G19 



ASHANGI, LAKE. 



ASHANTEE. 



Incorporation contains three parishes and one hamlet, with an area of 

 9493 acres, and a population in 1851 of 2070. The palish church con- 

 siste of a nave and chancel, and a toweratthe west end, surmounted with 

 a short spire which is covered with lead. There are National schools. 



ASHANGI, LAKE. [ABYSSINIA.] 



ASHANTEE, a powerful native kingdom in Western Africa, 

 founded in the early part of the '17th century. Like most of the 

 larger kingdoms on this coast, the parent state appears to have been 

 originally small, and to have grown to its subsequent importance by 

 the conquest and amalgamation of many surrounding kingdoms or 

 independent states. Mr. Dupuis ('Journal of a Residence in 

 Ashantee') says it was, when he was there, made up of not fewer 

 than 47 different states, which had been successively added to it, and 

 it was not till 1807 that their conquests extended to the coast. It now 

 extends from the Assinee River in 5 20' N. lat., 3 W. long, (but in 

 the interior by the conquest of the province of Gaman, stretching 

 considerably to the west of that river), to the Volta River, which 

 separates it from Dahomey in 5 50' N. lat, 1 E. long., and backward 

 in the interior to the Kong Mountains ; but the coast itself, called 

 Id Coast, with the exception of a few sea-side towns, is claimed 

 by Gri-at Britain, which has here the settlements of Dixcove, Accra, 

 Christianaberg, Annamaboe, and Cape Coast Castle ; and the Dutch 

 have Fort Elmiua. Several other stations were formerly occupied 

 by the English and other European powers, but have been abandoned 

 since the slave-t-ade has been in a great measure suppressed along 

 this part of the coast. 



Mr. Bowdich ('Mission to Ashantee') and Mr. Dupuis have given 

 an account of the wars by which the small state of Ashantee 

 acquired its pre-eminence over Dinkira, Wassau, Ahanta, Fantee, 

 and many others, imposing its name on the whole ; but it is only a 

 record of treachery, violence, and bloodshed, without interest. It 

 was the attack on the Fantees, who inhabited a territory in the 

 neighbourhood of Cape Coast Castle and the Dutch fort of Connantine, 

 that led to a collision with the English. In 1807, having defeated 

 the Fantees in several engagements, and suspecting that they had been 

 encouraged by the Dutch and the English, the king of Ashantee, 

 Sai Quamina, attacked and made himself master of the Dutch stations 

 of Connantine and Fort Amsterdam. He afterwards attacked the 

 Fantee town of Annamaboe, in which the English had a small fort. 

 The English took the part of the townspeople, not only receiving the 

 old men, women, and children within tie fort, but employing all its 

 force to repel the assailants. The result however proved most 

 disastrous both to the Fantees and their European protectors. The 

 contest lasted from eleven in the morning till six in the afternoon of 

 the 16th of June, and in that time it is computed by Mr. Meredith 

 ('Account of the Gold Coast'), who was second officer at Annamaboe, 

 that fully 8000 of the inhabitants of Annamaboe perished. About 

 2000 more escaped by flight. Of the 15,000 souls, of which the 

 population of the place had consisted, only about 5000 remained at 

 the close of the attack, including about 2000 women, children, and 

 old men, who had found refuge within the English fort. Even of 

 these, many had been destroyed by the shot which fell among them 

 in the open court where they were placed. The garrison itself suffered 

 severely, and was reduced to the utmost extremity. It consisted 

 only of the governor, Mr. Meredith, three other officers, four free 

 mulattoes, and twenty other men of all descriptions. Two men 

 having been killed, and the governor, an officer, and four others of 

 the men having been wounded early in the contest, the force that 

 could be depended upon was about noon reduced to eight individuals, 

 including officers. But about six o'clock the enemy retired, and 

 next day a truce was agreed to, which led to two amicable interviews 

 between Sai Quamina and Colonel Torranne, the governor of Cape 

 Coast Castle, and ended in a treaty of peace, which Mr. Dupuis 

 asserts, " was a formal and a solemn acknowledgment on the part of 

 the governor that, by right of conquest, Fantee, including Cape 

 Coast and every other town in the neighbourhood, belonged exclu- 

 sively to the empire of Ashantee, with the reservation of a judicial 

 authority to the (African) Company over such towns as stood in 

 tin? vicinity of any of the castles." 



As might have been expected, the Ashantee monarch did not fail 

 to avail himself on subsequent occasions, of the road to the coast 

 which he had thus opened by his sword. He repeatedly returned to 

 inflict further chastisement on the Fantees, restless under their new 

 yoke, and constantly attempting to evade the payment of the tribute. 

