IN COOMASSIE WITH PRINCE ANSA. 105 
scramble which ensues. Each of the king's kra,* about a 
thousand in number, carries a gold plate upon his breast. 
All their money and jewellery, as well as that of thou- 
sands more, belong to the king ; indeed, most of the free 
people in Coomassie are so connected with the palace, 
that they bear the title of chiefs, and fulfil a particular 
office, and when they die their property goes to the 
monarch. The vassal states pay their tribute in slaves, 
cotton, silk, sandals, oxen, &c. Thus the king's riches 
are increasing continually. 
A court is held every day but Friday, to which all 
have free access. A person accused of crime is put in 
irons until the trial, when he is brought forward before 
witnesses. If the testimony is deemed insufficient, the 
accusing party takes his oath ; if the accused then swear 
his innocence, he has to undergo a kind of ordeal ; being 
obliged to chew a piece of odum wood, and afterwards to 
drink a pitcher of water. If no ill effects follow, he is 
reckoned guilty and must die, but if he become sick he 
is set at liberty, and the accuser dies instead. A mur- 
derer is beheaded after the most cruel tortures, as described 
at page 127. 
On January 26th one of these trials took place. A. 
rich heathen went to a mohammedan and asked him to 
bless his fortune. The moslem declined, saying the 
money had been acquired wrongly, and would soon be 
lost. A quarrel ensued, and the two men parted vowing 
never to speak to each other again. Some weeks passed 
when the rich man's slaves again visited the moham- 
medan with the same request, i.e., that he would bless 
their master's wealth. The moslem declared, that not- 
withstandinp* his vow the rich man had sent his slaves to 
* A kind of spies ; literally the king's souls ; meaning that they are 
to die when he dies ; they are therefore very careful to report to their 
master anything which might be injurious to him. 
