A column had started, at once, to Captain Willcox's assistance. They returned, however, in ten days, having been unable to come up to him, as he had retired fifty miles farther to the east. They had no fighting, the enemy having gone north; but they ascertained that all the country immediately to the south was free from rebels and desirous of peace. The spot where Captain Benson's action had been fought was strewn with dead bodies, baggage, and rifles; evidence of the disordered flight. It seemed that the levies bolted, as soon as they were fired on. Then, with a few trained volunteers, the white men hastily entrenched themselves; and held out till late in the afternoon when, their ammunition having run short, they were compelled to retire, which they did fighting. It was during the retreat that Captain Benson was shot.
Another column came in on the following day, after five days' reconnaissance. It had gone by the same road by which the governor had broken out, on the 23rd of June. The road was entirely deserted, the villages destroyed, and the crops burnt. They made no attempt to search the bush but, on the path, they found ninety-eight headless skeletons; a painful testimony of the number of soldiers and carriers who had died of privation, and hardship, during the retreat.
Information now came in that, to the north, the most reckless of the Ashantis had again concentrated, and were determined to make another stand. On the 16th there was a big review of the seventeen hundred troops and the nine guns of the garrison. The heavy guns were exercised on a stockade, similar to those of the enemy. Hitherto they had not been altogether successful; as it was found that, owing to the large bursting charge, the range had to be estimated at double its real distance. Six shots smashed a barricade which was six feet high by six feet thick.
Friendly chiefs, who were invited to witness the experiment, were profoundly impressed; and there can be no doubt that the feat was reported to the enemy in the field, for they raised no stockade in the future, and reverted to their old plan of bush fighting.
The heavy and continuous rains were now rapidly bringing on sickness, and the officers were attacked in forms that were quite novel to them.
"I don't know what is the matter with me," Lisle said, one morning, "but I am swollen all round the neck. I once had mumps, when I was a little boy and, if it were not so ridiculous, I should declare that I had got them again."
Hallett burst into a fit of laughter.
"I expect you are going to have all your old illnesses again--scarlet fever, measles, whooping cough, and the rest. We must see that the hut is fitted up for you, with something as much like a bed as possible, and a fire for making a posset, or whatever they give you."
"It is all very well for you to laugh, Hallett, but look at my neck."
"Well, it is swollen," Hallett agreed; "and I expect that you have caught a cold, when we were wandering about in the bush. Seriously, I should advise you to put a piece of warm flannel round your neck, or else go across and consult the doctor."