SEEMING LIBERTY. 
199 
Both to our joy and sorrow, we at the first stage met Mr. 
Dawson, whose bearers had been placed in the stocks, so that 
he no longer doubted war was decided on. We were grieved 
that he on our account had been caught in this trap, which 
he had not apprehended when he left the Coast. Happily 
for us and himself he was a true christian, and knew how 
to conduct himself as such, so that in him we found a 
calm and wise counsellor and friend. The Ashantees took 
without leave from the inhabitants two pigs and a sheep, 
and brought us food in abundance, with which they 
thought to solace us in our sorrows. 
The next day's journey was a very hard one, we only 
reached Akankaase in the afternoon, and but for Mr. 
Plange's help poor Kiihne could never have reached it at 
all; his illness had taken a very serious turn, and he could 
no longer travel out of his hammock. Bearers were 
demanded in the king's name in every village, untrained 
men, whose roughness inflicted needless pain on our poor 
brother. 
Tired almost to death, drenched with pouring rain, and 
smothered with mud from the swamps, we reached Amoa- 
foro, where nothing but fish was to be had, as the troops 
were announced to arrive the next day, showing us the 
campaign had already been begun. We commenced our 
last day's journey on the 14th, a double one, that we 
might arrive in the evening ; whether we were able for it 
or not they never enquired. 
Poor Kiihne was committed to the care of the already 
overburdened Akras. No Ashantee would submit to such a 
degradation as to carry a burden, so we crept on as well as 
we could, and at Kaase we were met by a royal messenger, 
who hurriedly ordered Mr. Dawson ofi" to the palace to a 
reception. Accompanied by two armed men, we slowly 
followed, and by eight o'clock crossed the swampy Suben. 
The capita] was unusually quiet, not a drum was heard. 
