The new king was quite youthful,—­only seventeen; but he inherited splendid qualities from a race of excellent rulers.  He re-organized his armies, and early won a reputation for courage, sagacity, and excellent ability, extraordinary in one so young.  He inherited a bitter feeling against the Mohammedans, and made up his mind to chastise two of their chiefs, Ghofan and Ghobago, and make the territory of Banna tributary to Ashantee.  He invaded their country, and burned their capital.  In an engagement fought at Kaha, the entire Moslem army was defeated and captured.  The king of Ghofan was wounded and made prisoner, and died in the camp of the Ashantee army.  Two more provinces were bound to the throne of Kwamina; and we submit that this is an historical anomaly, in that a pagan people subdued an army that emblazoned its banner with the faith of the one God!

The Ashantee empire had reached the zenith of its glory.  Its flag waved in triumph from the Volta to Bossumpea, and the Kong Mountains had echoed the exploits of the veterans that formed the strength of its army.  The repose that even this uncivilized people longed for was denied them by a most unfortunate incident.

Asim was a province tributary to the Ashantee empire.  Two of the chiefs of Asim became insubordinate, gave offence to the king, and then fled into the country of the Fantis, one of the most numerous and powerful tribes on the Gold Coast.  The Fantis promised the fugitives armed protection.  There was no extradition treaty in those days.  The king despatched friendly messengers, who were instructed to set forth the faults of the offending subjects, and to request their return.  The request was contemptuously denied, and the messengers subjected to a painful death.  The king of Ashantee invaded the country of the enemy, and defeated the united forces of Fanti and Asim.  He again made them an offer of peace, and was led to believe it would be accepted.  But the routed army was gathering strength for another battle, although Chibbu and Apontee had indicated to the king that the conditions of peace were agreeable.  The king sent an embassy to learn when a formal submission would take place; and they, also, were put to death.  King Osai Tutu Kwamina took “the great oath,” and vowed that he would never return from the seat of war or enter his capital without the heads of the rebellious chiefs.  The Ashantee army shared the desperate feelings of their leader; and a war was begun, which for cruelty and carnage has no equal in the annals of the world’s history.  Pastoral communities, hamlets, villages, and towns were swept by the red waves of remorseless warfare.  There was no mercy in battle:  there were no prisoners taken by day, save to be spared for a painful death at nightfall.  Their groans, mingling with the shouts of the victors, made the darkness doubly hideous; and the blood of the vanquished army, but a short distance removed, ran cold at the thoughts of the probable