The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-20 00:00:00

SIR SAMUEL BAKER ON SAVAGE
WARFARE.

In London, on Monday afternoon, the little theatre of
the Cults I Service Inetitution was crowded In all pal
to hear Sir SeAlllul 1-I,..ktr deliver a letture on "Savage
IVas fare." rile chair was taken by the Duke of Cam-
bridge, l're.i.l‘tik of the Institution. Prins* Arthur
was among those present.

Sir Samuel Baker, who was warmly reeeived, began
by apologising for having, LILLIMiIf all amateur in the
art of warfare, undertaken tG give a icaium on military
strcta before so wally who had :wade such subject,
their especial study sod profeeelon. But, PS the task
he had set bsfore himself was not of his own choice,
hut one td which he tel been called by the solicita-
tions of others, he had felt himself in duty bound to
carry i through. The speaker ttesl4 Ivr,ceedent to trout
of the chief characteristim of eavago warfare :

Professional s Adlers. he said, who have atud led the art of
war in the beet schools of Europe, may think it a light
mutter to ohmage with savege foes, armed with the rudasl
weapon., or if with firearms with these of the most primi-
tive I\ll4 least deadly descripti in; with foes numeral's, In-
deed, but representing by their very numbtra more the
rude surging of a mob then the premeditated movements
of an organized force. It was, however, an error to
despise any enensy—even the UMW.. In an open country,
indeed, &Mall handful of disciplined troops Is worth more
than raw and disorganized hundreds. But In the bush or
the forest the savage finds ample compermation for
his comparative Ignorance of warfare. Ile has known
the country he fights In from childhood. Hs can move
quickly and to Jetty thrones junglea wh-ri the European
in uniform can hardly stir a limb. Flom le tope of trees,
where his dualty body cannot be init., sailabed trAn the
foliage or from the thick, high grease. whh frame the
line of march on either aide, he sends hi, spears and
arrows among the t'ol., who condi it I, Ise to overtake or
force into the open ground the nimble foe they cannot see.
Thee, again, though profeesional men may refuse to allow
to such foe, the name of soldiers, it must be remembered
that they have been accustomed to arms 11,M their earliest
childhood, and hl the use of such arms as they have know-
ledge of have attained an extraordinary pr ficie,cy Their
arrow., which are gent rally poisoned, will c.rry 120 yards ;
with their linoes they can Mt their mart at forty yards, and
can hurl them Into any large body, such as • knot if
at 60 yards' distance. thin distances were not giv. oat
random, hilt Irons the speaker's own experience and measure-
ment Even Common 1311111kEtl Ch•rgbli with slugs could do
considerable execution at close quarters.

Then, again, the mode of fighting practised by there mirages
Is one erninent'y qualified to saucy the European Tae whole
rte.( savage warfare lies In surprise. !tie, of nouns, absolutely
indbp.insahle for white trove marching thronah such •
country as the Atria ill hush thy they should have guides on
whom they could rely. But it had been often found.— in ore & f ten
Indeed then tot—that these very guides are Its the Arvin°
of the enemy, and bribed to lead the men who are trusting
to them into the most cunnlingly•oontrived ambuscade. S
noiselerly can these savages glide, naked as they are from
toe to toe, throuah the thickest undergrowth, that they
are enaLled to almost entirely surround • erdimin on the
marsh without their prerence being even suspected, and
lie, won nethie all air angler. They always, where
fits posolble, make their attacks under cover el the deck-
/fees, and alter this fashion. Halting their main holy
within half • mile of lie camp they intend In surp,lse,
they send forward scouts to ascertain the easel position
and number of the sentries. ibis they do by mewling
on their hands and Euro to willsinla few feet of the Uncon-
scious solider., their naked bodite, bleu k as the night itself,
nett...rally residua. detection In the thick darkness. Then,
the report nettle made, the entire force 11,1V1i11,11, as did in.
scouts, on hands and knees, and in the most perfect slimes,
till the retries are reached, when, springing to their feet,
they rush In with hideous yells, and in tale way very often
succeed where • regnlearly orgenlrd attack of regular troop.
would base failed. Whole parties el slave hunters had in
this way been slaughtered t • man within the speaker's
own knowledge. An thee very favourite plan is to enter •
camp with which they are &apparently on Merrily term.,
steely or In groups of two and three, but all carrying their
arms, until • sufficient number has keen collectel, when,
at • given signal, they fall upon their unsuspretiog victims.
F r this reason the speaker warned his hearer. rains% the
Imprudence of ever allowing a save 0, however friendly and
trust worthy he m I t to all af.perance be, to enter a camp
bearing arms. They eh, uld always be made to leave them
in charge of the sentries.

