IN ASOTSCHE. 
65 
that we should be taken to Coomassie when Adu Bofo 
returned ; though if we asked when the army was ex- 
pected they invariably replied, " In about two months." 
It was here that the first opportunity was offered us of 
showing kindness, by befriending a little orphan boy 
about five years old, whom we observed creeping about 
unnoticed and reduced to a skeleton. He could not 
speak, and was regarded as an idiot ; but when he saw 
my wife bringing him food, he would cry for joy. Our 
kindness to this little sufferer astonished the people. 
" They are God's children," was the exclamation, which 
opened the way for me to tell them of His love — not quite 
in vain, for one woman actually went so far as to wash the 
poor little dirty fellow more than once — an act of singular 
compassion in an Ashantee. At length death put an end 
to the sufferings of this touching type of vast numbers of 
neglected little ones, who thus perish in this dark land ! 
In due time we were not only allowed to bathe twice 
daily, but to walk about freely. On one of our excur- 
sions we noticed a small piece of paper not larger than 
our hand. The sight filled us with delight; it seemed 
more precious than gold. It had come from Europe — it 
had been manufactured by white hands ; and, oh I could 
we not employ ours, thought we ? The idea gave us fresh 
spirit, we cut palm branches in the wood and wove them 
together, and in due time our handicraft had made such 
progress, that we had mats of our own manufacture to 
sleep on. But spite of these little encouragements our 
depression was often great. Brother K. grew fearfuUy 
thin, so that our soldiers procured medicine and better 
food for him — but his appetite was gone. They went to 
tell the king, and returned with a promise, never ful- 
filled, of eggs and chickens to tempt the sick man. 
One day as we sat weaving our mats, an ambassador 
from the court appeared, with three sedan chairs, and 
F 
