YAMS AND CHRISTMAS FESTIVALS. 147 
worse every day, and has become quite unbearable." 
Upon hearing this, the chamberlain became very angry 
with Opoku, " who had turned our heads." He remarked 
that if the king sent us back in about six months, it 
would not be worth while to begin a plantation, still he 
would think of it. 
The preparation for the yam festival now began in 
earnest. AH the public seats (Dampans) were whitened, 
the royal seats in the streets entirely renewed. The talk 
of the day was of what had happened to a nephew of 
prince Ansa, Kofi Antschi, who had abused a prince be- 
cause he had carried away his wife, and had also used 
the oath of the king. He had been for ten days in irons, 
but escaped in the night, and took refuge with the Fetish 
in Adjuman. He got off at last, with a fine of thirteen 
Peredwane, 67J ounces of gold. A brother of prince 
Ansa's, who had gone wrong with two ladies of royal 
blood, fared worse. The king tried for a long time to 
change the sentence of death against him, to one of banish- 
ment, but his counsellors demurred, because the crime was 
one of a very unusual character, so the prince was to be 
killed, and his accomplices also. Persons of royal blood 
were not however beheaded, but shot or drowned, or their 
necks broken with an ivory tusk. 
On the day of preparation for the feast (December 14th), 
the king went through the town to assure himself of the 
renewing of the "Dampans." If the decorations had 
fallen, or the roofs were leaking or patched, no notice was 
taken, but the top must be well whitened. 
The procession was more warlike than that of the 
preceding year. Behind every chief the soldiers shouted 
a wild war song, of which we often heard the words, " if 
you meet him, meet him to his destruction," and they beat 
time with their weapons held aloft. After the king had 
greeted and honoured us with a bottle of rum, he 
