THE MARGE TO TEE VOLT A. 
27 
examined and removed, by the command of the prince, 
to be stored in safety. It afterwards transpired that Adu 
Bofo intended to bestow a proof of confidence upon this 
individual by leaving the booty in his charge ; but in 
1871 the general, on his return to Coomassie, led off the 
same prince and his people as captives, and when we again 
met them they were in the most wretched and dejected 
condition. 
On returning to the village we chanced to discover three 
of our boxes, which seemed to have escaped the general 
examination. Wondering what was to be their fate, I 
begged leave to search for a boot, as my poor wife, being 
now completely barefoot, was at the mercy of the sharp 
stones. A reluctant consent enabled me to commence a 
search among a confused mass of medicines, clothes, a 
thermometer, and a violin, all of which had been ruthlessly 
thrown together. I at length thankfully drew out one 
slipper of my own, and we were glad to tie it on before 
hurrying up a rocky hill the next morning. 
Under other circumstances we should have felt richly 
rewarded on reaching the summit of this eminence, where 
a magnificent panorama burst upon our view. Before us, 
as far as the eye could reach, lay broad and verdant 
plains — a garden of beauty, bordered in the far distance 
by the winding silver thread of the Volta. For a moment 
we rejoiced in hailing the river as an old friend ; then, 
with a flash, the conviction was forced back upon us, that 
if we crossed the Volta, it would only be on our sure and 
sad way to Coomassie. So we stood in silence, each of us 
reading in the others eyes the reflection of our own 
sorrowful thoughts ; and thus the vision passed, while we 
turned to encounter the stern reality of the descent. 
And, oh ! what a descent it was, leading us down 
among rocks that were almost perpendicular ! My feet 
seemed to touch the head of the person in front, while we 
