THE RHVOLT OF THE ASHANTIS 



DrKiN(i tilt' last week of April the Asliantis in great fone siirroniided Kuinassi 

 and fiercely attacked the fort. Though the\' were heateii off with severe loss, 

 they renewed the attack several times during May, and a general state of 

 insurrecti(jn now prevails in the conntry. 



Until lSi)4 Ashanti was a jtowerfnl confederation of tribes, whicii successfully 

 withstood subjugation at the hands of the English from the Gold Coast Colony, 

 though their capital was conquered and the kingdom much reduced in 1S74. 

 In 1895, when the confederation became weakened by the secession of a num- 

 ber of tribes, a permanent English garrison was stationed in Kumassi, and the 

 kingdom came in fact within the English sphere of influence. Kumassi is 

 al)ont three miles in circumference, of an oval shape, and surrounded by an un- 

 iiealthy swamp. The j^opulation probably does not exceed 20,000, of whom 

 not more than 25 are Europeans. It is stated that the garrison of the fort, 

 immbering .'558, included only 18 Europeans, the rest being native allies, prin- 

 cipally, from the Fanti tribes along the coast and Mohammedan Hausas, who 

 have immigrated from the Niger districts of the interior. 



Reinforcements are (jn the way from Siei'ra Eeone and Lagos, but from the 

 coast they have to march ISO miles, for the most {)art through a wilderness of 

 swamp and virgin forest, before reaching Kumassi. The population of the 

 Gohl Coast Colony (this does not include the tribes of the Ashanti confedera- 

 tion) is estimateil at about 1,500,000, and is frien<liy to British rule. They could 

 not, however, render the English much effectual as.-istance against a determined 

 revolt of the Ashanti tribes, as they are of a mild and inoffensive disposition. 

 No estimate of the nund)ei's of the Ashantis in rebellion can be formed, but 

 the statement that they nnister some 50,000 warriors is not improbable, and 

 most of them are armed with old-fash ione<l percussion-cap guns. 



Aslianti is famous for its gold and goldsmiths, and for skill in the weaving of 

 cotton. The climate has the reputation of being the most deadly in the world 

 for foreigners of every nationality. 



244 



