By Sheer Pluck

G >> G. A. Henty >> By Sheer Pluck

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Notwithstanding the heavy loss which they were suffering, the
Ashantis stood their ground most bravely. Their wild yells and the
beating of their drums never ceased, and only rose the louder as
each volley of grape was poured into them. They did not, however,
advance beyond the shelter of their bush, and, as the British were
not strong enough to attack them there, the duel of artillery and
musketry was continued without cessation for an hour and a half,
and then Colonel Festing fell back unmolested to Dunquah.

The Ashantis were delighted at the result of the fighting, heavy
as their loss had been. They had held their ground, and the British
had not ventured to attack them in the bush.

"You see," Ammon Quatia said exultingly to Frank, "what I told you
was true. The white men cannot fight us in the bush. At Essarman
the wood was thin and gave but a poor cover. Here, you see, they
dared not follow us."

On the British side five officers and the King of Annamaboe were
wounded, and fifty-two of the men. None were killed, the distance
from the bush to the ground held by the English being too far for
the Ashanti slugs to inflict mortal wounds.

Ammon Quatia now began to meditate falling back upon the Prah--
the sick and wounded were already sent back--but he determined
before retiring to attack Abra Crampa, whose king had sided with
us, and where an English garrison had been posted.

On the 2d of November, however, Colonel Festing again marched out
from Dunquah with a hundred men of the 2d West India regiment,
nine hundred native allies, and some Houssas with rockets, under
Lieutenant Wilmot, towards the Ashanti camp. This time Ammon Quatia
was not taken by surprise. His scouts informed him of the approach
of the column, and moving out to meet them, he attacked them in
the bush before they reached the camp. Crouching among the trees
the Ashantis opened a tremendous fire. All the native allies, with
the exception of a hundred, bolted at once, but the remainder,
with the Houssas and West Indians, behaved with great steadiness
and gallantry, and for two hours kept up a heavy Snider fire upon
their invisible foes.

Early in the fight Lieutenant Wilmot, while directing the rocket
tube, received a severe wound in the shoulder. He, however, continued
at his work till, just as the fight was ended, he was shot through
the heart with a bullet. Four officers were wounded as were thirteen
men of the 2d West India regiment. One of the natives was killed,
fifty severely wounded, and a great many slightly. After two hours'
fighting Colonel Festing found the Ashantis were working round
to cut off his retreat, and therefore fell back again on Dunquah.
The conduct of the native levies here and in two or three smaller
reconnaisances was so bad that it was found that no further
dependence could be placed upon them, and, with the exception of
the two partly disciplined regiments under Colonel Wood and Major
Russell, they were in future treated as merely fit to act as carriers
for the provisions.

Although the second reconnaissance from Dunquah had, like the first,
been unsuccessful, its effect upon the Ashantis was very great.
They had themselves suffered great loss, while they could not see
that any of their enemies had been killed, for Lieutenant Wilmot's
body had been carried off. The rockets especially appalled them,
one rocket having killed six, four of whom were chiefs who were
talking together. It was true that the English had not succeeded
in forcing their way through the bush, but if every time they came
out they were to kill large numbers without suffering any loss
themselves, they must clearly in the long run be victorious.

What the Ashantis did not see, and what Frank carefully abstained
from hinting to Ammon Quatia, was that if, instead of stopping and
firing at a distance beyond that which at their slugs were effective,
they were to charge down upon the English and fire their pieces
when they reached within a few yards of them, they would overpower
them at once by their enormous superiority of numbers. At ten paces
distant a volley of slugs is as effective as a Snider bullet, and
the whole of the native troops would have bolted the instant such
a charge was made. In the open such tactics might not be possible,
as the Sniders could be discharged twenty times before the English
line was reached, but in the woods, where the two lines were not
more than forty or fifty yards apart, the Sniders could be fired
but once or at the utmost twice, while the assailants rushed across
the short intervening space.

Had the Ashantis adopted these tactics they could have crushed
with ease the little bands with which the English attacked them.
But it is characteristic of all savages that they can never be got
to rush down upon a foe who is prepared and well armed. A half dozen
white men have been known to keep a whole tribe of Red Indians at
a distance on the prairie. This, however, can be accounted for by
the fact that the power of the chiefs is limited, and that each
Indian values his own life highly and does not care to throw it
away on a desperate enterprise. Among the Ashantis, however, where
the power of the chiefs is very great and where human life is held
of little account, it is singular that such tactics should not have
been adopted.

