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Conquest of Coomassíe
an Epic
of tbe /iDasbanti IRation
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Conquest of Coomassie
an Epic
of tbe fibasbanti IRatton
BY
ALDEBARAN

With Illustrations
By Henry M. Brooks

Worth While Publishing Company
Long Beach, California, Publishers
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lip ICopyright 1923
by A. P. Byer
AH Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America
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Dedication
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;R5c-
TO THE MEMORY OF Y. ANDREW ROBER-
SON, author of “Ashes”, whose untime-
ly DEATH COST US THE MOST BRILLIANT
NOVEL OF THE CENTURY, “RODAE, PRIN-
CESS of Dawn” upon which Mr. Rober-
son WAS WORKING AT THE TIME OF HIS LA-
MENTED DEATH.
307 •

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preface
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1
HE “CONQUEST OF COOMASSIEchallenges the
western civilization; reveals its paucity of purpose,
and prophesies its downfall.
Against the glorious background of culture, under the
rule “of wisdom, truth, and right,” is thrown the pitiful pic-
ture of a money-mad world; where the rapacity of insatiable
greed bankrupts the human soul.
The selfish cheapness of “the white man’s God,” and the
cruel farce of “their faithless Christian creed,” are con-
trasted with the rule of Bundu—(wisdom); also a glimpse is
permitted of a future where “each as each,” shall “share the
goodness of the land; and bless a just Creator’s hand.”
Its message to Black People is invaluable; the recital of
the heroic achievements and grandeur of Ancient .¿Ethiopia
irresistably supports the virile suggestion contained in
“Wake! mighty men of .Ethiop’s line.”
Affording the basis for a deeper self respect which will
command the respect of others, the book fills a long felt
want; and its beauty, its imagery, its exquisite harmony,
together with its freedom from mechanical jars, stamps it as
the epic of the century.
GEORGE S. GRANT.
Los Angeles, California.
xi
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Contents
Canto t
Golden Axe
Canto 2
The Oracle and the Prophecy
Canto 3
The Golden Spear
Canto 4
The Golden Stool
Canto 5
The Conquest

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Page
Photograph of author ...........M...........................Frontispiece
King Prempey marshalled his brave black men,
And this is the story he told them then:	...... 7
And monsters roamed the wild plains o’er;
And murd’rous talons reeked with gore. .HM.............................13
They sailed their galleys through the deeps;
They traversed plains and mountain-steeps.........................19
The chosen of the gods she stood,
To slay the sacrifice of blood.	...H....^H .27
“See now! Where Karnak’s glory shone—
The vultures’ nest in crumbling stone! .H.............-40
Within a cavern deep and wide,
A wrinkled sage watch, starry-eyed.	................56
King Prempey mounts the Golden Throne
That like the sun, for brightness shone.......................64
The Englishman with scornful glance
Smiled at the Kongo chief’s advance...........................78
For doughty troops from Western Isle
O’er the embattled watch-towers pile.
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Conquest of Commasste
INTRODUCTION
HE CONQUEST OF COOMASSIE is an attempt to
epitomize a braveBndustrious and progressive peo-
ple. Without doubt, the most powerful and orderly
native African institution which, but for its wanton
destruction by the treacherous, Emperial English,
had bid fair to extend its beneficient and civilizing
influence over all of the native tribes of West Africa.
In attempting to justify the wanton Vandalism and im-
perial greed that prompted the merciless campaign to bring
about the disintegration and destruction of the powerful
Mashanti Nation, the English people at home, and the civil-
ized nations in general, had been regaled with monstrous
tales of cannibalism, sacrificial groves, treachery to white
traders, etc., purporting to be characteristic of these people.
Foremost among this insidious propoganda was a book
written by Major-General Baden Powell called, “The Down-
fall of Prempey.”
This imperial egotist, in one part of his narrative makes
the following arraignment: “The Government of the King of
Coomassie, had, ever since 1874, stood in the way of civiliza-
tion, of trade, and of the interest of the people, and should,
on these general grounds alone, be put a stop to. From the
XVIIdate of the war of 1873, this district of Africa which is, I be-
lieve, extremely rich, has been devastated, destroyed and
ruined by internal disputes, and by the evil government of
the authorities of Ashanti.”
I do not intend to state any personal views here, for I
consider the best possible Introduction to the CONQUEST OF
COOMASSIE to be, a brief sketch of the history of the
Mashanti people, concluding with some extracts from the
works of reputable persons, who have traveled in the Ma-
shanti Country. From these, the reader shall make his own
deductions.
The great United States of West Africa now a British
possession, and referred to as “Ashanti and Ashantee,” is
written in the Ochi tongue, M’shanti, and called by them-
selves, Mashanti, which orthography I shall adhere to, except
when quoting other writers.
This Country which is so little known to the Western
World, possesses records of having dealt with, and been
known to the Arab and Muslim peoples, as early as the
twelfth Century, and as far East and North as Egypt and
the Mediterranean.
Early in the seventeenth Century there came to the
throne of Mashanti, a monarch named Osai Tutu. This mon-
arch was to that rich, extensive Country, exactly what Peter
the Great was to the scattered tribes of Russia, and Frederick
the Great was to the great German Confederacy.
He conquered the territory of Akim and Assin, reduced
the powerful kingdom of Denkira to a tributary, subjugated
Jaman, Kwahu, Tufel and a great extent of the Country be-
yond the Tanno River and extended his authority even to the
Great Desert of Ghofan in the North.


He absorbed great Muslim States in this Confederacy,
built Coomassie and made it his Capital, winning for him-
self the title, Osai Tutu the Great.
On the death of Osai Tuti, the conquered States attempted
to revolt, but were put down by his successor, Osai Opoku.
This king also conquered the kingdom of Dagomba, and ex-
changed Embassies with Dehomey and Akwomu.
In succession followed, Osai Kwesi, Osai Kudjo, Osai
Kwamina, Osai Opoku II, and Osai Tutu Kwamina, also
called the Great.
It was during the reign of this latter monarch that a
series of events occurred that brought them in contact with
England, and culminated in their ruthless destruction by
that power.
These events are in themselves so significant, that a brief
summary of them alone, will enable the reader to make a
comprehensive estimate of the Mashanti People.
In the year 1805, the Country of Assin was divided into
two States, one of which was ruled over by two chiefs, Chebu
and Apute; the other by King Amu.
A wealthy man of Amu’s county having died, was buried
according to custom, with a great amount of treasure.
A man of Chebu’s county robbed the grave; whereupon
Amu demanded the apprehension and punishment of the
criminal, and upon refusal of Chebu and Apute to take any
steps to that effect, the case was appealed to the Mashanti
monarch, Tutu Kwamina.
Having heard the facts in the case, Kwamina gave judg-
ment against Chebu and Apute, detaining the latter as host-
age until the crime should be punished.
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Apute escaped and with Chebu, made war upon Amu.
Kwamina interfered between the warring chiefs, but even
while negotiations were proceeding, Apute secretly obtained
an armed force and attacked Amu. In this battle, the man
who had committed the crime was killed.
On the interference of Kwamina, all three chiefs agreed
to peace, but no sooner had the Mashanti sovereign returned
to Coomassie, than Apute again attacked Amu and drove him
from the town.
Kwamina interfered for the third time. This time he
sent each chief a golden sword, and the Golden Axe of Sacred
Treaty. All three chiefs swore on the Golden Axe to pre-
serve peace, but Apute once more attacked Amu, and mur-
dered Kwamina’s messengers.
This forbearing monarch then declared war upon Chebu
and Apute, whereupon thew|fied to the Fanti Country.
Kwamina sent messengers to Akim, king of the Fanti,
demanding the extradition of the fugitives. Akim refused.
Kwamina collected a large army, and defeated the com-
bined forces of Chebu, Apute and Akim.
Apute who had escaped, now sent Riessengers to
Kwamina, offering to abide by that monarch’s judgment.
Kwamina sent messengers to Apute with communications
and presents. Apute robbed and murdered Kwamina’s mes-
sengers, and fled to the Coast, where the English took him in
and promised him protection from Kwamina’s vengeance.
Kwamina again collected his forces; this time he
marched through the Fanti Country, defeating them at every
engagement, and as soon as he came within reach of the
guns of the English fort, he was fired upon by the English.
XXM

