THE RELEASE OF THE REST. 
279 
king, and abused him violently. He vainly tried to justify 
himself. The king continued, in a rage, " No one shall 
be set free ; no, you shall all stay Jiere" His words were 
echoed on every side, and we were assured that every 
one of us should be killed. We stood petrified, feeling 
that words were no of use, the noise was so great. 
At last, with some vexation, we sat down quietly in our 
chairs, to wait until the storm should have abated. How 
little did we dream that on that very evening we should 
leave Coomassie 1 Every hope of liberty seemed to have 
vanished, for the nation rushed on blindly to face its 
coming judgment, and what might be the result of a 
defeat the Lord only knew. The king was still un- 
softened, but at length when I stepped forward and 
begged him to compose himself, he gradually became 
calmer, and said, " Oh, I have nothing against you !" and 
thsn gazed firmly before him, as if tortured by a heavy 
weight, and engaged in a struggle with himself. 
Suddenly he broke the silence, " No, you shall go, you 
white men, and tell my good friend I did not make war 
against him. I have no quarrel with him. As to the 
£1000 tell him I will make him a present of it, I do not 
wish that so small a sum should be the cause of differences 
between us. Go, speak a good word, 1 have now done 
what I can. If the governor will not wait, I must leave 
the matter with God." 
Were these words credible ? Was no deception concealed 
behind them. Thus we anxiously questioned ourselves, and 
while offering formal thanks to the king, doubts rendered 
the expression of our gratitude rather cold, and our suspi- 
cions were not quelled by observing that two very common 
messengers (a sword-bearer and a crier) were summoned to 
accompany us. I repeatedly begged to have Owusu Kokoo 
(who had accompanied Mr. Kiihne), but this was refused. 
We felt that very likely some plan had been formed to 
