions. The governor then left the Palaver- 

 hall, and, upon his return, in abont one hour, 

 the kings and chiefs informed him that they 

 were willing to cease from buying or selling 

 slaves, but raised objection to the slaves being 

 permitted to go free if they chose, without 

 there being any cause shown, and likewise to 

 pawns not being allowed. After some discus- 

 sion, it was decided that no slave could leave 

 his or her master or mistress, unless there was 

 proof of cruelty or maltreatment, when such 

 slave would be entitled to his or her freedom. 

 And the question of pawns was settled by the 

 debtor being held liable for the amount that 

 the pawn had been given as security for, and 

 that the amount should be recovered on the 

 pawn leaving. This concluded the meeting in 

 the. castle, but the governor invited all the 

 kind's and chiefs to go over to Government 

 House to drink long life to her Majesty. 

 Reports from Coomassie, received at Cape 



Coast Castle, in November, confirmed the ru- 

 mor that King Koffee had been deposed, and 

 had retired to the villages beyond Coomassie. 

 Guacoo Duah had been proposed as his suc- 

 cessor. A palaver had taken place at Accra 

 about the household-slave question, and the 

 natives had agreed that their slaves should be 

 under British protection, in accordance with 

 the governor's proclamation. At Cape Coast 

 Castle the different chiefs were willing to open 

 trade further into the interior than had yet 

 been done. (See II. Brackenbury, Captain Roy- 

 al Artillery, Assistant Military Secretary to Sir 

 Garnet Wolseley, "The Ashanti War: a Nar- 

 rative prepared from Official Documents, by 

 permission of Major-General Sir Garnet Wolse- 

 ley." Edinburgh, 1874.) 



ASIA. While the Russian Government, by 

 the treaty concluded near the end of the year 

 1873, with the Khan of Bokhara, ceded a part 

 of the territory obtained from the conquered 

 Khan of Khiva, to Bokhara, it regulated, early 

 in 1874, the permanent organization of that 

 part of its new acquisitions which it intends to 

 retain, under the name of trans-Caspian ter- 

 ritory. The dependence of the khanates of 

 Bokhara, Khiva, and Khokand, upon Russia, 

 becomes every year more complete, and, though 

 they remain nominally independent countries, 

 they are virtually governed by the Russian au- 

 thorities of the neighboring provinces. (See 

 RUSSIA and KHOKAND.) 



In Afghanistan, the Ameer Shere Ali an- 

 nounced the son of his favorite wife, young 

 Abdullah Jan, as his heir, to the exclusion of 

 his eldest son, Yakoob Khan, the Governor of 

 Herat. As Yakoob Khan did not conceal his 

 intention to vindicate his claims to the throne 

 by force of arms, a new civil war was regard- 

 ed as imminent. Toward the close of the 

 year, Yakoob Khan, while visiting his father 

 at Cabul, was suddenly imprisoned, a measure 

 which it was thought would precipitate rather 

 than retard the outbreak of hostilities. Eng- 

 land and Russia are well known to counter- 

 act each other's influence in Afghan affairs, 

 but both are working as much as possible in 

 secret, and much that belongs to the current 

 history of these countries will only be cleared 

 up in the future. (See AFGHANISTAN.) 



In Kasbgar, the country ruled by Yakoob 

 Kushbegee, the influence of Russia and Eng- 

 land is likewise at conflict. An English em- 

 bassy, in February, 1874, succeeded in con- 

 cluding a new treaty with the Ameer of Kash- 

 gar, which it was hoped would open for the 

 trade of British India new markets in Central 

 Asia, and enable the English to compete with the 

 Russians, who had previously established treaty 

 relations with Kanhgar, and were already driv- 

 ing a thriving trade with the Kashgarees. The 

 rumored intentions of the Chinese Government 

 to send out an expedition for the reconquest of 

 Kashgar, which was formerly a Chinese depen- 

 dency, may lead to new complications. (See 

 KASCOAB.) 