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Kwamina laid seige to the English fort, and was so suc-
cessful that the English were obliged to send out a white
flag, and surrendered to the victorious Kwamina.
Peace was agreed upon, and in the treaty that was made,
the English agreed to recognize the sovereignty of the Ma-
shantiKnonarch over the Fanti, but as soon as Kwamina re-
tired to Coomassie, thBDnglish made common cause with the
Fanti, promising them aid if they would make war upon
Mashanti.
As soon as Kwamina heard of this cowardly, treacherous
act of the English, he marched upon Cape Coast and again
defeated the English, who at once made another “treaty”
with Kwamina.
This treaty called for an English consul at Coomassie, to
which the Mashanti monarch agreed.
Joseph Dupuis was appointed by the English king to this
post. Upon Dupuis’ arrival at the Mashanti capital, he be-
gan to abuse the hospitality of Kwamina by plotting with
the Fanti, encouraging them to revolt against Kwamina.
That this dastardly act had the full sanction of the
English authorities, was shown by the fact that Sir George
Collier erected a Martello tower, furnished it with guns from
“H. M. S. Tartar,” which was then in the Cape Coast harbor,
and fired upon the redoubtable Mashanti who had come to
put down the rebellious Fanti.
There followed a succession of plottings against the sov-
ereignty of Mashanti by the English, who would unhesitating-
ly make a treaty with them, and as unhesitatingly break it;
and, vacillating between the policies of secret treachery and
open hostility, the English eventually succeeded in robbing
this gallant and industrious people of the fruits of centuries
of constructive enterprise and just administration.
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They gradually declined until they were reduced to the
state in which they existed at the end of the seventeenth
Century.
Their last king, Prempey (..Osai Kwa-kou Dua III), was
taken prisoner by the English on July the 15th, 1900, and
exiled to Elmina, bringing to a close the history of Mashanti
as an Independent African Nation.
Now “The tumult and the shouting dies,
The captains and the kings depart.”
And the summing up is made as follows by Major-Gen-
eral Baden-Powell, “By quietly taking possession of Ashantee,
England has practically acquired the vast hinterland beyond;
It has softly caught its monkey. And the principle is being
carried out in all quarters of the world, Siam, Venezuela, up
the Nile, Egypt,—England goes softly, softly, catching her
monkey.”
From Richard Austin Freeman who wrote “Travels and
Life in Ashanti and Jaman,” I quote the following:	“During
the whole period in which the English have been in relations
with Ashanti, the goal of their ambitions appear to have
been, the CONQUEST AND DESTRUCTION of that kingdom;
and at no time does any serious effort appear to have been
made to secure these BRAVE, INDUSTRIOUS, INTELLI-
GENT people as permanent allies of the British Crown.”
This Author further states, “The wholesale destruction of
native houses that took place when Coomassie was burned
by the British troops in 1874, is likewise a matter for great
regret on the part of the anthropologist, while the Vandalism
displayed during the exposition of 1895, when several of the
largest and most ancient buildings in the suburbs of Bantam-
mah were destroyed, apparently with no other object thanif iki ürtgii' •
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that of amusing the soldiers, cannot be sufficiently con-
demned.”jM%^
In another place he says:	“The efforts of King Tutu
Kwamina to secure the friendship of the British Govern-
ment, were continually frustrated by the unreliable conduct
of the local authorities, and by THE TOTAL DISREGARD
THAT THEY DISPLAYED FOR THE TREATIES THAT
THEY HAD EXECUTED.’*
Of the industries and avhievements of the Mashanti, this
writer makes mention as follows:	“It must not be forgotten
that these great centers of civilization and commerce, SO
BENEFICIAL TO EUROPEAN TRADE, and SO IMPORTANT
TO THE WELFARE OF THE NATIVES, were BROUGHT
INTO EXISTENCE BY ASHANTI; that these great inter-
national marts were created and almost entirely maintained
by the caravan traffic from the far East and North, and that
the goal of these caravans was Ashanti. There can be little
doubt,” he continues, “that but for the perverse and unin-
telligent policy of such men as Governor Smith and Sir
Charles McCarthy, the Ashanti Kingdom with its great com-
mercial organizations would have extended quite early in this
Century, to the Sea Coast, and realized its ambition; that
of trading directly with the white men.”
Osman Newell in his “West Africa Handbook of Commer-
cial and Political Information,” says:	“Their (Ashanti) skill
and bravery in war, their diplomacy and singular patriotism
and power of combination and organization, not only made
them the most formidable people on the Gold Coast, and the
founders of the only important kingdom there, but almost
enabled them to become masters of the whole Country and
Coast.”
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Lord Wolsey who led an expedition against them in
1874 said:	“From the Ashanti I learned one important les-
son, namely: that a virile race can become paramount in its
own region if it possesses courage, constancy of purpose and
self-sacrifice.”
Dupuis, the British consul at Coomassie in 1820, said of
the Mashanti, that “they never appealed to the sword while
a path lay open for negotiations, NOR WERE KNOWN TO
VIOLATE A TREATY.” He also stated that their Muslim
neighbors corroborated this assertion
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IHHiConquest of Coovuassie5 u !1	1	'
Canto 1
THE GOLDEN AXE
I
T WAS not the Russ of the dread Crimea,
It was not the Dane from the frozen sea;
Not the dark-haired Frank, nor arrogant Boer
That bristled the mane of the Lion o’er,
That ruffled his Pride and brought him to bay
And challenged his right to the King’s Highway;
From Africa’s embattled jungle-fief,
Came the bold defi of Coomassie’s Chief.
II
King Prempey, chief of a war-like tribe,
Had scorned the proffer of England’s bribe;
He would not barter Mashanti land
To the white king’s mercenary band.
Although he knew that the odds were great
That threatened Mashanti’s Sov’reign State;
FourKiiYtftfi
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He swore by dread Ak-Kromanti’s Shrine,
That the English blood should run like wine
To nurture the land his fathers trod!
Nor bow to the greed of their white god!
Ill
So England gathered her fighting men
From field, from mart and from highland-glen.
The fierce dragoon in his harness bright
That sparkled gay like the stars at night,
The kilted wight and the khakied knave—
Who boasted that they would “whip the slave
Easy as kissin’ an ’ousemaid’s chin,
Or garlin’ ’apworth o’ ’Olland gin.”
IV
And England’s king he was proud to see
The gleam of his dashing Infantree
Marching along to do his command,
And sail o’er the seas to Afric’s strand.
FiveO there was mirth as they marched along,
And Tommy shouted his Country’s song.
“Hi! We’ll lick the bloomin’ beggar stiff,
And drink in Blighty next Sunday tiff.”
But “Sunday tiff” they had pledged to share
With Blighty’s sweet blue-eyed maidens fair;
Was drunk on Dunk-awa’s brown-white sands—
And the blue-eyed maids were angel bands
Who wafted their souls to strands of gold,
On spears of Mashanti’s warriors bold.
VI
King Prempey marshalled his brave, black men,
And this the story he told them then:		

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“From far away o'er the waters deep,
England’s men who England’s glory keep,
Were drawn by their greed to Afric’s strand
To pilfer gold from Coomassie land.
They compassed the land in Christian guise;
But their prayers, like burning sacrifice
Consumed on the altars built of old
To the white man’s greed, and lust for gold.”
VII
“You have seen a viper wounded sore,
Trailing his carcass in slime and gore,
Writhing in pain, but his venomed sting
Still tainting each fair and peaceful thing?
'Twas so to Coomassie land they came—
The English traitors, in England’s name.”

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VIII
“You saw him faint and ready to die;
Your great soul pitied his misery,
And warmed to life in your jungle-home
This slimy thing from over the foam;
But saw not the reptile coiled to spring,
Nor heard you the knell of Freedom ring.”
IX
“But I Prempey answered England's men;
The ways of truth are beyond your ken!
What though you swore on the white king’s hands
And the Golden Axe at Windsor stands ?
E’en now, your outposts in lust for power
Bantammah’s forests in secret scour!
And Boisragon, Gordon and Campbell—
For gold they did England’s honor sell!
You stand forsworn, still, ’tis England’s deed;
It’s warrant, your faithless Christian Creed!”
m
Ten“What care you, if blood bestrew these fields
Which blossom in peace, with bounteous yields?
If but to England our gold you bring,
If but our wealth enrich England’s king?
You bring the gods whom your fathers mould,
For you worship Pride! You worship Gold!
You would desecrate our Ancient Shrine—
The dwelling-place of our gods divine!
But know false men, that Mashanti land
Heed none but Mashanti’s king’s command!”
XI
“I Prempey sit on my Golden Throne!
I rule Mashanti and I alone!
My Sov’reign Power and Sacred Sod
Shall bow to none but the Black Man’s God!’
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XII
“Far back In ages long gone by
When Earth was yet a mystery,
When vapours rolling from the deeps
Wrapped heaven’s dome in purpled sweeps,
And monsters roamed the wild plains o'er;
And murd’rous talons reeked with gore
Where heaven’s arch with winged array
Made noon-day’s sun like closing day—
And venom stalked, and death reigned king,
And man was still an infant thing;
Our fathers ruled this ancient land,
Wresting from Nature’s grudging hand
Secrets so dread, they flee the day
And chilled the heart with dire dismay.”
XIII
“Earth, sky and sea they battled bold,
Till they their secrets did unfold,
Then taught their lore, engraved on stones,
To iEthiop’s Proud and Princely Sons.”And monsters roamed the wild plains'o’er
And murd’rous talons reeked with gore



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XIV
“They tracked the wild beast to his lair,
Tamed the fierce creatures of the air,
Counted the stars that, flaming bright
Illumed the vast, mysterious night.
They yoked proud Nilus to the sod,
Dug channels deep to snare the god,
Who spread his bounty-laden hands
O’er Shara’s parched and desert sands.
Made conquered earth bring forth her yields
From verdant meads and dewy fields,
While flocks and herds roamed on the plains
And fattened on the rip’ning grains.”
XV
“And sons of gods with earthly clay
Bred giants strong, who held their sway
In cunning arts and wond’rous deeds,
And fashioned laws and earthly creeds
To rule the earth on which they trod
As rightful heritage from God.”

