and manners of the "Great World." This accounts for the exclusiveness of the company, for the Français is in some sense a club. To admit actors and actresses from other houses indiscriminately, simply because they happen to be eminent, might improve the cast of the plays, no doubt, and give the spectator much extra emotion for his money; but what would become of the green-room if the new actresses introduced the light mode of speech habitual to the Boulevards, nay, slang and unseemly levity? This cannot be. The green-room is a sanctum to which admittance can only be obtained by those who have some status in life; and these privileged persons must be assured of finding the unimpeachable grammar and general polish which prevailed or are reported to have prevailed in noble drawing-rooms a hundred years ago. The Français prefers recruiting its company from performers caught young at the Conservatoire, and trained by slow stages to the customs of the house. After a term of years the probationers become sociétaires, and are entitled to a fixed share of the net profits over and above their salaries and to a retiring pension; then they get to look upon Molière's House as their own private property, and upon the Foyer as their holy of holies; and that is just what is wanted.

So if we take it that the Duc de Sangbleu has come with his friend M. Pistache to see MM. Augier and Sandeau's new piece, we may suppose the friends leaving their box between the fourth and fifth acts to pay Mme. de Rosethé a visit in hers; and then this lady confides to the Duke that she burns to visit the Foyer. She hopes it is not naughty, but she has heard so much about the renowned saloon and so has her friend, the Comtesse Rééda, who sits with her, that they both long to see whether the place is really like a drawing-room in the "world." The Duke assures the ladies it is not naughty. He has visited the Foyer himself, and saw nothing there which could keep a lady away, but he believes one must ask leave of the manager; saying which he draws one of his cards and writes the usual form of request: "Mme. la Marquise de Rosethé et Mme. la Comtesse Réséda demandent aux dames de la Comédie Française la permission de leur rendre visite." This petition, conveyed by the box-keeper, quickly brings up M. Perrin in person, and just as the curtain rises on the last act the ladies and their cavaliers follow the courteous manager through the public Foyer with its grinning statue of Voltaire, down the gallery peopled with the busts of illustrious playwrights, and so through a private door, down a staircase warmly carpeted, into the slips. Two footmen stand here, gorgeous in plush and powder, and one of their duties consists in requesting forgetful or unmannerly strangers to remove their hats, even when the strangers may be standing in the double draughts of shifted scenes.

But the Duke and M. Pistache are too familiar with the ways of the house to need any such reminder. Bareheaded they pass behind the troop of supers dressed as Breton mobiles who are to march by in the closing scene, and who may remind them of the siege days, when the Français was transformed into an ambulance; they turn down the passage where the young actor Severte was carried bleeding from a wound received at Champigny to his death-bed in that very Foyer they are going to see; and while M. Mounet-Sully is roaring " Ville maudite!" to the right of them they make their bows to Mlle. Favart, who rises and goes through a grand courtesy of welcome. Now, nothing puts a Grande Dame of the world more thoroughly on her mettle than the presence of a Grande Dame of the stage; and be sure that the hearts and pulses of the two ladies are beating a quick march as they return the courtesy first to Mlle. Favart, then to Mme. Arnould Plessy, who is working at some tapestry near the fire, and then to the two Mlles. Brohan, who sit chatting

on an ottoman.

It is an imposing room, adorned with old portraits of actors and actresses dead scores of years ago, and furnished with chairs and sofas of the Louis XV. style. M. Bressant sits playing chess with M. Legouvé of the Academy, who spends most of his evenings here; pretty Mlle.

Croizette, who has had a brilliant night of it, is being complimented by the two authors, M. Sandeau, who looks like a colonel in plain clothes, and M. Augier, whose bald head and bearded face are not unlike what Victor Hugo's were when the latter was young; and Mlle. Augustine Brohan, who goes in for masculine wit-ready wit, tooand sports a man's eyeglass, is talking politics whilst her gentler sister discusses fashion. In a word, the room is gayly crowded and it has much the effect of a royal entry to see every one rise whilst Mmes. de Rosethé and Ré-éda, inwardly nervous but outwardly majestic, glide towards chairs of honor near the mantel-shelf. They must have felt splendidly sure of themselves before embarking on this venture.

