Goodenough said. "If this fellow has
not blundered about his orders, it is clear that we are prisoners.
However, it may be that the king merely gave a direction that we
should be escorted to the capital, having no idea that we should
want to loiter upon the way."
They now proceeded steadily forward, making long day's marches. The
officer in command of the guard was most civil, obtaining for them
an abundance of provisions at the villages at which they stopped,
and as Frank and his companion were both weakened by fever he
enlisted sufficient hammock bearers for them, taking fresh relays
from each village. He would not hear of their paying either for
provisions or bearers, saying that they were the king's guests,
and it would be an insult to him were they to pay for anything.
Ten days after starting from the Volta they entered Coomassie.
This town lay on rising ground, surrounded by a deep marsh of from
forty to a hundred yards wide. A messenger had been sent on in
front to announce their coming, and after crossing the marsh they
passed under a great fetish, or spell, consisting of a dead sheep
wrapped up in red silk and suspended from two poles.
Mr. Goodenough and Frank took their places at the head of the
little procession.
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