defence were at once
undertaken, all the reliable natives, principally persons in the employ
of the Government or of the merchants, in all some 200 in number, were
armed, and a vessel was despatched to the neighbouring French settlement
of Goree to seek assistance. The Mandingoes, fortunately, made no
attempt to follow up their success, and the chiefs of British Combo
having volunteered their aid to the Government, a number of their men
were armed, and on July 29th some sharp skirmishing took place between
them and the Mandingoes in the neighbourhood of Bakkow, in which the
Combos lost twenty-five killed, but without reaping any success.

On the afternoon of July 30th, the French brig-of-war _Entreprenant_,
Captain Villeneuve, arrived, bringing with her eighty men, which was all
the disposable force the French Governor of Goree had at his command;
and all preparations being completed by the night of August 3rd, the
combined British and French force marched from Cape St. Mary's next
morning at daybreak. The French had brought with them three
twelve-pounder field-guns, which, with a 4-2/5-inch howitzer, and three
rocket-troughs in the possession of the British, were formed into a
battery under the command of Lieutenant Morel, of the French marine
artillery. The force was further increased by an irregular contingent of
some 600 loyal natives.

As on the former occasion, no opposition was encountered until arriving
at the wood of Bakkow, where the enemy showed in great force, and opened
a heavy fire from the shelter of the forest. The irregular contingent,
supported by the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West India Regiments,
replied to the enemy's fire in a most effective manner; but so
determined was the resistance, that the Mandingoes, when silenced in our
front, taking advantage of the cover afforded by the high grass and
clumps of monkey-bread trees, made repeated attacks on the flanks, and
even at one time threatened the rear. Shell and rockets were thrown
into the wood, and the village of Bakkow, which was occupied by the
enemy, was burned; but it was not until after two hours' obstinate
fighting, in the course of which the detachments of the 1st and 2nd West
India Regiment had four times to repulse flank attacks with the bayonet,
that the passage could be forced.

The wood being traversed, the force debouched upon the plain of
Sabbajee, a sandy level, covered with a scanty growth of Guinea grass
and dotted with cl