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BXVI
“From quarries dark and deep they hewed
The granit columns, and imbued
Stony archives with sapient lore,
To teach their children to adore
The wond’rous grandeur that was theirs
From dim, immeasurable years.”
XVII
“These tell how Memnon’s Ancient Shrine
Reflected back morn’s first sunshine
And voiced the Oracle’s decree
From lips of templed mystery.
How at his cry each op’ning day
Came filt’ring through the sun’s soft ray,
The dewy tears that Eos shed
Upon her son’s beloved head.”
SixteenXVIII
“The labored earth gave up her gold,
Her choicest gems, of worth untold,
Deep in the earth they sunk the stile
And built the granit pile on pile,
Wrought cunningly the fir and ash
Twixt cedar’s beams and ebon sash,
Then reared to heaven from out the sod
The Temple of the Living God,
And roofed with span of jewelled sheen,
The house of .¿Ethiopia’s Queen.”
XIX
“Beauteous maidens glad the eye,
Whose matchless charm and witching sigh—
Gorgeous as a day new-born,
A prince’s mansion may adorn,
Or please a peasant to behold,
Or grace a monarch’s throne of gold.”
Seventeen
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XX
“From Oman’s caves to mystic Ind,
Where typhoons raged and tempests dinned,
They sailed their galleys through the deeps;
They traversed plains and mountain-steeps,
Seeking the runes of Ancient Budd
To calm the winds and tame the flood;
Then braved the crested, storm-tossed foam
Seeking an incense-laden dome,
To pilfer perfumed ointments rare
To deck a luscious damsel’s hair
Or, dark-skinned maidens to array
In shimm’ring silks from proud Cathay.”
XXI
“Resplendent glory filled the land;
And mighty Captains held command
O’er myriad legions, whose dread power
Made nations quake and tyrants cower.”¿UmBmi il Fir^r «¿¿If iiiihtftf if ii
They sailed their galleys through the deeps
They traversed plains and mountain-steeps
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“Sesostris tamed the wayward tide
That flowed down Nubia’s mountain-side,
Built monuments on Shara’s sands,
That tell how iEthiop’s war-like bands
Conquered Assyria’s savage brood,
Or crossed the Red Sea’s boiling flood,
To drive the Hyskos kings in chains
Back o’er the Babylonian plains;
And taught the fear of .¿Ethiop’s lands
To Chaldee’s roving desert bands.”
XXIII
“Ye men of .Ethiop’s lineage true,
Who dwell ’neath Africa’s skies of blue
Where balmy sunshine fills the air
With tropic-scented perfumes rare!
You till this verdant, fecund soil,
As free men live, as free men toil
In thankfulness for heaven’s dow’r
That bless our land with fruit and flow’r!”
Twenhj-one
(IIPPP1-1 ?
XXIV
“Your fathers’ gods gave you this land!
And shall you not with mighty hand
Redeem the heritage they gave
Or fill a patriot-warriors’ grave?
Arm Afric’s men, for freedom fight!
For know you battle for the right!
And if you fall in Freedom’s Name
You’ll reap a warrior’s deathless fame,
And children’s children shall behold
Your deeds in shining letters told.”
Twenty-twofàtui
k nì. watn,?^ sì.
Canto 2
'»Hif i
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THE ORACLE AND THE PROPHECY
I
ONG had the day-god gone to rest
In purpled guidons of the West,
And floating light in sapphire shies
The homing cloud-wraiths fall and rise.
II
So stained by Hathor’s dying gleam
Now stretched o’er Volta’s turgid stream;
They seem as if some playful god,
Disporting by the vats of Nod,
Had drunk to blest satiety
(Which ill became the diety;)
And now his giddy brain to ease,
Had stole an hireling shepherd’s fleece,
And drenched it in the winey dye,
And flung it on the evening sky.
I (SH*
! life
Twenty-three
Tffynwwfinr n ji IMI!—, |

Or if some demon of the air
Vest by their fleecy whiteness fair;
Had drained a martyred Spirit’s blood,
And steeped them in the sanguine flood.
III
But soon a sombre curtain fell
On lurid eve; and down the dellH
Throbbing and moaning with affright
Came clam’rous echoes from the night.
IV
And harken to that gong of death
Resounding on the midnight breath!
Now sounding far, now sounding near,
A groaning, wailing, throbbing fear!
’Tis Sakro-Bundu’s mystic drum
Whose echoes from the midnight come!
Telling of ruins stark and cold,
Of tombs that monstrous creatures hold,
Of demon-men whose dreadful pow’r
Is born of Vood’s malicious dow’r!They delve in myst’ries dark and deep;
With glist’ning things that crawl and creep,
They warp the soul, and sear the brain
With hectic fire and gyving pain,
Or tell by aid of Kouphi’s charms,
How thrones must fall in dread alarms.
VI
They who have heard the lion roar,
When stalking the wild forest o’er
In greedy search for timid prey,
Or angered at the young whelp’s play—
They know the fear that haunts the soul
When Bundu’s drums begin to roll.

Twenty-five



1
VII
The stout heart quickens at the sound
That throbs along the parched ground;
Starting the moisture on the brow,
Shaking the joints like mangrove bough
Trembles when Kongo’s roughened breeze
Uproots the giant forest trees.
So rolled the drums that fateful night;
Proclaiming far the Ancient Rite
That called the Faithful to the fane,
In Rundu’s nine-fold holy name.
VIII
Tai-Ia, the priestess of the land,
Waved high her cobra-headed wand,
As proud, in Nature’s garb alone,
Erect behind the altar-stone,
The chosen of the gods she stood,
To slay the sacrifice of blood.
Twenhj-six
'The chosen of the gods she stood
To slay the sacrifice of blood
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IX
Upon her head the nine-fold crown;
Whose jewelled serpents streaming down,
Reflected hack the altar light
Upon the incense-blackened night;
And girt about her loins she wore
The Sacred Cobra of Ka-Gore.
X
The fire of her jet-black eyes
Burned like the star-glints in the skies,
Her quiv’ring bosom rose and fell
Like the Great Sea’s tempestuous swell.
Now as she lifts her torch on high,
The worshipers with one glad cry
Prostrate upon their faces fall,
And thus upon Great Bundu call.
TwenVy-n'me

God of our land
Thee we adore!
God of our land,
Bundu Ka-Gore!
Thine Ancient Rites
Great Æthiop knew,
’Ere Moussa’s sire
The Vulture slew!
Now hear us call!
Prostrate we fall!
Sakro-Bundu!
God of us all!hrYVin>» in
XII
They ceased, and on the midnight air
Was heard a chanting silv’ry clear;
Where Vestals by the altar stand—
The chaste, the chosen of the land
Who trim the mystic candle’s flare,
And ’tend the Sacred Vessels there.
XIII
While one anoints with holy oils
The jewelled serpent’s quiv’ring coils,
And one, sweet incense-spices burn
Within a swinging golden urn;
Two Vestals on the altar place
Mashanti’s Stool of Sov’reign Grace,
Then raise their flaming torches high;
Red glowing ’gainst the darkened sky,
And the nine maids of Bundu’s rite,
Chant loud an Ode to Bundu’s Might.
■
Tliirhj-oneODE TO BUNDU
1
O Thou who spread’st the desert sands
To mark the bounds of Ethiop’s lands!
Whose Emblem is the Vulture bold,
Whose Crown the nine-fold bands of Gold,
Whose Throne the purpled realms of night!
Great Bundu! In Thine August Might
We call upon Thine Ancient Name,
Now, then and evermore the same!
2
When Ra Thy sacred honor loved,
Her throne o’er nations ruled unmoved;
For then Thy temples decked the land—
And Ethiopia’s pillars stand
As witness to the rule she bore,
As tokens to her pride of yore.But when their kings forsook Thy Shrine,
And called on other aid but Thine,
Thou mad’st them as an easy prey
To nations not so strong as they.
Return Great Bundu! We implore
Thy name, and at Thy Shrine adore!
The Vestals nine were silent now;
And glory beaming from her brow
XV

Tai-ia approached the sacred shrine.
And thus invoked the god divine.
Thirty-three

uip^vluTHE INVOCATION
Great Bundu come! Thy people wait
Thy blessing, and the nation’s fate!
The Ancient Gifts which Thou dost love
See! Great Creator from above
Lie on Thy smould’ring altar now,
And all around Thy votaries bow!
Then hasten Lord of Salem’s King!
Accept the three-fold gifts we bring!
And grant Thy worshipers the power
To view Thy Presence in this hour!
I slay the Sacrifice of Blood!
Implore Thee for Thy people’s good!
And in Thy nine-fold holy Name
Invoke Thine Oracle again!”


