The New York Herald Newspaper, December 15, 1873, Page 4

4 NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1873.—TRIPLE SHEET, Destowed upon nis smiling, 1rge-mouthed, white. teethed, flat-nosed, dusky shipmate of Kruland, I heard the muster-roll of the Kru boys whom Captain Stone, of the Benin, engaged at Grand Sestros, near Cape Palinas, among which 1 distinguished the marine euphorisms of “Pea Soup,” “Jolly Nose,” | ‘ar Bucket,” “Flying Jib,” “Salt Junk,’ “Main- topsail,” “Jack Slush," “Jack-jack,” “Tom Chips,’” “sheet Anchor,” “Cabin Boy,’ “Star Gazer,” “Wool Pate,” “Bill Carbunele,"? “Tom Coy,” “Jack Fry,” “Pete Blink,” “Skylight,” “Mizzen Truck,” “Fore and Aft’? and many more such curious titles. he British sailor, however, regards these as far more adapted Jor his need to distinguish the Kru boys one from another than such names as Kabraklimpsu, Marponotongola, and many other polysyliabics would be. THE IVORY AND GOLD COAST. Leaving the shores of Liberia behind, we come to the ivory coast, the French possessions, which extends as far as the Assinee River, and when once eastward of that river we sal} along the Goid | which has finally come entire, through trans- | fer and purchase, into the hands of the Engiish— | Coas’ trom Assinee River to the Danoe, a coast out 200 miles, or irom longitude 3 deg. west of Greenwich to longitude 1 deg. 29 min. east of Greenwich. ‘The town of Danoe, on the slave coast, serves as a@boundary line between the Britisn possessions and Dahomey to the east of Cape Coast Castle, and the Assinee River marks the boundary be- tween the British possessions and the French possessions to the west of Cape Coast Casile. White the actual British possessions comprise no more than a thin coast line, yet the protectorate, according to the Ashantee Treaty of April 27, 1831, extends north along the parailel of longi- tude 3 deg. west of Greenwich for a distance of nearly 100 miles; but im 1871 the proposed jurisdic- tion was to extend only Lo the southern bank of the Prah or Busum Prah. POPULATION. Within this extensive protectorate are jound the | tribes of Denkera, Ank: Ahante, Wassaw, Fantee, Assin, Goomwah, Ad- jumacoom, Agoona, Aquapim, Acera, Akim, Adampe, Aquainoo, Kr¢épée, Aveno, Kerapah. Besides these tribes there are many sudtribes not worth enumerating. THE KINGDOM OF ASHANTEE extends north of the line of ibe British protector- ate, all firmly connected under the rule of a des- potic king called Coffee Kalcali, wao holds court at Kumassi, or Coomassie—a large and strong town situated not far rom a branch of the Busum Prah. , Aowin, Amananea, CAPE COAST CASTLE. We arrived off Cape Coast Castic on the morning Of the 24th October. The first view of the place | those Was of a seven hilled position, the hollows between | the hills being occupied with houses, white and brown colored, which connected mma neighborly manner—not crowded at all—one hill with an- other, The mass of mortared walls, balconies, stunted towers, &c., in the loreground, close to which the big waves of the Atlantic rush with terrible fary over the rock that forms the Cape, is Cape Coast Castle. It is a pr building irom the sea, giving the stranger an idea atonce that ifbe is going to trust his body in the town all the Ashantees in the world could not hurt him, which is a comfortable reflection, considering the alarming editorials the British press have given birth to. The background is formed of three hilis—Vic- toria Tower to the right, Fort William, a round, cheese-box affair, about as large as the mammoth cheese we are going toexnhibit at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876, at Phils a, planted on top Of a steep cone, in the centre, and Connor's Hill to the leit, on the summit or which are some bell tents, oflicers’ marquees, 8 wooden bespital; this Connor's Hill is the sanatorium. The middle ground is flied with bills, covered with govern- | Ment Luildings, churenes, and hollows fillea in with long lines of mud hous id to be occupied by Christian and pagan F. ‘This is as much tees. take in at a giance from shipboard of an just sprung ¥ nust make the pla ter of common talk for months to come. Af ANCUC in the roads are a hospital ship, the Simoon, com- | manded by ant Captain Peel; the royal naval ship Bars Captain Freman enior naval | Officer at y nt; Hi Jes 5 yand a | couple more; the British and African steamer Bonny, the African Steamship Compa: Berm, | two American sailing vessels and a brig owned by | the great firm of Swanzy Brothers. ELMINA, About eight miles to the right of Cape Coast | Castle a glaring white mass ol buildings mses to View, Wiiich, I az told, ts Elmina, aud the Castle ot St. George of Eimin: This latter place is classic. into notoriety, and its history a mat- It discovered and settled by Portuguese Diogo d’Azambuja in 14e9. «it was then known to them as Aldea, or the village of ‘two parts,” but soon became more generally known as Mina or Mine; but when th: tle, Which took 86 years to build, Was completed, it was called St. George Da Mina, The name “Mina” was derived, I suspect, from a family of that @ who were, in the mid- die of the fiiteenth century, exceedingly rich, and advanced large sums of money to fit out the ex- ploring caravels. How it came to be called Elmina is easy to explain. The prefix “Zi,” trans- lated into die of the captured Elmina for the and left his buton there as the insignia of authority for all succeeding governors, That baton of ivory and gold passed into the hands of the British Governor, Hennesse; on the 6th of May, 1872, the t of the transfer of the Dutch territory into the hands of the English aiter its occupation by the Dutch during 235 years. My object in drawing your attention to the old Portuguese cas hich is as classic as anything on thi siice tne feet of many a noble old r lave trodden its halls; since yascu de Gama and Fer- English, me eenth ¢! aus ‘The.’ About the mid- utury Admiral de Ruyter ing of the Netherlands halls, and held many a serious pai corrup- tion of the word palcbia) with the restless hative kings, whose restlessness their descendants | seem to Li erited—is because tle cession of the piace to the English is, with other causes, the Cause of the Astantee inva is too ylicated a matter ent to un el while be is ve of a stirring sapalgo, when his pen Will be required any moment to paint what trans. pires or may oruy ; but it would be un- just to expect your re $ to jecl interested in this campaign without revealing a tew salient points, su WillJurnish them with an idea as to the purposes and objects of this war. The Ashap- tees—the pronunciation being on the second syl- lable—have been life-long enemies of England, | principaily because her commissioners and gover- | nors have never thought it worth while to eulti- vate their iriendship properly, such as their impor. | tance merits, it 18 true they have always been polite to the King and his envoys, Dave seni him many rich presents, have repeatediy urged on the King and his Court that England pou | the | | entious looking | } finall, z complied, to ner own lasting credit ana enduring profit. For nearly & couple of centuries Ashantee has traded with the Dutch settlement of Elmina, eight miles from Cape Coast. When England purchased Elmina she might have opened a highway as far as Prahsu on the Busum Prah River and there established an outpost garrisoned by 200 Houssahs, with a firm, intelligent British officer as commandant, whither trade would have contred at once, which would not only have been a means of securing a large commerce, but also have been a means of protection for the frontier of the provectori#te. England did nothing of the sort. She sent conciliatory letters to the Ashantee po- tentate telling tim of her desire to remain on peaceful terms with him, and hoped that trade might be revived. On the 6th of May, 1872, she took possession of Elmina with a biare of trum- pets, cannon salvos and imposing ceremonics. ANGLO-SAXON CIVILIZATION. Inow open the Parliamentary Blue Books, from which lextract the following news, which goes to show what was done by England from her occupa- tion of the Dutch territory down to the time of the Ashantee invasion of 1873:— May 31, 1872.—Prince Ansah, a cousin of King Coffee, of Ashantee, being at Coomassie, wri tes to say that the king is pleased with the news woich Governor Hennessey has sent that the road will be open for trade, Some missionaries of tne Basle mission, pursu- ing their religious profession quietly, had, about two years be.ore, been captured by Adu Boru, an Ashantee general, and Prince Ansah suggests that the payment of £1,000 would release Messrs, Kuehne, Bonnat, Ramseyer, Mrs. Ramseyer and child. It should be noted that Governor Hennessey made a demand for their release and oilered to ransom them, though they were not British sub- jects. The Britis Foreign Onice has already in- jormed the German government of their good inten- tions, Von Strausse, in the name ol bis august master, has thauked the British government for its good intentions, This was @ dipiomatic mistake, leading the Ashantees into the belie! that they were people of importance. he Ashantee General Adu Bofu, their captor, demands 1,800 ounces of gold or £6,450, LATER.—Uoveruor Hennessey sends present to King of Ashantee of pieces of gold-embroidereu silk. In June a son of General Adu Boiu is made pris- oner, but is unconditionally released by Governor Hennessey, in the evident hope of stimulating & reGprocl Teleas: on the part of General Adu Oru, This month, also, Governor Hennessey further diplomatic gitt of a ring marke 12 signs of the zodiac. At a later moment Earl Kimberley, of the Co- lonial Oiice, advises Governor Hennessey to in- makes a with the | form the King of Ashantee that Mf Europeaus are detained the annual stipend promised him will be suspended; and at the same time warns Europeans that if they go beyond the limits of the protectorate | they do so at their own ri if Agrave diplomatic mistake on the part of Earl Kimberley, making use of such @ threat when when he was uot called upon to their behalf. This tault, too, aiter Chinese a ences! —The Ashantee King, poor Governor Hennessey inw a false secu wnites to say that he is about to send to make peace, upon Which Governor Hennessey states is belief to be that the release of the captives is of minor importance compared to peace with Ashantee. vernor Hennessey seems to have forgot- he stated that peace could only be made pt by the release of the Luropeans at Coo- 1e. Peace with Ashantee means an influx of gold dust and native produce trom Coomassie to Cape Coast and Elmina, whic the conciusion of a sound peace would surely bring. SEPTEMBER 24, 1372,—rhe Ashantee King writes to say that he is willing to let the captives go for £1,000, which shal! be paid half in goid dust and halt in goods, At this time & negro named H. Plange ts tne commissioner xt Coomassie negotiating tor the re- lease of the European cuptives, ata salary of £30 per month, Mr. Plange writes to say that the chiefs, Who overrule the young King, declare it their beliei tuat if they only hold out tain the whole seacoast in eXchange for the cap- tives (No wonder they do, after what Earl Kimberley and Governor Hennessey have written. Mr. Plunge further says that the question at issue seems to be, shall te Ashantees come vown to trade with British merchants with- out being made to pay to Fantees as miadiemen ? as by tradi directly with the merchants they sain 30 per —There isa sudden rumor of sion Of the British protectorate, ttnis adminisirauon at Gov- hantee prisoner states down to tuke Elmina, asserts that the King of with the King of Ashantee ‘Tue opinion pre+ trong dislik the tow i from to ) Assinee, rnor fienne: i Harley wi King; the y, at Sierra Leone, charges having quarrelled with the he has a tused permission mdeceut be pi the war. The Ashantees have now comes nisiaid to ligtit, through a letter which was somewhere at Sierra Leoue, but whicn mos to light at the Colonial Onice, I: re- ports the capture of an Asuantee chief, called Ateimiron, who is uncle to the King of Ashautee, and his suosequent imprisonment at Cape Coast Castie. He, however, has been started toward the Prah through the Assinee country, which the were loth to permit, but prevailed upon by Harley they finaly withdrew opposition. on of about the 12th of December, 1872, when he started trom Cape Coast.’ It’ must have bee about tne beginning o! January, 1373, when he found hiinsel, across the border ' river, laad, irom which we may deduce the isonable supposition that thé time which intervened between his arrival at Coomassie betore his nephew the King and the invasion 0: the British D torate Was Spent in tue organization of the t Ashantee divisions which rolled into at three diferent points—Den- it, computed to be in the aggregate be- 00 and 40,000 warriors. THE FANTEX OPPOSING TORCE, these splendid organizations there umber Of 60,0 t ly el ized, and elfectual resistance, owing to their incohesion and want of a recognized chic. LATER IN FEBRUARY.—King of Abrah volunteers {ie information to Colonel Harley that the inva- sion has the cession of the E ving become Britis! deciares tha! stors ate aud drank ut | should have bi and take it tween 30, ning and that he me | also ascertained beyond doubt that the Elmina, having eaten fetish with him, was his sworn ally, and that be only awaited the near ap- proach oj the Ashantees to declare himsel! and | porcved to Si | Slons along the seaboard, wishes only iriendship with Ashantee; but at tne | same time they have never conceded anything to its importance in preference to the coniederated tribes embraced in the British Protectorate, Ashantee is as iarge a country as the whole of France or Abyssinia. Though not as populous as the latter country, the whole of it is united under one man, whom every native is bound to obey to the extent of his lie and his property. Abyssinia Under Theodore, in his last years, was torn by contending factions and ambitious princes and Weakened, but Ashantee n muster under the banner of ts Kinga force of 200,000 warriors, In one Sense Ashantee may be said to be jar superior to Abyssinia; for instance, in wealth and political unity, Abyssinia, however, is far superior to Ashantee in its semi-civilizatio: and Christianity, ‘Time and time again has Asantee entreated of England the right tocoue and go ir from the | interior to the coast, and viceversa, This has been enied because of the danger that would arise from the hostllity the santee confederacy would have to such an arrangemont. Yet F Heiand, great mistress as she iso! the arts of ¢ ommerce, might Dave listetied to the entreaties of Aslaatee aud irlends irom ilmina to Assinee for the Ashante: THE KING OF £ A prisoner and snortiy finds himself de va Leo having first post iuged to the oati of allegiance, Leone he is to be retained unth peace is declared between Ashantee and Great Britain. CONCLUSIONS AS TO CAUSES AND EYFECTS, is taken sritish provec torate, and | | | the little HeRaLp steamer, thority—out because tt promises to be a gain to her. There is no reason at all why she should not strive to make Ashantee tributary to ner, King Coffee is too rich a neighbor to be left all alone with his riches, with his tons of golddust and accumula- tions of wealth to himself, AN AFRICAN CUBA, Ashantee would be as rich an acquisition to the British Crown as the Island of Cuba to the United States, as the people are born traders, and itonly requires a little careful management to be paid 20 times over jorthe cost of the expedition to Coo- massie. Those who fail to see this thing in its true light fail because of prejudice and bad taste. A change of masters would be a glorious thing for Ashantee. Instead of the despot who chops off a couple of thousand heads on the burial of his pred- ecessor, the people would have arich and gener- ous nation to treat with, which is among the most skilful and industrious in the world, and stands higher than Ashantee even in its love jor trade. All Central Africa would soon be benefited, and the inhabitants around Lake Tehad would in time come to marvel at the palatial houses of the white merchants, whose kafilahs ranged through the untrodden wilds of the interior. The people of the protectorate think that this is as much England's war as their own, though Colonel Harley has often told them that the English have nothing to do with the war, that itis the Fantee-Ashantee war; but the British government are now inclined to their way of thinking—hence the expedition to Coomassie. Itis strange that clever people like the English should not have seen beforenand that there was no other way of settling the war than for them to have accepted the gage of battle and marched at once upon Coomassie. DURATION OF THE CAMPAIGN, It is now nine months since the war began. Another month will probably roll by before the white soldiers will come and take. up the live of march, It is always the same way. kngland wastes time in talking and negotiating; but she might have jearned a lesson of promptitude from the savage Ashantees, who, quick as were the Prussians to invade France, were quicker and more expeditious than even they in their invasion oi Fantee, FORMER FAILURES, The English have been twice unsuccessful in their war witn Ashantee. In 1523 Sir Charles Mc- Carthy and 600 gallant fe:lows perished vefore the jurious onset of the Ashantees, and that brave soldier's skull, gold rimmed and highly venerated, is said to be still at Coomassie, used as a drinking cup by King Coffee. 1n 1863-64 the English suffered severe loss. Couran marched to the Prah, 80 miles from here, and marched back again, being obliged to bury or destroy his caunon ropeans were not British subjects, and | and hurriedly retreat to Cape Coast. Ihave not do anything in and the information by me to give you the details of the disaster, but all the Coast men speak of that expedition as “ill-fated.”” REFORM AND TRY AGAIN, It is now Sir Garnet Wolseley who is'to try his fortune with the Ashantees, His antecedents lead us all to expect that it wiil be as successful as Napier’s march to Magdala, though not so biood- jess. A iriend of mine, who knows him personally, Speaks most enthusiastically of him, Cape Coast Castic—Its Popuiation and Government=Launching the Herald News Steamer Dauntiess, Capa Coast CastLE, Nov. 6, 1873. Tendeavored in my last to inform your readers how and why this war began. 