252 MISSIONARY LIFE IF ASHANTEE. 
while in spite of the royal commands, soldiers came con- 
tinually into the town, some of whom said plainly, 
*'Even if the king send us forward again, we will not 
go unless he accompany ; we are sick of it. The white 
men have guns which hit five Ashantees at once. Many 
great men and princes have fallen. Amankwa wandered 
for days in the forest, and only escaped by the help of 
two porters, and with the loss of his great umbrella and 
chair." The king on hearing this sent him at once an 
umbrella and three chairs to Fomana. From Akem came 
the news that on the 14th a village of Kwau Kodiabe had 
been attacked, and its inhabitants carried into captivity. 
In the meantime we were concerned to hear that the 
king's letter with our own had only reached Akrofrum, 
from whence it had been sent back with the trophy. 
This was told to D. by the friendly Asiedu, that he might 
write other letters instead of those and deliver them to 
him, in case anything injurious might have been contained 
in the first. But we had long refrained from writing on 
politics, even in our French and German correspondence. 
D. had however sent through the Fantee letters in English 
writing, both to the governor and the editor of the 
African Times, containing political discussions upon the 
cause of the war, Ashantee weakness, etc. These every 
runaway schoolboy could read. When the Akwamu in 
European dress arrived, we feared the letters would be 
given him to translate, still we felt sure that all would be 
for the best. 
On the morning of December the 15th, the king sat to 
welcome the chief Barentwa with the jaw bones and the 
prisoners, trophies of the campaign, and with him ap- 
peared Asiedu, the letter carrier, from whom all writings 
were taken before dawn, whereupon he returned to his 
old quarters at Mr. Dawson's. Through him we heard that 
the danger for the Coast had been greater than we had 