 Whether they were encouraged or not by the English authorities in 

 these attempts may be matter of doubt But in 1816 the English 

 again drew upon themselves the resentment of the invader by 

 interfering for the protection of the Fantees ; and the Fort of Cape 

 Coast Castle wan in consequence subjected to a long and distressing 

 Blockade. The besiegers were only at last induced to withdraw 

 their forces by liberal presents. The governor had to pay, in fact, a 

 large sum in gold, which was claimed as the arrears of tribute due 

 from the Fantees. This led to an attempt the following year, on 

 the part of the African Company, to establish amicable relations with 

 the powerful monarch of the Ashantees. An embassy proceeded to 

 Ooornassie, the capital of Ashantee, of which Mr. Bowdich has 

 written an account, and a treaty was concluded, of which the 

 principal articles were, that there should be perpetual peace between 



the British and the Ashautees, and also between the latter and all 

 African nations residing under the protection of the Company's forts ; 

 that neither party should be considered to have any claim upon the 

 other ; that complaints of any injuries sustained should be made by 

 the king of Ashantee, in the first instance, to the governor of Cape 

 Coast Castle ; that a British officer should be permitted to reside 

 constantly at the capital of Ashantee, the king engaging to do every- 

 thing in his power to promote a commercial intercourse between his 

 subjects and the English settlements ; and finally, that certain of 

 the king's children should be committed to the care of the governor- 

 in-chief for education at Cape Coast Castle. 



In 1818 Mr Joseph Dupuis had received from the English govern- 

 ment the appointment of consul at Coomassie. On arriving at Cape 

 Coast Castle he found that the king of Ashantee had set out on an 

 expedition to put down some resistance to his authority in Gaman ; 

 and some reports that the king's army had sustained a great defeat 

 were listened to, both by the Fantees and the authorities at the 

 English forts, who were eager to shake off the Ashantee yoke. The 

 inhabitants of the town of Cape Coast Castle even proceeded to 

 fortify their settlement by the erection of a wall, certainly with the 

 connivance of the English, if not with their direct encouragement and 

 assistance. The king of Ashantee took offence at these proceedings, 

 but, after considerable opposition from the African Company, Mr. 

 Dupuis succeeded in reaching Coomassie, and in making a treaty 

 with the king, which on his return the Company refused to confirm. 



The first result of this conduct was the gradual withdrawal of 

 the Ashantee merchants and traders from all dealings with the servants 

 of the Company. Although a body of Ashantee forces however had 

 taken and retained possession of the town of Cape Coast, they 

 continued to refrain from any actual hostilities. Meanwhile, in the 

 beginning of the year 1821, the forts which had belonged to the 

 African Company were taken by the English government into its 

 own hands, and early in 1822 Sir Charles M'Carthy arrived as 

 governor-in-chicf of all the British settlements on the western coast 

 of Africa, from the river Gambia to the river Volta inclusive. 



Sai Quamina appears to have died in the summer of 1823. His 

 successor commenced his reign by a distinct proclamation of war 

 against the English, whom he accused of the infraction of treaties, 

 treachery, cruelty, &c. The first operations, conducted by Captain 

 Laing, were crowned with success. In August the Ashantees were 

 completely defeated at Assecuma in the Fantee territory, by a force 

 composed partly of Europeans and partly of native soldiers com- 

 manded by this officer. Encouraged probably by this victory, in the 

 beginning of the following year Sir Charles M'Carthy advanced into 

 the interior at the head of a small body of troops. He was attacked 

 on the 21st of January near the river Pra or Praa by the enemy, 

 whose numbers are said to have amounted to 10,000 men. The 

 result was a total defeat of the handful of troops under the governor's 

 immediate command. Sir Charles himself was wounded and taken 

 prisoner, and, with the exception of two, all the officers who were with 

 Kim were either killed or captured. This disastrous encounter 

 however did not terminate the war. It continued for nearly three 

 years, though with long intervals of cessation from hostilities ; and 

 was only brought to a close by a severe action fought near Accra on 

 the 7th of August, 1826, in which the Ashautees were completely 

 defeated. Soon after this the king submitted to pay 600 ounces of 

 gold, and to send one of his sons and a nephew to be educated at 

 the Castle, as the conditions of a peace. Since then there have been 

 no further wars, and the power of the Ashantees appears to have 

 declined. 



The outline of the coast which borders on Ashantee will be more 

 appropriately described under its common appellation, the GOLD 

 COAST. Its general direction is from east to west, although from 

 Cape Three Points in I6ng. 2. 40' W., it trends on both sides con- 

 siderably towards the north. * The chief rivers which fall into this 

 part of the Gulf of Guinea are the Volta, or Aswada, the course of 

 which for nearly 200 miles before it reaches the sea is almost due 

 south, but the principal branch appears to rise from a mountainous 

 tract considerably to the westward ; the Praa, or Chamah, one 

 branch of which (the Boosempra) flows from the east, while another 

 passes near Coomassie, the capital, and here receiving the former 

 descends by a course almost due south to the sea, which it reaches 

 about 2 10' W. long., forming the boundary between the Fantee and 

 Ahanta territories ; the Ancobre (or Rio de Cobre, that is, in 



country is in the east and north-east, in the provinces or states of 

 Aquapim, Akiin, Aquambo, and Akeyah ; but there are no mountains 

 of any considerable height. 



The greater part of the country from the sea-coast, as far as 50 or 

 60 miles to the north of Coomassie, is still a thick forest, through 

 which travelling is impossible, except along the paths or roads which 

 have been conducted with great labour in different directions from 

 the capital. The city of Coomassie, according to the reckoning of 

 Mr. Dupuis, stands nearly in 6 51' N. lat, and in 2 16' W. long, 

 from Greenwich. Mr. Bowdich has given both a plan and a long 

 description of this barbarian metropolis. It is built, he says, upon 



