exception having been made for Kwame’s father when he returned victorious and his warriors vied for the honour of bending their backs to bear Adusei Kra. And here was a white man borne by six black backs. This had never been seen in Kumasi. I stole a glance at the Asantehene, expecting him to take punitive measures. He did not bat an eyelid.
When the whole delegation was in formation, my father accepted his gifts and gave the signal for leave-taking, without granting Verveer so much as a glance. This gave rise to some consternation among the Hollanders. In order to attract attention to themselves they ordered the band to strike up yet again. That helped. Kwaku Dua halted and listened. Verveer declared through his interpreter that this piece of music had been composed for the occasion and that it was entitled “March for the King of Ashanti.” But I looked in the eyes of his officers and knew this was a lie. Years later I recognized the tune as part of Der Freischütz , a rousing piece of music by von Weber, which was played to general acclaim at parades in Vienna and Paris.
My father was won over. The guests were directed to a stone building with a Dutch tricolour flying from the roof. It had been erected, the Asantehene informed them through his speaker, especially for the Hollanders. Another lie.
When the Dutch officials presented themselves that afternoon we made them wait for a suitable length of time. They carried their own chairs, which they put down in the forecourt, and there was a moment of alarm when they almost turned back because they deemed the place unfitting for their station and because they were not received forthwith. My father sent some dignitaries to explain that the European measurement of hours was unknown to us. Consequently they were invited to come back the next morning.
The following day Verveer again presented my father with a cuirass. The resident of Fort Axim put it on and strutted about to display the beautiful workmanship. My father put his thumb in his mouth and gave several shouts of admiration, but stayed on guard nonetheless. He asked if the cuirass did not warrant the use of epaulettes, whereupon Verveer removed his and handed them to my father, which was precisely what he had in mind. The Hollander was over-confident. He let it be known that it was customary in his homeland to find the doors of friends open to them, while the doors of enemies would be opened by force of arms. Needless to say, the next morning, 15 February, the palace gates remained closed to him.
From van Drunen’s report:
By the 16th the Asantehene showed himself to be more accommodating, and sent us eight persons from his court accompanied by four speakers. They came bringing gold dust: 6 ounces 8 English pounds for the governor; 2 ounces 8 Eng. for his second in command; the secretary, resident and physician together received 4 ounces 8 Eng.; the assistant and interpreter together 1 ounce 2 Eng.; the white servants 9 Eng.; the black servants 9 Eng. Altogether 16 ounces 9 Eng. gold dust, all wrapped in fine silken cloths. This did not add up to a one hundredth fraction of the expenses of our expedition! Also an ox, a pig, six sheep, ten guinea fowl, and two hundred chicken eggs were brought. In addition ten slaves arrived with a supply of pineapples, eight with sugar cane, forty-six with yams, fourteen with African nuts, fourteen others with sundry vegetables. One thousand and twenty-five slaves were laden with bananas, twenty-one with firewood and two with palm wine, making up a total of eleven hundred and forty bearers. In the meantime jesters arrived, mainly repulsive dwarfs and hunchbacks, who lurched about for the purpose of amusing Verveer. To no avail.
But on the 17th the governor-general made a cunning move to speed up the ceremonials. Having presented the Asantehene with champagne, confectioneries, toilet water, two pier glasses, two flower vases and a mantel clock, the governor-general requested
When the whole delegation was in formation, my father accepted his gifts and gave the signal for leave-taking, without granting Verveer so much as a glance. This gave rise to some consternation among the Hollanders. In order to attract attention to themselves they ordered the band to strike up yet again. That helped. Kwaku Dua halted and listened. Verveer declared through his interpreter that this piece of music had been composed for the occasion and that it was entitled “March for the King of Ashanti.” But I looked in the eyes of his officers and knew this was a lie. Years later I recognized the tune as part of Der Freischütz , a rousing piece of music by von Weber, which was played to general acclaim at parades in Vienna and Paris.
My father was won over. The guests were directed to a stone building with a Dutch tricolour flying from the roof. It had been erected, the Asantehene informed them through his speaker, especially for the Hollanders. Another lie.
When the Dutch officials presented themselves that afternoon we made them wait for a suitable length of time. They carried their own chairs, which they put down in the forecourt, and there was a moment of alarm when they almost turned back because they deemed the place unfitting for their station and because they were not received forthwith. My father sent some dignitaries to explain that the European measurement of hours was unknown to us. Consequently they were invited to come back the next morning.
The following day Verveer again presented my father with a cuirass. The resident of Fort Axim put it on and strutted about to display the beautiful workmanship. My father put his thumb in his mouth and gave several shouts of admiration, but stayed on guard nonetheless. He asked if the cuirass did not warrant the use of epaulettes, whereupon Verveer removed his and handed them to my father, which was precisely what he had in mind. The Hollander was over-confident. He let it be known that it was customary in his homeland to find the doors of friends open to them, while the doors of enemies would be opened by force of arms. Needless to say, the next morning, 15 February, the palace gates remained closed to him.
From van Drunen’s report:
By the 16th the Asantehene showed himself to be more accommodating, and sent us eight persons from his court accompanied by four speakers. They came bringing gold dust: 6 ounces 8 English pounds for the governor; 2 ounces 8 Eng. for his second in command; the secretary, resident and physician together received 4 ounces 8 Eng.; the assistant and interpreter together 1 ounce 2 Eng.; the white servants 9 Eng.; the black servants 9 Eng. Altogether 16 ounces 9 Eng. gold dust, all wrapped in fine silken cloths. This did not add up to a one hundredth fraction of the expenses of our expedition! Also an ox, a pig, six sheep, ten guinea fowl, and two hundred chicken eggs were brought. In addition ten slaves arrived with a supply of pineapples, eight with sugar cane, forty-six with yams, fourteen with African nuts, fourteen others with sundry vegetables. One thousand and twenty-five slaves were laden with bananas, twenty-one with firewood and two with palm wine, making up a total of eleven hundred and forty bearers. In the meantime jesters arrived, mainly repulsive dwarfs and hunchbacks, who lurched about for the purpose of amusing Verveer. To no avail.
But on the 17th the governor-general made a cunning move to speed up the ceremonials. Having presented the Asantehene with champagne, confectioneries, toilet water, two pier glasses, two flower vases and a mantel clock, the governor-general requested
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