WANDERINGS OF A CORRESPONDENT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5715, 20 June 1879, Page 5

WANDERINGS OF A CORRESPONDENT.

“ At the head, of the. craft of ‘ special cor*; respondents,’ there is,” the Globe remarks,- “ a well-known write i l , rendered famous by his exploits during the Franco-German and

jßusso-Turkisli wars, whoso brilliancy of stylo is not less conspicuous than his extraordinary physical strength and courage. His more recent wanderings in search of exciting news began with a rapid flight to Cyprus. The field there proving rather sterile, for there is nothing sensational in the process of gradually creating order out of chaos, the island was dubbed a ‘fiasco,’ and our knight-errant looked about for more promising ground. It presented itself almost immediately in Afghanistan, whither the wanderer proceeded in hot haste. He casually dropped in, however, at Simla, although this involved a considerable deflection from the shortest road to (he frontier, but the bait did not prevent his presence at Peshawur at the ontbreak of hostilities. Here ho was comfortably circumstanced at last, with plenty of fresh excitement every day, so long as the Afghans showed a bold front. But life grew wearisome amid the monotony of Jellalabad, and he accordingly paid a flying visit to Lahore. Backwards and forwards he then oscillated between that city and the front, until the dearth of news became unbearable, when some bird of the air whispered to him that there might be stirring work in Bnrmah, and he accordingly made a ‘bee lino’ for Mandalay, a distance of fully 2000 miles, by rail, sea, and river. Having only a few days at bis disposal, he lost no time in obtaining an interview (with King Thee haw, which pcssed off without any exhibition by the latter of * the fatal spear of King Tharawaddi. This being accomplished, the pilgrim started off again for Lahore, for the purpose of being within hail of the frontier on the renewal of the Afghan "campaign. Scarcely had he reached the Fnnjaub capital, however, when the terrible news of the leandula disaster made him turn longing eyes towards South Africa. The Cape is not very accessible from Lahore, as no steamers go there direct either from Bombay or Calcutta. But what are such trifling difficulties to a restless ‘ Special P ’ Nothing at all, in the case in question, for within a very few days, the wanderer was off en route to Kurrachee, whence a steamer would convey him to Aden, and another cany him thence to Zulnland. A glance at the map will show that this gentleman has managed to get through a vast deal of ‘ globe trotting * within a brief period, besides contributing largely to the English Press, and embarking in various controversies in India.” Mr Forbes is, of course, the “ special” referred to.