thes
were made up in bundles and carried over by natives swimming, while
others took their places below in case any of the men should be carried
off their feet by the stream. All passed over without any accident.

One result, however, was a laughable incident next morning, an incident
which, it may be safely asserted, never before occurred in the British
army. It was quite dark before the last party were over, and the natives
collecting the clothes did not notice those of one of the men who had
undressed at the foot of a tree. Consequently he had to pass the night,
a very wet one, in a blanket, and absolutely paraded with his regiment
in the morning in nothing but a helmet and rifle. The incident caused
immense laughter, and a native swimming across the river found and
brought back his clothes.

As the journeys were necessarily slow and tedious, owing to the quantity
of baggage and sick being carried down, Frank now determined to push
straight down to the coast, and, bidding goodbye to Sir Garnet and the
many friends he had made during the expedition, he took his place for
the first time in the hammock, which with its bearers had accompanied
him from Cape Coast, and started for the sea. There was some risk as far
as the Prah, for straggling bodies of the enemy frequently intercepted
the convoys. Frank, however, met with no obstacle, and in ten days after
leaving the army reached Cape Coast.

Ostik implored his master to take him with him across the sea; but Frank
pointed out to him that he would not be happy long in England, where
the customs were so different from his own, and where in winter he
would feel the cold terribly. Ostik yielded to the arguments, and having
earned enough to purchase for years the small comforts and luxuries dear
to the negro heart, he agreed to start for the Gaboon immediately Frank
left for England.

On his first arrival at Cape Coast he had to his great satisfaction
found that the Houssas who had escaped from Coomassie had succeeded in
reaching the coast in safety, and that having obtained their pay from
the agent they had sailed for their homes.

Three days after Frank's arrival at Cape Coast the mail steamer came
along, and he took passage for England. Very strange indeed did it feel
to him when he set foot in Liverpool. Nearly two years and a half
had elapsed since he had sailed, and he had gone through adventures
sufficient for a lifetime. He was but eighteen years old now, but he