Los Angeles herald., 1891-04-26
NITllIIIITIlIInTTHl


and desire to enjoy the wild sport OF the
campaign in Mexico I received command
Of the first company of the Egyptians, and
today my heart beats higher when recall
to mind those dusky savage comrades,
whom had the honor to lead from Octo-
ber, 1864, to the end of 1866, with whom
shared joy and suffering, and who, obedient
and faithful as dog, brave and dauntless
as the lion of their native wild, freely haz-
arded their lives to save that of the
"Sahib," or master. They were without
exception six footers, of massive build, and
appeared to advantage in their white uni
form, with red turban and green sash.
exacted the most implicit, ,slavish obedience,
and to this end insisted that the pay and
subsistence of the men be liberal and
punctual. As result of my action the sol
diers were united to me by the strongest
ties of trust and dependence, becoming as
wax in my hand, blindly following where
led; yes, they kissed my hands and shoes
even when, as unbending discipline often
demanded, l set my feet upon their necks.
had absolute control of my company of
215 men and the power of life and death
over each one. Only once was I obliged to
exercise the extreme rights of punishment.
That was one night when l returned from
an absence unexpectedly, and nearing camp
heard most unearthly howl in the corral
where my people lay. Hurrying forward,
with my revolver ready cooked, distin-
guished strange tumble of white stock
ings and white eyes, and among them two
red legs, that now whirled through the air
and now disappeared in the black and
white mass beneath. fired in the air, and
before my footsteps and the flash of my
<~~,l & l,a Il, n. Al
lay one of my French subordinates dead,
with his abdomen completely slit open.
Over another prostrate European knelt a
gigantic African, endeavoring with drawn
knife to pry open the tightly closed teeth
of the fallen man for the purpose, as
learned .afterward, of cutting out his
tongue. AS tore the bloodhound from
his ready prey he sprang upon me. In a
moment shot from my pistol struck him
on the forehead over the right eye, and
simultaneously another assailant was dash
ed TO the ground by powerful blow from
my sword handle If my skull had re-
ceived that stroke it would have cracked
like an egg she'll, but he only fell ON his
knee, crossed his arms over his breast, and
with his tongue half bitten through and
bleeding, licked my boots. The cause of
the outbreak was an insult offered by the
frivolous Frenchmen to the religious, Mo-
hammed. One had atoned with his death
and the other was reduced to the ranks.
The riotous negroes were placed in sitting
position on the ground their wrists bound
together underneath their knees with gun
straps. Between the arms and legs below
musket was placed, and another across
the back of the neck, and the two muskets
were drawn as close as possible at the butts
and near the muzzles by tightly laced
straps. These formless heaps of com
pressed humanity allowed to remain so
twenty-four hours, and stationed guards
at hand with strict OF. jers to shoot down
any who attempted to give the culprits so
much as drink of water. l carried out
this barbarous punishment to the end, al
though my heart reproached me, but ]
never had cause to repeat it. Ten weeks
before this occurrence ! had been blowr
into the air by mine explosion with ITO OF
my men, and came out with only 8. The
fellows knew by this and former expert
ences that did not spare myself and was
a stranger to fear.
Four days after this horrible yet neces-
sary act of discipline in the bloody street
fight at Catorze, where the Zouaves, num-
bering 26O against 1900 Mexicans, made
booty of million piasters, eighteen of my
blacks were literally hewn to pieces before
the enemy succeeded in reaching my body.
which the braves held sacred When at
length recovered consciousness-for even