Throughout the ten minutes' conversation which follows they have the satisfaction of feeling that if any slip of their tongues betrayed them into a solecism, or if anything in their attire could be fastened on as a fault of taste, there would be demure sarcasm in that green-room for many an evening afterwards. All the private chattings have been hushed too, the chess playing, tapestry work, and gallant complimenting have ceased, and the ladies have to bear the whole brunt of a conversation which Mmes. Favart, Plessy, and Brohan are not likely to let languish for a single second. But what are ladies remarkable for, if not for intrepidity? M. Pistache may feel and he does feelthat if left alone with a dozen actors and actresses, and compelled to prove his wit to them, he would collapse. As it is, his head experiences a certain numb sensation as if it had been sapped of all its contents. But not so M. de Sangbleu, who is aware that MM. Bressant and Delaunay are watching him with eyes and ears on the strain to see if a young Duke nowadays knows now to demean himself in good company. So he remains cool, smiles, and braves it out, as if he were in the field, and each of the actors' eyes were a pair of rifle barrels.

It is a pretty scene of high-life comedy, well touched off by the flourish of bugles and the braying of the Breton pibrochs, which begin to sound outside as Count de Thommeray's mobiles file on to the stage. But perhaps every one is more or less pleased at the excuse which these pibrochs furnish for bringing the interview to an end. The ladies have stood their ground valiantly, and so have the actresses. Mme. de Rosethé has learned from Mme. Arnould Plessy how a fan should be fluttered; and Mlle. Favart has perceived that Mme. de Réséda's dress is as harmonious in all its component parts as a verse of Racine's. There have been no solecisms either, no slips of the tongue, nothing but orthodox civilities, with a few pleasantries thrown in for seasoning; and everybody has cause to be satisfied. Once again those grand courtesies come into play, and to the probable delight of M. Sindeau, who knows the babbling sex and its ways by heart. A graceful dialogue of parting is enacted on the Foyer's threshold: "Mesdames, nous sommes venus chez vous prendre une leçon de bon goût." Mesdames, c'est nous qui vous prendrons desormais pour modèles."

But amid all this M. Pistache has been observing how M. Delaunay takes a chair, and he has noticed that this apparently simple action requires, to be fittingly performed, three movements as distinct as drill exercises. When he gets home he plants a chair opposite his cheval-glass, lights six wax candles, dismisses his valet Aristide to bed, and then, in the stillness of the small hours, may be heard flitting over his carpet and repeating to himself in attentive tones, "One, two, three."

THE COLLEGE-LIFE OF MAITRE NABLOT.

BY ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN.

CHAPTER THE FIRST.

IN 1834, during the reign of Louis Philippe, there dwelt at Richepierre, in Alsace, on the eastern slope of the Vosges, an honest lawyer, Monsieur Didier Nablot, his wife 1 Maître is the professional title applied in France to barristers and notaries.

Catherine Arnette, and their five children: Jean Paul, Jean Jacques, Jean Philippe, Marie Reine, and Marie Louise.

I, Jean Paul, was the eldest of the family, and was intended to inherit my father's practice.

As I write, all that happy youthful time returns to fill my memory with pleasant remembrances. I can fancy I see our own old house, at the entrance of the village; its yard, surrounded with sheds, barns, and stables; its dunghill on which the cocks are parading with their hens; its wide roof, over which pigeons are whirling in little clouds; and there are we children, with our little noses in the air, shouting to drive away the thievish sparrows plundering the pigeon-cote.

Behind are old decaying buildings; and there too lies our garden, sloping down to the foot of the hill, divided by neat box-edging around its square beds, and its long rows of gooseberry-bushes. Our old servant, Babelô, with her petticoats fastened up, is cutting asparagus with an old rusty knife; my mother is gathering beans, or whatever may be in season, with her wide-brimmed straw hat drooping over her shoulders, and her basket hanging on her arm. I can see it all before my own eyes!

Over us rose the village in successive terraces, displaying its numberless windows, high and low, round and square; its old gables, protected by planks or shingles against the wind and the rain; its wooden banisters and staircases. The women are coming and going along the galleries; and at the very top of the hill, the sentinels are atrolling, with shouldered arms, along the battery of the old fort.