The Ashantis were now becoming thoroughly dispirited. Their sufferings
had been immense. Fever and hunger had made great ravages among
them, and, although now the wet season was over a large quantity
of food could be obtained in the forest, the losses which the white
men's bullets, rockets, and guns had inflicted upon them had broken
their courage. The longing for home became greater than ever, and
had it not been that they knew that troops stationed at the Prah
would prevent any fugitives from crossing, they would have deserted
in large numbers. Already one of the divisions had fallen back.

Ammon Quatia spent hours sitting at the door of his hut smoking and
talking to the other chiefs. Frank was often called into council,
as Ammon Quatia had conceived a high opinion of his judgment, which
had proved invariably correct so far.

"We are going," he said one day, "to take Abra Crampa and to kill
its king, and then to fall back across the Prah."

"I think you had better fall back at once," Frank answered. "When
you took me with you to the edge of the clearing yesterday I saw
that preparations had been made for the defense, and that there were
white troops there. You will never carry the village. The English
have thrown up breastworks of earth, and they will lie behind these
and shoot down your men as they come out of the forest."

"I must have one victory to report to the king if I can," Ammon
Quatia said. "Then he can make peace if he chooses. The white men
will not wish to go on fighting. The Fantis are eager for peace
and to return to their villages. What do you think?"

"If it be true that white troops are coming out from England,
as the Fanti prisoners say," Frank answered, "you will see that
the English will not make peace till they have crossed the Prah
and marched to Coomassie. Your king is always making trouble. You
will see that this time the English will not be content with your
retiring, but will in turn invade Ashanti."

Ammon Quatia and the chiefs laughed incredulously.

"They will not dare to cross the Prah," Ammon Quatia said. "If they
enter Ashanti they will be eaten up."

"They are not so easy to eat up," Frank answered. "You have seen
how a hundred or two can fight against your whole army. What will
it be when they are in thousands? Your king has not been wise. It
would be better for him to send down at once and to make peace at
any price."

CHAPTER XX: THE WHITE TROOPS

Two days later Frank was awoke by a sudden yell. He leaped from
his bed of boughs, seized his revolver, and rushing to the door,
saw that a party of some twenty men were attacking Ammon Quatia's
hut. The two guards stationed there had already been cut down. Frank
shouted to his four guards and Ostik to follow him. The guards had
been standing irresolute, not knowing what side to take, but the
example of the young Englishman decided them. They fired their
muskets into the knot of natives, and then charged sword in hand.
Ostik drew the sword which he always carried and followed close
to his master's heels. Frank did not fire until within two yards
of the Ashantis. Then his revolver spoke out and six shots were
discharged, each with deadly effect. Then, catching up a musket
which had fallen from the hands of one of the men he had shot,
he clubbed it and fell upon the surprised and already hesitating
conspirators.

These, fortunately for Frank, had not loaded their muskets. They
had intended to kill Ammon Quatia and then to disperse instantly
before aid could arrive, believing that with his death the order
for retreat across the Prah would at once be given. Several of them
had been killed by the slugs from the muskets of Frank's guard, and
his pistol had completed their confusion. The reports of the guns
called up other troops, and these came rushing in on all sides.
Scarcely did Frank and his followers fall upon the conspirators
than they took to their heels and fled into the wood.

Ammon Quatia himself, sword in hand, had just sprung to the door
of the hut prepared to sell his life dearly, when Frank's guard
fired. The affair was so momentary that he had hardly time to
realize what had happened before his assailants were in full flight.

"You have saved my life," he said to Frank. "Had it not been for
you I must have been killed. You shall not find me ungrateful.
When I have taken Abra Crampa I will manage that you shall return
to your friends. I dare not let you go openly, for the king would
not forgive me, and I shall have enough to do already to pacify him
when he hears how great have been our losses. But rest content. I
will manage it somehow."

