The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-11-29 00:00:00

W. ,114:!. LANTO'N, /tonne Colonial Secretsay.
"God save the Goma."

The torreepen4ent or the Daily T.Pgraph, under dote
"Cape CANt Castle. 0 itober 29,' also vends ovar • mod
interest:a; letter, from which the following Is an extract :--
A eteel-blne sea rolling great waves a narrow
boundary if sand, on which the rollers rise like cr.-a:al
walls, of water--a monstrous fort on the beach, at
towers, curtains, staircase', and courtyards--another,
CII Plnthreeriue, upon a hill. A ruined town, in whir h
rod wale hang tottering between heaven and meth,
without support, continuation, or porp lee apparent;
in which gebe:ends, with no gable vieiblr, abound;
in 'hid; seto'e row, f mashie's window, admit the
light if heaven from either was indifferently a
town, you would say, which had suffered the last
extretoltlee of war Lot two or three day s
ofro. Low hills. sad gren of colour, surrounding it.
A white honer, peei mg here and there through madder
of more showy ,erdure. Such is Ml6'. first view of the
'Pot for ever sanctified to thh admirers of "L. E L."
Less brilliant than Sierra Leone in point of colour, the
Picturesque mass of the lost gives Cape C'oset Castle
in appearance much more imiss.ing than the larger
town can toad. It lablur the this background, the
broken shore, the deep red f sandstone, and tit*
mii°4°,ll green of foilage, but the Castle compensates
Nr every deficiency. I never saw a building of
snore romantic outline. In the midst is a
huge tower, mon led at each corner, on which
Out flag happily lc ill ft at.. Aroond it are buildings
of every shape and height, walls, and battlementa, and
toTalf& The iinportance of this place must, indeed,
ILS7sheer homelier in toe days of the Portuguese, to
induce them to raise such a struc'ure. And it is not
°°,4 at Cage Coast that European nations have set up :
aaefla monstrous castles. Niue miles away is E:rnina, I
whde the Latch toed to pride themselves upon paa ,
a rival Chow. And bit the ciao r side, nearer
I' bin Cove, with Boutry Fort, arid several more. I
Hut the glory of the builders' daxhas departed.
Nothing pureed • distant looker-on like a 50t, if if he have no previous information about the cir-
crunstances. As we passed Boutry yesterday—ff, in-
lived tho place in plc 'don was &point not so
cede& as a conwientiona correspo t might desire—
WO law two wen-A-war at anchor, oh boatmout. It
Was yet earliest morning, but our raitore bad plainly
his awake some time. Little snowy balloons seemed
h salami over b ,th ship, and boats from time to time ;
1114..„_ ere drew closer, the boom of guns wan board.
Vomit • headland that hid the cove off 'which they
the shore proved to be concealed in dense brown
Macke, on which the white rut-puffs seemed like bales
d cotton-wool. The town of Bantry was in a

blaze, and even, as it appeared, the conflagration
stretched beyond the town to bush or harvest
ground. Now and again, the morning breeze niereed the
smoke. and then, as through a window, we could eel
the red walla of Boutry Fort overhung with the powder
cloud; but whether the fort was bombarded or born.
hording ,whether it was firing into our ships, or aiding
them to destroy the town; whether that unfortunate
"location" was burned by accident, and all other
forms that question could take about the business, re.
meined without an answer, and so remain still. All
that Is known here is, that the Meet in sad Argue went
down the coast • week since. lam bound, also, to
confess that Nary little curiunty is felt about their pro.
medlar. TOWIA hOILIAIRIOII and burnt have been too
commonly reported of late to arouse much attention.
Arriving at Cape Coast Castle about 1.30 p.m.
yesterday, I was startled by the news that Sir Gernet
Woleelf-Y and all hie officers bad tckea the field oa
Sueday night. I instantly prepared for a long hight-
march to Deniturith, where, as I was enabled to tell
you in my last l-tter, the Finites fore have their
rendezvous. Flom the busy Inquiries and the
autieti. a this inbosnation caused I was pleasantly
diverted by hearing, on unquestionable authority, that
the affair' impending wre a mere foray. Sir Garnet had
left word that he would certainly return Last night or
this mornine, and as the English mail is due to leave to-
day, I thought it deferable to write off such news as
we have, rather than to pursue a force which would
probably be returning as I ant out. On what in-
formation Sir Ga.net lays his plane, and what
those plans are, none but a ye, y few, if any, are aware.
Cape Coast Castle swarms with Ashantee spies, so it is
believed. Our enemies are so intimatsly acquainted
with the town, and so many of them epealt Fantee
without a trace of accent, that they could—perhaps
they do—walk into the streets and look about them,
and converse, without danger of detectioe. With the
possibility of such espionage in view, our General is
most guarded in his movement... At midday on Sun-
day hat no one knew of an advance impending, but at
four p.m. the entire force disposable was on its way to
D unquab.

