Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 3.djvu/306

250 WEST AFEICA. route leading through the Upper Prah basin to Cumassi. On this route the chief military stations are Marisu, at the confluence of the chief branches of the Prah, and Prahsu, or " Prah-head," on the river of like name, below the junction of the Birim. At the latter station, described as the "key" to Ashanti, the chiefs of that state come to consult or receive the orders of the British authorities. Cumassi, capital of Ashanti, is a large place nearly 4 miles in circumference, situated on an extensive plain watered by a tributary of the Dah, the chief western branch of the Prah. Before the war it was said to have a population of seventy thousand, but since the destruction of the royal palace and neighbouring quarters by the English in 1874, most of the inhabitants have emigrated, and at the time of Lagden's visit in 1883, Cumassi differed little from the other Ashanti villages in the neighbourhood. But in 1884 a great change took place: the trade routes were again opened, thousands of natives returned, and new houses, some with two storeys in the European style, sprang up in all directions. Gold mines are worked in Ashanti, and especially in the provinces of Dadeassi and Inquanta, where the rich deposits of Tarkwa are continued towards the north- east. During the rainy season the gold -seekers wash the sands for the precious dust in the very streets of Cumassi itself. The clouds of vultures and other carrion birds have ceased to hover above this city, and its sacred groves and royal necropolis or charnel-house of ^flfw^amr/, formerly girdled round with dead bodies and reeking with human blood. The last sacrifice appears to have taken place in 1882, at the funeral of one of the king's aimts. In the other Ashanti provinces cities have risen and fallen according to the vicissitudes of peace and war, subsequent to the invasion of the conquering race. Jiiabim, former rival of Cumassi, is still a populous place ; Kokofu, Inquanta, and Mampong, lately capitals of vassal states, were almost completely abandoned at the time of Kirby's visit in 1874 ; Becqua, at one time nearly as populous as Cumassi, was also deserted in 1885 in consequence of an outbreak of small-pox. On the other hand, the more fortunate towns of Akim, in the Upper Prah and Birim basins, have increased in population and wealth. Insuaim {Nsuaem) or Oba, capital of West Akim, near the Birim river, has become one of the great cities of Africa ; Soadra, half a mile to the south, is also a large place, and probably over twenty thousand people are concentrated in a space of about 4 miles round Oba. Bompata, capital of Akim- Ashanti, lies on a headstream of the Upper Prah, where it has replaced the now ruined town of Diciransa in the Okwahu uplands. Here also are the picturesque towns of Wrasn in the wooded hilly districts between the Prah and Yolta basins. East of Cape Coast follow the seaports of Anamahn, Koromaniin, Aliemfo or Salt-Fond, so named from the neighbouring salines, Winnchah (Simpa), and 90 miles from Cape Coast, the important town of Acera {Nkran or Ga), commanded by Fort James. Since 1875 the old Danish citadel of Christ ianshorg^ has been the official capital of the British possessions, but Accra is the chief centre of European life, and the governor resides in the neighbourhood of the fort, which was much damaged by the earthquake of 1862. Christiansborg, which presents the appear-