• THE GOLD COAST, ASHAXT], AND KUMASST 



13 



oned in Elmina castle. Thus Kumassi fell without the shedding 

 of a drop of blood, though the deadly fever claimed its usual vic- 

 tims, among them being Prince Henry of Battenberg. 



Kumassi is about three miles in circumference, oval in shape, 

 and is surrounded by a noisome swamp. The main street runs 

 north and south and is al)()ut a mile in length. It is less than 

 thirty yards in width, and on either side are built the swish and 

 thatch huts of the general aspect of those givdn in the accompa- 

 nying illustration. Back of these two rows of huts are jterhaps 



DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF KUMASSI 



From a photograph by George K. French 



three thousand other huts. Allowing six or seven inhabitants 

 to each hut, the population may number, but can hardl}'^ exceed, 

 20,000. There seemed no regularity of direction or plan in the 

 streets or passage-ways between tlie huts, and without a guide it 

 would be difficult to find a given place. In the extreme south- 

 eastern part of Kumassi, adjacent to the swamp, is the king's 

 palace. It consists of a hundred huts grouped witliin a stockade 

 thirty feet high. This stockade gives way in places to the walls 

 of two- and even three-storied huts, evidently erected under tlie 

 direction of European captives. The decorations on the walls 