The first thing to do, when once I had satisfied my-
self that no night mare% to the front could he advisable,
was to obrerve our Konen allies, now about to land.'
They went over the side into lance boats, twelve by a
company. I observed with delight that the huge Juju
drum was gent weer by itself with all ceremony. Whet
a colle Lion of miscellaneous savages are we gathering
against w,tched Aehantee ! All the gods of Wee.
Africa are invoked to fight him. Allah fights, or is
expected to light, with the Houssaa of Ad leh, and
every juju and fetish from thence up to the Gambia
is called to aid. Our Korona went ashore very
quietly, striking up their war song, we have learnt
to know so well as they vaniehed behind the long
rollers. When the last of them had gone over the side,
I trade adieu to the pleasant vessel in which we had
voyaged three weeks. The crew of my boat were
Fantees. They sat upon the extreme edge of their
craft, and dipped their peddlea in perfect time, to the
most monotonous song ever man sung. It consulted of
one line only, to which, inceasantly repeated, the
paddles answered in a chorus of ten word,. Travelling
very slowly, now lifted on high, now descending the
ocean depths, we made for shore. In • narrow be
between two rocks we eluded the towering mud,
and landed with no worse accident than a
sprinkling of spray. It remained to get out the
baggage, and I looked with dismay at the crowd
of loafing motives, with scuundreliem stamped
upon their countenances, who clustered eagerly to
the side. How, em ergot so many, should a man look
after his own? Help came from an unexpected 'planer.
A quiet-looking negro, in the picturesque unoress of
the West Indian regiments—white coat, red cap, and
baggy breeches of dark blue, gave • signal with his
hand, and hi y female porters came dencing through
the crowd. Thew were all naked to the ward, and
from the knee. Every age above childhood had its re-
presentratives, from the withered beldame who hail lost
all the beauties of sex to the slender girl who did not
yet p rafter] them. A willing, clamorous crew, they
seized my packages, and hoisted them upou their heads.
At • smile and a sign they ranged tberneeivee in rove,
until the tale of goods to be conveyed was announced
complete, and then, with merry laughter, they danced
off to the shady portal of the fort. Our way here was
stepped by another bevy, returning to the beat of •
rhythmic song, with feet deftly charged and waving of
arms and bodies. The expresions of faces and the
laughterful, uproarous exchange of scolding, reminded
me exactly of scenes beheld sr hen one troop el dancers
meets another at the "wing." In a few eeconcle, the
steep, cool arch was clear, and the outgoere were
busy as bees around huge packages of rice. We went
on into the court What swiftness of words, what
scope of humorous expreseion, would be needed to
describe the scene within! Fancy a vast court-yard,
&Moot triangular in form, overlooked by the big tower
and ey stoircaetia and ha'conir a imenmerable. Fancy it
tilled—pd-d ma—with boxes, psi:twee, and barrels,
leaving only a middle passage. People it with a crush
of wirmeu, amongat whom, like sailors swimming ic a
tuurkv Fes, appear halt weiczen officers of the Commis-
sera:, red with heat, perspiring under their helmets,
laughing ani scolding in a breatn. With no more
regard for them than • laugh, and an interpolated
word in the endless Bong, the femele porters execute
their outward dance, and perform the heavy duties of
their returning task. "Far hire I wandered and
mnckle hoe I seen," as the old song has it ; but the
like of that courtyard "never saw I hare." Of order
or organisation there appeared to be no vestige, and
yet, looking at the same courtyard to-day, I under-
stand the enthu•ieem with which our transport
officers regard their female gang. The arrangement,
the decency which had been hydras to attain with
Kroomen, ar with the villanous recruit. of
Sierra Leone, are achieved without difficuliy by
the worn,. "Jest tip 'me a laugh and a Israeli
in the r SQ.rte't WI. to Inc t. I
" 1,11,11 litre ',sett" women will carry 200 b.
each from in, to Composite on their heads." i heir
strength is .urprieiug, and their merriment inexhaus-
tible. Islir wie It seems to daunt them, if they only get
good humoured eucouragement from the officere. In
physical force they are more than a match for those
they eon their lords, and their tea Lability seems to be
beyond proof. The officials declare to me that more
ev irk has been donAinothret Mouday, when the men
of the traireport were called to the front, than had been
achieved durieg * previous three weeks.

