THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

West Coast Times, Issue 679, 27 November 1867, Page 3

THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.

(FBO3I THE HOME NEWS.) The expedition will be organised in India, under the command of Si^Robt. Napier, Commander-in-Chief at Bombay, who is to be intrusted with the chief political as well as military authority. Sir Charles Staveley has been selected as second in command. A quantity of steam transport has been taken up and will start for Bombay immediately so as to be there in the course of November ; but the Bombay Government have also provided a quantity of transport for themselves. Officers have also been despatched to various places to purchase camels and mules. Massowah will probably be selected as the base of operations, but this point is not finally settled. The whole of the arrangements are under the direction of the India office in order to secure unity of action ; but the expense will be borne by Imperial funds. The infantry will be represented by eight European and three Indian regiments. Of artillery there will be no less than six batteries (all European) — viz., four field batteries and two mountain batteries. The cavalry will consist of four regiments of native cavalry, 470 strong each, and one squadron of English Aavalry. There will be two companies of Punjaubee Engineers. The supplies for the force will be conveyed principally on mules and camels. Some light Maltese caits for mule draught will also be despatched. Oi mules a large number will probably be required, and officers have been despatched to effect the immediate purchase in Europe of 7000 of these animals. Any more which may be required, or bullocks and other beasts of burden, will probably be procurable nearer the scene of operations. A supply of 5000 camels will be forthcoming from Egypt; but when once the force enters Abyssinia proper the native cattle of the country will doubtloss be found most serviceable. With regard to material, it has been decided not to arm the infantry with breech-loaders As far as the European regiments are concerned, this is thought to be a grave mistake. The difficulties of transport in Abyssinia make it imperative to employ the minimum effective number of men, and the peculiar value of a breech-loader on such an occasion is sufficiently apparent. As a breech-loader practically multiplies the fighting power of each soldier two or three times, since it enables him to do the work of two or three soldiers equipped with muzzle-loaders, or, in other words, the work of one such soldier in one-half or one-third the time, and always with the exposure and expense of one soldier only, it seems curiously unwise voluntarily to throw away the great advantage of breech-loading arms. If the present intention be adhered to, the native regiments will retain the smooth-bore percussion muskets with which they are now armed, and the English regiments will have their Enfield rifles. The equipment of the artillery will consist of breech-loading Armstrong guns, either 9 or 12-pounders, for the four field batteries, and small muzzle-loading 7 -pounder guns for the two mountain batteries. These 7-poundcr guns are not, as seems to be supposed, new or unknown weapons. Four sorts of 7-pounder guns are actually in existence — ((/), a 3-pounder bronze gun, bored up and rifled to throw a 7-lb elongated projectile, weight of gun about 2241 b; (£), the same gun, similarly bored up and rifled, but lightened by the removal of some of the metal on the exterior, weight about 2001 b; (c), a steel 7-pounder gun, of about 2001 b weight ; and (r/), a steel 7-poundcr gun, weighing only 1461 b. It is proposed to send twelve of this last class of gun to Abyssinia. The length of bore is only 24 inches. It has three plain grooves, with a twist of one in twenty calibres. All these guns throw the same projectile, viz., an elongated zincstndded shell which, with its 7-oz. burster, weighs 71b ; charge of gun Boz or 6oz. A proportion of the new Boxer-Shrapnel shell, and of an improved description of case shot, will also be sent out, with suitable tubes, fuzes, &c. These guns, although not altogether new, have hitherto been regarded as in some sort experimental. But some of class («) were sent to Bhootan in 1865 ; and two batteries of the class {b) guns were equipped last year for service in Ireland. The mountain gun carriages to be sent to Abyssinia are entirely new. Like the guns, they will be made of steel, and will weigh only about 2001bs. It has been objected to the proposed plan of carrying the guns at right angles to the mule's back instead of parallel to it that inconvenience may arise in passing through narrow gorges and defiles ; but this objection has probably been urged in ignorance of the extreme shortness of the piece, which is hardly longer than the width of a stout well-fed mule ; by carrying the gun "athwart ship" it can be placed much more snugly down upon the animal's back, and does not interfere with the wither. There has been no time to change the pattern of pack-saddle, an article of equipment which is no doubt capable of considerable improvement. As 5000 pack-saddles are required, and as this number can be at once furnished from the existing store, it has been decided to use the supply we already possess, and not to waste time or money in experimental improvements. The saddle will weigh about 601 b., and the load for each niulo will be thus from 200 to 2501 b., according to whether it bears a gun or carriage. These weights should be well within' the animal's capability. Whether the animal itself is the best adapted for service in Abyssinia is another question ; but a mule is undoubtedly very much quicker in move-

