The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

250 WEST APEICA.
route leading througli tlio Upper Prah basin to Cumassi. On this route the chief
military stations are Mansu, 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.
Cunuisui, capital of Ashanti, is a large place nearly 4 miles in cii'cumference,
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 now 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 Inquautfl, 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
necroj)olis or charnel-hoixse of Bantama, 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 aunts.
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.
Juabini, former rival of Cumassi, is stiU a populous place ; Koliofu, Inqitanta, and
Mamiwng, lately capitals of vassal states, were almost completely abandoned at the
time of Kirby's visit in 1874 ; Bccqua, 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 Uijper Prah and
Birim basins, have increased in population and wealth. Insuaini {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. Bonipata, capital of Aldm-Ashanti, lies on a headstream of the Upper Prah,
where it has replaced the now ruined to^-n of Biviranm in the Okwahu uplands.
Here also are the picturesque towns of Wraso in the wooded hilly districts between
the Prah and Volta basins.
East of Cape Coast follow the seaports of Anamahu, Koromantin, Ahemfo or
Sa/t-Pond, so named from the neighbouring salines, Winnchah (Siiiipn), and 90
miles from Cape Coast, the important town of Accra {Nkran or Gn), commanded
by Fort James. Since 1875 the old Danish citadel of Christianshorg 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. Christianshorg, which presents the appear-