d war song. As they got more into the
open, they rushed round and clambered over the stockade; and the
enemy, unable to stand the fury of their charge, fled in panic.

As a prolonged pursuit was impossible in the bush, and as daylight
was fading, the troops were recalled at once. The first thing to be
done was to pull down the stockade along the fetish road, to enable
the transport to pass. When this was done, Colonel Willcocks
collected the troops nearest to him and moved forward, at their
head, along the broad road.

Their delight, when they emerged into the open and saw Coomassie
ahead of them, was unbounded. Keeping regular step, though each man
was yearning to press forward, they advanced steadily. The silence
weighed upon them; and a dread, lest they had arrived too late,
chilled the sense of triumph with which they had marched off. At
last, the faint notes of a distant bugle sounded the general
salute, and a wild burst of cheering greeted the sound. The bugles
returned the call with joyous notes. Then the gate opened, and
Captain Bishop, Mr. Ralph, and Dr. Hay came out, followed by such
few of the brave little garrison as still had strength to walk.

Just at this moment, a great glow was seen in the distance. The
flying enemy had fired the Basel Mission. A company therefore
started at once, at the double, to drive them off.

The relieving force had, indeed, arrived only just in time. The
means of resistance had all been exhausted, and another day would
have seen the end. The garrison had held out desperately, in the
hope that Colonel Willcocks would be able to fulfil the promise he
had sent in, that he would arrive to relieve them on the 15th of
July; and he had nobly kept his word to an hour, at the cost of an
amount of hard work, privation, hardship, and suffering such as has
fallen to the lot of but few expeditions of the kind.

The Ashanti rising was the result of long premeditation and
preparation. On the 13th of March, the governor of the Gold Coast,
accompanied by Lady Hodgson, left Accra to make a tour of
inspection. On his way up country he was received with great
friendliness at all the villages and, when he arrived at Coomassie
on the 25th, he found a large number of Ashanti kings, who turned
out in state to meet him. A triumphal arch had been erected, and a
gorgeous procession of kings and chiefs marched past. There was no
sign of a cloud in the horizon.

Several days passed quietly, and Sir F