60 COCOA 



farmers and by British merchants as organizers of the 

 export trade. Is it not an extraordinary record of 

 civilization for a born and bred fighting race such as the 

 Ashantis to have settled down, within the short space 

 of twenty years, to the peaceful pursuit of cocoa 

 farming, and to be making a phenomenal success of 

 their new career ? 



Between the British and the Ashantis there is the 

 bond of mutual respect for " grit." Already that bond 

 of esteem has led to a mutual friendship which is acting 

 as a prime factor in the rapid regeneration of Ashanti. 



Wherever we go amongst them the Ashantis give 

 us a right royal welcome. We do not like all their 

 habits and customs, but as a people we like them very 

 much, and we believe they have a great future before 

 them in their remarkably rich country. Indeed, 

 under the new regime in which they have become 

 partners of the British Empire, we see Coomassie, at a 

 not far distant date, as one of the leading cities of 

 Africa, and Ashanti as one of the Empire's main sources 

 of wealth in minerals and tropical agricultural products. 



CHAPTER XII 



/ 



COCOA IN ASHANTI 



FROM Coomassie we make numerous excursions to the 

 surrounding country. Everywhere we go we see multi- 

 tudes of cocoa -trees, alternating with stretches of 

 forest or occupying a clearing in the heart of the jungle. 

 The situation of the cocoa farms, the numerical 

 strength of the trees, methods of cultivation, the way in 

 which the crop is harvested, fermented, dried, and 

 taken to market, and the quality of the beans, are all 

 reminiscent of cocoa production as we have become 



