By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti WarHenty, G. A. (George Alfred)
General
By Sheer Pluck: A Tale of the Ashanti War
Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)
Ashanti war, 1873-1874 -- Juvenile fiction
When night fell Mr. Goodenough fastened a sheet against the outside of
the chief's hut, and then placed a magic lantern in position ten paces
from it. The Fans were then invited to gather round and take their seats
upon the ground. A cry of astonishment greeted the appearance of the
bright disk. This was followed by a wilder yell when this was darkened,
and an elephant bearing some men sitting on his back was seen to cross
the house. The men leaped to their feet and seized their spears. The
women screamed, and Ostik, who was himself somewhat alarmed, had great
difficulty in calming their fears and persuading them to sit down
again, assuring them that they would see many wonderful things, but that
nothing would hurt them.
The next view was at first incomprehensible to many of them. It was a
ship tossing in a stormy sea; but some of those present had been down to
the mouth of the river, and these explained to the others the nature
of the phenomenon. In all there were twenty slides, all of which were
provided with movable figures; the last two being chromatropes, whose
dancing colors elicited screams of delight from the astonished natives.
This concluded the performance, but for hours after it was over the
village rang with a perfect Babel of shouts, screams, and chatter.
The whole thing was to the Fans absolutely incomprehensible, and their
astonishment was equalled by their awe at the powers of the white men.
The next two days they remained at Olenga, as word was sent up to
Itchongue, the next town, asking the chief there for leave to come
forward. The people had now begun to get over their first timidity,
and when Frank went out for a walk after breakfast he was somewhat
embarrassed by the women and girls crowding round him, feeling his
clothes and touching his hands and face to assure themselves that these
felt like those of human beings. He afforded them huge delight by taking
off his Norfolk jacket and pulling up the sleeves of his shirt to show
them that his arms were the same color as his hands, and so elated were
they with this exhibition that it was with great difficulty that he
withstood their entreaties that he would disrobe entirely. Indeed, Ostik
had at last to come to his rescue and carry him off from the laughing
crowd by which he was surrounded.
After dinner Mr. Goodenough invited the people to sit down in a vast
circle holding each other's hands. He then told them that he should at
a word make them all jump to their feet. Then taking out a small but
powerful galvanic battery, he arranged it and placed wires into the
hands of the two men nearest to him in the great circle.
“Now,” he said, “when I clap my hands you will find that you are all
obliged to jump up.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account