TEE REASON OF THE WAR. 201 
CHAPTER XXV. 
THE REASON OF THE WAR. 
9th December 1872. 
It became every day more evident that Mr. Plange was 
but the pretended cause of the war. He was said to have 
threatened the king, and in his letter to the governor 
called the Ashantees scoundrels. Yet on the other hand 
they declared they had no quarrel with the whites, and 
only waged war against Akem and Denkjera! They 
further stated that the governor wished to give the for- 
tress of Elmina to a certain prince of Denkjera, which 
must be prevented by armed interference, but we believed 
that war had been decided on months before, and had 
been wished for and planned for years ; not by the king, 
but by his great men whose influence he could not resist, 
though his predecessor had made short work with any 
one attempting to dictate to him. 
The real reason of the war was that the British had re- 
fused for ten years to give up the chief Gjanin, who had 
escaped to the coast ; this had likewise been the cause of 
the fruitless expedition of 63-64. After Kwakoo Dooah's 
death, king Kari-Kari had written to prince Ansa at Cape 
Coast, assuring him that the past was forgotten, but the 
chiefs were not satisfied. Kwakoo Dooah had once asked 
them if it was to be submitted to, that a subject, having 
taken the king's oath, should find protection in another 
country, while they had no power to demand him back. 
