I see no reason why the people
should not have an 'Ashantimile' at the Volta mouth; and I shall presently
return to this subject.
Hardly was Governor Ussher buried than troubles began. Mr. Edmund Watt, a
young District-commissioner at Cape Coast Castle, officially reported to
Lieutenant-Governor W. B. Griffith, subsequently Administrator of Lagos,
that Opoku, 'King' of Bekwa (Becquah), had used language tending to a
breach of the peace. This commander-in-Chief of the Ashanti forces in
1873-74 had publicly sworn in his sober senses at Kumasi, and in presence
of the new king, Kwamina Osai Mensah, that he would perforce reduce
Adansi, the hill-country held to be the southern boundary of Ashanti-land.
Such a campaign would have been an infraction of treaty, or at least a
breach of faith: although the province is not under the protection of the
Colonial Government, King Kofi Kalkali [Footnote: This ruler succeeded his
father, King Kwako Dua, in 1868; and his compulsory abdication is
considered to have been an ill-advised measure.] had promised to respect
its independence and to leave it unmolested.
Lieutenant-Governor Griffith lost no time in forwarding the report to the
Colonial Office, adding sundry disquieting rumours which supported his
suspicions.
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