=Central Africa Medal.=--In 1895 a series of operations were found necessary in Central Africa, and to decorate the native troops engaged the same medal was awarded without bars. It was, however, suspended from a brown, white, and black ribbon, 1¾ in. wide, by means of a swivel ring, so that the ribbon was run through the ring as in the case of the Abyssinian medal. This slight distinction, and the issue of a new ribbon, constitutes the medal a distinct decoration, and those who had already received the West African medal were entitled to it. It, moreover, distinguishes the Central Africa medal from the East and West Africa medal, which again had name bars added for WITU 1890 to the crews of ten of H.M. ships; LIWONDI 1893 to 3 officers and 34 men of H.M.S. "Herald" and "Mosquito"; WITU AUGUST 1893 to 200 seamen and 36 marines; JUBA RIVER 1893 to 1 officer and 40 men of the "Blanche"; LAKE NYASSA 1893 to 100 Sikhs and parties of men from H.M.S. "Adventurer" and "Pioneer"; a bar inscribed 1893-94 was issued to those who took part in the operations against the Sofas from November 1893 to January 1894; GAMBIA 1894 was inscribed on the bar to 50 of the 1st W.I.R. and parties of seamen and marines from four of H.M. ships; BRASS RIVER 1895 to men of four of H.M. ships, and NIGER 1897 to the troops taking part in the expedition to Egbon, Bida, and Ilorin or garrisoning Fort Goldie and Lokoja from January 6th to February 25th, 1897. The bars are square and set somewhat far apart; the name and rating, etc., of the recipient impressed on the edge. Between January 1894 and April 1898 a series of operations and expeditions was found necessary against various chiefs in British Central Africa, and for these a bar inscribed CENTRAL AFRICA 1894-1898 was added to the Central Africa medal, which when issued in 1895 had a swivel ring instead of a clasp. When the bars were added in 1899 the straight-bar clasp with claw clutch--as used with the first issue of this medal, the Ashantee--replaced the swivel ring.