COOMASSIE, or Kumassi, the capital of Ashantee, in Guinea, West Africa, in 6° 34' 50" N. lat. and 2° 12' W. long., and 130 miles N.N.W. of Cape Coast Castle, is situated on a low rocky eminence, from which it extends across a valley to the hill opposite, and occupies an area of about 1⅜ miles in length and over 3∣ miles in circumference. It lies in the midst of a thick and jungly forest, and is nearly surrounded by a pestilential swamp. The town was founded in the middle of the 18th century by Sy Tutu. At the time of its capture by the British (February 4, 1874) it consisted of numerous streets, some of which were broad and regular; the main avenue was 70 yards in length. The houses were painted red and white, and had alcoves and stuccoed façades. The king’s palace, a handsome building, was blown up on the destruction and evacuation of the town by Wolseley’s forces (February 6). About 300 yards from the site of the palace is the grove into which the bodies of some thousand criminals and victims of the rites of Ashantee superstitions were yearly cast. Coomassie has a considerable trade with Central Africa. Bowdich estimated its population at 18,000. See Ashantee, vol. ii. p. 681-