XVII
She spoke, the gleaming blade descends,
The victim’s shrieks the darkness rends,
And gurgling o’er the sacred floor
In crimsoned streams, libations pour.
XVIII
The laden air with sweet suffume
Had canopied the midnight gloom,
And hung, like Suttee’s writhing curse
Above the prostrate worshipers.
Fire flashed from out the incense-cloud,
As rumbling thunders spoke aloud;
Shaking the glowing altar-stone
Where Bundu’s priestess stood alone,
And from the hollow of the shrine,
Pealed forth the Awful Voice Divine.
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“Ye who now call upon My Name
Nine-fold and evermore the same;
Your fathers knew in days of yore,
And worshiped Me by Saba’s shore.
'Twas when Great Bundu dwelt with man,
That Ethiopia’s sons began
Their rule of wisdom, Truth and Right
O’er barb’rous tribes of earth’s dark night.”
XX
“To them the Law of Life was giv’n
To mete the earth and span high heav’n;
They sounded ocean’s deepest caves,
And thralled the ether’s vibrant waves,
And wisdom’s ken reached near and far,
From earth’s dark bounds to distant star.”''VniOiririi

XXI
“When Kaspar went from Afric’s land
To journey o’er Judea’s sand;
The guiding star that shone on high
Was kindled first ’neath Midian’s sky,
The holy light o’er Christus’ head
Was by her Magi’s wisdom fed;
Whose cryptic scrolls and cloistered word
Did him a Heavenly Power afford.”
XXII
“Melchizideck the Priest of God—
He who with Salem’s glory shod,
Revealed to quick discerning ears
The secret tale of endless years—
By Midian’s mystic altars wrought
The Truths Sublime, by just men sought.”
Thirty-seven


XXIII
"But they forsook the ways of God,
And on the Law of Justice trod,
The poor and weak they did oppress
And gloried in unrighteousness.”
XXIV
“Then brother’s blood to brother’s cried
And lo! No answering voice replied;
For clothed in jewelled raiment fine,
Puffed up with power and drunk with wine,
They built their towers up on high
With proud intent to climb the sky,
And league with Powers of the air,
To storm the Courts of Heaven fair,
They trampled on God’s holy Name,
And Mocked at Bundu’s sacred fame.’’l'.i i	uIj mmj nn«™

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See now! Where Karnak’s glory shone
The vultures* nest in crumbling stone

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XXV
“See now! Where Karnak’s glory shone—
The vultures nest in crumbling stone!
Where .¿Ethiopia’s pillars stood,
The baleful cobra spawns her brood!
Kush, Thebes, Midian—but a name!
And moulding tombs obscure their fame!”
XXVI
“And for the evil they had done
Their hearts were made as like to stone,
Their blinded vision veiled from sight
The horror of the coming night,
Which swept like Moloch’s thund’ring car
Upon the wings of stained war.”
ForVy-o
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XXVII
J*
“With souls begirt with bands of brass
'Till seven times should o’er them pass;
He drove them from the haunts of men
Beyond the pale of human ken,
Like plowing ox and lowing kine,
Because they mocked the Power Divine.”
XXVIII
“Exiled 'mongst stranger peoples now
Their proud sons to injustice bow,
And bigot men who dread their power
Oppress them in their fallen hour.
The chariots of the mighty now
Ride high o’er .¿Ethiop’s prostrate brow;
And clouds of darkness compass them,
And dwelling by the tents of Shem
With bodies wet with heaven’s dew,
They drink the gall and bitter rue.”

aiyySi Minrlrin

XXIX
“For centuries you’ve borne the cross
For Christian nations, reaping dross.
For centuries their thorny crown
Your torn and bleeding brow pressed down,
And nails of mockery and pride
Have Christians driven in your side.”
XXX
“But like a great refining fire
Purges the gold from filth and mire;
Thy chastened soul O iEthiop great!
Undaunted by their impious hate,
Shall in its Crescent-Glory rise
Resplendent on the starry skies,
And burning like a meteor’s glare,
Shall write Thy Nation’s Glory there!
Forty-three

XXXI
“Then mighty as in days of yore,
From Saba to the Great Sea’s shore,
Shall Crescent Flag of .Ethiop wave
O’er your oppressor’s silent grave!
And long as sun flames in the sky,
Or flaunts the Prophet’s flag on high,
The Christian nations shall not spoil
Great ^Ethiopia's Sacred Soil!”
XXXII
“Wake! for the lust of nations now
Have writ the doom upon their brow!
Mercy and Truth forsook the land,
And Greed at Justice’s altar stand!
Strike! For your pressaged day has come!
Strike! ’Tis the crumbling nation’s doom!
Rest not content beneath their feet,
Feeding on crumbs of stark deceit!
Wake mighty men of iEthiop’s line
Nor grovel in the mire like swine!
For hell no loathsome soul contains
More base than slave who hugs his chains!tVh lirijinitiii'


teaAi
XXXIII
“Once more on Midian’s sacred sod
Shall men invoke the Living God!
Once more the earth shall hear your tread
By Mighty Kings and Captains led!
And when the new-born Crescent-moon
Spreads o’er the fields her silv’ry shoon,
The Muezzin’s call shall girt the land!
And Afric’s sons a num’rous band
Shall worship as they did of yore
By Saba’s Sacred sun-lit shore!”
XXXIV
“The Mighty God’s stretched-out Right Hand
Bids ^Ethiopia’s Children, stand!
And ye shall rule in righteousness,
With Truth and Right the people bless;
The rich shall not oppress the poor,
But each as each, from bounteous store
Shall share the goodness of the land,
And bless a Just Creator’s Hand!M
Forty-five
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£lXXXV
“From savage war’s accursed decree
Your righteous nation shall be free!
And .¿Ethiopia’s remnant band
Shall build an highway through the land!
A jewelled land, of joyous ways,
A Golden Age of Ancient Days!
For on the palm of God’s right hand
Their graven names eternal stand!”
XXXVI
“Ye shall not sow while others reap,
Nor toiling build where others keep!
Nor shall you need the sun’s bright ray
To ope’ the radiant Gates of Day;
For softened clouds of dew and rain
Shall clothe your pregnant fields with grain,
And Golden Domes and jewelled Spires
Shall light your Land with Living Fires!”
Forhj-six
XXXVII
“0 Golden Karnak! Excellent Name!
Where ^¿Ethiop’s Kings enshrined their fame!
Thy lotus-columned Temples rise
Like gorgeous Spires of Paradise!
Thy Sons and Daughters love Thee still—
Each em’rald Plain, each verdant Hill!
To them Thy moon-beams seem to shine
With radiance, more than half Divine!”
ForVy-seven





Canto 3
THE GOLDEN SPEAK
I
ING PREMPEY sent the Golden Spear
To Afric’s Chieftains far and near,
To claim their aid in league that day,
To battle England’s proud array.
“Come Afric’s men, the cause is yours
To drive the tyrant from your doors!
Too long this ruthless, arrant race
Have made your land a dire disgrace!
Too long cupidity and lust
Have held you prostrate in the dust,
And bred in iEthiop’s noble blood
The thralldom of their godless brood!”
II
“I swear by Ak-Kromanti’s Name!
That Prempey, king of war—like fame
Shall root th’ oppressor from our land,
And conquer with his strong right hand!
To you, bold Chiefs who love the bold,
I send the Sacred Spear of Gold!”
III
This message from Coomassie sent,
Through jungle, field and desert went,
And brave Mashanti’s warrior-band
Hasten to aid Coomassie land!
From Hunda’s Rocks to Roulambel
The fleeting scouts their message tell,
And e’en to far N’Dalatand
The Golden Spear spoke it’s command.
Forty-nine


