CHAPTER IX.
ROAD-MAKER AND BUILDER King Prempeh was the first celebrity to receive the attention of B.-P.
In his capital of Kumassi, which being interpreted is "the death-place," this miserable barbarian had been practising the most odious cruelties for many years, ignoring British remonstrances, and failing, like another African potentate, to keep his word to successive British Governments.

Among the Ashantis at this time (1895) the blood-lust had got complete dominion, and the sacrifice of human life in the capital of their kingdom was so appalling that England was at last obliged to buckle on her armour.

To quote B.-P.

in a characteristic utterance: "To the Ashanti an execution was as attractive an entertainment as is a bull-fight to a Spaniard, or a football match to an Englishman." Even the most coddled schoolboy will appreciate the force of this comparison.
To give a general idea of these cruelties we will quote a vivid passage from Baden-Powell's book, _The Downfall of Prempeh_: "Any great public function was seized on as an excuse for human sacrifices.
There was the annual yam custom, or harvest festival, at which large numbers of victims were often offered to the gods.

The late king went every quarter to pay his devotions to the shades of his ancestors at Bantama, and this demanded the deaths of twenty men over the great bowl on each occasion.