50 
MISSIONARY LIFE IN ASHANTEE. 
obliging, offering us the gold dust, whicli we however 
desired him to keep, to purchase for us what we needed, 
regretting our folly when it was too late. The sugar was 
also left in his care, and the cloth alone remained to us. 
In the evening we visited our little grave, scattering a 
few fruit stones on the mound, hoping by and by to 
plant some small shrubs to mark the resting place of our 
first born, and we meant often to repeat our visit, though 
in this we were disappointed. 
The Ashantee observances on occasions of death and 
burial are precise and prolonged. We will briefly sketch 
them. 
When a rich man dies, his wives break out into cries of 
lamentation, and then proceed to wash the corpse, adorn it 
with pearls and gold, carefully paint it, put on its best 
apparel, and then leave it as if asleep. Delicacies of all 
kinds are presented by friends, and the dish the man most 
enjoyed when living is prepared from slaughtered sheep 
and fowls. His property is then placed round him, and 
his pipe in his mouth. The wailing is occasionally inter- 
rupted to permit his wives to press food upon him, or 
to enquire his wishes, — the men meanwhile eat and drink 
outside. The length of the wake depends upon the 
rank of the deceased, and friends supply the needful ex- 
pense. On the second or third day the corpse, in a basket 
coffin, is taken out through a hole broken in the wall for 
the purpose, for it may not pass through any door ; and 
followed by its jewels and other property, it is placed in 
the middle of the village, amid firing and doleful songs. 
In the case of prominent persons, human sacrifices are 
offered, to accompany the departed on his long journey to 
the spirit world, while food and palm wine are placed on 
the grave for a set time (but eventually only once a year), 
and thus the wake ends. With men of high rank, the 
ceremony is sometimes repeated a second and a third time. 