Ka-Kongo’s king, Jumbala heard;
And fierce his wrothful spirit stirred.
King Mensa’s and Kal-Kalli’s might,
They to the noble Prempey plight.
The Mampons and the Binnis come,
Their glitt’ring azzegaias hum,
And swear, th’ accursed English blood
To mingle with the Volta flood!
V
The Volta’s turgid waters sweep
O’er golden sands, through forests deep,
And tufted palms like sentinels
Keep vigil, where her torrent swells
And plunging, breaks in vivid gleams,
In haste to join her hidden streams.
Upon this wide and wild expanse,
A Muslim horde with spur and lance—
Samadu’s desert-horsemen hear
The message of the Golden Spear,
And thunders o’er in vast array
To join the coming bloody fray.Tri'rii tirin'^*

VI
The jungle beasts had rest that morn,
Nor sunk behind th’ accaccia thorn,
The blinking crocodile swam free
Nor dread the poisoned shaft to see,
The vicious wild-cat spat his ire
But could not tempt the hunter’s fire!
For Afric’s men from far and near
Had seen the Golden-shafted Spear,
And knew the fateful day had come—
The day of their oppressor’s doom.
VII
No bayonets glinted back the sun
That morn that saw the seige begun,
No Snyder rifles bristled bare
Upon Coomassie’s sun-lit air.
But when the king reviewed his host
His head was high, he made proud boast
That never had Mashanti seen
Such bold, black men of martial mien;
Never an Afric’s dawn had found
Embattled on the tented ground
Mashanti’s allies, fierce and gay,
As marshalled for review that day.
Fifty-oneCoomassie’s Queen in armor bright
Gazed proudly at the wond’rous sight;
For she with battle-axe and shield,
Which she full well could boldly wield,
Had sworn to fight beside her lord;
And pledged him thus her royal word.
IX
“Bold king! Your cause is just this day!
But if you fall, as well you may-^B
Mashanti’s flag I’ll raise on high—H
For now I swear to live or die
But for my tortured Country’s sake,
The tyrant’s cruel chains to break!
Accursed be the nation now
That stamped it’s greed upon her brow!
That trailed her virtue in the dust
To sate an English bigot’s lust!
Be strong right arm! Proud nations tell,
Asant-awa loved Freedom well!”X
And now Mashanti’s patriot-band,	^
In busy toil for their loved land,
Their varied tasks in haste perform,
As eagles wing a threatened storm.
The war-drums sound their warning word
Backwards and forth, from watch to guard
Their muffled throbs the toilers tell,
That brave scouts guard Coomassie well.
XI
A chosen band of hero-maids,
Are seeking in Bantammah’s glades,
Ma-kissa-garland blooms to brew
The draught that conquers pain, like dew
Revives the dying forest flower
Which droops ’neath scorching noon-tide’s hour.
Fifty-tli reeThrough clustered marts, through winding lanes
And thronging streets; from distant plains,
The rumbling carts with heavy loads
The runners guide; and stinging goads
The sleepy oxen stir to life
To mingle with the busy strife.
Prom fields of ripened grain they came,
Laden with wheat or slaughtered game,
On hurried way where garners wait
Within the leaguered city’s gate.
XIII
SlBtered beneath Adansi’s brow
The glowing forges sparkle now,
As busy smelters fashion there
The deadly dart of broad-head spear.
The woodmen lend thffl cunning craft
To shape the axe’s polished haft,
Or fashion from the doughty bark,
Broad shields to turn the deadly spark.
Fifty-four
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Within a cavern deep and wide
A wrinkled sage watch, starry-eyedXIV
Within a cavern deep and wide,
A wrinkled sage watch, starry-eyed,
As seething in his silvern bowls
The fuming poison now unfolds,
Distilled deadly draughts to dip
The Tonka-shaft, or arrow’s tip.
XV
Beneath the spreading mangrove shade
The fisher-folks their burdens laid,
Or culled their drag-nets, filled with store
To bleach upon the sun-baked shore.
Fifty-seven
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Throughout Mashanti’s wide domains,
No patriot toils for selfish gains;
The landed Prah his wealth bestows
To fight the hated English foes,
The Kabbocier teaches his son
To shoot the deadly Tonka gun.
The winsome maid, the buxom dame
Now to the leaguered city came,
And mingling with the warrior-wight
Displayed their cunning in the fight;
For Afric’s maids, when Afric bleeds,
Are wond’rous in heroic deeds.
Fi{iy-eig!iV
Canto 4
THE GOLDEN STOOL
I
E GOLDEN THRONES from out the past!
Monarchs who ruled o’er Empires vast!
Assyria’s Might and Persia’s Crown—
Glorious Nations of renown!
’Twas not a blinding meteor’s glare
Disturbed your gorgeous slumbers there!
Nor dread Arch-Angel’s flaming gaze
Dissolving Time’s enshrouded haze!
II
Though sands of Time have sifted through
To veil your splendours from the view,
And lethal winds lulled you to rest
Beyond the Islands of the Blest!
What gen’rous soul feels not your flame
And quickens at your beaut’ous Name?
Fifty -nine
Ill
Ne’er from these storied realms of light
Shall fade Mashanti’s glories bright!
Pearl in a vast and boundless sea!
Your risen splendours o’er the lea
Shall shine in Peace, a golden glow,
Or glare red o’er your fallen foe!
J
IV
The dazzling rays of Afric’s day
Shone on a grand and bold array;
Far as the vision could behold,
Billowing like a sea of gold,
Bristling with jewelled spears between
The silken banners waving sheen.
Thus in their pride the warriors came,
Mashanti’s Sov’reign to acclaim.
SixtyYoruba, Mampon, Bek-awi,
Opuka and Asantawi;
In crescent-form they range around
Coomassie’s consecrated ground.
Between the horns King Prempey stood,
Bie®)blest of ¡Mfflianti blood
Where Red and Black, on ground of Green,
Mashanti’s gorgeous Flag was seen.
VI
Swift darting from theMffilscent ring
Nine maids bend low before the king;
With tassels from the lion’s mane
That by the king’s own hands were slain,
They sweep a path which leads the way
To where the silk-hung altar lay.