It was a sight never to be forgotten, one of those memories of childhood beautiful as a dream, because at that time we had no thought of care; breakfast, dinner, and supper stood ready every day, at the accustomed hour, and we slept peacefully in full confidence in kind parents, without any anxious thought for the morrow.

This is the happiest period of life.

Our father, a little, active, bustling man, was fond of talking in a very loud voice, and proclaiming his ideas on every subject. He used to try to reform the manners of the country folks, who, as he many times told us, were sharp practitioners, full of cunning tricks, who were sure to take any advantage they could out of you, if you had forgotten to dot an "i" or cross a "t." Far from encouraging them to get into lawsuits, he always cautioned them to be very prudent, and to think well before they made up their minds; and when he caught them shirking, or playing an underhand game, laying traps and opening backdoors, as he used to call it, he would break out into high indignation. You should have heard him then lecturing them in sharp, severe tones. His voice filled the house; he could be heard in the street. And his would-be clients, honest men and women as they accounted themselves, cap or broad-brimmed hat in hand, and with downcast, humbled countenances, would slink away down the stairs in deep consultation, and considering whether they should try again. But he would fling his door open and settle that question in a summary way:—

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"Go to Japan and never come back again. I don't care to know any more about your business go and call upon Maître Nickel!" Doing business in this way, it was not very likely that we should grow rich; but in all the country round there was but one opinion of my father, and people said, “Maître Nablot is an honest lawyer- he is a very good fellow." Our mother was a tall, fair woman, with a youthful bloom upon her cheeks, although her hair was streaked with silver at the time of which I write. She was the tenderest, the most affectionate, and the most watchful of mothers. She kept a diligent oversight of her household, aliowed no waste, and turned the poorest of rags to some use or other for the good of her children, to keep us decently dressed. All my father's old clothes descended to all his sons in succession, beginning with myself. By the time that they came down at length to Jean Philippe, and he too had done with them, it cannot be denied that they were well-worn and patched all over. There were fre

quent outcries, by that young gentleman, raised against his eldest brother, accompanied by just his father's voice and his father's gesticulations, because I was always better clad than he was, a fact for which he saw no justification. Marie Reine, too, and Marie Louise came in for their mother's left-off clothes; and so things went on regularly and comfortably all through our childhood.

We used at that time to be scholars of Monsieur Magnus's school - a respectable old schoolmaster, generally habited in a long threadbare coat, knee-breeches, and shoes rounded at the toes and furnished with copper buckles. A few individuals of this species were still to be found in our mountains at the beginning of Louis Philippe's reign. His school was completely overrun with children; some- very few in number · as well-dressed as ourselves; but the rest barefooted, dirty, in ragged blouses or in their shirt-sleeves, in ragged breeches depending from the shoulder by a single brace, a remnant of a cap upon the uncombed shaggy head- creatures that should be seen to be believed in and surrounded by an intolerable odor, especially in winter, when the doors and windows were closed.

My brothers and I were lords amongst these miserable little creatures. We were fat and rosy, full of health, and remarkably clean; and these little savages, with eyes like cats' or foxes' eyes, looked as if they were ready to devour

us.

Monsieur Magnus, with his stick under his arm, seemed to treat us with more respect than the rest, and never thrashed us except when driven to the very last extremity. We were well-connected children! we were the sons of monsieur le notaire of Richepierre! And on his fête day, and on New Year's Day, our mother used to send him a few cakes of chocolate and two or three bottles of the red wine of Thiancourt.

For all that, we were unable to reach the top place in the school. For Christophe Gourdier, the gate-keeper's son; Jean Baptiste Dabsec, the forest-keeper's son; and Nicolas Koffel, the dyer's boy, could all write a better hand than we could; could repeat their lessons better, and would add up and say their tables better than we could.

I was in great trouble about this, for we had always been taught to believe that the Nablots, from father to son, had invariably been at the head. of the school, and we felt it a disgrace that the sons of an old soldier, and of a fellow who had nothing to do but to drive the poor out of the forest when they might be trying to get a little firewood, and of a poor working man, should pass over our heads. My blood boiled that I should be subjected to such a humiliation.