An hour afterwards Ammon Quatia gave orders that the army should
move to the attack of Abra Crampa. The place was held by a body of
marines and sailors, a hundred West Indians, and the native troops
of the king. Major Russell was in command. The village stood
on rising ground, and was surrounded for a distance of a hundred
and fifty yards by a clearing. Part of this consisted of patches
of cultivated ground, the rest had been hastily cleared by the
defenders. At the upper end stood a church, and this was converted
into a stronghold. The windows were high up in the walls, and a
platform had been erected inside for the sailors to fire from the
windows, which were partially blocked with sandbags. The houses
on the outside of the village had all been loopholed, and had been
connected by breastworks of earth. Other defenses had been thrown
up further back in case the outworks should be carried. The mission
house in the main street and the huts which surrounded it formed,
with the church, the last strongholds. For two or three days the
bush round the town had swarmed with Ashantis, whose tomtoms could
be heard by the garrison night and day.

Frank accompanied Ammon Quatia, and was therefore in the front, and
had an opportunity of seeing how the Ashantis commence an attack.
The war drums gave the signal, and when they ceased, ten thousand
voices raised the war song in measured cadence. The effect was very
fine, rising as it did from all parts of the forest. By this time
the Ashantis had lined the whole circle of wood round the clearing.
Then three regular volleys were fired, making, from the heavy
charges used, a tremendous roar.

Scarcely had these ceased when the King of Abra, a splendid looking
negro standing nearly six feet four in height, stepped out from
behind the breastwork and shouted a taunting challenge to the
Ashantis to come on. They replied with a loud yell, and with the
opening of a continuous fire round the edge of the wood. On wall and
roof of the village the slugs pattered thickly; but the defenders
were all in shelter, and in reply, from breastwork and loophole,
from the windows and roof of the church, the answering Snider bullets
flew out straight and deadly. Several times Ammon Quatia tried to
get his men to make a rush. The war drums beat, the great horns
sounded, and the men shouted, but each time the English bullets flew
so thick and deadly into the wood wherever the sound rose loudest
that the Ashantis' heart failed them, and they could not be got to
make the rush across the hundred yards of cleared ground.

At five o'clock the fire slackened, but shortly after dark the
attack recommenced. The moon was up and full. Frank feared that
the Ashantis would try and crawl a part of the distance across the
clearing and then make a sudden rush; but they appeared to have no
idea of a silent attack. Several times, indeed, they gathered and
rushed forward in large bodies, but each time their shouting and
drums gave warning to the besieged, and so tremendous a fire was
opened upon them when they emerged from the shadow of the trees
into the moonlight, that each time they fell back leaving the ground
strewn with dead. Till midnight the attack was continued, then the
Ashantis fell back to their camp.

At Accroful, a village on the main road some four miles distant,
the attack had been heard, and a messenger sent off to Cape Coast
to inform Sir Garnet Wolseley.

In the morning fifty men of the 2d West India regiment marched from
Accroful into Abra Crampa without molestation. Later on some Abra
scouts approached the Ashanti camp and shouted tauntingly to know
when the Ashantis were coming into Abra Crampa.

They shouted in return, "After breakfast," and soon afterwards,
a rocket fired from the roof of the church falling into the camp,
they again sallied out and attacked. It was a repetition of the
fight of the day before. Several times Major Russell withheld his
fire altogether, but the Ashantis could not be tempted to show in
force beyond the edge of the wood. So inspirited were the defenders
that they now made several sorties and penetrated some distance
into the wood.

At eight in the morning Sir Garnet Wolseley had marched from Cape
Coast with three hundred marines and blue jackets to the relief of
the position, but so tremendous was the heat that nearly half the
men fell exhausted by the way, and were ordered when they recovered
to march back to Cape Coast. The remainder, when they arrived at
Assaibo, five miles from Abra Crampa, were so utterly exhausted
that a long halt was necessary, although a faint but continuous
fire could be heard from the besieged place.

Chocolate and cold preserved meat were served out to the men, and
in the course of another three hours a large number of the stragglers
came in. At three o'clock, a hundred of the most exhausted men being
left to hold the village, the rest of the force with the fifty West
Indians stationed there marched forward to Buteana, where they were
jointed by fifty more men from Accroful. Just as they started from
this place they met the King of Abra, who had come out with a small
body of warriors; from him Sir Garnet learned that this road, which
wound round and came in at the back of Abra Crampa, was still open.

