WE GO TO ASHANTI 59 



officers' bungalows, and barracks, typify the Govern- 

 ment centre; and pretty country houses, situated in 

 spacious grounds, are conspicuous in the European 

 residential reserve. But whilst Coomassie has some- 

 thing different to show us at every turn there is a 

 charm common to every part of the town. 



Whence springs that charm ? Day after day, and 

 many times a day, we put this question to ourselves 

 and to one another. Sometimes we think the key to 

 the secret lies in the happy and contented appearance 

 of all the inhabitants, Europeans, Ashantis, Syrians, 

 and Hausas, each in their way being merry and pros- 

 perous. Sometimes the explanation seems to be the 

 cheery presence of gardens everywhere, even the roads 

 in the heart of the town being showgrounds of avenues 

 of trees and flowering shrubs. As we look on the graves 

 of the men who gave their lives to keep the old flag 

 flying, as we stand by the well to which the besieging 

 hordes of Ashantis gallantly allowed our besieged 

 fellow-countrymen to go unmolested to fetch water, 

 or as we pass the now overgrown bush trails along 

 which the majority of the emaciated garrison cut 

 their way out to seek for help ana. the relief force at 

 last dashed to the rescue of those who still held the 

 Fort, we swallow a lump in our throats and feel that 

 Coomassie' s power of fascination for us lies in its his- 

 toric associations, which are so much a part of our 

 times that we have met people who went through the 

 siege. Be the explanation what it may, there is some- 

 thing that gives individuality to Coomassie, and it is 

 something with a strong power of appeal. 



The flourishing and progressive condition of Coo- 

 massie as we find it to-day is due to the successful 

 development of the cocoa industry by the Ashantis as 