ineut than a bullock, and more easy to shoe — practical considerations of some importance. Some 3-pounder or 6pauuder Hales' rockets will also be sent with the expedition. These rockets require no stick, and are kept point foremost in flight by the rotation established by the side pressure of the escaping gases upon the tail-piece of the rocket. The 6-pounders have a range of about 3300 yards, the 3 -pounders of about 2-400 yards ; and both kinds are, for rockets, exceedingly accurate in flight. These rockets will form, no doubt, exceedingly useful auxiliaries ; and their moral effect, in an expedition where a great deal more depends upon moral than upon physical effects, will certainly be great. A large amount of steam tonnage has been engaged in London for the service in the Mediterranean and in the Eastern seas. Nearly all the great steam companies sent in their tenders, and already two or three vessels have been despatched from Liverpool. The Great Eastern was offered but declined. Three vessels are being fitted out as hospital ships. These will be utilised in two ways — as floating hospitals at the base of operations, and as transports for sick and wounded soldiers. The necessity for such ships as part of an expedition has now been fully demonstrated. Their importance in the present instance, where we have to effect a landing and conduct a warfare in a distant and unknown country, is obvious. The system answered admirably, it will be remembered, during the last Chinese war. The army medical department on that occasion, probably, was allowed to |axercise a larger amount of power than it had ever done before ; and the results, as far as regards the sanitary state of the forces and the hospital organisation, were excellent. The design and arrangement of the ships employed there as floating hospitals were alike good, and the experiment was a most succesful one. The example will be followed in this case. The medical superintendence Gf the equipment, devolves on Dr Massy, deputy inspector-general of hospitals, and head of the sanitary branch of the army. The "Army and Navy Gazette" says four battalions of European infantry will form part of the Abyssinian expedition. Those selected are the Ist batalion 4th (King's Own), from Bombay ; 26th (Cameronians), from Belgaum ; 33rd (Duke of Wellington's), from Kurrachee; and 45th (Sherwood Foresters), from Poouah. The Ist battalion, 4th, and 33rd, stand high on the list for relief, and, under ordinary circumstances, would return to England about a year hence. It may be assumed, therefore, that they will come back direct as soon as their services in Abyssinia are no longer needed. The 45th went to India in 1864, and the 26th in 1865. All these corps are in a high state of efficiency. It is neither possible nor desirable to give any detailed account of the armaments and stores that have been and arc being sent out. It is sufficient to say that they are ample, and that all | the officers engaged in the service are most heartily co-operating to ensure its speedy success. Meanwhile there are abundance of suggestions still offered, and a vast amount of adverse criticism, as will be seen from what follows. So far nothing is known on official authority as to the place of landing or the route to be taken after landing. Hence there is free scope for all sorts of miscellaneous suggestions, but we may safely assume that the authorities in India and at home have gathered masses of information from the most trustworthy sources, are in possession of reliable itineraries and maps, have schemed their commissariat and carriage arrangements under competent advice, and have not taken a single step in the dark. Having tried all in the interests of peace, if it must come to the arbitrament of war, they will bear in mind the counsel of one great soldier to another, /rappee vite et frappcz fort. The commander they have selected is a thoroughbred soldier, not likely to let the grass grow under his feet, to fight in velvet gloves, to neglect the wants of his men, or give advantages to the enemy. At the instance of Sir Roderick Murchison the Government have, we understand, resolved to send out a geoprapher, a geologist, and a naturalist, with the Abyssinian expedition. The Government in making their preparations for this expedition have also .derived valuable assistance from the accumulated information of the Geographical Society.

I will tell you a story, said Frank Buckland m ' Land and Water,' of a friend of mine who was visiting Franco the other day, and there was an owl in the garden that had only got; one leg. My friend used to admire this owl ; and, two or three days after his arrival, he had some "gibier" (as they call their game) for dinner. The " game" was very small, but he enjoyed his dinner immensely, and the next day he missed the owl from the garden. " Where has the owl gone to ?" he inquired of the landlord. " Monsieur had a little dish oi gibier yesterday," was the answer, to the consternation of tho traveller... "Why did you kill the owl for my dinner?" he next asked, J[ I no kill ze owl: M'sieur ; ho die himself." ' A few weeks since, says the " Observer," a friend of ours, anxious to obtain for himself an insight into the opinions of the working men, passed the greater part of au evening at a publichouse resorted to by artisans then on strike. Ho was greatly interested in all that he saw and heard, and his curiosity was specially excited by a toast which the chairman of the jovial party proposed. It was "The Four Eights," which was enthusiastically received. Our friend was some time in ignorance of the meaning of this very popular toast, and was only enlighted when, at a later period of the evening, he. heard the doggrel couplet sung amid the hiccups of one of the noisiest, if not the most musical, of the company :—: — Eight hours' work and eights hours' play, Eight hours' sleep, and eight shillings a day.