of splendour and bravery, accompanied by shrewdness, reflection,
and ingenuity, a polish of manner, a taste for arts, and a dexterity,
of manufacture, shewing an advancement that astonishes us in a
people called barbarous. 9
Whence can this difference anse? Not from their natural productions.
The same metals, the same superh vegetation, the: same
soil, the same climate, exist in both countries. Not from their
religion, for what can be more luxurious or splendid than the
Musselmen of the East. Not from their greater intercourse with
strangers, for there the Mandingoes would have the advantage.
Is it not then a further proof of the Egyptian origin of the
Ashantees, suggested by Mr. Bowdich in his Essay on their
superstitions, a fact which would satisfactorily account for
their greater progress towards civilization.
y Essay on the Superstitions, Customs^ and" Arts common to the ancient Egyptians,
Abyssinians, and Ashantees, &c., by T. Edward Bowdich, Esq., Conductor of the
Mission to Ashantee, &c. &c. Paris, 1821.