t
it, and poured such a shower of lead into the tree that it was, at
once, deserted by the enemy.

The din was deafening. Every white man belonging to the leading
company had been hit, and the ground near the gun and Maxim was
strewn with the dead and dying.

Major Melliss gave the word:

"Mass the buglers, form up left company, and both charge!"

The buglers stood up, waiting for the word to blow. One of them was
instantly wounded but, though the blood was streaming down his
face, he stuck to his work. The word "Sound the way!" was given,
and the Hausas sprang wildly forward and dashed down the slope,
Major Melliss at their head.

Contrary to custom, the Ashantis were not terrified at the sight of
the bayonets and, through their loopholes, kept up a heavy fire.
The assailants, however, soon reached the stockade. Two white men
scrambled up the timbers, which were slippery with blood; and
jumped down, eight feet, on the other side, where they were soon
joined by numbers of their men. The enemy, however, stood their
ground bravely, and there was a fierce hand-to-hand fight. But the
bayonet did its work; and the enemy, who were getting more and more
outnumbered, at last turned and fled, hotly pursued by the victors.

A turn in the path revealed the war camp. It was an enormous one,
but already the last of its garrison were disappearing in the
forest, taking any path that afforded a chance of safety. The
assembly sounded, and the pursuit was abandoned; as another company
came forward, at a steady double, with orders to proceed up the
road to the next village. This they were to burn, and then return
to the war camp.

The work of destroying the war camp at once began. The troops lined
its outskirts, while the carriers cut down and burnt the huts. Then
a party set to work to pull down the stockades, which turned out to
be nearly three hundred yards long, and crescent shaped--a fact
that explained why we had suffered so severely from crossfire.

At last, sheets of flame showed that the work was accomplished, and
the company that had gone on in advance returned, and reported the
destruction of the village behind. The little force then gathered,
and proceeded to Bantama, a sacred village at which human
sacrifices had been perpetrated, for centuries. This place was
razed to the ground.

On the left, the sound of continuous firing told that Major Cobbe
was still heavily engaged. There was, however, no means of moving