FROM TEE VOLTA TO OKWAO. 
35 
of women, the wives of officials gone to the war, 
all painted white, and richly decorated with gigris and 
fetish charms, worn for the sake of their husbands, for 
whom they also made a daily procession through the 
town, invoking the protection of their gods. After ex- 
changing the customary civilities with this group, in the 
midst of which sat an honoured priest, we were led to 
the chief, a small man whom we found enthroned on his 
doorstep, with his goodnatured wife beside him. He 
testified his gratification by warmly pressing our hands. 
Scarcely had we regained our rooms, when gifts of food 
came pouring in from the hospitable people on all sides ; 
boiled maize, cassada, and an enormous dish presented by 
the men of the town. Gladly and thankfully we pro- 
ceeded, for the first time in twenty days, to satisfy our 
hunger, and fully enjoyed the good mutton broth and 
well seasoned fufu. The priest an old man, sent palm 
•wdne with yams and bananas, while to complete the feast, 
a present of pine apples arrived from the wife of the chief. 
These were however returned by Kwabena, the surly son 
of our leader, and upon the kind woman urging the 
acceptance of her gift, he himself made off' with the wel- 
come supplies, and also appropriated portions of the 
other food, informing us, with his usual politeness, that 
he would take care of our provisions. 
On this memorable evening, the first glimmer of light 
broke in upon us, for we had at length met with some 
sympathy and humanity, and not least from the priest 
himself — indeed we afterwards learnt that such conduct 
was characteristic of this class. And now hope whispered 
that perhaps the worst of our journey lay behind us, and 
that some civilized towns might be in our forward path. 
But for our helpless babe of nine months we still 
trembled. Could he endure much longer the want of 
proper food (for the milk was almost gone), and the hard- 