The Ashantis were too busy with their own operations to watch the
path, and the relieving force entered the place without firing a
shot. The firing round the town continued, but Ammon Quatia, when
he saw the reinforcements enter, at once began to fall back with
the main body of his troops, and although the firing was kept up
all night, when the besieged in the morning advanced to attack the
Ashanti camp they found it altogether deserted.

"It is of no use," the Ashanti general said to Frank. "My men cannot
fight in the open against the English guns. Besides, they do not
know what they are fighting for here; but if your general should
ever cross the Prah you will find it different. There are forests
all the way to Coomassie, as you know, and the men will be fighting
in defense of their own country, you will see what we shall do
then. And now I will keep my promise to you. Tonight your guards
will go to sleep. I shall have medicine given them which will
make them sleep hard. One of the Fanti prisoners will come to your
hut and will guide you through the woods to Assaiboo. Goodbye, my
friend. Ammon Quatia has learnt that some of the white men are good
and honest, and he will never forget that he owes his life to you.
Take this in remembrance of Ammon Quatia."

And he presented Frank with a necklace composed of nuggets of gold
as big as walnuts and weighing nearly twenty pounds.

Frank in return gave the general the only article of value which
he now possessed, his revolver and tin box of cartridges, telling
him that he hoped he would never use it against the English, but
that it might be of value to him should he ever again have trouble
with his own men. Frank made a parcel of the necklace and of the
gold he had received from the king for his goods, and warned Ostik to
hold himself in readiness for flight. The camp was silent although
the roar of musketry a few hundred yards off round Abra Crampa
continued unbroken. For some time Frank heard his guards pacing
outside, and occasionally speaking to each other. Then these sounds
ceased and all was quiet. Presently the front of the tent was opened
and a voice said, "Come, all is ready."

Frank came out and looked round. The Ashanti camp was deserted.
Ammon Quatia had moved away with the main body of his troops,
although the musketry fire round the village was kept up. A Fanti
stood at the door of the hut with Ostik. The four guards were
sleeping quietly. Noiselessly the little party stole away. A quarter
of an hour later they struck the path, and an hour's walking brought
them to Assaiboo. Not an Ashanti was met with along the path, but
Frank hardly felt that he was safe until he heard the challenge of
"Who goes there?" from an English sentry. A few minutes later he
was taken before Captain Bradshaw, R. N., who commanded the sailors
and marines who had been left there. Very hearty was the greeting
which the young Englishman received from the genial sailor, and a
bowl of soup and a glass of grog were soon set before him.

His arrival created quite a sensation, and for some hours he sat
talking with the officers, while Ostik was an equal subject of
curiosity among the sailors. The news that the Ashanti army was in
full retreat relieved the garrison of the place from all further
fear of attack, and Frank went to sleep before morning, and was
only roused at noon when a messenger arrived with the news that
the Ashanti camp had been found deserted, and that the road in its
rear was found to be strewn with chairs, clothes, pillows, muskets,
and odds and ends of every description. Few Ashanti prisoners
had been taken, but a considerable number of Fantis, who had been
prisoners among them, had come in, having escaped in the confusion
of the retreat. Among these were many women, several of whom had been
captured when the Ashantis had first crossed the Prah ten months
before. In the afternoon Sir Garnet Wolseley, with the greater
portion of the force from Abra Crampa, marched in, and Frank was
introduced by Captain Bradshaw to the general. As the latter was
anxious to press on at once to Cape Coast, in order that the sailors
and marines might sleep on board ship that night, he asked Frank to
accompany him, and on the road heard the story of his adventures.
He invited him to sleep for the night at Government House, an
invitation which Frank accepted; but he slept worse than he had done
for a long time. It was now nearly two years since he had landed
in Africa, and during all that time he had slept, covered with a
rug, on the canvas of his little camp bed. The complete change, the
stillness and security, and, above all, the novelty of a bed with
sheets, completely banished sleep, and it was not until morning was
dawning that, wrapping himself in a rug, and lying on the ground,
he was able to get a sleep. In the morning at breakfast Sir Garnet
asked him what he intended to do, and said that if he were in no
extreme hurry to return to England he could render great services
as guide to the expedition, which would start for Coomassie as soon
as the white troops arrived. Frank had already thought the matter
over. He had had more than enough of Africa, but two or three months
longer would make no difference, and he felt that his knowledge
of the Ashanti methods of war, of the country to be traversed, the
streams to be crossed, and the points at which the Ashantis would
probably make a stand, would enable him to tender really valuable
assistance to the army. He therefore told Sir Garnet Wolseley that
he had no particular business which called him urgently back, and
that he was willing to guide the army to Coomassie. He at once had
quarters as an officer assigned to him in the town, with rations
for himself and servant.