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VII
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The trumpets flared, the war-drums rolled,
And courtiers and chieftians bold,
Sing in accord this sov’reign strain
Which echoes o’er Coomassie’s plain.
Thou Lion of the forest-glade!
Thou warrior-chieftain unafraid!
Thy mighty deeds this day we sing,
Osai Qua-kou Dua, King!
VIII
Now the vast crescent moves along;
And silence reigns among the throng
Except when jewelled anklets meet—
And swishing music of their feet
Sound like the toiling ocean’s fret
Upon a pebbly sea-beach wet.
And soon they reach the veiled throne
Where stands a white-robed priest alone,
Whose noble mien and rev’rend face
Are tokens of his Ancient Race.
SixVy-Kvol
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King Prempey mounts the Golden Throne
That like the sun for brightness shone51 wMpptpipiipniuiiij ij«piwp^^|iu^iiii»ii|iwpiw»iytip^ip|BPPPPlPTW>|WlgliPP
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IX
Upon the kneeling monarch’s brow
One hand he placed, the other now
The gorgeous silken curtains grasp,
And wrench them from the jewelled clasp;
Exposing thus to eager sight,
Mashanti’s Sov’reign Throne of light.
X
Deep-voiced, the priest now chants the song
In tones that thrill the gazing throng.
Thou Lion of the forest-glade!
Thou warrior-chieftain unafraid!
Mashanti’s Sov’reign Stool I bring,
Osai Qua-kou Dua, King!
XI
King Prempey mounts the Golden Throne
That like the sun, for brightness shone,
And courtiers and maidens fair,
Osai, Prah and Kabbocier,
In homage bend before the king,
And heralds loud his praises sing.
Sixty-fiveXII
But hark! A shout of fear is heard!
Courtiers paused and warriors stirred;
For ill must fall the soul who dares
Disturb this day with wailing fears!
A bent form, old and withered come,
A face which tells impending doom
Approach King Prempey’s golden throne,
And thus begins this ancient crone.
XIII
“The will of Heaven’s Mighty King
Is graved on heart of humblest thing;
And pow’r to know, and will to dare,
Are gifts His meanest creatures share.”
XIV
“When glow the forest-lamps by night,
And dread shapes flee their fitful light,
When deep sleep binds with chains of brass
The tired frame, then true souls pass,
And out beyond dim portals go,
Bathed in the Future’s mystic glow.”
Sixty-six“While thus beguiled in Fancy’s maze,
Dread scenes unfolded to my gaze.”
XV
“0 Mighty King! ’Tis given thee
To slay the boasting enem^M
I saw them scattered o’er the land
Like Shara’s wind-stewn desert sand.
And beaten sore, and fleeing now
With parched lips and aching brow—
They like the slinking jackal’s brood
Shall drink their slaughtered brothers’ blood!”
XVI
“But lo! What fearsome sight I see
That clouds my sense with mystery?
Yon warriors black, of Afric’s brood
Now thirsting for thy kingly blood?”
Sixty-sevenXVII
“Their Christian masters taught them well!
For now with England’s shot and shell
From out the Western Isles they come,
To work Coomassie’s shameful doom!
Beware! Thou lion-hearted king!
Beware this dastard, treach’rous thing!”
XVIII
“What though thy warriors bold may slay
The lion’s whelp this bloody day?
Thine own black sons, O noble king!
Shall to thy royal palace bring
The lust of Pride from England’s sod,
The Greed of Gold—the white man’s god!”
XIX
Now he who ill to kings foretell,
But braves the wrath of frowning hell.
And this the thronging courtiers ween,
Who breathless, gaze upon the scene.
But noble Prempey waved his hand
And spoke in proud, kingly command.“Begone, thou jackal of the night!
Go, check the winging vulture’s flight!
Go snatch the brist’ling panther’s prey,
Or fright the jungle-king away!
Mashanti’s bold and war-like brood
Have face to face with devils stood,
Nor frighted when like gasping hell
The quaking desert sands dispel!’’
XXI
“Know you why dread Bantammah’s walls
The English traitor-soul appalls?
Or why Coomassie’s fitful glow
Reflect the pyres of Esmacow?
What though a thousand strong they came,
Men of renown and men of fame?
The sands of Esmacow are red
Where England’s proud ones died and bled!
And hard by dread Bantammah’s fief
Now bleach the bones of England’s chief!”
“Mashanti’s Sov’reign King behold!
For yonder stands the Stool of Gold!”Canto 5
THE CONQUEST
I
HE Phantom Dawn, had conquered night;
Nor sped the Sun one shaft of light,
But like a gilded warrior hold,
With sword of flame and shield of gold;
He, crouched in pregnant splendour lies
Behind the parapeted skies.
It was an hour when woods and hills,
And lazy dunes and slumb’rous rills,
Paused to recount the tales of fright
Molok had whispered to the night.
II
So still the morn, that not a breeze
Rippled the miamossa trees
Where bold Jumbala’s ambush lay,
Waiting the dawning of the day.
SevenVyBravest of all his tribe in war,
Jumbala’s fame was known afar.
From Ubanghi to N’Dalatand
They tell of how, with strong right hand
He struck the hell-born panther down,
And trailed his entrails on the ground.
IV
And this, when hut a tender youth
Of barely half-a-score. Forsooth,
The Chief his father had grown old,
No longer roamed a hunter bold,
When from Makoba’s forest came,
Laying in wait for human game,
A demon-beast whose hellish breath
The village strewed with fearful death.
V
Each night the panther’s toll ran high,
Each morn was heard the mourning cry,
And many a tribute to the god
Was burned upon th’ unhallowed sod.Child, youth and matron that morn all
In terror sought Jumbala’s kraal,
Their gifts of gold and spear-heads bring,
And hailed him as their youthful king.
“Thy Sire, may his tribe be great!
Sat morn and eve before his gate,
And judged this Great Ka-Kongo land
In wisdom, and with kingly hand.”
VII
“Thy Sire’s arm is feeble now;
And Kongoland in terror bow
Beneath the fearful ravage wrought
By demons from the forest brought.
’Tis thine to slay this hell-born thing!
’Tis thine to save! Jumbala, King!”
Sevenhj-VwoNo word Jumbala spoke aloud,
But beckoned to the huddled crowd,
And led them to the valley where
The panther stalked to seek his lair.
The youth then picked four sturdy men,
And bade them, by Makoba’s glen
To make a grave; then swore 'twould hold
The panther or Jumbala bold,
Before the day-god’s level ray
Had farther stretched adown the day.
IX
This done, Jumbala gave command;
And soon the eager watching band
Was ranged along the steep hill-side,
Which overlooks the forest wide.
Seventy-threeMB- l
X
But hark! A weird cry of fright
Resounded on the waning night,
That froze the frighted watchers’ veins
And echoed o’er the distant plains.
Nearer it comes, and nearer still,
’Till overtop the crested hill
The vicious demon hurst to view,
Black graven ’gainst the morn’s soft hue.
XI
Jumbala gripped his gleaming blade,
Boldly he stood, and unafraid
He gazed into the panther’s eyes,
That like twin stars in blackened skies,
Burned with malignant will intent
On death, or hellish slaughter bent.Just for a breathing-space they stood.
Then dripping foam and flecked with blood,
The snarling beast in thund’ring wrath
Came tearing through the narrow path,
And at Jumbala’s throat he sprang,
With cry that through the forest rang.
XIII
The watchers checked their fitful breath,
And shrinked to see this demon-death
Plunging in mingled wrath and dread,
Straight at the youthful chieftain’s head.
XIV
But firm as Hunda’s mighty Rock
Jumbala stood the dreadful shock;
And while the panther poised on high
A graven fury ’gainst the sky—
His gleaming blade had found a sheath
Firm placed, the gaping throat beneath.
Then swift, with practiced art, his knife
Unerring sought the stream of life,
And drenched the sod with crimson dye,
Like cloud-burst from an angry sky.XV
With bulging eyes the huge beast fell.
And down Makoba’s wooded dell
The echo of his gurgling groan
Resounded like a demon-moan.
XVI
The victor in this fearful fight,
Though torn and bleeding, in full sight
Waved high his arm in pardoned pride,
Where watchers ranged the steep hill-side;
Then stooped and from the carcass drew
The smoking entrails, these he threw
Into the pit he’d sworn should hold
The panther, or the chieftain bold;
And still the day-god’s level ray
Had stretched no farther down the day.
Such was the Chief whose warrior-band
Had come to aid Coomassie land.
Seventy-six