1 must now intro- duce them to Cape Coast Castle, its authorities and its people. i could not go ashore with the other passengers, aslhadto superintend the liitmg overboard of the Dauntless. which the proprietor of the HERALD has been generous enough to let me have for the collection of news along the Gold Coast. About four in the afternoon, however, the Bexaup steam launch, the Dauntiess, steained trom alongside the Benin, with a huge suri boat loaded with coal, in tow, toward the shore, The waves were uncommouly high, and the suri sea rolled its horrent waves most ominously in front. Arriving within 200 yards of the beach, the Dauntless was anchored in eight fathoms of water. Her engineer and two Krumen were ielt | in charge of her, witha caution not to leave her until morning, by which time, it would be sup- posed, I uid find some quiet anchorage for her. oat was then rowed ashore. There were paddlers on board—strong, brawny fel- had been bufeted by the flerce surf of the Gold Coast for many and many a year. We soon began to fee] the influence of the big waves. The Fantees paddled gentiy, until one wave after | another had impelied the boat and its freight | beyond the Point of Ror $ on which the Castle is built, when, with a mighty shout and as mighty a simultan¢ous effort, the boatmen, seing their chance, sent her far on the beach, on the crest of adevouriug wave. Coal, however, was such a cargo that would take a couple of hoars to unload, | and the booming surf still kept up its unceasing b! er and lashed itself iuto white foam all round the boat, which made it a most dificult job to un- load; but about an hour after sunset we had got the coal on shore, and at this time, faint from ex- ertion, dinned by the briny confusion and vocal noises of the Fantees, I was glad to hear the voice of the boy servant of Captam Butler, “Great Lone Land,” say:—'Please, sir, Captain Butler told me to tell you lis room is ready for you, and dinner Will be sent to you from Government Houze.” A watchman had to be engaged to keep watch | over the coal on the beach, lest the Fantees might rizht, Prahsu ip the centre and Akan | carry the black stone away, and I then turned my weary steps towards Butier’s quarters at the Colo- nial Surveyor’s house. DINNER AT GOVERNMENT HOUSE, Arriving at the house in anything but a present- able state, I found Captain Butler and another gentleman who was introduced to me as Captain Charteris, the son of Lord Eicho, aide-ce-camp to iseley, Captain Charteris was the bearer of an invitation to me to accompany him to adquarter mess to dinner, Cantain Charteris ly greatly impressed me most favorably, pitable invitation considerably proju- his iavor. Alter granting me time to diced ine | dress, to change my surf-soaked clothes for the soft erra | 7 = lerra | 60, raised on stilts 26 feet above the ground, winte fannels suitable for an enjoyable nigit in the tropics, we marched for Government House, THE BUILDING, € building, about 100 feet long by or course, the stilts are walled up with masonry. The varn-like buliding, mortared and whitewashed, It is a barn ‘The above closes the notes I have taken from the | looks now very imposing, with its grand staircase valaable blue books, and since the Brittsh govern. | buttressing the house, with a gurdey to the time of my de- | ment and press, up of bright flow- ers in front, in which may be seen the stuccoed parture, failed, 80 faras I could see, to perceive | jorm of many a cowering antelope, side by side the ca 3e3 Which have led to this present Angio- Ashantee war, I feel myseif at liberty to suggest | threateningly at the innocent s' From all I can see war with | A couple of order reasons for it, with the broad, gaping mouthed mortar, pointed 8 in the heavens, saluting sentries, promenad- Ashantee might easily have been avoided. It has | ing in front of the house, add very much to the im- not been thrust upon the British government, | posing appearance of the building. It gave effect The Ashantees have slimply invaded the protec. | to the house ip my mind, aud smothered the haif- torate, at which the British government might have smiied undisturbed, for all that the Ashantees Might have injured any of England's actual posses- Not a castle nor fort need have been surrendered had there been a Million Ashantecs encamped within rifle shot of the Weakest, British merchants might certainly have suifered diminution of trade. This, however, need ve no cause for England taking an active part in the war or launching imto a daring campaign to Coomassie, Siacknoss of trade and decrease of reves nue Were things to be deplored, but ought not to be considered just causes of war. How, then, will you answer the question why England has taken up arins against Ashantee ¢ M we are right in assuming that the protectorate, which was never more than nominal, is of suflicient importance to Engiand to maintain it as ber own against Ashantee, of course we may then find a cogent reason Jor resisting the invasion, but to assume that guch, is the case is going vbeyona what the British press has strenuously denied and refusing to believe that the final possession at some remote period of the Gold Coast was not Eng- land's intention, Negarding Great Britain only in ight of @ great commercial Power, I should say t, whether there were logical reasons or not jor epting the gage of battle which King Coffee has thrown down, sie has done periectly right in en- tering upon the war, not that she was bound to do 80, ior that | distinctly deny—Karl Kimberley and Golonui Harley's letters being suflicient tor my au- | formed desire to criticise the appearance of Goy- ernment House. We ascend the staircase, lights flash here and there, I get a peep at the pantry as 1 arrive at the top, my eye strikes of at a tangent to my right and catches sight of a well-laid dinner table; but to my ieit is the reception room of Government House, where the intending diners are assembled, Captain Butler steps up to welcome his compa- gnon du voyage with a gentioman, and says:— THE COMMANDER-LN-CHIEF, “Mr. S—, Sir Garnet.” This stately little gentleman, of prond military bearing; quick, bright eye; broad, high forehead; ardent temperament; @ sparkling, vivacious intelligence animating every leature — this is Sir Garnet Wolseley, the paciticator of Red River and the young hero chosen for the command of the British expedition to Coomassie, He is the very reverse of my conception of Sir Garnet Wolseley who calied the geutiemen of the press “loafers” and a curse of modern armics, If he had not been a soidier, by his ap- pearance I should judge him to have made a first class HERALD special correspondent—just the man wo e seized an item and dared a general-in- chief to lay hands on him; just the man to be sent to any part of the world by the Heraty to collect news. His eager eyes betray the Inquisitive soul anil indo: ble energy. Taking no offence what ever at his sharp-tempered criticism of the neces- sity OF the age. Ladmit