What aggravated me more yet was to know that those three fellows, in the hours between morning and afternoon school, used to have to go into the woods and pick up dead wood to earn their livelihood, whilst we had all our time to ourselves to learn our lessons.

When I thought of these things I became blind with rage, and one day meeting Gourdier, the gate-keeper's son, returning into the village without shoes, and loaded with a heavy fagot, I shouted at him, "Beggar!

He was small and thin; but, without hesitation or doubt, he threw down his fagot, and his dirty, ragged, wide-brimmed hat, and came down upon me like a hungry wolf, and in a few seconds had rained upon me such a storm of blows and kicks, that I could not tell where I was, or who I was—and the blood ran down from my face in a

stream.

I could not help shouting for help. But Gourdier with the greatest coolness replaced his bundle upon his shoulder, passing the handle of his axe under the band that tied it, and went on his way up to the fort, just as if nothing had happened.

I might have reported his conduct to my father, who would perhaps have had him expelled from the school; but I had enough good sense left to discern that probably he was in the right after all; and so I slipped quietly in at the back yard to wash my nose at the pump.

From that day, I have involuntarily preserved a sort of respect for the old soldier's son, and for all my other schoolfellows who carried bundles of wood upon their shoulders,

observing to myself that boys of that sort were tough and bony, that the habit of climbing trees made them quick and sure-footed, and that they were particularly heavyhanded. These considerations led me to reflect a good deal upon the results of physical force!

Not long after this unpleasantness, as I used to go out every Thursday and every Sunday into the woods, bird'snesting, with five or six of the raggedest boys in the place, my father loudly objected to my conduct, crying that a son of a notaire is not like a laborer's son; that he must not lead a vagabond life with roughs, and that every man in this world owes it as a duty to himself and his family, to maintain his position by respecting himself, if he wishes to preserve the respect of others.

I listened, and soon found out the meaning of it all. He ended by telling me that it was time to turn to serious matters, and that I was now to learn Latin of Monsieur le Curé Hugues. This man was a strong Lorrainer of middle height, lean and big-boned, and with a very red face, and close-cut hair. He was fond of my father, and used often to come in the evening for a rubber. He became my instructor in the declensions, the conjugations, and the rule Liber Petri.

Every day after dinner I went over to the curé's house, into his little back parlor, which was full of books, and the open window of which looked out upon a garden shut in with high walls, and full of pinks and stocks.

"Ah, Jean Paul! there you are," he used to say: "sit down-you may begin to repeat."

And whilst he was pacing up and down the room, taking huge pinches of snuff from his box which lay on the table, he would be looking out of the window, and repeating to me now and then

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"Future: amabo, amabis, amabit - I shall love, thou wilt love, he will love. Infinitive: amare, to love. Very good, that will do. Now show me your exercise."

Which he took, and looked at, and then said, "Very good indeed; we shall get on now. You already know the first two rules: Ludovicus Rex, Liber Petri. That's right. Now we must take the next rule, Amo Deum, and then the next after that, Implere dolum Vino, to fill the cask with wine wine in the ablative a very useful rule, as you will see.”

--

My belief is that he was thinking of something else all the while.

Then he would dismiss me :

"You may go now, Jean Paul, and don't forget to present my salutations to your father and mother."

And away I went. This is the way I learnt Latin.

As soon as it was known in the village that I went to receive lessons from monsieur le curé, I became a very distinguished person; the old women courtesied to me, and looked at me with respectful tenderness; the report ran abroad that I was preparing to go to the seminary. I was saluted and called" Monsieur Jean Paul." And even my former schoolfellows, Gourdier and Dabsec, were impressed by my recent accession of dignity.

And as for myself, I strutted about, and put on a grave countenance, answerable to the expectations I supposed the public formed of me; at home I put on fatherly airs, talking to my brothers and sisters as if they looked to me for protection and indulgence. The notion of acting a part was coming over me; surely acting must be natural to men and women, in order to put on appearances in keeping with what we suppose to be the public opinion of others, and to judge of our own merit through them.

