A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION [Illustration: NATIVE WOMAN CARRIER.] [_Frontispiece._] A SOLDIER OF THE LEGION AN ENGLISHMAN'S ADVENTURES UNDER THE FRENCH FLAG IN ALGERIA AND TONQUIN BY GEORGE MANINGTON EDITED BY WILLIAM B. SLATER AND ARTHUR J. SARL WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS LONDON JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET 1907 TO THE MEMORY OF MY COMRADES WHO FELL IN THE FORESTS OF YEN-THÉ AND THE JUNGLES OF KAI-KINH, THIS WORK IS DEDICATED PREFACE Sitting at the terrace of a well-known _café_, on the main boulevard of the French capital, some time ago, I happened to glance down the columns of a Parisian newspaper, and was struck by a realistic account of the recent combat at El-Moungar. After describing this action,--a long, arduous, but successful defence of a convoy of arms and ammunition by a handful of men from the Foreign Legion against the repeated attacks of more than a thousand fanatical Moorish horsemen,--the journalist expressed his admiration for the courage and disinterested devotion of which this corps has so often given proof. The final phrase of his article can well serve as an excuse for, and introduction to, the present volume:--_Si quelque philosophe ouvrait un jour une chaire pour enseigner l'heroïsme et le dévouement, son cours pourrait se tenir tout entier dans la lecture des citations obtenues par la Légion Étrangère._ G.M. HONG-KONG. EDITORS' NOTE The restless spirit of adventure which prompted the author, Mr George Manington, to enlist in the French Foreign Legion, at a later date called him post haste from London, and thus caused us, his friends, to promise to see the manuscript of "A Soldier of the Legion" through the press. Though well under forty years of age, he had been a student in France and Germany, a prospective doctor in Paris, a soldier in Algeria and Tonquin, a man of commerce in Indo-China, an interpreter, traveller, and journalist in South China, besides a participator in more fleeting occupations in many lands, including Japan and the Philippines. It was in the restful periods between these various enterprises that this book was written. Malaria and kindred ailments, contracted during his military service in Tonquin, hampered him from time to time, and while he was recuperating in England from an attack, "A Soldier of the Legion" made most progress. Presently a journalistic offer came from Hong-Kong, and the prospect it afforded of more adventurous missions in the remoter regions of the Far East proved irresistible. He accepted by cable, called upon us to deal with the manuscript, and within a few days was mailing further sections of the book from ports "somewhere east of Suez." We have dealt as lightly as possible with the manuscript, for it is permeated with the brave and cheery spirit of the author, and, beyond giving an eye to the connection of the narrative as the various sections came to hand, our duties have been light.