It wee rutty for him the speaker) totindentand the distaste
with which &Tropez= regarded snob wars as that now being
waged on thus Gobi Coast. I here was but little gl try to be
gained and much &scorn?, rt. Night attacks and night
marches through pestilent's, swamps and Junel-• were
enough to try she temper of the stoutest, especially when
his life was at any and every moment in the hands as it
were nf an unseen foe. Inc proper way to meet the natives
was to fight them with their own weapons—to combine
S sir mode of warfare with our own. Clever as they are at
effectb g surpti•es, they cantos undereand nor an they
aver prepared for, such surprises when turned egainst them-
selves. As to the arms best adapted for that pecullar war.
fare, it Pal been thoroughly prov-d that long-range elfin
are hot of little Rood. it very r .rely happened that op-
portinaltbs for ming them occur, and it would In general be
found quite 5. fficient to arm one company In etch regiment
with them. For the rest • No. 10 single-barrel amooth.bore
breechloader for back shot ; that km I known as 5.0.0.,
•LI ch is good at 11,0 yards, wit be found most serviceable.
instead I the regul.ton bayonet, • sharp, strong knife, It
us cc, I g, should he fattened to the barrel, much as the
baronet Is tastei.ed and ahem not St .ervri.e ern' toyed, would
be of treat tar in cutting and clearing away grass and
Underwood. Guns are of no ttre, owing to the difficulty
ex; oriented in their carriage. the speaker alms It had
with him when he started on his expedition ten of nolh.
weight, an throwing a shell of rile But he found it
impoesible tn c.rry them slat t i n, and could only use them
as defence, for his permanent camps. Ito. kda are loiiuuiln.y
to he prefer', d. They are most useful In trying the inuoto
before the troops ir Br, and on such occations Nome shisuld
be fired at • low ana le sea, to rt.: mhet, and others at lung
ranee as it explode beyond the enemy'. potrition. Those
Mostly used are II tile's Sib, rockets, which In reality welch
5111. : but these are not very good, owing to their wept t;f ex-
plosion. Sonia need by the sp akar had b en knuwar to pierce
throu.rt cod af;er roof In a votive virago, of the dries, and
most oil immatile material, without ignitinc, being, In fact,
too rat Id in their pregress, depending, as rockets dm on the
track tire to cause ignition. A rocket, to be really valuable,
should have a bunting charge of not leas than lit, and
•honid throw fire I ails to burn for notice. than one minute.
w—. a. r; ...of linen r sekets would be found quite sufficient
to destroy a whole stockade. It ts a very common practice
Sang savages to ere the surrounding jangle, so as to en-
dow We troop. In • circle of Ore, and 111., inc niequence,
of tire brat ,Inourtenr, that all j iu,le or thick growth or grin
ski eld rre cert.( oily enrche I r,y ogfrors or ''en is be.
to the entri of rary It ops 8!WaI , however, tb a. pr. -
cautions lilt, and the nativer eke ti ao-ir pu -pose, it will not
be hood iniposerile or even of tverwhevelog difficulty, to
Neaps Ma danger.

Despite the extraordhiary dories told, generally In and of
America, of the rate of speed at which fire travels, tie
speaker could *slur,' ha an.lience from his "wit personal
experience that that • wed did not exceed an average of its
mile. an hoer In such campalos ea those muter discus-
sion the heal, h the troops was, of course, of the highest
IMpOttallca. The Art order, after the halt had s uoded,
should always be, Budd your hots rC. eping places. For
that turpose every keen shou'd carry an axe of soft steel,
wutdi It oil be fi mid much cuter to keep sheep and In
good trim than one of hen! eteei, which, beanies being
Stable to chip when sharpere I. would soon be blunted by
the hard woods of the tropics. It Is always • good Van,
when practical, to flulah ttie i'ay's Jonrney in • single
march, and It wit eenerally be found ihat In the African
ciituritry and under the Africa's satchel. 14 miles a day
will be amply sufficient for AIL Sir Simnel', men, being
blacks, were better able to stand both country and weather
than white men width have beer., Tney were 101 clad in
iscsrle t flannel shirts, white Z mays+ trousers, gaiters, and
sandals. Each man carried a blanket, but no great-
coat, not because a greatcoat was trot greeted, but
because the Ea) Olen Government, at who charge
the men were eqiiipped, Chose to consider that a
and er had no need of • great coat. 01.1 y one tent woo
taken, that belonging to the le .clei himself, and tide, soon
after the start woe abandoned, wa erproof camp-sheets
being used by all Zr the remainder of the J unify. Indeed,
on such occesi.ns ills hardly possible to take too little
beillase. Much baag.g• ileceeakaka many carriers, and
casters are • noisy people where silence and secrecy me
aitolutely indlsp-usable iSv B...eel's force originally con-
slated of 1,500 men, Assad °tit of these be organised, for hie
own especial hod, -ard, • corps of 40, armed wit
Suiten. These—Ms " f.rty thlcva"as lie 'RM.! them
—he found most useful and reliable. It wee often
_ .

