This tree was covered with fetish objects, and thickly hung
with spiders' webs. At each end was a small but deep alcove with
a royal chair, so that the monarch could always sit on the shady
side.
Along each side of the little court ran a sort of verandah, beneath
which was an immense assortment of little idols and fetishes of
all kinds.
From one of the verandahs a door opened into the king's bedroom,
which was about ten feet by eight. It was very dark, being lighted
only by a small window about a foot square, opening into the women's
apartments. At one end was the royal couch, a raised bedstead with
curtains, and upon a ledge by the near side (that is to say the
king had to step over the ledge to get into bed) were a number of
pistols and other weapons, among them an English general's sword,
bearing the inscription, "From Queen Victoria to the King of Ashanti."
This sword was presented to the predecessor of King Coffee. Upon
the floor at the end opposite the bed was a couch upon which the
king could sit and talk with his wives through the little window.
In the women's apartments all sorts of stuffs, some of European,
some of native manufacture, were found scattered about in the
wildest confusion.
Pages:
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415