14 
MISSIONARY LIFE IN ASIIANTEE, 
CHAPTER lY. 
BEFORE ADU BOFO. 
Driving long poles into the ground, over which they 
stretched some branches, some soldiers were busy set- 
ting up a rough encampment outside the village. The 
darkness was so dense that we could distinguish little of 
the busy scene beyond the fitful light of a blazing fire, 
around which gigantic forms moved among the shadows, 
their labours being accompanied by a tremendous noise, 
caused by the blowing of horns, which thrilled our 
shattered nerves most painfully. They had driven us 
into a large hut where one of the king's sons was sitting, 
and here tired nature claimed her due, and with my boy 
in my arms I sank upon the ground utterly exhausted, 
only longing to be left lying there in peace. But we were 
once more hurried on, till at length our goal seemed to 
be attained, and we suddenly found ourselves in the pres- 
ence of the great commander, to meet whom we had been 
so deceitfully allured from our homes three days before. 
He was dressed entirely in white, and sat in state, while 
our savage escort, on bended knee, related the story of 
our seizure. 
I tried in vain to speak. My attempt was met with 
contempt and cruel indifference, while our inhuman 
captor, rising, began to tear off my wife's dress, and bore 
it away in triumph. A few hurried words of command 
from Adu, and we were ruthlessly driven to a small hut, 
where a fierce fellow advanced to meet us, brandishing a 