at once that the British | to nothing less than his back. | would te him to the triangle, government could not have found a worthier man to entrust the castigation of the Ashantces to than Sir Garnet Wolseley. HIS GUESTS. At a luxuriously spread table on either hand of the General I found Captain Fremantle, of Her Majesty’s ship Baracolta, with his left arm ina sitng froma wound received at the mouth of the Prah; Major Baker, of the Eighteenth Royal Irish, chief of staff; Captain Brackenbury, the military correspondent of the London 7imes and military secretary of Sir Garnet, who ts reputed to bea very able omicer; Captain Charteris, aide-de-camp; Captain Morris, author of the “Wellington Prize Essay,’? who received the prize even above Sir Garnet himself, who was considered fourth best; Captain Butler, author of the “Great Lone Land,” who is about to be sent on a special mission to the tribes of Akim, and three other oMfcers whose names I forget. REMINISCENCES OF TRAVEL IN AMERICA, Sir Garnet I found to have extensively travelled through the United States, He told an amusing tale, which Iam sure if related will not be con- sidered as a violation of confidence, of how he and a friend of his found themselves at the Bre- voort House, in New York, at the early part of the war. They were both too young tocare much which side they should take; neither of them had any special sympathies with the South more than with the North. But they were determined to take opposite sides during the war and to meet at the Brevoort House at a future time to compare notes, They “tossed up.” His friend took sides with the North. Sir Garnet went with the South, when Lee’s gallantry and Stonewall Jack- son’s ability made a great impression on him, Sir Garnet Wolseley is said to be the youngest general in Her Majesty’s service. He is not 40 years old yet, and as he has not risen to his present rank through interest it may be assumed that he has shown himself a capable ana energetic officer to have attained to his present position, A glance at his ‘‘Soldier’s Pocket Book” will show the qualities of which he ia possessed, Every line in it is written uke a soldier and from a soldier's stand- point. There is no nonsense about him. The great aim he has in view seems to be to instruct young oficers in their duties and to inculcate the idea that everything should be sacrificed to success. He teaches them the art of diplomacy in their deal- ings with ignorant savages, as well as with Euro- pean armies. He tells them how to avoid being interviewed by their messmates or press people, and how to govern their features when submitted to a too close questioning. It is evident that if Sir Garnet Wolseley entertains the idea that if the press is obnoxious to a general-in-chief; that if in his opinion a general could fignt very much better without being hampered by the ‘lazy drones” which the newspapers send out to report; that it he goes out of his strict duty as a military author to teach ofticers how not to be interviewed by any gentleman of the press, that ne is not a general to be sought after by the press. Tnis is true. If Sir Garnet Wolseley had command of a division in a great war he would be the last gen- eral I should advise a special to go to to get intor- mation from, This dislike to press people docs not arise from any black humor, any bilious acridity in him, for he is @ most urbane gentleman; but it arises irom some exaggerative conception he has formed of a special correspondent. I can imagine a meeting between this proud and haughty so:dier and a wild, unbaptized special from the Chicago press, who has neither fear of danger nor reverence f r good in him. I see the soldier struggling to be polite and calm and be for- bearig with the devilish, sneering and fleering pen- trotter from the West, who 1s perpetually troubling tue gentleman with impertinent and irrelevant questions about his age, the soundness of his teeth, the good character of his ancestry, until the choler of the soldier is kmdled to white heat, and the impudent pen-trotter is seen fanning the wind with his arms fifty feet in mid-air, It must have been some sinister figure of this kind that Sir Gar- net had encountered or imaged to himself as a “gentleman of the press” untilhe had conceived a morbid dislike of the whole tribe, and never omitted an opportunity to inveigh in unmeasured terms aguinst them as a “curse to modern armies.” It 18 only the delicately seusitive soul of an English gentleman that could have found fault with a newspaper reporter, The soul of the American genticman has long ago become doughty pachydermatous, and the presence of a reporter would no more trouble his equanimity than a musquito would an elephant. Fortunately, however, the representatives of the great London and New York dailies are of widely different ma- terlai from the irresponsible pen-trotters of the Chicago Times and such scandal-loving papers, and Russian, Prussian, French and English generals have found them not a bindrance but a valuable aid in their campaigns, WHY IT 18 So. Agentieman on Sir Garnet’s staff, during an ar- gument with me relating to this very subject, and who thoroughly shares Sir Garnet's hatred of newspaper men, When It was Suggested to him by me that if SirGarnet ina European war merely trusted in @ reporter’s honor not to mention any- thing that would furnish information to the enemy no gentleman of the press would disappoint iim, blurted out— “Trust in bis honor! By heavens, I would trust On the first publi- cation of anything that I thoug»t not proper I and trust to 50 lashes well laia om his bare back not to do the like again.” Whence you may infer that Sir Garnet is not sin- gular in jus hatred of the press, and that it is rather a queer position you have sent me to fill with this British expedition to Ashantee. This | dislike has taken formin other ways than mere expression through “A Soldier's Pocket Book.’ ‘This is the tenth expedition I have tollowed; yet it is the first to which I would apply the vuigar term, “stingy.” bs CAMP PENALTIES ON THE PRESS MEN, Every correspondent—and there are half a dozen specials here already—will be obliged to content himself with one black servant, who, perhaps, may be able to carry 60 pounds on his back, which must embrace cooking utenaiia, tont, blankets, clothing and tinned meat, Every correspondent wil therefore have to foot it to Coomassie and back, and fare on the rudest, The General kindly says that we may be ailowed to draw rations tor ours seives and one servant only, Scarcity of means of transport belng the reason why more cannot be permitted. But it must be understood, of course, that all oMcers will be treated with the same severity, s0 that the unfortunate press commis- siouers may not complain of any partiality, LOCAL IMPRES: v3 Ihave been about Cape Coast Castle for some days now, and am able to write intelligently con- cerning this expedition to Coomassie. I know uot, however, who to blame for choosing Cape Coast Castie as a point of departure for Coomas- sic; Whether it is the British government, the for- mer Governor of the Gold Coast or Sir Garnet Wolseley, Probably all three snould have @ share in the blame, Cape Coast was settled by the Por- tuguese, but was ceded to the Dutch in 1641, with whom it remained til! 1655, when it was taken by the English, and secured by a treaty in 1667, For 206 years this place has been in possession of the British, yet one knowing the character of this enterprising people would barely believe sacn to be the fact. It is an-astounding fact that the English have not improved the place since the day they first occupied. They have kept in repair the Dutch-Portuguese castle which they received from the Dutch, They have built a government house, post office and two or three other offices, and a church, and that ts ail, during 206 years’ possession, ‘The harbor they have leit as nature made it, though @ shipioad of concrete blocks laid down for 100 feet from the point of rocks on Which tho castle stands would have secured an admirable landing place for ships’ boats to discharge vargo and passengers, What the Datch have done in Elmina ts in- striking contrast to the apathy of the English at Cape Coast. The Dutch made the Beyan River a little port, They walled it up on each side and threw a bridge over, unt lit looked like a min- jature Thames, They built @ formidable castie on the hill of St. Jago, besides constructing the De Veers and the Keckenstein redoubts, They cleared the downs and hills in the neighbor- hood from forest, built charming residences in the Suburbs and cultivated farms, which, embowered amid orange and pawpaw trees, are perfect pic- tures of rural felicity. THE PRIMEVAL BUSH, A view from the top of the Connor’s Hill will show you what the English have left undone in the wide Prospect of primeval bush, which seems to threaten to bury the town itself m its wide-spread- ing arms. STRATEGY AND DIPLOMACY. Why have the British landed’at Cape Coast instead of at Elmina, where the boata could lie peace- ably at anchorage in the Beyah River, which with little dredging machine, might have been made a commodious harbor for lighters, boats and canoes ? The blame is not inthe country, because it is too valuable to be slighted. Even with the very little system which one sees here it has had always a surplus of revenue, which one may see, according to the “Blue Books,” has peensquan- dered ill-advisedly and fruitlessly. Instead of ex- pending the surplis for the improvement of the portand the construction of roads into tfie in- terior, it has been spent in sending presents to the King of Ashantee and feasting his ambassadors; stipending the fractious tyrant instead of im- proving and disciplining levies of native troops against the emergency of an invasion, which is now upon them, ‘The invasions of 1811, 1823 (an unfortunate one for poor Sir Charles McCarthy), 1849, 1863, 1864 and 1869 have not taught the English that the time had come for them to demonstrate to the Fantces what object they had in noiding any part or parcel of their coast, Probably 1873 will also pass away without any lesson being derived, So little did the English government know what Cape Coast Castle was, what had been done, what ought and what might be done, that Sir Garnet Wolseley was despatched pefore the white troops to report to it, and find out what was to be done, Sir Garnet landed with one of the most efilcient staff that a general could be blessed with, and, anticipating, doubtless, that difficulties would be encountered, irom sheer despair of ever being able to do anything systema- tic in time betore the patience of England was ex- hansted, has determined upon accepting the diff. culties as he fads them without losing tlme to remedy them. The first act that Sir Garnet did was to accept Cape Coast Castle as a point of departure for Ashantee, though, as I say, he would have done much better by making Elmina the port—drecging the Beyah River and laying a railway ‘rom Elmina to Cape Coast along the smooth, sandy beach, a work of about three days, You have, doubtless, heard that Sir Garnet's in- tentions are to send forward provisions and stores of war to the front, to stockaded posts along the main road to the Prah River, then to send for the white troops, and on their arrival march them im- mediately to the interior, without tents, We will be best able to judge of the wisdom of the plan after the plan has been tried; but, judging from my experience of Africa, I think ita very unwise policy tuat the British government should have been carried away by an economic mania to permit even the experiment to be tried. DIFFICULTIES IN THE FIELD. Instances are not wanting to prove how the white troops have suffered already from sleeping out of doors one night tu the open.air, At the at- tack on Elmina, Mm June, a party of 105 marines Were landed. ‘They were drenched by the surf and pouring rain, and in this con- dition were marched into the bush, ard were soon involved in @ stubborn fight. Three days aiterwards 70 out of the 105 wore laid up in hospital with fever and dysentery, when death soon ended three-fourths of them. With which evidence before us of vie tnsalubrity of this malarious land, we may feel anxious as to the success of the ex periment of 1,500 unacclimatized Englishmen marching straight into the interior without pro- tection Irom night dews and foul stagnant misis, The excuse is that the expedition cannot be taken to Coomassie by any other means, owing to the want of transport. They say no animals are avail- able. All antinals die as soon as imported. ELEPHANTS WANTED. This may be true of the horse, the mule and the ass; but there is one animal not yet mentioned