cot 'Meted that the say.ge Via. capable of no Improvement.
but Irmo his ex,rience .1 Lhasa men the weaker cool! not
sulncribe to trite opiolon.. Th re sprang up by d.greee
among theme forty men an sop-It de COTpl and a C 10 of
honour that would iic“. have dleeraced reauar troops. They
were, moreover, very pioul of their privileges and of their
especial d tate., and In the event of any vacancy occurring p
their ranks, lithe man chosen to fill It did not meet with
their approval, they never failed to acquaint their leader
with the feet.

-•--
The speaker also advocated the use of horse. in savage
warfare, woeuever the nature of the ground would admit of
their being employed. The nativcs were frightened f them,
and on one occasion Sir samuel, with only three other horse
men, had put to flight nearly an entire tribe. All these hints
and maxims the speaker illustrated from his own personal
experiments, which were of • most Interesting and often
of • m sat thrilling kind. He tild how with only s str
men he beat lAA and utterly routed more than 8,000
1111,47111, after a treitcherotur attemp had been MOB or
his life, and the lives of his little baud, by poisoned elder;
how marching from 10 to it mires a day he and his men, with
Ltdy Baker matching In them dst, Lever ceased from figh -
trig, day and night /or seven days, and yet never left belt d
one sick or wounded man, though they had but two horses
and o e donkay with Item; how he and • more handful of
men were agate treecherouals attacked by 27 of the natives,
and how though seven of his little band ft li at the first dis-
charge, he enticed hie ions at the point of the bayonet, and
left 140 of them dead tip n the field; how though he him-
melt generally managed to make friends with the native
kings, and was g 'wary succemful In all matters, whether
of war or diplomacy, which were under his own paranoid
supervision, kin E,nyptlann °lithe's niVer him almost invariably
bungled whatever arse iniru.ted ti them : how they hy their
mleniana.entrnt ra sed sga.ust th m • country through which
he isluself had Jilt marched without firing a shot; row on
no °cession, hen g 1-ft in charge of the cattle, and the
vessels In which the voyage op the Nile had been made, the
natty, s came down on them at night and found the et Otri•
asleep, the au,. unloaded, Sllli the ammunition no carefully
put away that it Chuld not be found In co,cluslou ole
tunnel trusted that, though tie spoke as an amateur, trot
with no presumption there might be Coma am ing the dthris
of hie to. ci .18 or two minus of Intelligence that ini.ht
net be altogether (kindled even by the professional men
before him.

The Duke of Oambridge, in thanking Sir Samuel
Baker for his interesting lecture, said that he was sure
Chit everybody in that room—everybody, indeed, hi
the conntry—was glad to welcome back Sir Samuel
once more anivng nem. It was • wonder ul thing
that one man eh ,uld have ben able to extreme so
much power over those savage hordes. The fact
should give on here at home confidence iii the issue of a
was now being weir,' in a cnuntry and with a foe
very similar to what they had heard of that after.
noon. What bad been done once could be done again.
The English allow bad successfully encountered as
great or greater difficulties before, ant his loyal High-
ness had every clonfidence in their doing se again to-
day. Ile believed that the honesty, the qraightfor
wardness, and the enterprise of Sir Iffarhilel Baker
would have a good effect on cur men now on the Gald
Comet, and he only wished that the good advice that
had been heard that afternoon could have been also
heard by theme In command there. But though this
could not be, he, for his part, had every belief In the
men who were there to act, and in the Government
which had sent them out.