THE GOLD COAST, ASHANTJ, AXD KmfASSl 3 



touched at a point on the coast which they called Oro de la ]\Iina, 

 was there any definite knowledge concerning it. In 1481 a large 

 fort was erected at Oro de la Mina, or Elniina, as it is now called, 

 b}' the Portuguese, and it stands today in an excellent state of 

 preservation. The Dutch captured it in 1637, and held it until 

 1872, when it was transferred to the British. Other stations on 

 the Gold coast, estaldished hetween the end of the fifteenth and 

 the middle of the present centuries b\' the Portuguese, Spanish, 

 Danes, French, Dutch, and Brandenburgers, have finally become 

 British possessions either by conquest or purchase. 



Cape Coast Castle is eight miles east of Elmina. While the 

 latter was under Dutch control it was the port of the Ashanti 

 country, but since the expedition against King Kwofi in 1873-74, 

 when a road through the dense forest was constructed to Kumassi 



MILITARY ROAD FROM CAPE COAST C.\STLK TO KUMASSI 



From a photograph by George K. French 



