[Footnote: For instance: 'The gold axe of King Koffee of
Ashantee, lately sent, for an unexplained reason, to the Queen, is
described as a triangular blade of iron, apparently out from a piece of
boiler-plate, roughly stuck into a clumsy handle of African oak. The
handle is covered with leopard-skin, part of which, immediately above the
blade, is deeply soiled, apparently with blood. Bands of thin gold,
enriched with uncouth chevrons and lunettes _en repousse_, are placed
round the handle. The sheath of the blade, which is of tiger (leopard)
skin, accompanies this hideous implement, and attached to it is the sole
element which has anything like artistic merit. This is a nondescript
object of beaten gold, in shape something like a large cockle-shell with
curved horns extending from the hinge, and not inelegantly decorated with
lines and punctures, _en repousse_ and open work of quasi-scrolls.']
Needless to say it was an utter impostor. The real Golden Axe is great
'fetish,' and never leaves either Kumasi or, indeed, the presence of the
King.
The ceremony of delivering the message in the palaver-hall was
satisfactory. Prince Bwaki grasped the knees of Governor Rowe, the
official sign of kneeling.
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