which would tcel quite at home in this covcntry, and that is the elephant. Any o/ England's troop- ships are capable of conveying 100 elephants here within 40 days, yia the Suez Canal, from Ceylon or Bassein to Cape Coast Castle. We will say that there are 5,000 souls on this expedition, inclusive of Europeans, West India troops, Fantee laborers, servants and hammock bearers. Each head, we'll say, requires three pounds of food of all kinks per day, which will be equal to 15,000 pounds, Ele- phants require 10 pounds of rice or grain per day, Making 1,000 pounds for 100 elephants, Atter making Prahsu a depot for supplies we should want 20 days’ supplies to march to Coomassie and back to Prahsu. When reduced to tabular form the necessities of the expedition, and the capabilities of the trans- port will be viewed ut a glance, thus:— Lbs, 5,000 souls for 1 day, 15,000 Ibs., for 20 days.. 300,000 100 elephants for 1day 1,0001bs., for 20 days. 20,000 eee 320,000 TOUAl. sce ceeseeee see Capabilities of 100 elephants 1e.ephant carries 2,000 1bs,, tor 100 days. 200,090 2,000 Fantee carriers, at 70 Ibs. per capita. 140,000 Total....- se eeeeseeeres 840,000 It will thus be perceived that an eflicient trans- port train may be orgammed quickiy and expedi tiously, and a transport train of 200 clephants would be far more compact and advantageous than a transport train of 6,000 Fantzes, which would be required to carry stores equivalent to the trans- porting powers of a body of 200 elephants. The elephants, though timorous at the sound of battle, would not be so timorous a8 so many unarmed Fantees; besides, tie Ashantees are not supposed to kuow that the ponderous brutes might be siampeded by the strife of battle. Agertain lasting awe would be created in the Ashantees’ mind at the iact that the white men could compel the service of so many lords of the forest, Another benefit would accrue irom the employment of ciephants, They would tramp a road out tor thomselyes to the use of the troops—a broad path three icct wide—apa thus the long de- lay ol cutting out aroad would be avoided. The road also thus mad» might be easily widened to ten feet from the sea to Prahsu, the central depot and luture outpost of the protectorate. THE PLAN OF RAILWAY. When I left Engiand it was reported that a rail- Way was to be Cons'rucied from the sea to a polat 40 miles injand, You will have heard jong bejore this letter sees the light that such a project has been abandoned, being impracticable, and that traction engines have been adopted instead. Tho railway Was impracticable from the nature of the | land, which is very unevens but if it was ever seriously meditated, as L have no doavt tt was, otherwise the government would never have shipped the materials, all L cam say 18 that the country Was not surveyed for a railway; that if it had been [ have no doubt a route would have been fonnd offering special advantages. The depot might have been established near to the salt pond, to the right of Cape Coast Castle, and the ratiway traced along the low valley that runs from it to the interior. One of the traction engines has beca landed on shore, with a couple of tracks, The whole 1s made of steel, combining strength with lightness, the engine weighing but two tons and @ half, but it is totally inadequate to its require- Ments, After @ feebdie travel of about two miles it returned to the neighborhood of the Castle, after twice tumbling into a ditch, where it is employed in the more dignified labor of cutting planks for the Control Department, It was found that a road was required as good and as levol as though it was to be for a railway. LATORERS. The General peresives that the great drawback here is want of jaborers. He can not get the Fantees either to labor or to figit. Kivery Fanteo man thinks himself qualified to fight, and has long contrived to imbue the minds of the Cape Coast Governors with a bigh idea of his noble courage and martial worth, and the Governors, conse- quently, have not been sluck in supplying the Fantees with the moans to exhibit their fghung qualities with the best improved Snyders ond ammunition. But alas! for their wust- Mm confidence, the Ashantees have caused them to retreat previvitatelv belore them, and thelr perpetually recalcitrant flights have involved the death of many a noble British officer, who thought by sacrificing himself to make them more worthy of their leaders at & future time, The more I ponder upon the long possession of this country by the English the more Iwonder that the qualities of the people whom they govern have not been percetved before this, and that they have resolutely closed their eyes to the superiority of the Ashantees over the Fantees. With 5,000 Ashantees a British officer might be able to defeat and annihilate a force of 50,000 Fan- tees; but with 70,000 Fantees any number of Brit- ish officers are not able to drive 10,000 Ashantees irom the close neighborhood of Cape Coast Castle. HALTED, In the meantime, after advancing 33 miles into interlor, we ure halted. The Fantees lack con- fidence, owing to the immediate vicinity of the dreaded enemy, and are tearful of trusting them- selves under the superintendence of a few officers to the labor of constructing a road, and we must either wait for the retreat of the Ashantees across the Prah, or for the arrival of 500 English navvies, who will shame the natives to work. Indeed it is getting to be a most serious question this of transport and labor, and knowing the disadvan- tages under which a young general like Sir Garnet must labor I begin to feel anxious for him, I doubt he would have the courage to express the depth of despondency he must feel sometimes, when in spite of all his efforts, his wonderfully patient treatment of the people, of his long-suffer- ing with their shortcomings, he 1s told by the Con- trol Department, by the engineers and others, “We can’t get men, sir, They have all run away into the bush,” A PENAL PLAN OF CURE. Sir Garnet has the power to remedy this evil, but I fear it requires a more callous and obdurate soul than he is possessed of to employ the power his position and authority has given him. UW, tn- stead of sending out traction engines and rail- Ways, the British government should send 500 sets of slave chains, and bind these runaways into gangs of fifties, euch controlled by @ non- commissioned odicer