48 MISSIONARY LIFE IN ASUANTEE. 
wished to say, " good bye," and all was over. Precious 
child, into whose brief span of life so much of suffer- 
ing was crowded I Thou callest to us, " do not forget 
Ashantee;" and thy grave is a token that the healing 
Cross shall one day reach that far off land. 
When the people heard us praying they came to the 
door of the room, and looked earnestly and sadly at the 
corpse. After vainly seeking for some boards to make a 
coffin, I begged our visitors to plait two baskets of palm 
branches, one to serve as a shell, the other as a cover, and 
here the precious tiny form was laid, covered with his 
ragged clothing. Brother K. picked some flowers to put 
in his hands, and according to the custom of the country,, 
a few mats and two yards of calico were sent by the 
princess, a mark of sympathy which gratified and soothed 
us in our grief. At four o'clock we laid him in a peaceful 
grave, under beautiful banana trees, the usual burying- 
place for children, only two hundred paces from our 
house. 
I had told the chief that I should be glad to see the 
villagers at the grave, hoping to have the opportunity of 
saying a few words to them ; but none of them appeared, 
whether from fear or other reasons I cannot tell. Even 
our own people who followed me at first as I carried the 
burden, soon halted and looked on from a distance. Only 
two slaves stood beside us. When I had gently deposited 
the little basket in its last resting place, I prayed in 
German for grace and strength in this hour of darkness, 
after which the slaves who had dug it, filled up the grave. 
Oh, that when the trumpet sounds to call thee from thy 
quiet rest, many who are now in heathen darkness may 
rise with thee to the resurrection of life ! 
According to another custom of the country, the chief 
now sent us a large pitcher of palm wine, and the people 
used their utmost persuasions to make us drink, but we 
