hem with his main force, opened fire, and thus,
attacked both in front and on the flank, the Ashantis fled, leaving 200
killed. Several other skirmishes took place. Lieutenant Gordon, who
had raised a body of Houssas, did excellent service, and formed a
redoubt at the village of Napoleon, about five miles from Cape Coast.
Except, however, within range of the guns of the forts, the whole
country was in the hands of the Ashantis.

It was now evident that a force which was estimated at 20,000 could not
be driven out from the vast woods which covered the whole country as far
as the Prah, with so small a force as that at the disposal of the
authorities, and it was determined by the Home Government to send out an
expedition to deliver the protectorate of its invaders, and to chastise
the Ashantis on their own ground. In the meantime the _Simoom_ arrived
on the coast with a strong body of marines and marine artillerymen, and
Commodore Commerell came up from the Cape of Good Hope and took the
command of the naval portion of the forces.

He determined to ascend the Prah with the boats of the squadron, to see
what facilities that river offered as a means of advance into the
interior, and to communicate with the chiefs upon the bank. He had
ascended the river only about a mile and a half when a very heavy fire
was suddenly opened upon him by the enemy concealed in the thick bush
which lined the banks. The commodore himself was badly wounded;
Captains Luxmore and Helden were also severely hurt; and 4 men killed
and 16 wounded. The boats returned at once to the _Rattlesnake_. The
town of Chamoh, which stood at the entrance of the Prah, was the next
day bombarded and burnt.

Several other skirmishes occurred; but as we were not in a position to
take the offensive, and the Ashantis appeared indisposed to renew their
attacks upon Elmina or Cape Coast, things remained quiet until the
arrival of Sir Garnet Wolseley, with some twenty English officers, in
the _Ambriz_. No troops had been sent with him, as it was considered
that the situation might have changed before he reached the coast, or
that upon his arrival there he might find the force of marines and
bluejackets, with the aid of the 2nd West India Regiment, another wing
of which had come down from Sierra Leone, sufficient for the purpose.

He found, however, that the situation was far too serious: that the
Fantis were utterly untrustworthy; and that with so small a force