"This is the famous 'Ashantee war' of which we read a few years ago. The treaty of peace which followed the burning of Coomassie required the king to pay an indemnity of fifty thousand ounces of gold, keep a road open to the coast, and abolish human sacrifices."
"I have read about these sacrifices," said Frank. "It is stated somewhere that at least a thousand slaves were sacrificed every year, in a certain grove near the king's palace at Coomassie."
"That is the case," replied Doctor Bronson, "and the worst of the story is not told. It was the custom, on occasions of festivity or mourning—in fact, on every affair of publicity—to kill a certain number of victims. If slaves were convenient they were selected to be offered up; but it often happened that the immediate attendants of the king were taken at an instant's notice. A traveller tells that one day two messengers came to inform the king of the discovery of a new gold-mine, and brought samples of the gold produced by it.
"The king looked at the gold with evident pleasure, and then ordered a sacrifice in honor of the discovery. The most convenient victims were the two messengers. They were immediately seized and taken to the sacrificial grove, where they were given to the Ashantee divinities, with the customary ceremonies."
A BELLE OF THE GUINEA COAST.
"What a horrid custom!" exclaimed Frank. "The English did a good thing for humanity in putting an end to it. Have they ever sent missionaries among the people?"
"They have done so," was the reply, "but with very poor success. Some Ashantees have become Christians, but only a very few, and the missionaries have become discouraged. Quite lately there have been reports that Moslem missionaries have come from Central Africa and attempted to convert the Ashantees to their faith. They are said to be meeting with good success, and possibly before many years the whole nation will become Mohammedans. Anything is better than the horrid paganism that formerly prevailed. However much Mohammedanism is behind Christianity, as Stanley explained to King M'tesa, it is vastly better than the old religions of Africa, with their wanton disregard of human life."
"I suppose," said Frank, "that the gold from this part of Africa is the 'Guinea gold' which we often read about?"