Amoaful was a town capable of containing two or three thousand
inhabitants. Great quantities of grain and coarse flour were found
here. These were done up in bundles of dried plantain leaves,
each bundle weighing from five to fifteen pounds. This capture was
of great service to the commissariat, as it afforded an abundant
supply of excellent food for the carriers. The troops were in high
spirits that night. They had won a battle fought under extreme
difficulty, and that with a minimum of loss in killed. There were
therefore no sad recollections to damp the pleasure of victory.
Frank had been twice struck with slugs, but in neither case had
these penetrated deeply, and he was able to sit round the camp fire
and to enjoy his glass of rum and water. Two kegs of rum were the
only stores which that night came up from the rear, thanks to the
consideration of a commissariat officer, to whom the soldiers felt
extremely grateful for providing them with an invigorating drink
after their long and fatiguing labors of the day.
At about a mile and a quarter from Amoaful lay the town of Bequah,
the capital of one of the most powerful of the Ashanti kings. Here
a considerable force was known to be collected before the battle,
and here many of the fugitives were believed to have rallied.
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