This had gone on more than a year, and monsieur le curé was loud in his praises of my improvement, when for the first time the question was opened of sending me to the college of Saarstadt, which conferred bachelors' degrees, with the help of which you may carry on your studies further, and become a doctor, or a lawyer, or a judge, or a druggist, or a functionary in the state, by going to study a few years more at Strasbourg or elsewhere.

My parents now talked of nothing else; and as it was my particular business, I listened with the greatest interest to all that was being said upon this topic, filling my imagi

nation with all the joy and pleasure which I took it for granted would be at my own disposal at college, all the wreaths I should carry off- according to monsieur le cure's predictions and the excellent position I should occupy in the end, if I yielded our father's practice to Jean Jacques, to take a higher rank myself.

All this seemed to me as plain and easy as eating my breakfast. I had yet to learn that others besides myself had a hankering after good berths; that it took fifteen or twenty years of struggling to attain them, during the whole of which there would have to be plenty of bowing and smiling before my betters, since the prizes, instead of being purely the rewards of successful competition, are often won by mediocrity and hypocrisy; and that crowds of disappointed men have to fall into the rear without having obtained what they expected.

My father and mother too saw only the best side of everything. Their plans were settled by the autumn of 1834, and from that time my mother could think of nothing but my outfit.

My father, who was well posted up in the ordinances and statutes affecting Public Instruction, a copy of which he had bought at Strasbourg, told us, "You must get a cloth coat of bleu de roi, collar and facings light blue a waistcoat and trousers, ditto; two pair of drawers, a blue jacket for undress, two pairs of sheets, six towels, eight shirts, six pocket-handkerchiefs, twelve pairs of stockings -six of worsted and six of cotton or thread-three nightcaps, a comb and a hair-brush, two pairs of new shoes, with blacking, and blacking-brushes. These articles you must have, in obedience to the decree of March 17, 1808, respecting communal colleges, the decrees of November 16, 1811, the statute of September 28, 1814, the royal ordinance of 1821, the circular of 1823," etc., etc.

He had studied the whole thing beforehand, and knew even the exact number of buttons required for the uniform. It was quite a state transaction, this dressing of me according to the regulation. The cloth had to be sent for from Saarstadt, as well as the lining and the buttons; and then my mother, knowing that Blaise Rigaud, our village tailor, had a very bad habit of dropping bits of cloth into his bag, had the whole weighed before his eyes in the scales in our washhouse-buttons, cloth, lining, thread, and all so as to be sure of getting the whole back without any abstractions, remnants and all. I never saw any one look so sold as poor Blaise at that moment; he hung his head down like an old fox caught in a snare; he said nothing, but no doubt thought a good deal about the cleverness of women. However, as work was scarce, and he was certain of good board in the house, and even a glass of wine at dinner, he set to work in the large parlor, beginning by taking my measure, and cutting out the cloth with his great shears. Then he seated himself cross-legged on the table, with his skein of thread hanging round his neck, and began to drive his needle.

The whole family, great and small, watched him. I was always close by, to have the clothes tried on as fast as he went on. My father pursued his study of the laws, statutes, and decrees.

In a week, this principal part of my outfit being nearly ready, Malmoury, the shoemaker, having also made me two good pairs of strong shoes with three rows of nails, and the sempstress, a set of linen shirts, it was settled that my father should buy me a regulation cap at Monsieur Surloppe's, hatter at Saarstadt, since there was not a man at Richepierre who was capable of making me one after the regulation pattern of 1823. When the clothes had been tried on, paid for, and packed in the old family travelling trunk, my father, my mother, and monsieur le curé, the evening before my departure, after supper delivered me a long sermon, recommending me to work hard, to fulfil all my religious duties, not to forget my prayers, and to write home at least twice a month; and the next day early, October 5, 1834, in the midst of half the village gathered together to wish me good by, my old schoolfellows, ragged as ever, scattered up and down amidst the crowd-our old Grisette harnessed to the

char-à-bancs, my father and I seated in front, and my trunk behind me in the straw — the whip began to crack, and we prepared for our start.

My mother was crying; my little brothers and sisters were stretching out their arms to me; our old servant Babelô, who had nursed me when a baby, was running after me with her apron to her eyes, and I was thinking how extraordinary were all these demonstrations of grief, as I was going away for my own good.

