Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-10-17

an ,hs chance OF some plumber, and out
thew ran to pitch into him. But they
couldn't help being struck with the
strange way in which he seemed to
moye1pot walking like living man,
bu. gliding along as IL he were q
sbsdow. Then, too-although that
might have been because OF the soft
s,nd-bis footsteps, big and heavy
though he looked, made not the slight
est sound. But before they could reach
him they saw him 60 straight up to the
smaller gate of the courtyard, which
was shut fast, being hardly ever used.
And lust as he came up to it it fell
down fiat and let him pass over -
Like the walls Of Jericho" sug-
eested /, "only in this case there wasno
trumpet sounded. Why, this is better
and better"
"Then," resumed my companion,
q" the four fellows looked at each other,
hardly knowing what to think, and no.
BODY liking to be the first to say what
be really thought it was: But all this
was nothing to what followed. After
passing the gate the figure halted sud-
denly, at the foot Of a huge tree, against
the trunk of which it made such a
splendid mark in the moonlight that
F., who had 'snatched up his revolver
as be rushed out, stopped short and
tookH steady aim at the thing as
it stood there. The figure slowly
raised its arms above its head, and
shook its clinched hands wildly, like
man in desperation. F. fred and
seemed to hit the shape right in the
breast, but at that very moment 1t
vanished as if it had never been, and
although they could see for hundreds
of yards on every side, there was no
trace of it anywhere. Moreover, when
they came to look round the courtyard
there was no sign Of footprints in the
sand, and the gate that had seemed to
fall down when the spectre passed was
standing upright and fast shut just the
same as ever, with the sand drifted up
against it so that you couldn't have
! 0peDeu IL III lOu uhu tiiOus
"And did they never get any expla-
nation Of the mystery?" inquired |
as the narrator ceased.
"Indeed they did, so far, at least, as
you can call it an explanation. When
the story got abroad somebody told
+. that before he took the house
where this thing had been seen it had
belonged to Portuguese slaye-trader
called Don Whiskerandos de Picked
porko, or some such name. A terrible
old rascal he wss, who had killed ever
so many people, and at last he got
knitted himself las he deserved), and
was buried somewhere not far from the
house. So when F. and his chums
heard that they went to work at once
to dig at the root Of the tree where the
ghost had disappeared, in the trunk of
which they found the bullet that F..
had fred into the figure. Sure enough,
they turned up a skeleton with a few
shreds Of clothing upon it, (which
seemed to belong to just such dress
as the spectre had worn,) and between
its ribs was sticking a long silver
hilted dagger. They took up the bones
and buried 'em somewhere else, and
the ghost was never seen again."
In my last letter | promised to say
something about the history Of the
West African coast, but there is really
very little to be said as regards that
portion of it which we are now passing.
Macaulay himself could hardly have
succeeded in giving any permanent in
terest TO the endless and monotonous
beadroll Of bloodless and aimless
sauabbles between chiefs with about
ten acres of territory apiece, which,
checkered with occasional aggression
on the part Of the French masters OF
the Senegal, represent the modern his
tory Of Western Africa. just at pres
ent the general state Of affairs in this
quarter appears to be more unpromis-
ing than ever. From the mouth of the
Gambia to that Of the Gaboon, bust
ness is now las veteran trader lately
remarked), "as Hat as ever it can be-
and Aatter." The French are still
doing their best to "tsp" the upper
course Of the Niger by establishing 4
direct commercial route thither ola the
Senegal, with the intention of ulti
mately drawing off in this way all thu
rich internal traffic which the British
merchants of the Guinea coast hav'
coveted so long. In Ashantee, again
| the disastrous results Of England's in
vasion in 1874 have exactly repro
,, duced those which followed her ill-ad
vised interference in the affairs Of Zulu
land five years later. The reignint
! King has been overthrown, and as
: matter Of course all the rabble Of mino
, chiefs whom his strong hand had KEEP
down are now quarreling and fighting
among themselves to the utter destruc
ton of the rising trade of the country
The inhabitants of Coomassie 9TH
. Ashantee capitaD are endeayoring t
+ compel the inland tribes to send al
their goods down to the coast througI
that town itself, thus securing for it
monopoly Of the local-carrying trade
, This attempt has naturally been met b.
r the most determined opposition on tn
part of the other tribes-several Q
which have been dispossessed Of tn
. lands bestowed upon them by ia
, English in l874-and not few compe
tent authorities are now declaring tina
f before very long the whole Anglo
Ashantee war will have to be wage
q over again.
s Further to the eastward France an
0 Portugal are trying to establish riva
settlements upon the seaboard {
{ Dahomey, while the former Power
Y even attempting to edge itself into ID
b British possessions along the Blight Q
f Benin and to obtain the control Q
o various small rivers and lagoons, tn
importance of which England wi
< never realize till she has fooled theI
s away. But however unceremoniou
r the proceedings Of the European Pow
d ers in this quarter may have been,
J. must be owned that even the rude forI
Of government which they are gradual
/. establishing is a vast improvement upo
a the sapruinary and devastating ansrch