^¥ITH TEE ASHANTEE ARMY. 
21 
was a fierce looking fellow, armed with a large sharp 
knife, which we felt assured was to decapitate us should 
the combat turn out ill. As the night passied away the 
sound of firing became more distant ; the troops were pro- 
bably pursuing ; so we ventured to rest our weary heads 
on the wreck of our property and actually slept, dreaming 
of happy days gone by. 
The morning of the 19th broke, and made apparent the 
excitement around us. Preparations for war were immi- 
nent, and our fetters were removed. We were then led 
through ranks of armed men outside the camp, where the 
Akwamus, headed by their prince, stood ready to start ; 
a council of war was held, and after some hesitation it was 
decided that we should return to the camp. Several 
prisoners passed us, and among them, to our surprise, we 
recognised the familiar faces of Palm and his wife from 
Accra, who, at the same moment, caught sight of us, and 
pointed to the chains on their feet. We could only sadly 
realise our helplessness, and rack our brains with wonder- 
ing how they also had fallen into the hands of our enemies. 
It was evident they had not been taken in battle, as in 
that case Palm's life would not have been spared. 
We were conducted by another official to a new hut, 
built for us near Adu Bofo's head quarters, and this time 
our fetters were fastened on long before evening, and we 
wore them through four weary days, on the third of 
which, however, I succeeded in freeing my poor wife from 
their burden. Thus another Sabbath of our sorrowful 
captivity went by ; deprived as we were of the comfort of 
our bibles, we found it a hard and bitter struggle to resign 
our minds to this terrible dispensation. 
Our supply of food grew scanty, but at ten o'clock 
they brought us boiled yams, and in the evening pepper 
soup with maize, and a bit of skin floating in it, was set 
before us. This repast left us so hungry that we crawled 