From Richepierre to Saarstadt is a journey of four leagues, through the woods. On the way, here you see a pond, there a saw-pit; now a forest-house half hidden with rocks and fir-trees, then it is a woodman returning home with his axe over his shoulder, or a Jewish cattle-dealer bringing his cow home from the fair. The people stand by the road-side to see you pass, and salute you with a loud good morning. Up there in the mountain country, the people always speak when they meet; and such meetings are few and far between.

At this season of the year the dead leaves are already covering the ground, the cattle are silently roaming through the valleys, and this loneliness and stillness cause a feeling of melancholy.

My father did not speak. At times he gave the horse a touch with the end of his whip, and we quickened our pace.

About eleven we reached the high level of Hesse, and the town, with its ancient ramparts, its old decaying towers, its church, and its houses of red sandstone, came in sight, at the foot of the hill, in the valley of the Sarre. In twenty minutes we were entering in at the Vosges gate. I had scarcely time to observe the old moat, now divided into gardens, and the guard-house passing rapidly by me. Our coach dived in under the gloomy gateway, the horse-hoofs clattered upon the pavement, and I was beginning to notice the small low houses, but neat and in even lines, when our char-à-bancs stopped in a large square, in front of the Hôtel de l'Abondance, and in the midst of a number of other conveyances diligences, market-carts, travelling carriages-crowding the archway, and trunks piled up against the walls.

I FEEL it is somewhat presumptuous in me to offer any remarks on military matters, not having had the professional education of a military man; but the honor has been thrust upon me, and I appear here as a matter of duty.

To those who have studied the military art as a profession it may appear a light matter to engage in war against savages who are armed with the rude weapons of barbarism and are furnished with fire-arms of the worst possible construction. An officer who has been educated in the rules that guide the movements of European troops might regard with contempt an enemy wholly without education, and whose forces, although numerous, are apparently devoid of organization, and resemble at the first glance the uncertain surging of a mob. There cannot be, in my opinion, a greater error made by any commander than to regard with contempt his enemy, savage though he may be. It is true that in an open country a handful of disciplined troops is superior to a host of armed savages; but it must also be remembered that the natives of a barbarous country possess many advantages which in some measure compensate them for their inferiority of weapons and their lack of military education.

The African savage possesses, in the first place, a thorough knowledge of his own country; from his childhood he has run naked among the tangled forests and gigantic grasses, through which he can move with the ease and almost the celerity of a wild beast. Like the animals of the forest he seeks cover at the first approach of danger, and

the jungle, which to troops in uniform is almost impenetrable, is to the native warrior a retreat that shields him from all dangers. Thus when the African is opposed to disciplined forces, he invariably relies upon the security which is offered to him by the difficulties of his own country. His tactics of attack and sudden retreat to thick covert are exceedingly annoying to European troops. There is seldom a chance of forcing him to fight in the open field, and his loss being therefore comparatively light, he is always ready to renew his attack upon the first opportunity. Although no soldier in our acceptation of the term, it must be remembered that every native is a warrior. From his earliest childhood he has been in constant practice with the lance and bow and arrow. His barbed arrows, frequently poisoned, do fatal service at a distance of 120 yards, and his lance is thrown with great force and precision up to 40 yards, and will fall into a body of men at 60 yards' distance. The common musket becomes formidable when slugs are used; and although all these savage weapons appear ridiculous when compared with our modern inventions, it will be found in practice that in close fighting in the bush and grass jungles these native savages should not be regarded with contempt.

It may be considered as a rule with but few exceptions, that all native warfare is conducted upon the principle of surprise allied with treachery. They will employ false guides and interpreters, who, having gained the confidence of the European enemy, will lead the troops into ambuscades. The natives will spy out the movements of the troops from the tops of trees, in which their dark bodies are obscured. If laxity of discipline prevail, the stragglers will be cut off and attacks made on the flank and rear. The favorite method of attack is during the night, when darkness reduces the danger from fire-arms. On such occasions the natives generally halt in a forest or in the grass, about half a mile from the camp they propose to attack. Scouts are sent forward to ascertain the position of the sentries posted in advance of the main body. The scouts, perfectly naked, crawl upon their hands and knees until darkness permits them to approach within a few yards of the sentries. They then advance flat upon their bellies, and finally retreat with their information to the main body in the rear.

