We print this morning another letter from our correspondent at the headquarters of the British army in the land of the Ashantees. Although we have had later accounts by cable telegraph, this letter will be found full of interest. At the date of our correspondent’s letter the answer to Sir Garnet Wolseley’s third ultimatum had just been received. Our correspondent was privileged to meet the Rev. Mr. Kuhne, of the Basle Mission, who had been a prisoner in the Ashantee capital since June 1869. On the 14th of January this man was set at liberty, and his sudden appearance in the camp, coupled with the wretched condition of bodily health to which he had been reduced, was the occasion of great excitement. In the brief interview with our correspondent Mr. Kuhne imparted much valuable information. Coomassie, according to Mr. Kuhne’s account, has a population of some ten thousand people. He confirms the reports of previous travellers that the King is possessed of immense wealth. At the commencement of the war the Ashantee army comprised forty-eight thousand- men. Like Brigham Young, King Koffee is an admirer of the female sex, and he boasts of a harem of three hundred wives.
The New York Herald, New York, NY March 2, 1874