The break-up of the Ashantee Monarchy, which it was pre-
dicted would result from the English victory, has begun earlier than any one expected. The military fame of the kingdom of Coffee Calcalli was the foundation of its power, and the entry of Sir Garnet Wolseley's army into Coomassie convinced the most sceptical of the West Coast tribes that their old tyrants had found their masters. The Kings of Djuabin and Becqua have declined King Coffee's invitation to renew their homage to him on Hs return to his capital, and it is said that their belief in the warlike superiority of the Ashantees has been so far shaken that they have declared their readiness to resort to force if their independence should be threatened. Such a defiance would until. quite Decently have provoked an invasion, but the Ashantee spirit is daunted, and King Coffee has• appealed to the British Administrator at Cape Coast Castle for assistance. It is no part of our business to win back for the Ashantees the suzerainty they have lost by their own reckless arrogance. But it will be well for our Government to hint to the Coast tribes that while they have a perfect right to repel the aggressions of the Ashantees, the latter have an equal right to claim facilities for trade and free access to the sea. A denial of these would prac- tically starve the inland kingdom to death, and as long as the Ashantees are able to fight at all they cannot be expected to endure this.