In the very middle of the courtyard an intermitted
scream of laughter, rising above the Bongs, the
rhythmic patter of dancing feet, and the cheery sound
.1 woman'. voices, rechlled to me the presence of our
awns, who had lauded ahead of um. Strupgling
after my porters through the steaming crowd, I made
for the scene of fun. Fan it IMP, indeed. Our
native warriors were drunk wi h excitement, mad
with the vanity "showing off' before no may
women. I, shoal Ihe eta loss to itiaaWne any contor-
tions of which the Inman frame is capable, any floarisla
of sword or practice of jungle fight, which one or
other did not execute. They danced and sang,
they screamed and foamed, until the officers of the
Commi-shriat, who stood around on rice bales, were
sick with laughing, and demanded a cessation. There-
upon the great Jo ju chief accoutred in the helmet I
have t aid you of, mounted in state upon four warriors
at once, and marched in triumph from the court, hold-
ing his scabbard in his left band, with his sword half
drawn in his right; and so they passed away to
Prospect-hill. whence, after learning some small midi-
amnia of soldiery, they will be sent to the attack.

The following letter Is from The Times of Monday :
Having seen that Sir Garnet Wolseley has made his
&et strategic effort at Dunquab, for his other effort at
Mampon whir tentative, I am desirous of saying a few
words about an old native friend. Durquah is a town
belonging to Otoo Abbabeo, Chief of Aorsb, and has
always been a spot conspicuous in our broil. with the
Ashantees. But I do not wish to speak about the
place. I seek rather to dwell on the virtues of the
MAD.

I knew this excellent Prince most intimately and he
is a grand sample of what an African Monarch ought
to be. Iu his croorus of Abrah and Abrakampa he
had established in 1860 schools for the instruction
of children in European trades and in the Christian
religion. H. hiu self wee. and I am convinced is. a
devout pupil of Christianity and • sincere supporter
of the British Government in all its attempts to
modify the hard fate of the Africiin of Upper Guinea.
Unsupported by the example of his couotrymen, he
was the first potentate to revive the growth and culti-
vation of the col too plant in the settlements in 1859;
and he was anxious to accept and to pursue t the tad
any advice which, under favour of our fl .g, could
to the prosperity of Africa. Ife is a mild and benevo-
, lent sovereign, and among the number of his many
amiable and inoffensive qualities used to be, and
perhaps still is, his remarkable fondness for paying
ui.its to the officers of the Government at Cape Coast,
and of conversing with them for hours on mattesu
which touched on the condition and career of England
and which delineate the habits of the English.

Hells of dark olive complexion, of immense atatture
and of predilections, as you may well surmise, in no
way helping to the perpetuation of the leading sins of
the lard of hie birth. He is sober, ingenuous, truthful,
and brave.

As Otoo is of a temper est prone to barbaric pomp,
the necklaces of Aggroy beads or of massive gold,
the fillets of silk wrought with charms round the
temples, the rude lumps of rock/old upon the wrists,
the castanets of gold upon the forefinger and thumb for
theenforcementof silence, anl rtglii tricks of dress never
to be detected about his person,

I am glad that Sir Garnet Wobeley is under the
roof. homely ad it is, of this splendid Chief, and acting
cordially and yigorouely with him. I think, also, that
the day will yet comb when Otto may be ind iced to
reveit to hie former love of developing the agricultural
resources of Abrab, and in such a direction he may
fairly emulate the services which he is reudering to Sir
Gdruet Wobeley in the cause of war by falling once
more as ardently se of yore into those Tomei fat view.
not altogether forgotten by himself, and not likewise
altogether a dream to

A DIRECTOR OF TIIE AFRICAN
BARTIR COMPANY.
SO, Graceohorch•strook E C., Nov. 2.