120 MISSIONARY LIFE IN ASH AN TEE, 
struments are small drums covered with black and red 
checked cloth, flutes and calibashes of different sizes, in 
which beans or small stones are rattled, to mark the time. 
The king seldom dances this Kete dance, but when he 
does, many shudder who are usually indifferent. On the 
night which followed this painful entertainment, we were 
alarmed by two thieves, and though a lamp was burning 
in K's room, our salt bottle was stolen. Csesar met in 
the yard one of the rogues carrying a torch, which he threw 
down and fled. In the morning we found our saucepan 
broken, and our only chicken minus a head, which the 
scamp had bitten off". It was then announced by the 
town-crier, that any one stealing our property in future, 
should be killed. 
Brother K. was still very weak. His two physicians, 
meeting one day to consult at his bedside, quarrelled so 
violently that the poor invalid jumped out in a frenzy, 
and begged to be allowed to die in peace, while I urged 
his being sent to the Coast as the most effective restorative. 
When I begged earnestly for chickens, offering to pay for 
them, the king laughed and promised. His thoughts 
were occupied with the return of a chief laden with pre- 
sents, a small race-horse being the most acceptable. He 
had been sent two years before to Seram, a tract of country 
to the north, a tributary of Ashantee, and on his arrival 
danced several times before his majestj^. 
Brother K. struggled through, by God's help, spite of 
the non-appearance of the chickens, and at length gradu- 
ally recovered; but we still had anxiously to wait for 
news from the Coast, and at the little Adae were not 
present, though we received the customary nine dollars 
through Bosommuru. 
On Sunday, April 8th, new horrors were perpetrated. 
The king went to Bantama to repair the roof of the royal 
burial-place, which had been injured in the late storm. 