According to circumstances, the attacking force now approaches upon their hands and knees; they then suddenly spring upon the sentries, and with wild yells rush upon the camp. This attack will be extremely dangerous unless provided against; and in this manner they have frequently surprised and massacred large parties. An officer commanding European troops should always guard against two dangers treachery and surprise. The strictest discipline should be exercised, and great care taken with regard to sentries and patrolling. On no account should natives, even though friendly, be permitted to enter the camp with arms in their hands; but their weapons should be left outside in charge of the sentry. A favorite mode of attack is to enter the camp armed, and when a sufficient force is collected, at a certain signal to rush upon the unsuspecting troops. I have known whole parties of slavetraders killed in this way.

From this short description of the tactics of the Africans, it will be easily understood that bush-fighting must at all times be most unsatisfactory to regular troops. They will be harassed by the fatigue of marching, in a hot climate, and by night attacks; men will be killed and wounded by ambushes, and there will not be even the satisfaction of a fair stand-up fight in the open field to prove the superiority of the troops. From an experience of some years, I found the best plan of carrying on a native war was to combine native tactics with the general movements of European troops. Natives never expect an attack to be made upon them on their own principles. Ambuscades may be met with ambuscades, the native camp may be carried by a night attack, and arrangements may be made to conceal parties of men in a long line with short intervals throughout the grass, so that the wily natives will inevitably fall into the snare.

In commencing an African war the first consideration is the outfit and arms best adapted for bush-fighting. With few exceptions long-range rifles will have but very little practice, as the enemy will seldom show in the open. I would arm only one company in each regiment with rifles. The remaining companies should carry single-barrel, breech-loader, smoothbores of No. 10 calibre. The cartridge should be long enough to contain a charge of 6 drachms of powder, with one No. 16 spherical bullet, and 24 mould shot of the size known as S. S. G. A short sword-bayonet, or broad-bladed knife, twelve inches in length of blade, should be fixed upon this gun as upon the Government rifles. This knife should be strong and sharp, but without the crossguard, which will be an unnecessary weight. Such knives will be invaluable in camping out, as they might be used, if necessary, for clearing grass, cutting poles for huts, etc. Guns of the description named will be far preferable to rifles when fighting in the bush or grass jungle. The No. 16 bullet will travel a long range, whilst the mould shot will be effective at 150 yards, and will sweep the enemy out of the cover. One volley from a company will throw 2200 shot and bullet, and this will be irresistible when delivered into a mass of men. Should the regiment break cover and advance upon open ground, a rifle company will be thrown forward as skirmishers, whilst another company of rifles will protect the rear.

Rockets, I have found, are especially valuable, particularly those known as Hale's 3-pounders, which really weigh 5 lbs. In bush-fighting the object of the rocket should be to try the jungle before the troops advance. The forest or bush may conceal a large force of the enemy who will rush upon the troops when passing in single file, or may attack them on the flank or the rear; but a few rockets fired into the bush at a low angle, so as to ricochet, and a few others fired at a long range, so as to explode either amongst or in the rear of the enemy, will disperse them.

A common practice is to surround troops with fire when marching in high and dry grass in summer. This is exceedingly dangerous should the wind be high, as the flame will travel six miles an hour. There is no greater exaggeration than on the subject of the speed at which fire will travel. Pictures will be found in Catlin's works and elsewhere of animals travelling at full speed to avoid the fire which is overtaking them. I have walked before the fire when there has been a very high wind, and I have never seen the fire travel at a greater speed than six miles an hour. Therefore, if troops should be surrounded by fire, instead of losing presence of mind, there will be plenty of time to clear the grass for a few paces in front and set it on fire in advance. Should the grass be dry enough to burn, on no pretence should troops be allowed to enter it until it has been cleared by rockets; or, should an enemy be in the grass, it should be fired by rockets far to windward of them. I do not know whether the grass in the Ashantee county is of the same character as that in the centre of Africa; but, if so, this must be recollected by whoever happens to be in command. There had been a massacre, a very short time before I arrived at Fatiko, of every individual of a slave-traders' party when marching through the grass. The natives set fire to the grass, and attacked the parties from ambush, and out of 103 men not one escaped.

