made him profound obeisance, while
some members of the retinue snapped fingers with several of the Arabs,
and the usual teetotal ceremony of drinking water to "cool the heads"
was gone through. The inspection was a keen one, each of us being passed
in review before the Ocra, who made brief comments to the Arabs at his
side. As Omar passed the dark-faced official scrutinised him carefully
and seemed interested to learn what the leader of the slave caravan told
him in a tongue unknown to me regarding us both, for his gaze wandered
from my companion to myself, and I was at once called out to pass before
his keen glance. We were both kept there several minutes while the Arab
presumably explained how we had been entrapped at the court of Samory. At
last, however, we were allowed to retire, and very soon afterwards the
great Ocra moved forward into the next court, followed by a couple of
youths bearing long knives and a thin, lean-looking wretch with a stool
curiously carved from a solid block of cotton wood, richly embellished
with gold ornaments.

When he had gone I cast myself upon the ground in the shadow beside Omar,
saying:

"After all, it would have been better if we had died in the woods than to
endure this torture of waiting for execution."

"Yes," he answered, gloomily. "That Ocra who has just inspected us was
Betea, a bitter enemy of my mother. He is certain to revenge himself upon
us."

But even as he spoke we heard the adulatory shouts of the royal crier
somewhere in our vicinity. They were more than sufficient to transform
any man, white or black, into a vain despot, and as translated by Omar
were in the strain of:

"O, King, thou art the king above all kings! Thou art great! Thou art
mighty! Thou art strong! Thou hast done enough! The princes of the earth
bow down to thee, and humble themselves in the dust before thy stool.
Who is like unto the King of all the Ashantis?"

It was the preliminary of the great sacrifice!

King Prempeh, though arrogant, vain and cruel beyond measure, had, we
afterwards saw, the eye of a king, which means that it was the eye of one
possessing unlimited power over life and death. It was the custom for the
king to be placed on the stool by the united voice of the chiefs; but
immediately he was seated in him became vested the supreme power.

Soon the firing of guns and the loud beating of the great _kinkassis_, or
drums ornamented with human skulls, sounded outside the walls