entire absence
of wind, or of movement among the leaves; the profound silence,
broken only by the occasional dropping of water, weighed heavily on
the spirits of the troops. Under foot the soil was converted into
mire by the recent rains; and glad, indeed, were all, when they
reached Mansu.

From this village, as had been the case at the previous halt,
numbers of the carriers deserted. In order to get on, therefore, it
was necessary to send out to the surrounding villages, to gather in
men to take their places; and at the same time a telegram was sent
down to Cape Coast, requesting the commandant there to arrest all
the men who came in, and try to punish them as deserters. It was
some satisfaction to know that they would be flogged, though this
did not obviate the inconvenience caused by their desertion.

Mansu was a pleasanter halting place than the two preceding ones.
It was surrounded by a clearing of considerable size; and contained
two bungalows, which served as quarters for the officers. The
soldiers got abundance of firewood from the forest, and the place
presented a picturesque appearance, after nightfall, with its
blazing fires and their reflection on the deep circle of foliage.

The march had been a depressing one, to the officers; but the
native troops did not seem to find it so, and chattered, sang, and
danced by their fires. Three of the officers found it difficult to
swallow their food; but Lisle and another young officer, named
Hallett, with whom he had been a special chum on board ship, made a
hearty meal and, after it was finished, set out together for a tour
round the camp, to assure themselves that everything was going on
satisfactorily.

"This must be very different from your experience in the Tirah,"
Hallett said.

"Yes; to begin with, it was generally so cold at night, even in the
valley, that we were glad of both our blankets and cloaks; while
among the passes it was bitter, indeed. Then, too, the greater
portion of the troops were white and, though they were cheerful
enough, their spirits were nothing to the merriment of these
natives. Then the camps were crowded with animals, while here there
are only these wretched carriers; and almost every night we were
saluted with bullets from the heights, and lay down in readiness to
oppose any sudden attack.

"I suppose we shall have to do the same, when we get into the
enemy's country, here. That is really the only similarity between
the two e