The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-08-28

out 10 the death. IL need be- Al the post OF
duty. He ~waitsd-the slightest hesitation
on his part would have served 70 prscipitats
: panic. Bat relisf Was at hand. Lieut..
LaRaspie. = fellow graduate Of Comperat'a
charge with : platoon Of Senegal infantry.
Day had nov dawned and the enemy
fell back. They had hitherto displayed the
most astounding bravery. but II waa q
little avail aHAinst the tsnasious solidarity
Of the fort bore chastly traces at the fght;
everywhere around the bodies Of tho alain.
among whom DAhomsyans vastly exceeded
French, formed III actual b~reAatWorka,
piled one upon tho other. The black
corpaes Of men and women. soine with and
others without heads, the dsc.pitAted
members lying around in pools Of blood,
with open mouths and sJes, the former
grinning hideously. with set, Rlsaming
teeth, and the latter tlxsdly staring sky-
ward in the glRssy gaze OF death.
Beyond the line OF battle the Dahomeyans
were again forming themselves into An at
lacking force, divided into two separate
sections. Their tactics soon became plain
enough; = body Of 1000 warriors and 200
Anaaons marched forward against the Fort
of Comperat and another body containing
about 1900 men debouchsd to the south
ward in the direction Of the factories and
the telegraph office. The fetishmen marched
as the head Of each contingent without
arms, but carrying = horss's tail. which they
waved for the doubls purpose OF arginR tbs
ranks forward to the assault and acting as
= charm against tho weapons Of the whites
The combatants carried . sabsr IN one
hand and a gun in the other. They fred
slaves came along IN line ready to receive
the discharged rifles and quickly recharge
them. The wounded were abandoned. their
severed heads being carried ~ trophies for
future presentation to the king. The coll
advancing southwark had already be-
gun the attack with great vigor and driven
back our guard posted at Pstits-Agare with
. loss of five men killed on our side. Fol
lowing up this success the savagss pressed
on until they encountered Lsmoines COM
peny. which forced them to retreat against
the forest. where a battery Of marine ar
the wsrship leopold Fourier, fastened
the denouement OF the engagement. At
6:15 q. N. the Dahomsyans cssayed
to return to the offensive. but
again repulssd by our artillery
and between GAO and nine O'Clock they
vainly endsavored to rsmobilize their
forces. At $50 even the most intrepid re-
treated. abandoning their dsad. numbering
laO warriors and seven Amazons. Our fy-
patrol brought word that the plain be-
was covered with oorpses. We left
sight on the field, of whom two were Euro
pesns, and twsnty-six men Of Lemoins's
were wounded.
II was thought at the time that King Be-
hsnzin would never return. but the rash
ness Of this conjecture has since been real
iZsd, for the king has returned with 4 ven.
aeanoe. within the last few weeks. The
pauss of the present trouble il the failure
II Dahomey's ruler to observe the terms Of
,ha AvAnA- kr A-kn~nA srk~ -skk aT~mo~ ~ - |
October, 1890. By tho treaty the
lights Of the French Il Ko,onou wers recog-
1ized and assured immunity from disturb
NICE. yet for several months past the small
at Kotonou has bsen harrassed
'erpetuahy BY the Dahoney ans. The I'M
season prevented the French
rom operating to advantage in the field,
RIDES who act as their allies exposed to the
vengeance of tho hostilss. One special
'auss OF trouble il King Behanzin's per-
istence in asserting rights over the king
lom of Porto-Novo, the ruler of which.
Coffa. long since sought and obtained the
'esn the constant victim of Dahomeysn
into his territory. France has
taken the field with the firm determin-
Ition of bringing matters to 4 climax and
o cing Behanzin to come to his senses. The
arrival of reinforcements enabled Col.
JOAOSs VIC TIcuCu COIuIlduO6T, TO ESko
for the complete protection Of the
became country. He has fortified all his
and enlarged the circle of out
}osts, and has now arranged matters so
hat he can command communications be-
;ween Porto-Novo n Sakete, on the Ad-
river, near the English territory in
and also from Porto Novo to Dangbo.
warships dispatched to the coast of
africa have bombarded all the towns on the
'hore line, while the lane forces, advancing
nto the interior. have stormed and burned
he villages. lighting the opposing bands of
)ahomeyans they encountered on the way.
n these conflicts the French loss was very
light. but that of the enemy was severe.
France is in this war to stay, but the nature
If the country her soldle's have to fight in
md the methods of the foe she has to con-
end with may possibly entail considerable
Of blood and treasure. OF
course there can be only one result. low
YER protraoted the struggle,
Frances chief object is to protect her
interests in Dahomey. Form
'rly Portugal had similar interests there,
'ut in recent years she has evinoed little
about them and has even aban-
a fort she used to occupy at Whydah.
certain feature of the situation which
nay eventually become very important is
he existence of considerable German trade
n this part of Africa, and it is we'll known
hat the Dahomeyans have received supplies
# arms and ammunition from the German
merchants. ON German house at Whydah
8 represented by a Herr Richter, who has
o completely won the affections of Behan-
in as to have almost assumed the
of a court official. From
aim the Dahomeyans have acquir-
ID much instruction in mobilizing as
and also in the manipulations of
ield pieces and in Workmanship. The
troops are regularly drilled. and the
thief instructor has been Richter. When
t was resolved to attack the town of Why
lab, Col. Dodds notified the European resi-
Tents and gave them time to leave, where
they all did leave with the exception
# the Germans, who declined to accent the
notice. Whether this may or may not vet
become the nucleus of an international
ilthoulty between France and Germany is
question OF grave uncertainty in the
OF many.
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