with a long whip, the transport and labor question were forever resolved, and success, a brilliant success, would be certain. When the expedition would bs over, and the war ended, the British government might compensate the people for the annoyance of being collared with iron bands, and apologize to them for the extreme measure they were com- pelled to resort to to insure the independence of the country and lasting immunity trom Ashantee ‘At first sight the measure may appear uel; but the other side of the picture should be seen before condemning measure, Suppos- ing that the British governn t, seeing the utter impossibility of taking an expedition to Coomassie without the means of transport, withdrew trom the intention and surrendered the protectorate to the mercy of the Ashantees, what would be the consequence? The Fantees, through their cow- ardly fears, unable to resist the fierce attacks of their enemies, would lay down their arms and be driven as slaves to Coomasste, to be butchered by thousands at the obsequies of some of the royal blood of Ashantee, FREEDOM OR SLAVERY. On the one side is a temporary inconvenience; on the other side is an eternal servitude or death, This expedition to Coomassie is, as I have already told you, to insure the future peace of the protectorate; to prevent future invasions and their consequent relentless butchery of thousands; to restrict the Ashantees within their own territory; to visit them with some portion of the severity with which they have repeatedly visited the British protectorate since 1811. All British expeditions to Ashantec hitherto have failed, and the conceit and arrogance of the enemy have grown in propor- tion, If, through fear of the condemnation of the maudlin Peace Sccicty of Great Britain, the present expedition falls, because the government dare not prove all measures to insure its success, eli 1 can say is that the British government will deserve the disgrace that will inevitably follow the final defeat, and to become the laughing-stock of the civilized world, Rather thau suifer defeat for the sixth time, the British government should seize upon every member of the sentimental Peace Society and deport them to the Gold Coast, here to spuply the deficiency of labor that is daily growing more alarming, to e the road to Prahsu through the jungle and convey the stores necessary for the subsistence of the British battalions now on their Way out. This might probably be catled an ex- treme measure, but I doubt it civilization would visit the britigh government with much harshness for it—nay, I think it would consider the act com- mendable and justifiable; for the nauseating draughts of maudlinity the British government has been compelled to quafY submissively at the hands of the Peace Society for so long. : THE PROCESS OF ACCLIMATIZATION, T have been wandering through the town o. Cape Coast Castle. While in the strects I thought of two things 1 must write about—fever and Fantees, Now behold the town of Cape, like a smoulder. ing volcano, blazing and burning and smoking in the holows between the seven hills, domed by a sky of brass seven times heated by fire. In these smoking hollows, subjected to the Neat of the sky of brass, are young English officers fresh from the cool shades, the willows, the elms. and oaks of England, from their verdant parks and breezy green hills, from the banks of salmon and trout streams, They are superintending what gangs of laborers they have been able to obtain, removing hills of commissariat stores irom one spot to another, Ir you wish to hear the most pathetic sizhs hnman creatures ever uttered just mention to any of these young oMecers the word “hot.” You would be surprised at the depth of compassion in your soul when you would see the poor fellow’s parched face, his blistered cheeks and the passionate long- ing fora draught of cool water which you see lurking in his eye. His tongue almost refuses to move, it feels so stiff and dead within the dry mouth, and finding it too great a task to talk he gasps a deep, deep sigh, which finds an echo in every recess of your soul. Hendered desperate by his sufferings he seizes a cooler of water with the vain idea of assuaging the intolerable thirst, and crinks along, jong draught of the tepid liquid, which soon transudes through every pore of his body in lave ar: of perspiration, He feels but aslight mitigation of the thirst which consumed him, and cyer and anon dnring the day the friendly cooler of water is sought for, When he finds the sun unbearable the half scorched officer socks the shade, where the breeze jee, | Julis him into the belief that the shade 1s lar more comfortable than the glaring heat of the sun; bus somehow or other there is a clammy, chilly feet ing at Wis back which he cannot explain, The air is warm—nay, it is hot, sometimes so hot that te appears to scorch his very vitals; yet the spinal coluin feels uncomfortably cold, and a vague feel. ing of rogrot steals over his mind that he has allowed himsel/ to drink so much water, The next morning at breakfast he feels all right cnough, accosts his mevsmates with a cheery good day, and sits down wondering at the ravenous appetite which seems to possess him, and while commenting upon it to his compantons with a hight laugh, declares it as his opinion that the Gold Coast has been very m&ch slandered; that the sickness has peen very much exaggerated, and ends generally by saying that he never felt better in his life, and that he wonders at people getting sick. Suddenly, however, be pushes his plate away; an uncomfortable feeling has taken posses- sion of him, even before tho echoes of his words have died away. He rises to his feet, stretches his arms and yawns terribly, and with an effort re+ presses the hall-formed shadder that his body makes. He s00n loaves the room complaining that he feels ehtiled a little, 4 If you would follow him in about half an hour you would see him stretened on his bed, with a pile of blankets over him such as he would need In an Arctic region, With all the blankets, however, you will hear Lim complain that he is coid, aad his chattering teeth are suMicicnt evidence that he does feel cold, He is suffering The bitter change of See ee by change more From beds of raging fire to freeze in tee, He drifts from the Equator to the Arctic Zone, and rom the frigid to the Torrid Zone witha afew