AMID THE FLUCTUATIONS OF WAR. 
209 
Akem, Asen, Fantee, and Denkjera tribes, and that many 
Akems would take refuge in Ashantee. The great Fetish 
declared " if the white man interfered he would kill him, 
and put another in his place." Other priests professed to 
drive away the evil spirits by throwing small packets of 
gold dust and crushed food into the air, and guns were 
loaded with papaw leaves, and fired aloft amid tremen- 
dous shouting. Large promises of at least a thousand 
slaves were made to the Fetishes, if they would give the 
victory. A live sheep was pinned to the earth with 
wooden skewers, and the priests were lavishly rewarded 
for their efforts. The king, who spent his nights in 
dancing and drinking, gave them ten peredwane (£81), 
twenty loads of salt, twenty goats, twenty sheep, and 
seventy bottles of rum, together with fifty slaves (from 
the betrayed Wusutra). See page 169. 
On January 29th, dark clouds appeared in the horizon, 
sounds of distant firing were heard, and it was evident 
that the Ashantees were fighting. The women ran 
through the streets singing, and the king not only played 
and danced to drive away the evil spirits, but offered 
many sacrifices, and at day break visited his ancestors at 
Bantama, — all signs of bad news from the south. 
Twenty or thirty men were said to have been drowned 
in the Prah, others to have been carried ofi* by the enemy, 
while Amankwa, the proud chief of Bantama, and head 
commander, was reported among the slain. This we dis- 
believed, and soon heard that it was an under chief of 
Bantama who was drowned, and that the Asens, after 
firing a few shots at those who first crossed, had retreated 
to Fusuwei, thus causing great confusion. 
Mr. Dawson's depression now increased, for he feared 
the king regarded him as a prisoner. Obtaining an inter- 
view with him after many efforts, he was speedily dis- 
missed, the king smilingly remarking that "the roads 
p 
