there will be hardly any sickness to speak of. The healthy season has hardly yet begun. The second rain season has been exceptionally unhealthy. The officers have suffered from excessive fatigue and exposure; the Marines, from the almost more fatal cause of long delay in Abrakampa, doing nothing-a delay necessary but costly.

"Reconnaissances have been carried on daily, but the result has been practically nil. One is hardly able to think that all the energy that might be expended has been put forth at the advanced post of Mansue. Twice reconnaissances sent out have simply worked in a circle, and got back into the main road again. However, the Ashantees have not yet got far a-head. It will be sufficient indication of their whereabouts, to say that they will probably not get across the Prah for a week.”

"CAPE COAST CASTLE, Dec. 4th.

"We had a rather brisk little skirmish on Thursday, the 28th. I mentioned to you that daily reconnaissances of the enemy's position were being made. One of these was conducted by Colonel Wood on the occasion in question. It consisted almost entirely of his own regiment of native levies. The whole strength was under 300 men. They came upon some of the Ashantees on the southern or near side of Faisoo. These were soon driven in, and Faisoo was occupied by Colonel Wood.

"But it soon appeared that the force upon which he had struck was one of the main divisions of the hostile army. According to the best estimate we have since been able to obtain of it, the numbers were not less than 10,000.

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Evidently it was Colonel Wood's duty to fall back. He had only been sent out to obtain exact information, and his force was much too small to continue the engagement.

"For fully two hours his Kossoos and Houssas had fought capitally. But when the enormous numbers of the enemy began to overlap and to threaten to surround him, the most difficult part of his task began. It was necessary to withdraw his almost undisciplined troops.

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Scarcely any situation more difficult could have been found had his men been highly trained. Savages are not accustomed to such delicate operations as feeling the strength of an enemy, and then withdrawing. They don't understand the value of the information they thus supply to the officer who has the handling, not of them only, but of various other forces. The actual delicacy of Colonel Wood's task may be therefore estimated.

"No doubt the right thing, if it could have been managed, would have been to cover their retreat by a small body of the West Indians. But the number of our West Indians, who are actually available, is very small. It was especially advisable to try the value of our more highly-trained levies. Moreover a force of West Indians, who had been ordered up as a support, arrived somewhat later than had been expected.

"However, to cut a long story short, neither Kossoos nor Houssas approved of the slow, orderly, measured retreat which their officers would have prescribed to them. They thought that, as they were to get away from the enemy, the sooner they accomplished that business the better. The retreat became a run, and it

Order

required the utmost exertions of the officers to prevent the run from becoming a panic-stricken rout. was, nevertheless, with much difficulty preserved, and no mischievous result probably happened from the too hurried pace of the retreat. For the men don't look upon such things from our point of view, and will probably be not discouraged in consequence of it, as European troops would undoubtedly have been.

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As

Unluckily a further incident occurred, only too likely to be indicative of what will happen hereafter. 'Wood's Regiment' was retreating in this very un-English style, they came upon a party of carriers who had been sent out under the escort of some of the West Indians to bring the supplies after them. The movement appears to have been caused by the same misunderstanding of orders as had brought the West Indians so late upon the field. In any case the result was singularly unfortunate. The moment the carriers saw the retreating force, they took for granted they had been defeated. Down went all the burdens and off darted the carriers into the bush.

"It was too late that night to collect all that they had dropped. Fortunately the Ashantees had had more than they bargained for. They did not venture on a pursuit, and accordingly there was no difficulty in collecting the following morning almost everything that had been lost. The only articles finally reported missing were two packages, consisting chiefly of condensed meat, and one officer's hammock. There was also one barrel which had been broken open, and some of its contents taken out.

"It is needless to say that Cape Coast, which is war

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ranted on any given occasion to breed rumours, bred them fast enough in the present instance. All sorts of disasters had, of course, occurred. Should any of these rumours find their way into print, you will know exactly what they are worth.

"On the whole, looking at the thing calmly, there can be little doubt that we gained very considerable advantages by this little affair. It is by no means so easy a matter as some of your readers may fancy to ascertain the exact position of several thousand savages in the kind of country we have here. The bush around Mansue and Faisoo differs considerably from most of what I have so often described. It is more clear of underwood, and the large trees are more numerous. But, on the other hand, swamps and bogs are much more frequent. To push, therefore, along the narrow unmapped paths, the character of which is, I hope, by this time familiar in England; to be ready to get men rapidly to the front when danger arises; to move through ground where nothing can be seen twenty yards, often nothing five yards a-head; to do this with a force insignificant in point of numbers, which must not therefore be compromised in a serious fight; not to allow the movement to be checked by dispersed stragglers, but really to find out where force actually is, all this is no easy task.

It must, moreover, be admitted that it is one which has not hitherto been accomplished very satisfactorily since the enemy passed Mansue. Reconnaissance after reconnaissance had returned without ascertaining exactly where the real strength of the enemy near Mansue lay. Empty

camps have been met with, but not the enemy. The result, therefore, of this one as to its main object has been decidedly good, because it has shown that it is possible, with these levies, to sustain a fight at very great odds, and, despite the dense bush, to find out the true position of the enemy by pushing in on him. For the rest, it has proved again, if it were necessary to prove it, that thoroughly trustworthy troops are indispensable for the more delicate operations of a campaign of this kind. The absence of pursuit by the Ashantees appears to indicate great present weakness on their part, probably due to extreme want of ammunition.

"We are anxiously looking for our next mails from you to know whether we are or are not to have English troops sent to us. Sir Garnet Wolseley and Major Baker, the Assistant Adjutant-General, have gone up the country to inspect the various posts and stations, and to see exactly in what condition all the posts for the European troops are. As, however, Sir Garnet has an admirable way of keeping his own plans to himself, and does not always mention all that he intends, not a few of us suspect that more is brewing than appears on the surface. If an order suddenly came down for all the Marines and Blue Jackets available to land and move up to the front, and for the staff, which has not gone with the General, to join him, it would surprise few here. The position of the enemy, as known, in general terms is most tempting, and we cannot help suspecting that more than half of the General's object is to ascertain whether an effective blow can be struck. The quickness with