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f	warm »pwXVII
Jumbala called Mukunji-po.
“Take you command brave Chief, I go;
For I your king have but now learned
From a bold sentinel returned,
That scouting o’er yon highland-steeps
An English chieftain vigil keeps,
To spy the forest-glades which hold
Mashanti’s warriors tried and bold;
An outpost of the English pride
Who noble Prempey hath defied,
And ’tis to prove their boasted might,
I go alone this chief to fight.”
He spoke, and from his ambush went,
Up the steep path his steps he bent.
XVIII
The Englishman with scornful glance
Smiled at the Kongo chief’s advance,
And watched his nimble, crouching stride;
The swaying form, from side to side
Seemed like some lithsome jungle-thing
Testing his sinews for a spring.
Seventy-nineThe nostrils swelled, the eyes shot fire,
And like a panther in his ire
He sprang. But swift as changing light
The English soldier’s dagger bright,
Its vivid gleam like lightning sped
To meet the charging chieftain’s head.
XX
But swift as was the soldier’s skill,
The Kongo chief was swifter still.
’Ere Gordon’s puzzled wits could show
The purpose of his jungfffoe—
A grip like tightened iron band
Had wrenched the dagger from his hand.
Jumbala threw the soldier’s blade
Far in the thickly wooded glade,
And fixed his calm gaze full upon
The baffled, raging Englishman.XXI
Now Gordon was a soldier bold,
With thews of steel and heart of gold,
Such as proud English’s battles fight,
And builds her tow’ring Empire’s might.
His stubborn strength he knew full well—
And many a vanquished wight could tell
How he had won his camp-fire fame
Hard-fisted in the soldier’s game.
XXII
He watched the Kongo chief apace,
With quickened pulse and pride of raceH
And planned to fell with mighty blow
This savage and presumptuous foe.
XXIII
One forward feint did Gordon make;
When backwards like a writhing snake
The wily jungle-chieftain stept
And on the foe his eyes he kept.
E*gbVy-oneAgain, the Englishman's advance
Evoked a cunning, mocking glance,
And farther o’er the sandy lea
Retreats th’ elusive enemy
Who turned, and down the sloping mead,
Fleet-footed runs with quickened speed.
XXIV
The white man in triumphant glee
Pursues the fleeing enemy.
Now he will show his boasted might—
How single-handed in this fight
An Englishman had brought with ease
A Kongo Chieftain to his knees.
XXV
But short the race, and scarce could tell
The Englishman what had befell;
So deadly swift Jumbala turned,
So deadly sure his purpose burned.
Eighty-twoThis crafty chieftain, jungle-horn,
Held light the English soldier’s scorn,
And trusted to his native skill
To turn the deadly odds at will.
Onwards th’ unwitting Gordon sped,
When, crafty as the jungle-bred
Jumbala dropped on bended knee,
And faced the charging enemy.
XXVII
He cupped his knotted, sinewy hands
Close to the hard and trodden sands,
And in a grim, relentless clutch,
'Ere Gordon’s foot the ground could touch
He caught and hurled; the soldier sped
Up, up and backwards o’er his head.
Five full lengths as the panther leaps,
The writhing, rolling carcass sweeps
The jutting stones which slope their way
Where Kongo’s hidden ambush lay.
Jumbala joined his waiting host,
Without a word, without a boast.A slinking jackal called his mate
Back to their covered lair—to wait.
And watching vultures patient soar
Adown the Volta’s turgid shore.
XXVIII
The English Colonel paced his tent,
His sun-baked brow with care was bent,
He spoke his aide, who waiting stood
Marking the Colonel’s down-cast mood.
XXIX
“If Prempey’s Muslim allies come—
Then England’s arms must meet their doom.
For wild and fierce, from West and North
Their boldest warriors ride forth,
And soon Mashanti’s stubborn land
Begirt as with an iron band,^
Will hold at hay the English host
To writhe beneath proud Prempey’s boast.”
EighVy-fourXXX
“E’en now, the Muslim horde advance
With bloody scimitar and lance
Wild riding down the Volta lea.
From Foutah’s plains to Timannee,
The Prophet’s banners flaunt the breeze
That strip the hardy forest trees.”
XXXI
“If South, from wide Sangara’s ford
But ride Samadu’s desert-horde;
The day is ours, for distant then, %
No aid can bring Mashanti’s men.
If from Sangara, East they ride,
Then who can stem the fearful tide?
Not so are England’s battles won—
Sword for a sword, and gun for gun;
But foes divide, by trick and wile,
And so the Victory beguile.”
EigUhj-f»ve
-fourXXXII
“Know you Bu-Gay the Fanti king
Who did a plea for mercy bring?
The sleek Bu-Gay, whose brow I hear
Doth itch Mashanti’s crown to wear?
He, outlawed from Mashanti’s folds
No love Mashanti’s sov’reign holds,
But burns to work King Prempey ill
And so his shrinking coffers fill!
And light should be the task to show,
That while the English fight their foe,
Still in their fair and gen’rous hands
Their friends’ reward reposing stands.”
XXXIII
“Find you Bu-Gay, the Fanti chief!
Bid him ride fast by town and fief
To meet Samadu’s Muslim horde,
Speeding to reach Sangara’s ford!
If from Sangara, South they ride,
Then England’s arms may stem the tide!”XXXIV
Noon-tide. Beside Sangara’s glen
Halted Samadu’s desert-men.
For call to prayer and light repast,
Their qaftans on the sand dunes cast,
And mufti sounds the muezzin’s call—■
“Give praise to Allah! One and all!
For God is Great! And but One God
Rules sky and sea and boundless sod!”
XXXV
And vast as Ocean’s swelling tide
A thousand voices thus replied.	*
“We know that God is Good and Great,
And holds the rule of Time and Fate—
Then Blest be God from near and far!
Allah Tai-yib! Allah Akhbar!”
Eighty-seven

XXXVI
But scarce the muezzin's call had died,
When from the distance they espied
A horseman, thund’ring in his haste
Across the wide-stretched desert-waste.
The lazy dunes in dust-wreaths rise,
And spread like cloud-banks to the skies
And on he speeds to reach the glen
Where camps Samadu and his men.
XXXVII
Swiftly alighting from his steed
Who barely checks his onward speed,
He kneels upon the rolling sands;
With head bent low and out-stretched hands
He cries aloud the Muslim call—
“Allah Akhbar! The God of all!”
Comes the reply, “Allah Akhbar !jg
Was-i-yat ul lahi, ul-jar!”
“Speak now in Allah’s Name!” They cried,
“Who in bold haste the desert ride!”V?/	'"¿r V ■-' •	;,' jj „ *.. ¿Hrjr	J - •’• f	’ • •
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XXXVIII
And spoke Bu-Gay, whom England’s gold
Made traitor to Mashanti’s fold.
“This message from Mashanti’s king,
To you Samadu, Chief, I bring!
He bids you as you love our cause,
Ride fast, without a stop or pause
South! From Sangara’s open plain,
Where Prah runs through the Dunkwa main!
There gathers England’s proud outpost!
There ride Mashanti’s warrior-host!”
XXXIX
Loud rattle scimitar and lance,
And restless steeds, high-mettled prance
And scarcely wait the tribesmen’s leap
To saddle, e’re the sandy sweep,
Their thund’ring hoofs dispelling, rise
To wrap the purpled desert skies.
Samadu’s hordes, by traitor-word
Ride South, from broad Sangara’s ford!
Eighty-"'"*XL
But now Mashanti’s fleet scouts bring
Their tidings to Coomassie’s king,
Who with a thousand spear-men hold,
A covered forest-ambush hold.
They tell that England’s van-guard come
Unwitting of the threatened doom.
A thousand strong, with bayonets bright,
And Snyders gleaming in the light.
March on, brave men, ’tis yours to heed!
And yours to die for England’s greed!
XLI
Coomassie’s king now gave command!
Back sped each black, sinewed right hand, .
And each, a polished, toughened haft
Held gripped, with each a poisoned shaft.
“Let speed your spears!’’ The chieftain cried,
“Mashanti’s god their pathway guide!”XLII
Swift part the miamossa leaves
A moment where each weapon cleaves
Then, close, and naught remains to show
Whence struck this dread, relentless foe—
Save a few twigs and vagrant leaves
Scattered along the tangled eaves.
Died on the lips the ribald boast
Of England's gay, bespangled host,
And hushed the voice that urst did sing
In swaggering tones, “God Save The King!”
XLIII
A thousand spears are red with gore!
A thousand fall—to rise no more!
The blood of England’s gallant band
Bestrew Dunk-awa’s brown-white sand!
XLIV
But tidings ill the king was brought
By men who for Coomassie fought.
“Fly, Prempey, fly! The battle’s lost!
What though proud England paid the cost!
I
Ninety-one
■■Though Dunk-awa and Esmacow
Saw England’s blood like red wine flow?
Bold, black men from the Western lands
Who do the English king’s commands
Are thund’ring at Coomassie’s gate!
Ill augurs of Coomassie’s fate!
Red flames illume the Eastern sky!
Coomassie burns! King Prempey fly!”
XLV
King Prempey reached his palace gate
In breathless haste, but all too late;
For doughty troops from Western Isle
O’er the embattled watch-towers pile.
A thousand come—and thousands more
Though haggared and bespecked with gore—
They scale the thunder-riven wall
Now tott’ring for the fateful fall,
And swarm the battered iron gate
Like demons in their war-made hate.
XLVI
He glanced o’er grim Coomassie’s plain,
Where thousands of his warriors slain,
Had nobly fought, and bravely died
To stem the overwhelming tide.And Houssa, Zouave and gay Dragoon
Mingled their hoarse and dying croon,
Where but a few short hours had seen
Soft dews bedeck the evergreen.
XLVII
With sorr’wing mein King Prempey turned
His gaze from where his Empire burned.
“For this, Kwamina’s valliant hand
Had bid a mighty nation stand U
Tutu the Great, Kwesi, Kudjo,
Subdued an unregen’rate foe!
And all is lost! O Unjust Fate!”
Sighing, he left the palace gate
And sought his Council hall alone,
And sat upon his Golden Throne.
XLVIII
They found him there, proud England’s men.
Mashanti’s Lion in his den.
And nobler heart ne’er broke or hied
Than broke this heart, to exile led!Epilogue
ED embers flicker through the gloom
as smould’ring ashes make her tomb!
But who shall say, “the lust-mad fire
That lit Coomassie’s funeral pyre
Put out, with the last tortured cry
iged it’s protest to the sky?”
For who can tell where hides the spark,
Enkindled in Greed’s Caverns Dark?
The pick of the doughty Second West
Who had gone and done their King’s behest;
Are back to Jamaica’s sun-lit land—
A blue-green gem in the coral strand.
But England’s King he had sought their aid,
For England’s Might had been sore afraid.
FINIS
That wi
Ninety-six
m.j	•nmmmrn'tIRotes to Conquest of Coomasste
COOMASSIE—COOSMASSIE the capital of that great West
African Confederacy known as Mashanti, was built by Osai
Tutu the Great, early in the 17th Century.
I would much rather attribute Baden-Powell’s definition of
the name COOMASSIE (Kumasi, as he spells it) to sublime
ignorance of the Ochi language, than to any more sinister mo-
tive. This writer erringly states on page 23 in his book, “The
DVwn-fall of Prempey,” that “In the first place, the name
Kumasi mean ‘The Death-place’.”
In reality, the name COMASSIE, or Kumassie, is derived from
two root-words of the Ochi tongue: “Assie” meaning a town
or village, and “Okum” a species of tree held in reverence by
the Mashanti people. This definition is further sustained by
the fact that, the abundance ofl “’Odum” trees gave the name
“Odumassie” to another town about twenty miles east of COO-
MASSIE.
Page 3, Lines 1 and 2—
The pick of the doughty Second West
On their way to do the king’s behest.
—The Second West Indian Regiment is recruited from the en-
tire British West Indies, but mostly with a predominance of
the hardy Jamaican and Barbadian.
This Regiment of black fighters has for nearly a century,
served England well in many a hard-pressed Colonial, as well
as Continental campaign; for instance, the force that marched
on COOMASSIE in 1873-4, commanded by Sir Garnet Wolsey,
consisted of eight battalions; two of which were West In-
dians, one Houssa (native Africans) two of Nigerians and
other native allies of England, and three of English. Of the
English, there were, one battalion of marines and sailors, one
battery of artillery, and one of Royal Engineers. ^
Page 3, Lines 5-6—
For England’s king he had sought their aid,
For England’s might it was sore afraid.
NmeVy-vuneHe—Following are extracts from communications between, the
British War Office, and the Cape Coast Government during the
war of 1897:
Enclosure No. 27, War Office to Officer commanding troops at
Sierra/ Leone, Jan. 15th, 1897:
Hgend at once to Niger Protectorate under proper charge, 100
men 2nd battalion West Indian Regiment. Protectorate
steamer ®vy” now lying at Bonnay awaiting instructions will
carry troops.
Enclosure No. 33. Captain Gallway to Marquis of Salisbury,
Bonnay, June 17th, 1897.
Returned from interior yesterday. Proceed to Benin City to-
day. Will keep you fully informed. Respectfully suggest,
strong force necessary. Benin City in ferment. Co-operation
of West Indian Regiment and Lagos Constabulary advisable.
Page 4, Lines 15-16—
He swore by dread Ak-kromanti’s Shrine
That England’s blood it should run like wine.
—Osai Tutu the Great, founder of the Mashanti Confederacy,
was waylaid and killed while on an expedition in the year 1720,
at a place called Ak-kromanti. The most binding oath sworn
by the Mashanti today, is by “Ak-kromanti Mememeda,” on the
head Of Osai Tutu.
The oath of Ak-kromanti Mememeda was taken by King
Kofli Kalkalli, King Kobina Mensa, King Bu-Gay and other
native kings in their wars against the English. One of these,
King Bu-Gay, being influenced by the English, turned traitor
to the Mashanti cause.
Page 9, Lines 13-14—
'Twas so to Coomassie land they came,
The English traitors, in England’s name.
g||l quote from Henry M. Stanley’s work “Coomassie and Mag-
dala,” published in London in 1874:
“How then will you answer the question why England has
taken up arms against Ashanti?”...... “Because it promises
to be a gain to her. There is no reason at all why she should
not try to make Ashanti tributary to her. King Koffee is too
rich a neighbor to be left all alone with his riches, with his
One-hundredtons cff gold-dust and his accumulations of wealth to him-
sel.”
Page 10, Lines 9-10—
What though you swore on the white king’s hands
And the Golden Axe at Windsor stands?
—The Golden Axe was a symbol of treaty to the Mashanti. It
was present at the signing of the treaties between Mashanti
and England, both of 1863 and 1873; then, as evidence of their
friendship and good faith, the Golden Axe was sent from COO-
MASSIE as a present tcf Queen Victoria at Windsor Castle,
England, in the year 1874.
The blade of this Axe was of iron signifying Strength, the
haft of pure gold to signify Wealth, while the haft being
bound around with leopard-skin, symbolized CourageJ| It was
held in great reverence by the Mashanti, and, resting on a
cushion of richly embroidered velvet, it always preceded the
Royal' Golden Stool in State precessions.
Page 16, Lines 7-8—
These tell how Memnon’s Ancient Shrine
Reflected back morn’s first sunshine.
—The Vocal Memnon is said to have had concealed in it’s head,
mechanism so sensitive® that the first rays of the rising sun
set it in operation, giving out a sound of the human voice;
that at sound erf the voice, soft dews would descend on the
statue, which were the tears of Eos the mother of Memnon, shed
upon the head of her beloved son.
Page 24, Lines 13-14—
’Tis Sakro-Bundu’s mystic drum
Whose echoes from the midnight come.
—The Sakro-Bundu is an African Secret Order, whose origin is
lost in antiquity. It’s obligations are so binding that no Euro-
pean has been able to learn any of it’s secrets. It is a semi-
religious, semi-civic order similar to the familiar “masonic” of
the Caucasian. The power it wields in civic, economc, moral
and natonal affairs are dreaded even by Europeans.
Page 45, Line 7—
The muezzin’s call shall girt the land.
—The muezzin is the bell which, chiming from the minaret of
the Mosque, five times a day, calls the devout Muslim to prayer.
It is here used as symbolic of the time spoken of in the Holy
One-Vwmdrecl-one19:

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Qu-ran, when the faith of the Holy Prophet Muhammed (may
peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) shall be the
faith of the teeming millions of Africa, united' under the ban-
ner of Islam.
Page 48, Lines 1-2—
King Prempey sent the Golden Spear
To Afric’s chieftains far and near.
—A Golden Spear was sent by ambassadors to certain native
african kings and chiefs whose aid was desired in making
war. If the spear was received, and a certain prescribed cere-
mony performed in the presence of the messengers, the recipient
was then indissolubly bound in an offensive and defensive al-
liance to the king by whom the Spear was sent.
Page 50, Lines 17-18—
Samadu’s desert horsemen hear
The message of The Golden Spear.
—Northeast of Sierra Leone, in that vast watershed of the Niger
where flows in serpentine windings, the Black, the Red and the
White Yolta, all tributaries of/ the great Volta; is a powerful
Muslim kingdom whose dusky Emir Samadu, is dreaded even
through endless leagues of the hinterland.
In 1893 his Muslim cohorts swept the French Colony of Sen-
egal with fire and sword, beating their best native levies, al-
though strengthened by picked detachments of white troops.
Samadu formed an alliance- with the powerful Mashanti. king-
dom ,and it was only by a clever ruse that he was kept from
assisting King Prempey in the campaign of. 1900.
Page 52|Lines 17-18—
Be strong right arm! Proud nations tell,
Asant-awa loved Freedom well!
—Asant-awa, Queen-Mother of Mashanti, actually commanded
a column of fighters defending COOMASSIE in the campaign
of 1900.
At Kokofu she put up so stubborn a resistance, as to compel
Captain Hall with his picked West Yorkshire Regiment to fall
back on Esumeja, leaving the road open for the Kokofu allies
to join the main body at COOMASSIE.
In reply to a demand from Colonel Wilcocks for surrender
she replied,^ that she “would rather die fighting than to sur-
render.”
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(it;:Page 6 5, Lines 5-6—
Exposing thus to eager sight
Mashanti’s Sov’reign Throne of Light.
—The Golden Throne of Mashanti is strikingly similar to the
Royal Stools of ancient Egypt, paintings of which have been
discovered on the tombs of the kings at Thebes.
The seat is crescent-shape. A beautifully carved central
column supporting the seat, rests on a flat pedestalB On two
sides of the column are screen-supports, whose carvings are
so wondrously artistic, as to resemble beautifully wrought lace
work.
The Golden Stool is symbolic of Sovereignty; and no ruler’s
claim to the sovereignty of Mashanti is complete, until in actual
possession of the Golden Stool.
Page 69, Lines 17-18—
And hard by dread Bantammah’s fief
Now bleach the bones of England’s chief.
—At Bantammah was the treasure-house or museum of Ma-
shanti. This building was filled with costly specimen, gold
dust, ingots, bars of solid gold, priceless gems, rings, chains,
gorgeous silks, satins, and other objects of vast wealth which
greatly excited the cupdity of the English, and resulted in
more than one ill-fated expedition.
In 1823, Sir Charles McCarthy and six hundred other English-
men attempted to reach Bantammah. They were met at a
place called Esmacow by the Mashanti, and in the battle/ that
followed, the entire English force was annihilated. The
breached skull of Sir Charles was afterwards hung in the trea-
sure-house at Bantammah.
Page 87, Line 14—
Allah Tai-yib! Allah Akhbar!
—God is good! God is great!
Page 88, Line 16—
Was-i-yat ul lahi, ul-jar,
—Love ye your fellow-man, for this is God’s command!
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