The body of the expedition had, in the meantime, continued its march and taken another hill by storm,—but not without loss. This village was situated on a steep declivity, accessible only on the one side, and so well supplied with water that a blockade was out of the question. A storm was, therefore, commanded. On both sides, the men fought with desperate bravery. The storming party purchased dearly with their blood every inch of ground they advanced. The negroes had barricaded every accessible spot; each tree and every stone formed an ambush whence they rushed forth upon their enemies, who were scaling the heights under severe difficulties. The muskets were of no avail, for the soldiers were forced to creep upon their hands and feet and could not use their arms; thus, many were stabbed by the spears of the natives, before they could rise on their feet, and, in their fall, tore several of their advancing comrades down with them into the precipice and ravines below. The cannonade employed against the village was ineffective, and forced to be silenced to avoid injuring their own men. The struggle was fearful, and the event for some time doubtful, the soldiers, however, at last succeeded in obtaining a footing on the heights, and were able to employ their arms; the bayonet now decided the victory in their favour, and the village was soon taken, in spite of the most obstinate resistance on the part of the negroes. The havoc became frightful: everyone who offered the slightest resistance was cut down, children, women, and old men were put to the bayonet, the huts were fired, and the whole place was pillaged; in short, every species of cruelty was perpetrated on these ill-fated victims. Those who fell into the hands of the victorious enemy were immediately dragged down into the camp; whilst those who endeavoured to escape, by concealing themselves in caverns and ravines, were either hunted out by fire and smoke, or suffocated in their place of shelter; every description of atrocity was practised, nor did the carnage cease until the very last man of this ill-starred tribe was exterminated or led away in captivity. All the inconsiderable property of the natives which the troops could not carry away with them as plunder was destroyed, and the whole village sacked and levelled with the ground. These were not all the sufferings which fell to the lot of these unfortunate men, for severer tortures awaited them during their march to Kordofan. I was unfortunately, during some few days, an eye-witness of the misery these poor prisoners endured. No pen can describe the cruelties these miserable men were made to suffer, in addition to the mental torment consequent on their loss of freedom; for laden with the heavy sheba round their necks, or bound together with tight straps or handcuffs, the poor negroes were driven on like cattle, but treated with far less care or forbearance. The greater number of them, covered with