Whilst attaching extreme importance to Hale's rockets, I cannot but express astonishment that the "three-pound " rocket should be rendered almost useless by the absence of explosive qualities. The rocket, weighing 5 pounds (the so-called 3-pounder), should be carried beneath the straps of a soldier's knapsack on the march. It is invaluable when troops are making a night attack, when it is most wearisome to employ native carriers, and very uncertain, as they might run away in the dark. This rocket should explode with a bursting charge of at least 1 oz. of strong powder, and upon bursting it should scatter inextinguishable fireballs that will continue burning for at least one minute. This would produce the ne plus ultra for bush-fighting, for two or three rockets will suffice to shell out a stockade. I have used Hale's rockets throughout the Barre war, and

in no single instance have they ignited the roof of a house. The rapidity of their speed did not afford sufficient time for ignition. This important defect could be easily remedied by the application of the explosive system proposed.

Field guns will be of little use in the bush, owing to the great difficulty of transport; and explosive rockets will be much more serviceable. The only use of guns will be for the defence of stations. I had ten guns on my late expedition, with bronze barrels, weighing 230 pounds, but having no means of transport I found them simply a useless incumbrance in marching, and the result of my experience leads me to condemn them as useless for actual bush-marching in Africa. The arms required are explosive rockets, powerful breech-loading smoothbores, with a bullet together with buckshot for bush-fighting, and rifles for long ranges

Every man should also carry on the top of his knapsack, under the straps, a light but strong axe of rather soft steel, so that it can easily be sharpened on stone or with a file. Hard-tempered steel will chip upon the hard wood of tropical countries. The success of an expedition will depend almost entirely upon the health of the troops. Nothing is so conducive to the health of the troops as the possession of a little axe by which the men could cut wood for huts. It is advisable also to finish as far as possible each day's journey in one march. In an enemy's country not only have the men to build huts, but it may be necessary to protect the camp by a strong fence of thorns, so that it could not be stormed by a sudden rush in the night. This entails great daily labor, and cannot be easily accomplished without the necessary tools. The axe will thus come into play, and the sword-bayonets will be most useful for clearing high grass from the neighborhood of the camp which might otherwise harbor the enemy. The grass will furnish roofing for huts and bedding for the men. My black soldiers' kit consisted of a scarlet flannel shirt, white Zouave trousers, gaiters, and sandals, with a good blanket for the night. No tents were carried on the march except my own, which I soon abandoned. I strongly recommend light marching order of this kind, from the advantage of being free from the trouble and delay of packing heavy baggage when starting before daybreak.

In every bush country silence must be most rigidly enforced in time of war, and the multiplicity of baggage is certain to occasion noise and chattering among the carriers, which may alarm the enemy when secrecy is indispensable to success. Secrecy and rapidity of movement are the first elements of success in bush warfare, and in these qualities unfortunately the African natives excel. It is therefore necessary to employ spies, and to keep in pay, if possible, some of those discontented spirits who are to be found in every country, and who, having quarrelled with their own people, are eager to turn against them. They must keep the commanding officer, and him only, informed of the movements and intentions of the enemy. These people are so treacherous and clever that they would engage as spies, but only to spy those who engaged them.

When the Khedive's expedition reached Gondokoro it comprised a military force of 1200 men. The troops were occupied in building a station and erecting magazines for the vast amount of stores when the Barre war broke out. This tribe had been incited by the slave-hunters to resist the expedition. The population, which was very warlike, numbered about 1.500,000, and they entered into an alliance with a neighboring tribe, with which they had lately been at war, for the purpose of making a joint attack upon the station, the only protection for which yet existing was a slight fence of thorns. Out of two regiments I formed a perfect corps d'élite, amongst whom, by the force of example and by the establishment of a code of honor, I produced an admirable esprit de corps. This little band of forty-eight, which I called "The Forty Thieves," was armed with Snider rifles, and with them I held a separate station one and a half miles from the main station on the banks of the Nile.

At about two o'clock in the morning an attack was made`