His first step was to procure English garments, for although he
had before starting laid aside his Ashanti costume, and put on that
he had before worn, his clothes were now so travel worn as to be
scarce wearable. He had no difficulty in doing this. Many of the
officers were already invalided home, and one who was just sailing
was glad to dispose of his uniform, which consisted of a light
brown Norfolk shooting jacket, knickerbockers, and helmet, as these
would be of no use to him in England.

Frank's next step was to go to the agent of Messrs. Swanzy, the
principal African merchants of the coast. This gentleman readily
cashed one of the orders on the African bank which Mr. Goodenough
had, before his death, handed over to Frank, and the latter
proceeded to discharge the long arrears of wages owing to Ostik,
adding, besides, a handsome present. He offered to allow his faithful
servant to depart to join his family on the Gaboon at once, should
he wish to do so, but Ostik declared that he would remain with him
as long as he stopped in Africa. On Frank's advice, however, he
deposited his money, for safe keeping, with Messrs. Swanzy's agent,
with orders to transmit it to his family should anything happen to
him during the expedition.

Three days later Frank was attacked by fever, the result of the
reaction after so many dangers. He was at once sent on board the
Simoon, which had been established as a hospital ship; but the attack
was a mild one, and in a few days, thanks to the sea air, and the
attention and nursing which he received, he was convalescent. As
soon as the fever passed away, and he was able to sit on deck and
enjoy the sea breezes, he had many visits from the officers of the
ships of war. Among these was the captain of the Decoy gunboat.

After chatting with Frank for some time the officer said: "I am
going down the coast as far as the mouth of the Volta, where Captain
Glover is organizing another expedition. You will not be wanted on
shore just at present, and a week's rest will do you good; what do
you say to coming down with me--it will give you a little change
and variety?"

Frank accepted the invitation with pleasure. An hour later the
Decoy's boat came alongside, and Frank took his place on board it,
Ostik following with his clothes. An hour later the Decoy got up
her anchor and steamed down the coast. It was delightful to Frank,
sitting in a large wicker work chair in the shade of the awning,
watching the distant shore and chatting with the officers. He had
much to hear of what had taken place in England since he left,
and they on their part were equally eager to learn about the road
along which they would have to march--at least those of them who
were fortunate enough to be appointed to the naval brigade--and
the wonders of the barbarian capital. The Decoy was not fast, about
six knots being her average pace of steaming; however, no one was
in a hurry; there would be nothing to do until the troops arrived
from England; and to all, a trip down the coast was a pleasant
change after the long monotony of rolling at anchor. For some
distance from Cape Coast the shore was flat, but further on the
country became hilly. Some of the undulations reached a considerable
height, the highest, Mamquady, being over two thousand feet.

"That ought to be a very healthy place," Frank said. "I should
think that a sanatorium established there would be an immense boon
to the whites all along the coasts."

"One would think so," an officer replied "but I'm told that those
hills are particularly unhealthy. That fellow you see jutting out
is said to be extremely rich in gold. Over and over again parties
have been formed to dig there, but they have always suffered so
terribly from fever that they have had to relinquish the attempt.
The natives suffer as well as the whites. I believe that the
formation is granite, the surface of which is much decomposed; and
it is always found here that the turning up of ground that has not
been disturbed for many years is extremely unhealthy, and decomposing
granite possesses some element particularly obnoxious to health.
The natives, of course, look upon the mountain as a fetish, and
believe that an evil spirit guards it. The superstition of the
negroes is wonderful, and at Accra they are, if possible, more
superstitious than anywhere else. Every one believes that every
malady under the sun is produced by fetish, and that some enemy is
casting spells upon them."

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