THE BLACK RESERVE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 27, 4 February 1901, Page 4

THE BLACK RESERVE.

• "Grra! R»rW»V •i;' vn'se.i -.nd pictarMija:! •:' jrhicb thf Ii ii h Army ' '->» '• c.-mpowi. "Carboy.t <♦. hi v.jt p'mn of North-Wca*. (• : sriio ride bard wit-h th** r thf Be'voir, from thf E".... r':.uii dpf-.r forest*, m^hmfnfrom r.i ""ck-Uork? of Au*trn'i«. pxqu : sitp.< rf -■ Hiieiah Club or thn B*cheior'* . ibhji frim Oct uio, dardy spoits tr " i i r-jEu India ind Ceylon, thli. rcoa of New ZeaUod, lbs wiry 5? -r-r, Afrcm irri-gnUra—thefa aiv f :• vhnae Pxistencß was > -.ic' -d in bo Blue Opok, and whosf UiCP ci:n<- <53 a shock to th; 1 p "i'.nt ?o!dis's < t the Contingent, who h-»-. sac r.'d co i>>»ig our iittle army, fia • lou* yean of ptac> have can?ed t'v:'T. to forget its rxDloits." Yet ail ruuitifaiijcs represent but .1 small portion of thr forces that, if/i"pd cime would amwpr tbe Empire's West India fcgnlarp, Kiu;i'o R'■ j ih-, EJahy police, West te:rtd fir sr.rvSoa at Cue GVpe, and all! th"sn, und nboT" all. tho migD'ficientl Indian ariry of 150.000 v teraoß, wil l be ruady if t.hn alarm is sounded. F.r, ia'rdJitiou t> it* own powers of fighting, the English rae-? |>o s'sses, in a remarkable drgreo, the capaci y for taming inferior racfs into soldier?. "Sergeant Pharaoh What's his name" is as active on the backs of the Ganges or the Niger as ever he hai he?n along the Nile. Hh last exploit ii the creation of the Central African Rifles. Everybody knows now-a-days that the Weft African F.eld Force, composed mainly Hiussaf, ia as well disciplined and efficient 1 s any brigide of the Sriiish army. Bat for a long time it vas bp ; i'v ie that thf tribß* 1 jcatad 1 ear Ltke Tchad, in t !, e heart of the Xark Coctji ient, we.e for fighting purposes nlmo't nselpea Now, we have tha testimony if Dr. Donglas Gray medioil cfficer to the Kumasfi Relit f force, that these er6t-while •aTtgea sre transfotmfd into steady and gailant soldiers. Th? Central African Hubs nnmber aboat 2000 of al! ranks, and ch>i force is made of id n who a few years b '.cV were caked sometimes cannibal—slave raiders i.nst of them had never se'n the seal ti! thf-y mitched from tbo heart of' / .V: . l > itie coss": to fight for the] Cc"::>r Qaten. They tierj oead shots v*® rx r '"artini, they wtrked their 3 "asirj;s ike practised gunners, they :-i vtr ran except to charge a stockade. r!'o p-ng in the open jangle, living on tic-, h'»lf drowned in rivers, half ! U'therrd iu swamps, sscrchfd by the! 1 -soaked by the dew, their on 9 ds--1 irr- was to fight. No mitter what ",'i-tb>3 order, Unghed joyfully i;d fo Liied th«-ir officers .wb.iiever : r-'y w«re 'fd. The and C- n; •; lAf ican Rifles togetht r r»lievdd Sumassi i i far less time than white t-o<.p) cocld have tiken, and at one--1 r~ith of the c )st, and from first to Ks ! ) they all seemed t« regard thi camas a mosi! delightful experience. When the Central African negro can I ? tamed into a fo'dier of his type, il i; evident that the British officers ifive not ye*i lost the trick of " making nen of mad," and the result may &< raa any surprise any incanliioaß e«; aiy who bases bi* ca!cu'ations so p'y npon th" gazetted and registered P>!i of the Fritieh Army.