"O cruel murderous people! Sail on, Charles, and leave them
far behind. Is not the next coast Ashantee?"
CHARLES. "Yes; Ashantee is at present the most powerful state in all
Western Africa, and, in fact, rules over a considerable portion of
it. The natives are remarkable for oratory, and will discourse
fluently on a given subject for hours. A taste for music is also
extensively cultivated, and their taste is evidenced by the native
band at Cape Coast Castle, which plays admirably by ear several of
the most popular English tunes. The Ashantees, and the natives of
the countries contiguous to this coast, build their houses of mud
and sticks, which composition they call '_swish_.'"
MR. WILTON. "They are a more civilized set than the people of
Dahomey; and the Danes have furnished us with a portrait of one of
their kings, whose name was Opocco. Here is the account:--'The
monarch was seated on a throne of massive gold, under the shade of
an artificial tree with golden leaves. His body, extremely lean, and
inordinately tall, was smeared over with tallow mixed up with gold
dust. A European hat, bound with broad gold lace, covered his head;
his loins were encircled with a sash of golden cloth. From his neck
down to his feet cornelians, agates, lazulites, were crowded in the
form of bracelets and chains, and his feet rested on a golden basin.
The grandees of the realm lay prostrate on the ground, with their
heads covered with dust.
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