To Kumassi with Scott: a description of a journey from Liverpool to Kumassi with the Ashanti expedition, 1895-6.
Published in London by Wightman, 1896.
Preface ...
The 1895-6 Expedition to Ashanti took place at a time when the British Empire was in a ferment; wars and rumours of wars abounded on all sides. Excitement ran high, and in the midst of the turmoil, the operations in West Africa were forgotten or put aside for matters of more pressing import. Newspapers were full; the international troubles caused much pressure on their space, and little beyond brief telegrams on the movements of the force, was published ; therefore, a more comprehensive account of the expedition will be of interest to many.
The campaign was a bloodless one, but none the less heroic; for that march to Kumassi, through dense forest and deadly swamp, was fraught with perils more to be dreaded than the arms of the savage Ashantis.
The British force marched 140 miles through the jungle, leaving numbers on the road, sick of fever and dysentery. They invested the capital; the King and his chiefs were captured, the bloody fetish power destroyed, and the force, sadly reduced by sickness, returned to the coast, having freed a large district from the tyranny of a bloodthirsty despot and opened up a vast territory to trade and civilization.
This record of the expedition is chiefly comprised of a series of articles and letters written at different times and places on the journey from England to the Gold Coast and on the march up country, which I have endeavoured to make of general interest by touching on the habits and customs of the people, digressing somewhat from a formal account of the campaign alone. The march did not lack interesting incidents, especially as we drew near to and entered Kumassi, and I have attempted to faithfully portray these various scenes on the road.
Preface ...
The 1895-6 Expedition to Ashanti took place at a time when the British Empire was in a ferment; wars and rumours of wars abounded on all sides. Excitement ran high, and in the midst of the turmoil, the operations in West Africa were forgotten or put aside for matters of more pressing import. Newspapers were full; the international troubles caused much pressure on their space, and little beyond brief telegrams on the movements of the force, was published ; therefore, a more comprehensive account of the expedition will be of interest to many.
The campaign was a bloodless one, but none the less heroic; for that march to Kumassi, through dense forest and deadly swamp, was fraught with perils more to be dreaded than the arms of the savage Ashantis.
The British force marched 140 miles through the jungle, leaving numbers on the road, sick of fever and dysentery. They invested the capital; the King and his chiefs were captured, the bloody fetish power destroyed, and the force, sadly reduced by sickness, returned to the coast, having freed a large district from the tyranny of a bloodthirsty despot and opened up a vast territory to trade and civilization.
This record of the expedition is chiefly comprised of a series of articles and letters written at different times and places on the journey from England to the Gold Coast and on the march up country, which I have endeavoured to make of general interest by touching on the habits and customs of the people, digressing somewhat from a formal account of the campaign alone. The march did not lack interesting incidents, especially as we drew near to and entered Kumassi, and I have attempted to faithfully portray these various scenes on the road.
GEORGE C MUSGRAVE
Folkestone, June, 1896
Folkestone, June, 1896
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